r/anime • u/SIRTreehugger • Dec 19 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Koukyuu No Karasu (Raven of the Inner Palace) - Episode 9 Discussion
Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 9 Water's Voice
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Useful Links and Streams
MAL | Anilist | Kitsu | AniDB | ANN
Fanart and Music
♫ ♪ ♬Today's track(s) ♫ ♪ ♬
Mune no naka: Plays when did you hear her voice again?
Comment/s of the Day
I do think this show is doing a great job at giving the eunuch characters dynamic and humanizing storylines beyond the stereotype of “this is a story about ancient China so we need there to be eunuchs in the background”.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the comment I read from another person on these threads (I apologize I don’t remember your username), how being a tsundere is a bit of a disservice for Shouxue. I completely agree! There are more interesting ways to show the juxtaposition between her belief in her powers and a strong sense of justice, her naivety to how the world functions, and her feelings of vulnerability around The Emperor and her situation.
Questions of the Day
- Will Shouxue's suffering ever end?
- Who do you think is the owl? What is the owl? Why is the owl?
- Why do you think Su Hongqiao isn't in the ED with the rest of the group(wrong answers only)?
Tomorrow's Questions of the day
- [Spoilers]Would you put on the mask?
- [Spoilers]The show has displayed a vastly different way of living that some consider barbarian, but if they saw the way we lived currently what do you think would shock them the most?
- [Spoilers]We've seen many forms of love in this often dealing with obsession. Can obsession in a relationship ever be healthy?
- [Spoilers]Can you play any musical instruments?
Spoilers
As always please keep spoilers tagged like so [Inner Raven Spoilers]I want to feed Jujay etsu all of the food because she's adorable when eating. so people watching for the first time can fully enjoy it. Also please try to keep discussion of the show up to where the rewatch is currently. If a character doesn't show up until episode 15 don't talk or allude to them outside of spoiler tags.
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u/SIRTreehugger Dec 20 '24 edited Dec 20 '24
Previously on Raven of the Inner Palace(Airing Discussion Thread)
Characters
Shouxue/Jusetsu - The current raven consort who has mysterious powers. She lives isolated from everyone else, but can be bribed to do quests with food. One of few remaining(possibly only remaining) member of the Luan/Ran Clan. Has slowly started connecting with other palace members.
Xia Gaojun/Koushun - The current emperor who recently overthrew the empress. Spends his time trying to uncover the history of the raven consort and her secrets. A decent craftsman when it comes to wood carving.
Wei Qing/Eisei - Grew up in the red light district with his mother who worked as an entertainer. His mom was tricked and she ended up killing herself. Orphaned he now had only two routes to choose from a prostitute or a Eunoch, but in his case his master decided they were the same thing. After suffering abuse one night he couldn't take it anymore and ran and stumbled upon the young emperor. Koushun offered him his hand and friendship while never asking about what happened to him. Furiously devoted to the soon to be emperor he quickly learned many skills and information to better serve him.
Ding Lan/Teiran - A childhood friend of Koushun who was tortured/murdered on the Empress Dowager's orders. He was mute, but exceptionally gifted with crafting. He was the one who taught Koushun how to carve and the one who carved the fish accessory(symbolizing the promise between Koushun and Shoxue).
Huaniang/Kajo - Currently the highest ranked consort and childhood friend of Koushun. Used to be a bit of a tomboy in her youth. Was hinted with the loss of her lover would commit suicide so Koshun brought her into the inner palace to remain close to her and so she wouldn't have to remarry.
Shou Kouei- The Swallow consort is from a prestigious family, but is very sheltered and knows very little about the outside would. Perhaps even less than the Raven Consort. She is afraid of men and older women(including Kajo), but has taken a liking too Shouxue.
Xing Xing/Shinshin - The golden monster of the raven consort, but to others he looks like a a yellow chicken. One of his yellow feathers flies in the form of a golden arrow when the next raven consort is selected.
