There has been some confusion here, so I’ll try to clear it up a bit. There are twelve Saiunkoku light novels and now, three Saiunkoku gaidens, so now fifteen books in all. “Gaiden” literally means “outside story,” and in the gaidens are side stories/short stories. Most have been serialized in The Beans magazine. The Saiunkoku manga, on the other hand, is up to two volumes right now, but I’m not summarizing it here since people are translating it anyway.

Anyway, in this gaiden, two of the stories have appeared in The Beans magazine before, and the other is new material. BTW, can someone tell me where the stuff in the anime about Shouka and his great-aunt appeared? Also, I think this is pretty much the moment where the anime and the novels are going to “diverge.” (Well, not so much diverge as the novel story is continuing, whereas the anime will, I am speculating, stop at volume twelve. As it is, the new material is too relevant to what is probably going to happen in the next volume, IMHO, for a reader of the novels to skip this gaiden).

Also, thanks to everyone for your comments! I will try to respond to the questions later.

Ren’ai Shinan Soudatsu Battle! (Contest for Romance Guidance!)

This story takes place the winter before Shuurei passes the national exam. Governor Kai Yu (at this time, governor of Koku Province, and Eigetsu’s backer for the exams, later governor of Sa Province) has arrived at the capital for his yearly visit. Although he’s over eighty, he still possesses the charm, which, in his youth, made him popular among both women and men. He’s also famed official, on par with the three elders, and he’s also very kind and understanding.

Ryuuki is bemoaning his lack of success with Shuurei to Kouyuu (who mainly just listens). Anyway, the two head generals of the bodyguard (Plume Forest) army, Haku Raien and Koku Yousei, come to Ryuuki with a proposal: to encourage the troops, they’ll have a contest of skill, and the prize is Governor Kai’s romantic advice. Because the military officials spend so much time training, they have no chance to meet women, and so have become discouraged over their singleness.

Meanwhile, Shuurei learns from Kochou that there’s a special part time job. Feeling the need for cash for New Years’ celebrations, as she’s been spending so much time studying that she’s cut back on her part time work, she agrees, but learns to her horror that it’s in the Inner Palace. However, Shusui and the others don’t give her away, and they end up sitting with Shusui in the Tousenkyuu (later this is the place where Jyuusan-hime and Shuurei live in volume 11, a remote villa within the grounds of the Inner Palace), dressed up and doing nothing, even though Shuurei at first thought that Ryuuki had gotten into partying hard.

Ryuuki has decided to participate because if anyone needs romantic advice, it’s him; Shuuei was forced to by his boss, and Seiran enters because he’s caught wind of Shuurei’s special part time job and wants to keep an eye on her. The day of the contest comes. The two generals announce that because of the number of participants (officers from other armies were allowed to enter), they won’t be having a one on one contest. Instead, there will be three gates, the outer court, inner court, and inner palace, and at the end, those who survive will have to face them. But, they won’t have to defeat the generals, just get past them and grab a certain item. Then they tell the contestants to take a stick. On the stick is a task they must complete to get past the first gate, and there are also lucky blank ones. Some of the contestants also start fighting to increase their chances of winning, and a group attacks Shuuei. After defeating them, he finds that his task is to make Official Rou (of the ministry of rites, later the minister) smile, which he finally does by finding some cute baby animals. Ryuuki has to down ten cups of Shouka’s tea, which he’s used to doing anyway, and besides, his determination is strong! Seiran needs to pass Undersecretary Ouyou Gyoku’s fashion inspection, which he does. The other candidates are given various insane and impossible tasks, like stealing Houju’s mask, drinking with Minister Kan, etc.

The soldiers who’ve completed their tasks then move into the Inner Palace, where they’re tempted by the ladies in waiting. Most of them, because their motivation for entering the contest was to find a girlfriend, succumb. (Afterwards, there is an unprecedented amount of marriages between the ladies in waiting and elite military officials. XD) Finally, Ryuuki, Shuuei, and Seiran meet the Left and Right generals. Even if it’s three on two, because of their great skill, for even one to get past will be difficult.

