The Great Saimono Debate
Ooookay. I really didn’t intend on posting about this ’cause it’s like beating a dead horse, but reading other blogs and whatnot has inspired me to at least record my own feelings on this topic.
That’s right, you guessed it: Who is Shuurei going to fall in love with?
As always with fandom comes continuous speculation over their favorite characters and how relationships between them will pan out. Everyone has their own favorite couple and their own thoughts on who should be with whom and why (even after the official pairing is already made). So I figure… I might as well dive in too.
Mmkay, first I’ll make a confession to you. I’m a bit of a fangirl when it comes to Ryuuki. I love his character. He’s sweet and sincere and child-like in many ways, but he’s also developing admirably as a character. And yes, I would really enjoy it if he and Shuurei ended up together. There, now that’s out of the way. I’ll try to be as unbiased as possible when discussing Shuurei and Ryuuki. I hope I succeed. The analysis is going to be based on logic and the knowledge I’ve garnered from reading various blogs, posts, manga, novel summaries, and anime episodes.
There’s TONS of Shuure/Ryuuki fans out there (I hate the “x” when discussing pairings – random tidbit). Many people argue that Shuurei does not return Ryuuki’s affection, that Sakujun had a better effect on her than Ryuuki, that Seiran is the standard she holds all others up to, etc. etc. etc. Logically, do I think Shuurei will end up with Ryuuki? I have no facking clue to be honest. The feeling I get when Shuurei and Ryuuki are together on screen is one of mixed emotions. Obviously Ryuuki is smitten. Shuurei though… I don’t feel like she’s completely disinterested in Ryuuki. It’s true that he’s gone about winning her affections in the wrong way in the past by piling gifts on her, etc., but there still a lingering something that’s making me go “Hmmm…”.
In the manga, it’s outlined that Shuurei doesn’t feel she is worthy to be a princess, much less an empress. Her thought pattern about herself is along the lines of her being too plain and common to be a worthy match for Ryuuki. It’s a theme that’s carried through the entire first chapter of the manga. We don’t see any of that in the anime of course, but it really opened up a lot of doors for me when considering Shuurei’s character. What IF the anime is playing off of that theme? Maybe it’s not obvious, but it’s hinted at. Take into consideration when Shuurei was sick and she’s looking down at the torn piece of sleeve Ryuuki had used to wipe the sweat from her body. She thinks if only someone beautiful and gentle would become your consort. To me that says volumes.
Is she chicken about returning Ryuuki’s affections? Maybe. Given what I know about Chinese culture and the way things were done in the empire, sometimes I think the author is having Shuurei refuse Ryuuki not because she feels nothing for him, but rather because she’s afraid of the limitations it will place on her advancement as an official. Or maybe she really feels nothing for him at all beyond a supporter of his post as the emperor. (I still disagree with that though, but we have to entertain all possibilities.)
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Ah… Shuurei and Seiran. Tons of people voting for this one too. I can see why. They grew up together and it’s obvious Shuurei places complete trust in Seiran. She’s much more lax around him. And she’s definitely not afraid to depend on him. But to me, whenever I watch the anime, there just aren’t any sparks when they’re together. It’s sweet and admirable in a sibling kind of way. The love they have for each other is deep, something that can never be taken away from them, but it’s just not romantic to me. Does she love Seiran? Yes, certainly. Is she in love with Seiran? I really don’t think so. She depends on Seiran the way I used to depend on my own brother when we were younger. We were extremely close and I was totally relaxed and open with him too when we were hanging out. And I also knew I could trust him and depend on him for anything. Maybe that’s why I feel like Shuurei and Seiran will never have that big sparks flying-romantic-over-the-top-love-love-power with each other. Who knows. From what I’ve gathered thus far though, especially since Seiran has STILL not revealed to his ojou-sama that he is in fact the exiled second prince, it feels like the author has something else in mind for Seiran. He’ll always be a strong pillar of support for Shuurei… but he’s also her family. Sorry all you Seiran/Shuurei fans, but it’ll take something more to make me see a viable romantic love between these two.