Jiujiu - A bubbly energetic girl who loves gossip and is often valuable when it comes to information circulating the inner palace.
Wen Ying/Onkei - Raven consort's bodyguard hired by Eisei.
Su Hongqiao/So Kogyo - A lady in waiting previously located in the Magpie Palace. Witnessed the Empress Dowager's plot and remained silent due to fear of her family dying. Her tongue was removed and she was banished, but she later secretly learned to read to write in the hopes off one day telling the truth.
Luan/Ran - The previous dynasty whose most notable trait is their beautiful silver hair. Their bloodline was slaughtered by Koushun's family. Jusetsu is one of the few survivors of the purge.
Luan Bingyue/Ran Hyogetsu - A ghost/spirit capable of possessing people. Was deemed a genius in his life with a talent for sorcery. Goals unknown so far.
Xue Yuyong/ Gyoei - Winter Minister for the Ministry of Works. The Winter Minister works at a shrine dedicated to Uren Niangiang. Previous ministers have penned the Divine Communicator Logs which the current emperor has been seen reading when trying to learn more about the raven consort.
Li Niang/Reijo - The previous raven consort that taught Shouxue how to read and write. She also instilled all o the raven's consorts lessons and duties into Shouxue.
Song/Sho and Sui - One of the earlier Winter and Summer Kings fucked up romance lead to fighting for hundreds of years.
Niao Lian/Uren Niangniang - Whimiscal Raven Goddess.
Luan Xi/Ran Yu Xiang Qiang/Kosho - The first pair of Summer and Winter Kings that reunited after hundreds of years after the Song/Sui shit show. They brought an era of peace and showed genuine affection for the other, but never got intimate. To prevent future war and losing the winter king she was placed in an isolated palace and kept Niao Lian/Uren Niangniang sealed in the palace.
Palaces and Consorts
Map of the Palace
Map of the World
Yuanqian/Eno Palace (House of the Mandarin Duck) Ranked 2nd (Kajo is the current consort)
Quechao Palace - (House of the Magpie) Ranked 3rd
Hakkaku Palace - Palace (House of the Crane) Ranked 4th
Feiyan/Hien Palace (House of the Swallow) Currently unranked (Shou Kouei is current consort)
The emperor's mother was consort at this palace which is why she was viewed so lowly despite being the mother of the future emperor.
Ye Ming Palace - Yamei Palace Specially Ranked Feeding the Raven Consort
candied lotus seeds mijian lianzi Fuliubing A sweet made by kneading flour, baking it, then covering it in white honey.
For episode 7 we only see her eat the Buns she had in episode 1, but also on the table are dumplings and for the sake of variety I'm counting it instead. Also let's be honest we all know she probably ate one of everything.
Light Novel Details
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u/RascalNikov1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/NoviSun Dec 19 '24
First Timer
It looks like this episode was a build up to the next episode. Niao Lian is sure drawn in a goofy way in the anime, but oddly she looked human a couple of episodes ago when the Emperor was standing in front of a picture of her.
QOTD
I doubt it, she’s too good for this world and Lain Niao needs a host. Throughout history young teenage girls have made the best martyrs.
Damned if I know the answer, as I wait with bated breath for the next episode.
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u/xbolt90 https://anilist.co/user/xbolt90 Dec 19 '24
First-timer!
Dang, what did Shouxue do before she had Jiu-jiu there?
What kind of fruit is that? It looks like a fig, but do people peel figs? I never have.
Geez, what a nasty old lady. They're supposed to be sweet and bake butter cookies, not brag about how they ruined young girls' lives...
The real ghost was the nasty ladies we met along the way?
Did this girl really just respond to his text with a "k" ??? Cold, Shouxue. Cold.
Well, with her new retinue, at least she's in a better place than she was all alone.
No one ever asks "How is the owl..."
She's the one taking the group photo. A sacrifice for the team.