But in the meantime, Shuuei’s subordinate, Officer Kou (no relation to Shuurei or Houju… it’s an entirely different kanji. You may also recall him helping Shuurei and Tantan in some later books. He looks young for his age and is exceptionally skilled with the bow) has drawn a very lucky stick. This stick enables you to, if you wait until the contest is almost over, pass uncontested to the final point by using the king’s secret passage. So he does this, and near the Tousenkyuu, shoots down a target as instructed, then enters the detached palace, where he meets Shusui, Kochou, and Shuurei; he’s too intimidated by the two famous beauties, so he goes to Shuurei, who hands him an item, an exchange diary, to be used along with the advice Governor Kai will give him later. He then leaves. Meanwhile, Sou Taifu has leaped out of nowhere, and misunderstanding matters, shot down everyone’s weapons with a large bow (throwing some extra axes to disarm the generals), leaving Ryuuki the only armed one. Seiran and Shuuei were of course willing to let Ryuuki have the prize, but then Officer Kou (no relation) runs in asking who shot the bow (as he heard it from the palace).

The next year, Ryuuki reminisces about the events of the last year, and Governor Kai again meets with him. Kai Yu notes that Shuuei and Kouyuu are, unlike last year, absent from Ryuuki’s side, but Ryuuki himself has not yet noticed the significance of these events. There are various small scenes of what the other characters are doing, and we go back to Ryuuki, alone, thinking about Shuurei and Seiran. As the last line, we shoot to when Shuurei appeared before Ryuuki at the court audience, back from Sa Province… seeing her face, smiling as always, he inwardly wishes to cry.

Commentary: This is amusing, but this story doesn’t really add much new info or plot development. I guess in a way, these short stories can’t advance the plot, only add background info, because they occur either in the past or in interstital moments (between events in the main storyline). But in this one, we don’t learn too much at all, or what we do learn is repeated by other events. I think the two generals will become more interesting when they have to decide whether to side with Son Ryouou or not, as the Secretary of the Military has thrown in his lot with his BFF, Ou Ki. I also hope we see more of Officer Kou (no relation) Kanshou. Possibly we shall next volume.

Otogibanashi no Hajimari (The Beginning of the Fairytale)

This story takes place the winter where Shuurei returns to the court for the New Year’s ceremonies, but suddenly has to instead prepare a relief expedition for the epidemic. However, thanks to Shouka’s copious flashbacks, you could say that most of the most interesting stuff takes place thirty years or so before. Actually, and perhaps somewhat annoyingly, I’d say this story reveals more important info than any other short story save the Suzuran No Saku Koro Ni one. Because it is simply too annoying to continue to skip baaack and forth, I’m going to commit some consolidation and switch some parts out of order. It won’t get rid of all the back-and-forthing, but I hope it will make things more comprehensible.

Here we’re introduced to two characters who died long before Shuurei was born, Ki-hime (Ki=demon’ this is a code name) and Kou Gyokukan. Ki-hime is the former head of the Wolves of the Wind, the elder sister of Ou Ki (which we learn in a later side story, but hurray for spoilers), and the woman Senka (hurray, now that we officially have a name, I can save typing space instead of writing ‘previous king’ or ‘Ryuuki’s father’) was in love with for his entire life (so in other words, holy parallel to current events?). Kou Gyokukan is Shouka’s great-aunt, but she seems to be a relatively youngish one, given that she has a daughter (Yuri-hime) who is younger than Shouka. She was previously a wife of Senka’s father, and was the best biwa player of the era.

Shouka recalls when his friend and fellow Wolf of the Wind, Hokuto, asked him why he left the Kou house. After awhile, he recalls his unspoken answer, ‘for a fairytale, maybe.’ The relationship between Hokuto and Kaito (Shouka’s name as a Wolf of the Wind: Hokuto is associated with the Big Dipper, Kaito refers to a part of the constellation of the Big Dipper, and means something like, the “leading star” or “chief star” (sorry, constellation terminology confuses me)) reminds me somewhat of the relationship between Ensei and Seiran, mainly because Hokuto reminds a bit of Ensei (he’s described as grinning widely in the same way). Hokuto isn’t mentioned in the anime, but he’s the deceased adoptive father of the two boys in the Sa Province arc. Read the novel two summary for more information. (And damn, after reading this story, I feel even worse for Shouka, because he never got to say goodbye to his friend).