Disclaimer: For those of you that might run around going yuck, she’s saying her relationship with her older brother was exactly like Shuurei and Seiran and therefore incestuous or something ridiclous, may lightning strike you dead wherever you may be located. That’s just too ridiculous to even find any humor in. And yes, it’s necessary to post this ’cause I’m anal retentive like that.
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Shuurei and Sakujun. Okay, Sakujun is a beautifully drawn bishounen. That being said, he also apparently died. Until I’m given hard proof that he’s more than a spirit wandering around, I won’t even bother to say Shuurei should or shouldn’t end up with him ’cause as far as I’m concerned he’s dead.
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Shuurei and Kouyuu. A political pairing. It’s not surprising they would be presented with this kind of proposal. Shuurei, an extraordinary woman going against all tradition by becoming a rising star in the political field! Kouyuu, a genius and the youngest person in his time to have passed the Imperial Examination, thus becoming a personal advisor to the Emperor himself! And a member of the prestigious Kou family to boot! It’s a match made in political heaven. I really don’t care about these two being together. I think it’d be a boring outcome honestly. I’d rather see Kouyuu hook up with Kouchou-sama.
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Shuurei and Ensei. Nope. Same lines as Seiran, only not as deep. Not going further with this.
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The bottom line about Shuurei right now is this: I’m frustrated with her. From the start of the series she’s been excellent. As a teacher, as a politician, and as a career woman. Everything falls neatly into her lap with her consistent persistence and admirable sense of wit laced with honor. She’s quite brilliant for a teenager. And, again, if you know anything about Chinese culture and how life was back then, she’s pretty damn amazing. Someone like her never even existed in reality, so I think the series is doing a pretty good job of making me not even care that something like this never would have happened in a million years back then. She executes her duties in a mature, industrious manner. Her plans are nothing short of incredible. Okay, great, fine, I accept that she’s is just that excellent so that nearly everything she touches turns to gold.
HOWEVER.
I’m a little bit bored with her. Why? Because I want her to grow up in other ways. I want her to develop the way Ryuuki is developing, the way Shouka is becoming more rounded out as we learn about his past, the way Seiran is opening up. She hasn’t yet. She’s still the same brilliant career-driven maniac we saw from page 1/episode 1. She made a teensy bit of progress with Sakujun. I think when they were together she may have even experienced sensations of lust, however small they may have been. He definitely struck me as being her first crush in any case. But even then she still pretended she wasn’t affected as best she could, just as she does with Ryuuki.
I want her to grow up in the intimacy department. I want her to learn that not everything is all work and that sometimes you have to depend on others to help you get through the day. I want her to allow herself to experience love because… remember that old saying… “It’s better to have love and lost then to never have loved at all”. I think experiencing these kinds of things will only serve to enrich her character.
I also want her to do something about that damned ignorance when it comes to the eight families, including her own. Her naiveté is going to bite her severely in the ass someday when it comes to this. In the novels she says so herself that she really isn’t interested in the politics surrounding the families and the royal court OR about their positions in society. Um… HELLO! This is not an option Shuurei! These kinds of things are intricately entwined when it comes to understanding politics and the way things are run! No one said she had to become corrupted by familial power or anything like that, but seriously the girl needs to open her eyes and take in everything that’s going on in the world around her, not just the tunnel in front of her that is her career. Right now I feel like she’s thinking of her career path as simply getting from point A to point B.
I love Shuurei. I really do. I just want more from her is all.
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Bottom line about these relationship debates: We, as fans, have absolutely no idea or say who Shuurei will end up with for sure. We can speculate, moan, gripe, complain, debate, and cajole all we want. But, since the story definitely seems like it’s nowhere near being finished, I honestly feel like it’s a lot of hot air blowing around, my own analysis included. For all we know the author could throw a dozen curve balls our way and completely knock us off kilter. Shuurei could die! Seiran could die! It could turn into yaoi! The point is, we just don’t know.
My fangirl dream is of course that Shuurei will marry Ryuuki and together they will change the face of ancient Chinese politics by having both husband and wife govern the country as equals. Talk about unrealistic, heh. Logic though, really tells me this:
We don’t know, so the best thing to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.
