Deep within the inner palace lives a special consort who does not serve the emperor despite her
position as a consort. She is known as the Raven Consort. People who have seen her say she looks like
an old woman, while others say she looks like a young girl. Stories tell of her use of mysterious
arts, and how she can take on any request, be it death curses or finding lost things. Koushun, the
current emperor, goes to visit the Raven Consort with that intention. Without knowing that their fated
meeting will become a taboo that will overturn history.
(Source: Shikkarito)
After watching this show, I can confidently say these aesthetics were among my favourites of the year. The character designs were amazing, especially for Shouxue/Jusetsu, but for most of the characters as well. It captured the spirit of a period drama quite well, though I’m not sure the episodic nature of the show really helped it. While the world-building was really quite superb, there could have been more that could have been done to make this even better, perhaps more episodes would have flesh this world out even more. STORY: In a way, it felt like a “mystery of the week” type of series, with a new conflict being introduced almost every episode, and the episode ending off in the conflict being resolved. With many mysteries packed in one show, the quality of each mystery ended up being quite hit or miss, as some stories were very engaging, while some did not interest me at all. There simply felt like there was a lack of time to flesh out each story to make it memorable, so it felt rather rushed at points, with the more lore-heavy stories. If you’re a fan of period dramas though, you’ll probably like this quite a bit. ART: I loved the art style, and it was probably the most beautiful work I’ve seen from Bandai Namco Pictures, although the animation itself wasn’t all that standout with the limited movement at times. MUSIC: The music was quite nice, especially the OP and ED, which both were very memorable. The soundtrack itself is decent, fitting for the style of the show. CHARACTERS: While I admired the character designs, the characters themselves for the most part did not feel very intriguing to care about to a high degree. Shouxue was probably the most standout of the bunch, as she explored the meaning of what the Raven Consort is and her past, while needing to help others with their problems. The emperor, Gaojun, just doesn’t feel like an emperor you’d often see in period dramas, but he was a fine character, although I wish we knew even more about him after the first few episodes. The side characters have their moments in the story, but other than a select few, there weren’t many memorable things to take away from them. ENJOYMENT: Bit of an up and down series for me. I wish I could have liked this more. THEMATIC EXECUTION: Once again, the execution is a hit or miss as well. Some of the stories were executed beautifully, while some went by too quick for me to care. The emotional weight is good at times, and meaningless at others. I wish it was a bit more consistent. OVERALL: I did like enough of this show to give it a light recommendation, and if you enjoy Chinese period dramas, you might enjoy this show as well. Overall, just too much crammed into a show to make it meaningful, so it had its ups and downs, but in terms of how it looks, it looks very nice. It’s perhaps a hidden gem worth your time if you enjoy this genre.
My quick review would have to say this is a pretty decent period drama, with some mystical elements involved as well. With reincarnation and magic and spirits and such. It has plenty that could be exciting or interesting, and plenty of ways it could develop. But I can't say it ever really did do all that much for me. I left each episode just kinda disappointed, or feeling like I wish more was happening in the story. More progress was happening, or more story was being given. Generally the show followed a pretty simple theme, solving a different event or mystery each episode or every 2 episodes about. And those events are vaguely related to a larger main story that is being told over the season. It worked well enough, each story was interesting and enjoyable. And none of them I really hated in any way. But I do feel like they weren't strong enough to develop a main story really, a main story existed and was wrapped up. But it felt very much like an afterthought, and didn't have nearly as much development as I would have hoped. Much of the development that happened involved the main character, Raven Consort Jusetsu getting closer to a couple main servants along with the Emperor Koushun. On the Emperor side of things, it seems like it will eventually lead to some form of romance in the future. But at the moment is really isn't anything I would call romance, more like a close friendship at the most. As for her servants we have Jiujiu and Ishiha who end up assisting her pretty closely. Along with the main security guards of Sei, Kai, and Kei. All of them have various roles to play, from being general enuchs to attendants. But I can't say any of them had all that much development at all over the story, they are largely the same characters from the start to finish. With the except perhaps being Ishiha who Jusetsu directly assisted and allowed to join her side. All of this is presented with some decent visuals, it never hurts the show by being bad I would say. But I don't know if it ever takes that next step to looking really good. It kinda just hits that average point that I would say the show is just fine. Though the visual style is a bit different than most shows, so it does have that going for it. Something I don't really have anything to say about are the voice actors or the music in the show. I don't think any of it really stood out in any way to me. The OP and ED was just fine, but not something I would seek out to watch separately from the show. Honestly all together it was a perfectly fine show. I don't think it does anything special, nor would most people seek it out to watch and enjoy. But if you wander into the show during a rewatch of the Fall 2022 season, you could do worse.