We then get a flashback, to when Shouka is around five. Gyoukan is listening to him play the biwa, and at age five, he’s already extremely good at playing it. She says he is a kind, wise child, but also a sad one, because at his age, he no longer is innocent and carefree, because he has witnessed the struggles for power within the Kou family. She goes onto say that he is the one most characteristic of the Kou family, and thus he must protect the clan. Shouka smiles, but does not agree. Gyokukan also says that sound does not lie.

Shouka awakes in the archive (it seems he hardly needs any sleep). Shuurei has gone to Sa Province to face an epidemic, hostile crowds, death threats, and an evil cult. Shouka is spending most of his time worrying about Shuurei, who ironically, given that she is the daughter of a master assassin, has gone off to Sa Province vowing to avoid killing people. As he is untying his hair, he notices his hands are shaking with anxiety. He chides himself for worrying about trivial things, given that Shuurei is probably alright, especially with all of the help she has. Suddenly, he senses a vibration: Shusui is attempting to use her power, standing in a lake in the middle of winter. She has the Senrigan (thousand li vision. A li is a unit of distance), which allows her to see things far away. Shouka manages to stop her, and she passes out. In Kiyou, if one uses such supernatural powers, one runs the risk of going insane. Shouka calls for Shou Taishi, thinking that the blasted old man should make himself useful once in awhile. Shou Taishi, helpful as always, checks her and says that she’ll probably be alright with some rest. As he does this, Shouka thinks back to when he first met a thirty-ish Shou Taishi, and Shou Taishi says that probably the only people around now who would notice the breaking of the barrier would be Shouka and Uu Uu, because all the rest are no longer around. Shouka thanks Shou Taishi, but Shou rudely says that if he hadn’t stopped her, he would have known whether Shuurei was safe. In response to this, Shouka throws a knife near him.

After Shouka leaves, Kai Yu appears, and tells Shou Taishi that he’s childish, as always. He says Shou Taishi has probably ended up like this because he’s still single, and recommends him a self-help book. BTW, Kai Yu is the sort of guy who, when captured by enemies and tortured, didn’t say a word, and when the the previous Black Wolf came to rescue him, just said “you are beautiful as always.” He also says that well, maybe it wouldn’t help, because Eiki is unlikely to get with him, given her devotion to Enjun. Shou Taishi replies that he would never marry Eiki. Then Kai Yu moves the conversation along to Shouka, saying that Shou Taishi should be more understanding, because Shouka has lost all of the “adults,” and so has no one to turn to, and that the previous Black Wolf died too early. Also, neither Kai Yu nor Shou Taishi regrets turning Shouka into an assassin, because it was an age where nothing could be accomplished through fine words. Kai Yu then tells Shou Taishi that people are not perfect (at this, Shou Taishi wonders whether Kai Yu knows his secret), and that he should be nicer to Shouka and say that Shuurei is probably alright. Shouka carries a heavy burden, not even knowing how hard he’s working, being depended on by everyone.

Back in the archives, Shouka sees that he’s got to get those wet clothes off of Shusui, but she’s no longer a child, so he can’t just undress her. But Reishin pops in, so Shouka asks him if he’ll do him a favor. Somehow, Shusui ends up dressed in dry clothes and resting, while Shouka continues to consider the past. Apparently, at first Shusui seemed to have no powers, but later she developed them. Shouka pours some wine for Reishin, and they discuss Reishin’s laziness, and they disagree about something that I can’t understand, and Reishin says that Shouka is in a bad mood today. Shouka asks him if he remembers their great-aunt, and Reishin claims that he recalls that she favored Shouka over him, so that is in itself says something good. He then asks Shouka if he’ll play the biwa for him, but Shouka refuses. Shouka then goes into this whole speech about how he does exactly what he wishes, despite how much Reishin might ask him to stop being an assassin, that Reishin doesn’t lie to him, while he lies frequently to Reishin, Reishin does what he asks, while he doesn’t do what Reishin wants him to do, etc. Shouka asks Reishin why he likes such a terrible elder brother. (Basically, Shouka is, in his quiet way, even more willfull and stubborn than Reishin) Reishin says he can’t put it into words, and also, that although he can’t lie to Shouka, he does have some secrets from him. He says that Shouka has always been too highanded, just going off, breaking promises and telling lies, and then coming back with souvenirs.