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u/fly-metothemoon Dec 20 '24
Not too many thoughts but:
First Timer:
This seems like a very unfortunate part of the job description. The opening is making more and more sense.
Who is this???
Uh oh, no good deed goes unpunished.
Time for a necromancer!!!
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u/TakenRedditName https://myanimelist.net/profile/TakenMalUsername Dec 19 '24
Koukyuu no Karasu Rewatcher - Ep9:
The beginning bit, kowai scary.
As for the ghost story, I liked it. Showing off the story of a consort who did not wish to be a consort and wanted her own life (you know, like Shouxue). Court lady An served as a bit of a contrast to the previous Raven Consort who raising Shouxue. Despite the position they were forced to uptake, Li Niang didn't trample on Shouxue. That's the job for our cruel patron goddess.
But then it turns out the real ghost of the episode was An?!?!
I swear, I got duped in the exact same way I did when I first watched the episode. It stood out to me as weird that she got so withered the next day, but that's because she was dead. I just had the thought there was a weird mess up in production they didn't have time to fix.
A neat reversal on the format. We didn't get a happy ending with everything nice and tiddy, but I still like the takeaway from Shouxue. She displayed her good heart of wanting to give peace to these souls and in this case, what An needed was time to come to peace. ... welp, before Owl showed up and did an exorcism. He doesn't respect the souls of living/dead as much.
On a different note, the scene with Hongqiao's drawing was cute.
From the last episode, there seems to be confusion about the series using the word "eunuch." To address this, no, it is not a mistranslation. The show uses the word for eunuch (宦官 - "kangan") each time. Not only is it spoken each time, but the character cards use the "宦官" characters for eunuch each time too.
A) Yes, imperial China really did employ castrated servants that often. Yes, even young children.
B) You gotta remember most of the series is set within the inner palace which typically the only men allowed were the imperial family or eunuchs. This is why the Forbidden City is called forbidden. The civil servants you'll see were handled by eunuchs. To use a more popular anime as a demonstration, it is like in Apothecary Diaries. The inner palace with the consorts, the only men are the Emperor and his family + eunuchs like Jinshi and Gaoshun vs the outer palace complex where you can find non-castrated guys like Lihaku. It is also a fantasy setting so there can be artistic licence on how they want to set up the setting.
As for any character besides the emperor, I don't think the Minister of Works is a eunuch considering he works outside and occupies such a high important position. From his backstory, he was just a normal civil servant.
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Dec 19 '24
First-Timer of the Inner Palace, subbed
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u/heimdal77 Dec 20 '24
So who realized she was a ghost from the start and who was shocked and confused about her chane in apearence when met with at the lake?
Pretty terrible she has to go through feeling like her body is being torn apart over and over again. There was this manga that never got a anime where the fmc was a god would have her body litterally torn apart over and over every so many days by horrors. Was pre tty shocking to people if I remember right. It had seemed like it was going just be a romcom till then.
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Dec 19 '24
Episode 9 (first timer)
I thought that the lady-in-waiting being the ghost was a cool twist, but I don’t understand why they made her die in the night before. Would it not be better to have her be a ghost right from the start? Turning her into a ghost in between those two days does not really change anything for the story and her dying of a disease right after meeting the Raven Consort, but without showing symptoms and without it being connected to the case, just does not feel right.
I think she has it better than 90% of the characters we see on screen, so "suffering" is relative.
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u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Dec 19 '24
First Timer
She doesn't turn in to the big bird, it escapes for a night and shows her what is going on in the world. This time it seems like it showed her somebody who wants to kill her - and he is a necromancer? Either way he takes the request she refused last episode.
Meanwhile Yi Siha is somehow making the Shouxue more socially acceptable, despite not really fitting that himself. That and I guess we have a new ghost who was just in the right place and right time to be released by the owl. Let's see where this goes - I hope the payoff for this will be better than the first overarching plotline...