~~~ __[NO PLOT SPOILERS]__ #__Overview__ Raven of the Inner Palace, or Raven, as I've nicknamed it, has a historical Chinese setting but was produced by Japanese.... Studio? Company? Not sure which word best fills the blank, but you get the point. I was surprised at first, as I didn't know that when I started it. It's episodic, with each mystery unfolding over a few eps as Shouxue (MC) investigates and cracks the case. As my mom and I watched, we agreed that this show was very similar to [The Story of Saiunkoku ](https://anilist.co/anime/957/The-Story-of-Saiunkoku/). If you've seen that one, you'll know what to expect from Raven. #__The Good/Positive__ It's been super long since my mom watched anime (She retired from anime watching years ago sadly), so when I showed her Raven, I was happy that she was interested in it. I enjoyed watching this together with her, and that was the main reason why I stuck with this show. Otherwise I might've just watched ep 1 and run. The art style is pretty good. Seeing a historical Chinese setting was refreshing as I'm mostly used to Japanese ones or fantasy world settings. Everything looks like it definitely belongs in the setting. No "oops out of character" issues here! And when they tell the backstories of each case, it looks very folk tale -y. Really suits the mood. Points added. There are bits of humor here and there, lightly sprinkled throughout, so it wasn't too serious. And imo? Super serious shows aren't as fun as one with laughs. At some parts it(the stories in the mysteries) felt deep and connected, but I'm not dwelling to heavily on that feeling because idk if I felt that way because of the show or the bonding time. But it does get a bit touchy touchy, moving, etc at some bits. Wholesome? Perhaps but not really. This show has good character development. Shouxue from ep 13 is a totally different person from Shouxue from ep 1. In a good way. It's nice to see that things have changed, and it's not like a "no different from when the show first started" kind of thing. Points added. #__The Bad/Negative__ As I might’ve mentioned already, the main reason why I stuck with this show was that I wanted to watch it with my mom. I only watched the first ep out of curiosity, and because I was bored at the time. I literally wouldn’t have finished the show or gone past ep 2 if she didn’t care for it, if I didn’t persuade her to watch it with me. From a glance, I thought that this show wouldn’t turn out to be my thing. And I wasn’t totally wrong. Raven was mild. I stuck with it just to increase my anime count, and for the bonding time. It’s not something that would stand out too much, other than being a little more interesting than the Story of Saiunkoku. And interesting my mom, but her taste is pretty different from most people here. (After all, her favorite anime of all time is [*Vampire Knights*. ](https://anilist.co/anime/3457/Vampire-Knight/)*shudders*) I will admit that I did want to watch of my own volition a few eps in, so it did interest me, but the first impression wasn’t impressive enough. And if you’re like me, testing out the first eps of anime to see if you’ll watch it or not, you know that first impressions are important. Points deducted for unimpressive first impression. My main issue with this series? The romance. Now, I understand that this show doesn’t have any romance tags in it, but my mom and I were kind of expecting it. What is the point of hinting at love between Shouxue and Gaojun, if they don’t even feel it? They dropped quite a few hints, but the two never got any further than friends. Or really close friends. Very disappointing. Points deducted. #__Do I Recommend?__ Not so much. There are better historical animes out there. But if you happen to be fond of - Episodic shows - Mysteries - Supernatural stuff - Chinese settings - Sorcery You just might like it. (And sorry for bringing up my mom so much instead of talking about my opinion, but it was a big deal to me. She hasn't seen a single anime in *years*. It's only natural that I try to bring her back to anime) ~~~
Man, the fall 2022 season has put out a lot of female-led anime, hasn't it? And a lot of said female lead characters are actually treated with respect and important to the plot rather than just simply being eye candy. I mean, we got stuff like _Bocchi The Rock, Gundam: The Witch From Mercury, Do It Yourself!!_, and the subject of today's review, _Raven of the Inner Palace_. I don't really remember how I first discovered this, but thought the premise seemed interesting. Parts of it reminded me of _Saiunkoku Monogatari_, which is also a Japanese-animated Chinese period drama, though _Raven of the Inner Palace_ is more of an episodic mystery series. We don't get a lot of Japanese-animated shows about Chinese characters much anymore, though I think part of that is because China has started putting out their own donghua in recent years, so _Raven of the Inner Palace_ is a breath of fresh air in an era saturated with nothing but isekai stuff. But I woefully underestimated just how invested in this show I'd wind up being, because _Raven of the Inner Palace_ is a damn fine anime. In a fantasy version of imperial China, deep in the inner palace, rumors tell of a mysterious consort known as the Raven Consort. Despite her title, she doesn't serve the emperor, and legends say that she can wield mysterious arts to fulfill any request, be it finding lost items or putting curses on people, all for a fair price. Xia Gaojun, the newest emperor, visits the Raven Consort, a young woman by the name of Liu Shouxue, with intent to find information on someone who died. Neither Gaojun nor Shouxue know that their fated meeting will become a taboo that will not only overturn history, but expose the truth behind just what the Raven Consort really is. As far as animation goes, _Raven of the Inner Palace_ has a very subdued yet pleasing art