Then Reishin begins to fall asleep (because Shouka drugged the wine; before he had been trying to get Reishin to go home and rest. However, Reishin drank it knowing it was doctored). However, he refuses to sleep before Shouka tells him that he likes him. Shouka then says that Reishin has found many people important to him, listing them, and finally does tell Reishin he loves him; Reishin says that the answer to Shouka’s question was that he knows “why” Shouka needs to tell so many lies, and that is why he and Kurou always waited, and are still waiting. Before Reishin falls asleep, Shouka asks him if he believes in fairytales, and Reishin says, only one before finally falling asleep. Shouka reflects that he is behaving strangely, saying all of those things to Reishin because of his worry over Shuurei, who also shares his stubbornness. Just like Shouka, she’ll rush out into danger, believing it’s the right thing to do. (Ah, so perhaps Shouka is finding out what it is like from the other side?) Shouka never apologized to his brothers, because apologizing has no meaning when you keep on doing the same thing over and over again. So instead, he thanks them for waiting.

Then, Shusui awakes. Shouka tells her that if anything had happened to her, both Shuurei and Ryuuki would be sad, probably especially because she was trying to help them. Shusui notices that someone changed her clothes, and asks about it… Thankfully, Shouka didn’t ask Reishin to help him undress Shusui. Instead he asked Reishin to call a lady-in-waiting and have her dress. Anyway, Shouka jokingly says that maybe he could have also asked Ran Shuuei to help, but Shusui is annoyed even by the mention of his name (Shouka thinks they fight like a married couple). Shouka recalls that Hokuto also helped take care of Shusui when she was a little girl, and that neither she nor Hokuto knew the previous Black Wolf. He promises that he’ll continue to protect Shusui agains the Hyou clan.

Oh, time for a flashback: After Shouka left his house, not even ten, he went to the capital, where he somehow met the previous king, Senka. This scene isn’t shown. Because the previous Black Wolf chose him as her successor, Senka allowed Shouka to live. She often lectured the king and held him back from doing violent deeds. She was the first person who allowed Shouka to cry. She also observed that Shouka did not understand himself, not knowing whether he was a cold or warm-hearted person. She also says that if Shouka had not come to the capital and become the successor, than in the near future, Senka would have probably killed Shouka and all of his brothers, even little Kurou, because they get along so well they probably would try to avenge the others. She also praises him for pretending to be stupid when he met Senka, as that saved him from immediate death. She then takes Shouka’s hand and thanks him, because if possible, she doesn’t want to kill children. For the first time, Shouka felt himself treated as a chld. Paradoxically, despite her kind nature, she was the one who would kill scores of people, while wishing for a peaceful age where high ideals could be carried out sincerely. She knew Shouka better than he knew himself, and he loved her like an elder sister.

Back to the present: Shusui has returned to the Inner Palace, and now Kai Yu visits Shouka. Shouka reminisces about the past, and wonders what would have happened had that person lived. However, Kai Yu tells him to stop, because if she had lived, she would have certainly killed “Bara-hime.” While trying to kill her, Ki-hime died, and for ten years after that, Shouka trained, hoping to carry out her mission and avenge her. Someone else was also strongly affected by her death, Senka. Her dying request was for Senka to construct a country where children wouldn’t cry, but while Senka sat on the throne to carry it out, he did so in a somewhat distanced way. To get rid of the corrupt princes and concubines, he allowed them to fight it out, even if it harmed the people, and he ignored the concubines who sincerely loved him.

