Can there be a third season after these last two books?
Warning, SPOILERS for all Saiunkoku novels up to this point.
I have to wonder whether there can be a third season after this latest book. They’ve removed so many of the hints and backstory which makes this arc make sense, so considering how much politics in here, it might turn into a rather confusing WTF plot in the anime. I’m not sure in the anime whether they have properly set up the development that Kouyuu did deserve to be removed from his position.
As I see it, so far the big things that make this difficult are:
1) You Shuu’s character design, and more subtly, how he’s portrayed as much more combatative with Reishin in the scenes in vol 10 than came off, IMHO, in the anime.
2) Kouyuu’s meeting with Reishin is directly contradicted by the anime. This one is pretty damn huge.
3) Since they didn’t animate Otogibanashi no Hajimari or Jigoku no Sada mo Kimi Shidai, the anime is missing a lot of the psychological stuff on Reishin, how he has this complex about being abandoned, and the entire character of Yuri is not only absent in the anime, but she isn’t even mentioned.
Potentially, as well, it may become a problem that they didn’t animate Seiran’s back story either, as that adds background to the Hyou clan as well.
tags>>saiunkoku
27 Responses for "Why I think it will be difficult for them to do a third season"
Well, they could start animating, couldn’t they. Though it does sound as though it would involve a lot of script-writing works.
Or could it be, that more storyline (hence novels) are necessary in order for there to be enough material for a new anime season?
Considering the ending of season 2, with it being wrapped up as best as it could be, I couldn’t help wondering too if it’s going to be left as that … =(
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charmian reply on May 2nd, 2008 10:15 pm:
What I meant, though, was that now there is a major contradiction between the anime and the novels.
Plus, recalling the ending of season 2, they did kind of imply MUCH more wrap up with the final scenes than are actually in the books.
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Thank you so much for the summaries, charmian. The wait for it is just soooo worth it
Season 3? With just the 13th main volume + less-popularly-read gaidens? I don’t think the animators want to go that far so fast. Anime-wise, the first 12 main books of Saiunkoku were created in 2 seasons. That means, ~6 books = 1 season. I would expect Yukino Sai to come up with more volumes of the main novels to substantiate a 3rd season creation. By the way her novels are churning out every year, maybe Saimono’s 3rd season news would pop up at earliest, say, year 2010?
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charmian reply on May 2nd, 2008 11:10 pm:
I wasn’t meaning that we would get a third season NOW, but I meant that when the next six books are published, some of these things might stand in the way. I’m just saying that because of the way the second season was wrapped up, it’s like the anime and the novels are now in contradiction.
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My line of thought is that we’re most likely to get three or four OVAS as opposed to a third season. OVAS aren’t as restricted by previous canon, and often don’t follow directly what has happened in the anime series. It seems like it’s fairly common for longish anime series to finish off with a few OVAS to complete the story, and it might work best for Saiunkoku. They could make it seem like the political issues arose between the last episode and the first OVA, and then they could release OVAs based around when the novels came out/use the gaiden stories.
If they did a third season now, they’d probably have to use a filler arc for the first half of the season. I’m one of the few people who like filler arcs, so that would make me happy. However, I think it’s easier to correct Kouyuu’s past in OVA form than it is in a new series.
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charmian reply on May 2nd, 2008 10:18 pm:
Eh… I have heard no word about OVAs, though. I’m kind of thinking of the case of 12K. There, the series has been dormant for a long time, but even though they could have made OVAs of the parts that aren’t animated, they never did. So I’m not sure Saiunkoku is quite popular enough to make OVAs.
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Oh, just had a thought. They could possibly work in Kouyuu’s past in the anime with his novel past by simply achnowledging in the anime that while that was the first time Reishin saw and intereacted with Kouyuu, he didn’t take him home until after the incident with Kouyuu being tied to the tree. They could say that Kouyuu was selling the flowers/working for his master, or that he was doing it in his free time to earn some money. It wouldn’t fit perfectly, but it could work.
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charmian reply on May 2nd, 2008 10:17 pm:
Yeah, but IIRC in the anime they actually show Reishin taking him home. Plus, isn’t it implied that it’s in Kiyou? Whereas Kouyuu was found in the middle of the mountains when he had previously been in a little village.
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Cairnsy reply on May 3rd, 2008 7:58 pm:
Oh, it won’t be perfect and there would still be some big holes, but I think they could write it so that there weren’t too many conflicting scenes, just a few.
If we get a third season OR OVAs, I really hope that we get all of his backstory and the birds especially. I found them so sweet and sad.
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The animators would find a way to get things done, I just hope they won’t ruin the impression they gave in sticking as close to the novels as much as possible.
maybe they’d do something like what has been done to Kyou Kara Maou…
before season 3 was released, they did 5 fillers in order to get things back on track.
I’d guess they’re gonna take their time and have all the novels get done before starting with the new season.
Whatever happens next, only they know.
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charmian reply on May 3rd, 2008 8:05 am:
I think the problem is as much one of mood. In the anime ending, things seem pretty positive, whereas in the books, Ryuuki comes back praying it’s not too late, and now they seem to be struggling more and more.
But yeah, adding on supplementary explanation might be a good idea, especially if Ouyou Gyoku and Kan Hishou become more central characters, as they were cut from the anime. We already have people complaining about You Shuu and Shiba Jin looking somewhat tacked on, and Ouyou Gyoku is going to look super tacked on if he suddenly pops up.
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you’re right about the discrepancies between Koyou’s past in the anime and his past in volume 13…and about Yuri…and Yu Shuu….
