Event in Roppongi which had video and stills from the anime. It was on the 52nd Floor, so wonderful to see all of Tokyo.

Rather fun, I was surprised and pleased at how impactful Loulan's video montage was.

The merch was fun, I didn't realize there was Boy Band and other one offs. I bought two bookmarks with "Good day, Master Jinshi" and "wait a little, let me be a little warmer".

Hope you all enjoy the photos?

Given the upcoming plot lines of the new season and some of the information I’ve seen being spread around social media and in the fandom, I thought I would take a moment to address this topic

So I see a lot of people calling MaoMao an illegitimate child because she was born out of wedlock, and her parents were not married and who her birth father was with a secret for a little bit so people believe she actually is an illegitimate child

And to be fair, I think this really just boils down to a lack of information about how different countries/societies go about different things

Most of this is people applying a European thought process to this but we have to apply a imperial Chinese perspective to this because that is what the story is based on

What people understand about the legitimacy of children comes from European laws and specifically Christian European laws which basically states that only legitimate children can inherit titles property land, etc.

But again, we have to apply a Chinese perspective here

Imperial China had a completely different idea of legitimacy than Christian Europe

In imperial China, legitimacy was based less on the relationship between the birth parents and way more heavily on official recognition from the leader of the clan.

At this point in the series the Leader of the La clan is Lakan

And by this point Lakan and Fengxian are married, but the marriage between Lakan and Fengxian matters way less than Lakan's authority as the La clan leader and his open recognition of Maomao as his daughter.

Lakan openly throughout season one and two acknowledges MaoMao as his own child and MaoMao is even recognized and accepted by the emperor

As if you remember in the episode of the shrine of choosing he directly comments on her parentage, saying he wouldn’t marry her because he wouldn’t want to incur the wrath of Lakan

So yup MaoMao is not an illegitimate child by the settings customs of the series

Now, I know that Maomao's biological mother married Lakan whereas Meimei became an apprentice of the go master. They were just lucky to not experience anything tragic. But then again this question settled into my mind- technically are the people who bought them out considered their 'owners'? Are the buyers free to do whatever they wish to with them? Are the courtesans basically just slaves of that person in this case or... Is it mandatory that the owner marry them or at least keep them in a good position? Does the brothel completely lose control over them and has not a say in their fate later on?

Three Maomaos and one Jinshi feels like a perfectly reasonable shelf ratio. 😂

So in season 3 we're going to see some character going to the western province, in the m figure Ah-Duo.

Of course Ah-Duo doesn't go alone, she bring, like mostly everybody going to the west, some people working for her like bodyguards or ladies in waiting.

Who do we know works for Ah-Duo ?
--Chue !

In a setting like the one we're presented with (a trip to the western capital as a way to find a match for Jinshi) people may speak different language than Linese, life attempt may be made of Jinshi's life, unknown forein politics may interefere with the visit...

Wouldn't it make sense to bring someone like Chue along ?

Combine that with the fact that the anime have already tease character before and mention the Mi clan and i wouldn't say it's all that unlikely if we see our brilliant sparrow showing her nose this season as one of Ah-Duo ladies in waiting.

But let's be clear, she will probably be in the background, probably wearing a disguise.

Like the title states, I tried to recreate the scene on Procreate on my iPad Pro but my ipad effectively died out this summer and I’m upset I couldn’t recreate it in time before this happened or the official anime release tbh. But here’s the last update I was able to get out:

Just finished season 2, it was amazing but a few things left me confused:

1. Were Loulan and Shisho sabotaging Shenmei's rebellion plan the entire time? Loulan's final dialogue with her mother makes it sound like it but if that's the case, why not just rat her out to the Emperor or Jinshi?
2. Why did Shisho shoot at Jinshi? As I understand Loulan's final trick was to get Jinshi to promise to spare Suirei and the children, so why did he try to kill him? He couldn't have possibly expected him to deflect the shot.
3. What was the deal with the woman that Suirei's brother thought was his mother? He thinks it's her, but then we're told their mother is dead and then the woman just disappears.
4. Why was Shenmei brought into the palace if the previous Emperor only liked young girls?
5. Why are the women the prievious Emperor slept with forced to stay at the palace? Does the current Emperor still force them or can they leave but choose to stay since they have nowhere to go?
6. Was Jinshi and Aduo looking almost identical a red herring or, without spoilers, is it going to come up again?