Oh, and also, Shouka knew Ka Shin (the guy who raised Eigetsu: god, does everyone know each other in Saiunkoku?) They were opposite existences, one killing, the other saving. He also remarked that Shouka did not know himself. Ki-hime said that Shouka had too much leeway (I guess… he has too much range?) so he couldn’t grasp himself. He doesn’t realize his own kindness. Oh, we also learn that Shouka’s tea tastes awful because he fortifies it with too many healthful herbs. She tells Kai Yu not to tell Shouka about himself, in hopes that Shouka will eventually meet others who won’t be fooled by his lying kindness.

Then Shouka goes and meets Ryuuki: Ryuuki tells him that his father said that Shouka was a great biwa player, but would not play it for him. He said that if Ryuuki became a great king, Shouka would play the biwa for him. However, although things have improved enough so that Shuurei can be an idealistic official, Shouka still won’t play the biwa. Also, Shou Taishi is uncharacteristically nice and shows Shouka a secret missive confirming Shuurei’s safety.

Oh, yet another flashback: Shouka recalls picking out souvenirs for his brothers with Hokuto. Hokuto asks the question at the beginning of the story, and Shouka says it’s because Reishin stopped believing in fairytales, but Kurou still believed in them. Reishin just doesn’t believe in “happily ever after,” and insists that the brothers in the fairytale he was telling probably eventually fell out over the wealth, or the villagers killed them for their treasures. Hokuto is shocked that the realistic Shouka believes in fairytales. Irritated, Shouka smashes him over the head with one of the toys, and leaves the shop, meaning that Hokuto is stuck dealing with the angry shopkeeper. It seems that Shouka wants to believe in the one fairytale, that the brothers lived peacefully and happily ever after.

An even further flashback: Shouka, who isn’t even ten years old, is being kicked out by his father in the guise of “going off to study.” Shouka promises Reishin and Kurou that he’ll be back on a sunny day, after the rainy season. So Kurou says he’ll make lots of teru-teru bozu (those things in the illustration: a charm to prevent rain). But Shouka broke his promise, and it was a rainy day, over a year after he left, that he returned.

When he returns, he goes to Gyokukan, on orders to kill her. What happened was that Emperor Senka was biding his time, allowing Gyokukan room to hatch her treasonous schemes so that he could have leeway to thoroughly crush the Kou clan (not all the way, he intended to kill Shouka, Reishin, and even Kurou, and just tell their father to have more children). So in fact, Shouka says, rather than helping the Kou clan, Gyokukan was actually putting it in grave danger, and for this reason, she needs to die. He gives her a cup of poisoned tea. Gyokukan drains the cup and accepts her death, but only after Shouka promises her that he will see to it that the Kou clan continues in its present prosperity and glory. She also asks him to play the biwa as she expires. For the whole night, Shouka plays the biwa. Gyokukan tells him once again that sound does not lie. The sound of his biwa is like hers, a beautiful, murderous melody, the secret deathly biwa of the Kou family. Afterwards, Shouka sealed his biwa, and swore to no longer play, no matter how much his brothers asked him to.

And now for Reishin’s secret: Both he and Kurou were actually outside and heard Shouka playing the biwa. They also saw that Gyoukukan was dead, although Kurou, being just a little kid, thought that she was just sleeping. So, Reishin was just pretending earlier when he appeared to attach little significance to Shouka’s mentioning Gyokukan. Reishin tells Kurou that it is their fault that Shouka is crying, and that he alone has taken everything on himself to save them. They were too weak, which is why Shouka couldn’t keep his promise, so they must become stronger. Kurou should remember this sound, because it is for their sake. He then tells Kurou that if he doesn’t forget what he saw by tomorrow, Shouka will hate him, and Shouka will be Reishin’s alone. Kurou does forget by the next day. Since Shouka committed so many sacrifices to preserve their innocence, so that they wouldn’t change, Reishin forced Kurou to forget. However, Reishin has decided to remember, so that he can understand how difficult it is for Shouka to continue to lie and smile as always, and for whose sake he continues to lie. So, this is the way Reishin now thinks he’ll make the single fairytale he believes in come true.