The anime has a lot less of the political stuff that doesn’t deal directly with Shuurei or Ryuuki, which makes it hard now for the writers to incorporate all the other background stories if they do decide to make a season 3.
If they do decide to make a volume 3, I guess they can change the story a little bit so it would all fit nicely….or they can take out the whole Koyou’s past and foster parents altogether.
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charmian reply on May 3rd, 2008 8:21 am:
Yes, that’s what I was trying to say! I also think the characterization of You Shuu is in conflict with his characterization in the anime.
Yep. I think they probably cut out most of the references to Anju, Kouki, and Seiga’s pasts. Which if they don’t try to augment for that somehow, will make the part when this is inevitably explained by the author come completely out of the blue if they animate that.
Eh…. But that makes the birds just seem totally random? And, it ruins the part where Reishin explains the real reason why he picked up Kouyuu.
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If they do decide to have season 3….they can sort of take ‘deleted’ scenes which originally belonged in season 2 and incorporate them in season 3….you know, like scenes of Anju or Seiga or whoever’s was left out in season 2…..and just kinda put them somehwere in season 3…though it still might not make a lot of sense in terms of time or sequence of events…
Regarding the birds….yeah, if they do a season 3, I can kinda see them making the birds just random…and probably take out the whole reason why Reishin took Koyou..which sucks. Or….they can fit it in somewhere since they never really explained in the anime why Reishin took Koyou, except for the fact that they thought he did it because of Shouka and Seiran…
I really don’t mind not having a season 3. I can live with just summaries and translations…I just want to know what ultimately happens to this story because it seems that the author has gotten herself in a bit of a bind and I’d like to see her get out of it without turning the story into something really cheasy… LOL.
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charmian reply on May 4th, 2008 6:59 am:
Mmm, but some of the scenes do have a chronology to them. Especially now that Reishin has left the scene.
I don’t think they can take that out, really. It’s too big of a part of the entire plot.
Eh… Yeah, I don’t really mind not having a season 3, but that’s because I read the books. If I didn’t read them, I would probably want one.
I know, she just keeps making holes for herself. It’s quite interesting, but I’m really beginning to wonder how she’s going to extricate herself.
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malwethien reply on May 5th, 2008 10:42 pm:
I really want the author to end the story in a well-written way…I mean the last thing I want to see is to have something magical or miraculous happen which will let everyone live happily ever after….kinda like introducing a “deus ex machina.” I’m worried that it might be where she’s going…
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charmian reply on May 5th, 2008 11:36 pm:
Yes. I’m worried about this as well. What she has to do IMHO is make everything have to be “right” more than magical happy happy happy ever after. Not that I want a tragic ending, I just want something that is satisfying!
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malwethien reply on May 5th, 2008 11:55 pm:
Exactly. Whether it turns out tragic or happy…it doesn’t really matter, just as long as it follows the original path the story was headed and that it happened in a believeable way.
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I mux admit they missed out alot but i think the anime is pretty good itself. They may be able to add those info in.
However, even there’s a 3rd season, i doubt it’ll be soon. I mean the new book has just been out so the later plots are difficult to animate w/o the novels out. Maybe they can do some OVAs to focus on a story like Reishin and Yuri-hime something lik that. ^^
Still, don’t we all agree that as compared to others adapted from novels, Saiunkoku turned out pretty well rite? Hehe =)
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charmian reply on May 4th, 2008 6:57 am:
I think 12K was pretty good, actually. Saiunkoku turned out fairly well, even if it was a bit slow at times, and some of that might not necessarily be the fault of the animators.
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Lacking source material has never stopped episodes from being produced for anime. We’ve seen that for other series e.g., Full Metal Alchemist whose anime has totally diverged from the manga continuity, Rurouni Kenshin had about 30 ‘filler’ episodes made which were not manga based to give the author time to finish the chapters being currently written.
While I do hope that there eventually will be a season 3, I really would wish they’d wait for the books to be written.
However, I wouldn’t mind seeing some OAVs made of the Gaiden stories.
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charmian reply on May 5th, 2008 11:35 pm:
Ah… but this post was never about how lacking source material wasn’t a problem. XD What I meant was that the contradictions between the anime and the novel were a problem.
But yes, I really really really do not want filler.
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I have to agree that there’s going to be a lot of problems with trying to reconcile the differences. I honestly don’t really want there to be another season if only because they’d either have to rectify all the differences or be forced to make a different storyline. The Kouyuu back story really presents a problem in this because it makes the entire arc from the beginning a problem. I always found that the anime version of Kouyuu’s childhood to be really strangely inconsistent with the way Kouyuu grew up. He seemed more hostile and distrusting, where the Kouyuu in the books was always a sweet child deep down despite his anxieties.
But the changes are really so dramamtic, that I even had to warn my friend not to take the anime version of events seriously!
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charmian reply on May 8th, 2008 3:30 pm:
I agree. I think this development has kind of jossed a lot of the Kouyuu fanfic writers in Japanese fandom, because it really clarifies so much of his psychology, esp. as regards Reishin. They’ll get over the jossing, though. XD
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I think I agree with you and I am thinking OVAs
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OVA might really be a key to solve the too much flashbacks and gaiden materials issues.
That will also lessen the awaiting for a true S3 which so far the author wrote only one book worth of plot with 5 more to go for a full 39 ep S3.
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I think it’s not posisble for them to go on without changing the plot in the last 2 books somewhat, or doing OVAs (and quite a few of them) to cover the gaps.
Koyuu’s meeting with Reishin is totally wrong like you mentioned, though I am guessing most Saiunkoku anime viewers in Japan might also be fans of the novel and already know they info. Who knows they might be able to just gloss over it anyways.
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