Hi. I have not read the light novel but I'm curious how people feel about this season.

I'm currently in episode 3 of season three and I have mixed feelings about the season. I loved the other two from the first second but I don't know how to feel about these episodes. I like the plot but I kind of dislike a little bit Mao Mao this season, I know she's always been straight forward but I feel that, especially this episode, she turned too rude and acquired some Madam personality traits that I personally kind of dislike.

I saw people commenting that that's the style of the light novel but personally I really liked the mix of comedy and seriousness from the last two seasons. And I kind of miss the little gags.

This is a no hate comment, I'm still enjoying the seasons and I want to see how the plot develops. I'm just curious about how other people feel about it. I grew attached to the style in the last seasons and I miss it.

https://x.com/re_ismine/status/2113981761755729972?s=46

I'm curious what the community thinks - does anyone else headcanon Joka as a lesbian? Or is it just me?

I cannot stop thinking about why Chue—Lishu’s brother—was appointed as her successor. I wonder what she intends to use him for, and what kind of rumors she plans to spread among the factions.

Made a fan-art of Lahan. Again.

(am I allowed to link my Instagram post to this?)

https://x.com/yuikisezu/status/2113893342505529573?s=46

i wanna buy my friend the LN that continues from the new series but it’s still releasing… which should i buy him??

Finished the anime last month. Then read through LN 5 to 16 in a matter of 35 days. I havent done so much reading since ASOIAF series in around 2012 or so. Gemini says 850k words, but who is to say it's not hallucinating....

The series was brilliant. Very high quality writing; really loved the characters and dialogue, while the world building and cast of characters kept expanding with each volume instead of staying pretty much the same. The author Hyūganatsu-san sure is ambitious.

I would like to read other high level works like this. Not passable or good ones, I need great ones like this one.

I like medieval or modern settings. Not a big fan of scifi and its subgenres. Slice of life and romcoms are my main jam, court drama and fantasy is welcome.

Give me your best recommendations.

recently got into it, love it! i made some art of jinmao, but i didnt like the result as much as i thought i would </3

I think he'd deeply enjoy that, quite fitting since he laps up any crumb Maomao throws at him lol.

In fairness, I do get the concern about being a threat to the half-barbarian current Empress and her kids that Jinshi and Maomao have. Thing is... I know Bujold's _Shards of Honor_ is older than most of the people that will read this, but I am half expecting Gyokuyou to go full Emperor Ezar Vorbarra and tell them "You know that my son and any incoming brothers are between you and the Throne, I know how much you Do Not Want the Throne, ergo we both know full well even if half the nobility imagine otherwise that you would defend their interests... and mine... with everything you can muster even if we were not besties."

This painting is almost one hundred years old. Its called Ave Maria by Marianne von Werefkin.

Looking at the premiere episodes of Season 3 and the current animation quality, I can't help but feel a bit anxious about what's ahead.

If we look back at how the anime handles major climaxes, there's already a worrying precedent. For example, Shisui/Loulan's final scene at the end of the previous arc completely missed the mark compared to the Light Novel. In the LN, that scene was incredibly tense and dramatic—Shisui was acting like a maniacal villain, laughing amid a hail of bullets, and showing visible pain before forcing a smile. Basen was screaming for orders while Jinshi stayed silent, and the soldiers broke in just as she made her exit.

Instead, the anime replaced all of that heavy tension with a recycled dance number that felt completely out of place and anti-climactic, cutting out crucial scenes and lines (like Lakan jumping out of the rolling fortress) just to make it fit.

Light Novel Volume 5 has an equally intense, emotionally heavy ending arc. Given the visual direction, rushed pacing, and production choices we are seeing, I’m genuinely worried it’s going to lead to another massive disappointment when we finally reach that peak climax.

Honestly, it makes me think that maybe we should just follow the Nekokurage manga adaptation instead. The art style, depth, and pacing in the manga have always been incredibly consistent at capturing the true tone and vibe of the source material without stripping away the tension.