style. It's not exactly the flashiest or most dynamically animated show out there, and compared to other shows coming out around the same time as this, one could easily call it subpar. But what Raven lacks in dynamicism and vibrancy, it manages to make up for with good, down-to-earth character designs and creative storyboarding. While the series is very dialogue heavy and relies quite a bit on telling rather than showing, probably to save on animation costs, Raven manages to get creative with it by making use of cut-out shadow puppet imagery whenever a character repeats stories told them by others. To quote another reviewer, they bring the tales to life, cleanly splitting reality from legend and showing how rumors oversimplify and contort, turning people into archetypes. The series also spends a lot of time exploring the nature of rumor and how it clashes with reality, so it’s wise of the adaptation to highlight those divides in its visuals. The character designs are also pretty distinct as well, with the outfits fitting the time period without going overboard with ornamentation. Shouxue in particular is drawn with a particular delicacy that really highlights her ethereal nature in lieu of the fact that she's just a teenage girl thrust into a destiny she didn't quite want. Speaking of the characters, the main cast is delightful to watch. All of them have their own distinct personalities and goals, and subtly change and develop over the course of the series. Shouxue in particular is the main backbone of the series, and the producers were careful to empathize that even though she's both revered and feared as this mysterious sorceress, she's still just a teenage girl trapped in a patriarchal society full of power imbalances, court politics, and generational oppression. Though she's been trained since childhood to act a certain way, whether to keep herself safe or hide her inner turmoil, Shouxue is still shown as being a compassionate person who willingly goes out of her way to help others, even at personal cost, so any loyalty and praise she does receive actually feels earned here. This is in stark contrast to another series that came out in the same season, _Bibliophile Princess_, which seemed way more interested in shilling the main character Elianna as this awesome Mary Sue who can do no wrong while never letting her do anything herself, outright removing important aspects of her personality that made her feel more well-rounded, and claiming she supposedly did a lot of awesome things while never bothering to actually show her actually doing them on screen. Raven's story, themes, and their execution are much better handled here than _Bibliophile Princess_. In the latter, any attempts the show made at political intrigue fell completely flat because all of it mainly consisted of women being ridiculously petty and catty towards Elianna, often for really stupid reasons, and their stories made no effort to even be somewhat subtle or compelling in any way. Elianna's views were never challenged, its themes were surface-level at best, and none of the other characters had much personality or depth beyond their main archetype. Raven goes out of its way to show how strict monarchies, their ridiculous policies, and systemic failures hurt people, both rich and poor, even for generations, which can lead to a culture of constant deceit and backstabbing, among many other things. Sure, I bet there are other series that have tackled similar premises, and executed them better in some cases, but really, what was the last anime that's about Chinese court drama and politics that came out in the last thirty years? The only one I can think of off the top of my head is _Saiunkoku Monogatari_, which aired from 2006-2008 over the course of 78 episodes. If there are others that came out after that, do feel free to correct me, but in this era of non-stop isekai saturating the anime market, it's honestly refreshing to see an anime like _Raven of the Inner Palace_ in this day and age. That being said, as much as I want to praise this anime as being the best thing ever, several things hold it back. For one: the opening theme song. The song itself isn't bad...but the guy they brought in to sing it has this really obnoxious voice that not only clashes with the show's tone and atmosphere, but is just really annoying to listen to. I almost feel like the opening theme would have been better off if they had gotten someone with a nicer voice to sing it. The ending theme is much better in this regard and fits the feel of the show much better, as does the rest of the soundtrack. Also, show, was it really necessary to repeat the same narration at the beginning of literally EVERY SINGLE EPISODE?! We get it! We know what the Raven Consort is! We don't need to have that opening narration bashed into our heads in every episode, for God's sake! Your viewers are smarter than you make them out to be! Plus, there's one character who initially starts off as a villain, but after a certain point, the show hastily tries to write him as a tragic victim out of nowhere, seemingly forgetting about his previous malicious actions, making it really hard to sympathize with him. Furthermore, the anime ends on a fairly open-ended note, and it only covers a few volumes of the light novels. Luckily, Seven Seas announced that they're going to release the light novel series in North America in 2023, and since it's complete at seven volumes, you'll be able to read the entire series when it all comes out. Raven of the Inner Palace isn't necessarily the flashiest anime, and we all know it'll likely never reach the level of popularity other series like _Chainsaw Man, Jujutsu Kaisen, Spy x Family_, and Demon Slayer achieved, but if you're into court dramas and artsy mysteries, or just want a Saiunkoku Lite, definitely give _Raven of the Inner Palace_ a shot. I did, and I don't regret it one bit.
