[This is a repost of my LJ entry, with some added notes]

In other news, am reading the Saiunkoku novels. It’s actually, despite them being shorter and probably grammatically simpler than the LoGH novels, a harder row to hoe because I’ve seen the anime and I already know what is going to happen next; well, it’s not only that, but the way they’re written is already quite anime-like, being heavily dialogue-based, so I feel like I’ve already seen it before. So far, the first book seems then, very faithful to the anime, and although I was hoping for more background information, there honestly doesn’t seem to be that much that wasn’t put into the anime.

The swordfighting contest actually isn’t in the novel. Instead, the conversation that Ryuuki and Seiran have after the contest is placed at the end of the novel, before Seiran and Shuurei leave the palace.

Also, the scene where Shouka and Shou talk is placed chronologically later than the scene where Shou gives Ryuuki the antidote. I also thought (although I can’t really remember) that the discussion of the mechanics of Shou’s plot was more extensive. The things that Shou says after killing Sa Enjun in the anime are a compression of two scenes in the novel, the first being the one where he kills him, and a later one where he contemplates Sa Enjun’s death and how the manner of it was determined by him (Enjun). So, I thought that there you get a slightly different impression of Enjun than you do in the anime, in that you get a sense of more dimensions to him. But still, it isn’t directly mentioned why he wanted to die. (In that his true motivation, to root out the corruption of the Sa clan, is not directly mentioned. However, it is mentioned that the Sa clan, against Sa Enjun’s wishes, participated in the civil war. Also, both the Kou and the Ran clans stayed out of the conflict. It’s also mentioned that the Ran clan elders wanted to find the Prince Seien, but the current heads (Ran Shuuei’s brothers) were opposed to this. Also, unlike in the anime, Reishin is mentioned, though not by name, as having sent the silver cup to Shuurei via Kouyuu as a warning. )

In the afterword, the author thanks various people, and also says that she didn’t do much research, which is why no one has style names! XD (Azana, in Japanese)