saiunkoku is licensed? ==;
15 Aug 2007 06:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mayoraaseiWow, never knew that. Saw this on ANN's weekly Shelf Life column:
As in love with this series as I already am, I have to admit that it's probably not for everyone. For starters, it's pretty girly. With its abundance of beautiful men and its strong female protagonist, this is definitely something that is aimed squarely at a female audience. In fact, this is a title that I would strongly recommend to all the female viewers out there. Shurei is nothing short of amazing, and unlike all the hoe-y "role models" that are poisoning the girls' market today like those damnable Bratz, she's someone that I would want girls to look up to. She's kind, she's elegant, she's incredibly smart, she's hardworking, and she isn't afraid to reach for impossible dreams in a man's world.
....That's what I thought, too, when I watched as many episodes as the reviewer has.
After about 40 episodes (most of which I couldn't be bothered watching, thankfully), Shuurei turns out to be a huge Mary-Sue not unlike many other Mary-Sues, and the whole story reeks of ludicrous naivety. It's like the author is some starry-eyed version of young Watase Yuu, used here for comparison because she wrote the risible Fushigi Yuugi (the original), which also drew extensively on ancient Chinese culture.
Like, okay, we know you're trying to be exotic by creating a society that's not like Japan, for once, but a little background research would be nice?
I don't know what Japanese impression of their red light district is like - considering they have many levels of sex trade from host clubs to actual prostitution - but a well-brought up young lady (who retains her status), no matter how dire her circumstances are, should never have been allowed to work in the red light district, even as a kitchenhand.
And she wants to become a courtier!
It's the kind of historical first she'd want to create with a squeaky clean image. Having worked in the red light district would have stuck like mouldy chewing gum in ancient China.
And god, like all Mary Sues, the only thing she's good at is speechifying.
I don't know why I find her so annoying now ="= She's really not that bad, considering her analogues include the likes of Miaka (Fushigi Yuugi) and Akane (Hanakanaru Toki no Naka de). I just wish she'd deserve the credit she gets.
I guess it's one of those series where the more you read, the more the limitations of the author becomes obvious. Yes, we know Shuurei is meant to be smart, but we never see her being really smart because it appears the author is incapable of writing such a scene.
Her prose is likeable enough, but after 8 or so volumes, even the cutesiness can't make up for the self-gratuitous parade of frail pretty boys.
God, can't anyone just look normal?
As in love with this series as I already am, I have to admit that it's probably not for everyone. For starters, it's pretty girly. With its abundance of beautiful men and its strong female protagonist, this is definitely something that is aimed squarely at a female audience. In fact, this is a title that I would strongly recommend to all the female viewers out there. Shurei is nothing short of amazing, and unlike all the hoe-y "role models" that are poisoning the girls' market today like those damnable Bratz, she's someone that I would want girls to look up to. She's kind, she's elegant, she's incredibly smart, she's hardworking, and she isn't afraid to reach for impossible dreams in a man's world.
....That's what I thought, too, when I watched as many episodes as the reviewer has.
After about 40 episodes (most of which I couldn't be bothered watching, thankfully), Shuurei turns out to be a huge Mary-Sue not unlike many other Mary-Sues, and the whole story reeks of ludicrous naivety. It's like the author is some starry-eyed version of young Watase Yuu, used here for comparison because she wrote the risible Fushigi Yuugi (the original), which also drew extensively on ancient Chinese culture.
Like, okay, we know you're trying to be exotic by creating a society that's not like Japan, for once, but a little background research would be nice?
I don't know what Japanese impression of their red light district is like - considering they have many levels of sex trade from host clubs to actual prostitution - but a well-brought up young lady (who retains her status), no matter how dire her circumstances are, should never have been allowed to work in the red light district, even as a kitchenhand.
And she wants to become a courtier!
It's the kind of historical first she'd want to create with a squeaky clean image. Having worked in the red light district would have stuck like mouldy chewing gum in ancient China.
And god, like all Mary Sues, the only thing she's good at is speechifying.
I don't know why I find her so annoying now ="= She's really not that bad, considering her analogues include the likes of Miaka (Fushigi Yuugi) and Akane (Hanakanaru Toki no Naka de). I just wish she'd deserve the credit she gets.
I guess it's one of those series where the more you read, the more the limitations of the author becomes obvious. Yes, we know Shuurei is meant to be smart, but we never see her being really smart because it appears the author is incapable of writing such a scene.
Her prose is likeable enough, but after 8 or so volumes, even the cutesiness can't make up for the self-gratuitous parade of frail pretty boys.
God, can't anyone just look normal?
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Date: 2007-08-16 12:27 pm (UTC)I only know Saiunkoku very indirectly, through some of