I love supernatural mysteries and supernatural stuff in general. I especially love the specific subcategory, where people go to a shop or a hotel or something to have their problems solved. I don't care if its' dark or lighthearted, completely episodic or if there's an overarching plot. Raven in the Inner Palace looked like it would be my type of show, especially with the gorgeous aesthetics, and I am so glad I wasn't wrong. Deep within the inner palace, the mysterious Raven Consort lives. She may be a consort, but she doesn't serve the emperor, and instead she is fabled to hold a host of supernatural powers and is the subject of many rumors. The Raven Consort can take on any request, be it finding lost things or inflicting painful curses. The current emperor approaches Shouxue, the current Raven Consort with a supernatural case which requires her to step outside of the inner palace. Little do the emperor and Shouxue know, but this will be the beginning of a great change. Shouxue has been taught to desire nothing and remain alone as the Raven Consort, but she finds herself forming bonds with others. I loved this anime. I enjoyed each and every mystery and how many of them tied to both Shouxue and the emperor's pasts, as well as the lore of the world. Shouxue's character growth over the course of the mystery as she learns how to properly interact with others. I was expecting this to be an episodic mystery series with an emphasis on Shouxue's growth as a person. In my mind, it was going to be something along the lines of Natsume's Book of Friends. However, there was a deeper plot involving the origins of the Raven Consort and her relationship with the emperor. I'm very curious to see how this pans out in the future, since this didn't adapt the whole story. Going into the series, I wasn't expecting to want to keep up with the LNs, but, after I finished it, I wanted to buy them once they're officially released this year. I'd also like to see more about the characters' pasts and how they were shaped, since I found the backstories shown to be very compelling. I adored Shouxue. She was very endearing to me, since she's very quiet and introverted, but she's also feisty and independent. She lacks the proper social skills and has a harder time understanding people's emotions due to being isolated for almost her entire life. However, she shows a lot of compassion towards others and actively tries to help people. Gaojun, the emperor, I didn't like as much. He was very serious, likely due to his childhood trauma. I just never got a feel for who he was as a person. However, for some reason it didn't bother me as much. I have a feeling that he will get explored a bit more if there is a second season. Jiujiu, Shouxue's lady in waiting, was also a fun character to watch. I found her cheerful and stubborn personality to be compelling. As for the eunuchs, Onkei, Eisei, and Tankai, they didn't stand apart from each other very much. Tankai was more of a background character, but he seemed to have potential to be a charismatic character if given more screentime. Onkei and Eisei I got mixed up, and I only can tell them apart because Onkei has a scar and wears green, while Eisei wears black. I found Eisei's backstory to be interesting, but I wish the two characters had more personality to set them apart. There wasn't much romance, which made me relieved since the emperor didn't have enough personality to stand on his own, and instead it built more on a platonic relationship. I genuinely think having them develop character chemistry as friends was the right step. It allows them to learn to rely on each other and figure out what they like about each other. I think this might just be me liking natural slow burns, though. The aesthetics were beautiful and impeccable. The color palettes and outfits were beautiful, and the atmosphere really captured Chinese court life. It reminded me a bit of The Apothecary Diaries. The women in the series have such beautiful and distinct character designs. Shouxue and Jiujiu have such lovely, recognizable designs. However, the male characters suffer from same face syndrome. I had a hard time telling the eunuchs apart, and Gaojun had the same face as most of them. It could get confusing, but at least I always knew which one was Gaojun. I had a great time with this series, and I feel like it was one of the strongest shoujo anime of 2022. If you like supernatural mysteries, historical dramas, or even just pretty art, I strongly recommend this series. I was expecting to enjoy it, but I was surprised by just how much. I actually didn't know much about LN's for women until these recent adaptations, and series like Raven of the Inner Palace are compelling me to check them out.