Commentary: Well, if you wanted info on Shouka, you got it. XD However, we have yet to hear the story of ‘Bara-hime.’ This story vastly changed my idea of Shouka. I had never seen him as overtly a tragic character before, but he’s kind of… depressing. Right now, he’s around fortyish, yet is unable to grasp his true self (also, does anyone else feel that Shouka and Seiran have even more in common? Seiran, also, lacks self-knowledge despite having knowledge of others), having lost most of the people he looked up to, and having lied so much, he’s unable to be fully understood, even by the people who love him. Well, that’s for certain, given that he’s sealed away his biwa, which is analoguous to meaning that he’s committed to concealing his true self. Although at first in the novels I thought Shouka became the Black Wolf simply out of civic duty, this story reveals his far more personal reasons.

The older generation: Actually, I quite like Kai Yu. He seems to be a much more kind and adult person than Shou Taishi, who’s mean to Shouka for… huh, why is he even mean to Shouka? There seems to be no reason why Shou Taishi is such a jerk. -_- I’d like to see much more of the past in later gaidens. I’d also like to see much more of Ki-hime, especially her relationship with Shouka and hints on why she and Senka never got together. Did she feel she needed to support him as the Black Wolf? Did she not return his feelings? There seem to be some parallels between her and Shuurei, but in terms of personality, I think in many ways, Shouka did end up like her. (So that makes Ou Ki in a way like Reishin? Except Ou Ki actually feels responsibility as an official and is interested in political power.)

Reishin and Shouka: This is honestly the first time I felt really bad for Reishin, and for Shouka also. I am just not really sure if I can buy the idea that the best way to preserve idealism is through secrets and lies. It actually seems really odd that Shouka doesn’t know Reishin knows, given that it would be a really obvious explanation for his behavior, but Shouka really wants to believe that his brothers don’t know the truth about why he became an assassin. I’m wondering if some of this will come crumbling down. Will Shouka ever be able to play the biwa? It seems that what Shouka needs are people who are not fooled by him and know his whole self, and these people are all dying off (or they’re totally unsympathetic bastards, like Shou Taishi). The rest of the people close to him are dependents: he’s a father figure or elder brother to them, so he must protect them. And one of the things he must protect them against is who his is. But this way, unlike Ki-hime’s prediction, they cannot convincingly tell him who he is. (Well, obviously, right?) As for Reishin, a lot of people observe that he doesn’t really have an adult realtionship with his brother, but IMHO, that might be because Shouka is almost a parental figure for him, and he feels tremendously indebted to Shouka, in a way he can never pay back. However, this makes me think of something Ki-hime said in the story, which I didn’t put in because it puzzled me: she told Shouka that if he had people important to him, to not kill for their sake, but for his own sake, and not to make them into excuses for his killings. That line puzzled me at first. However, (my total interpretation) this seems to be that really, Reishin knows that Shouka killed for his sake, and that has possibly not had an entirely positive effect on him. So I mean, the book even says that even now, Reishin feels pain because of the ongoing situation with Shouka, so do they all believe that this is the happy end of the fairytale? Having read the story twice, I’m just not sure.

Kurou: Actually, this story makes me feel even more sorry for Kurou. He appears to be constantly disappointed in Shouka, and he doesn’t know what Shouka has done for him. Also, because he doesn’t know about Shouka’s sacrifice, and Reishin does, there’s a distance between him and his elder brothers, which certainly can’t have escaped him. Actually, it does seem really sad, that this means he doesn’t truly understand Reishin or Shouka, and both of them think this is doing him a favor. Are we supposed to think that Reishin made the right decision, to hide the truth from him forever? I can’t really tell, but if so, I’m not sure I agree. >_> Well, I mean, maybe the truth is a bit harsh for a toddler, but Kurou is now thirty and a responsible adult with his own children. 0_o But basically, I think I just disagree with Shouka, because I think if you think that people can’t live happily ever after, or believe that a better world is possible, without lies, fabrications, and cover stories, is that really faith, or just deceiving them?

tags>>saiunkoku