Raven of the Inner Palace Discussion (2024)

GridironOtaku

https://www.crunchyroll.com/forumtopic-1076361/raven-of-the-inner-palace-discussion

This show has some very nice mysteries and does a great job in setting the atmosphere with the animation style and ambiance. The cases are pretty comprehensive and can be difficult to understand seeing that it's quite difficult to keep track of Chinese names compared to English or Japanese names. So far, it has been a revolving cast of characters, but it's all building up towards one things, and that is for the new emperor to bury the old emperor's legacy of tyranny and discrimination with the empress dowager the one carrying it out. So after setting two deceased souls free using a jade earing and a whistle as mediums to reach their souls, this one is another case of making peace with another person who died way too soon.

Episode 4

Shouxue's next case is to send the late Ding Lan off, who is known as the Skylark Princess. She is a frail lady who would farm whenever she's healthy, but she never received any medicine. The lady-in-waiting Shiniang feels very guilty about her death realizing that she could have done a lot more, and since her passing has had that regret weighing heavily on her mind. So in comes Shouxue to use her power and the wooden skylark that the emperor was carving, and used that to deliver the message that Shiniang will always hold her near and dear to her heart. So with that case done, it is revealed that Jiu-Jiu and Hongqiao know about Shouxue's secret, but they will promise to keep it a secret. And then that post-credits scene there, it looks like things are going to become personal with the corpses and all.

runec

HOOfan_1

Jn-TuneTech2

GridironOtaku

That was some nightmare that the emperor experienced, but it goes to show that the past is coming back to haunt him back and that got Gaojun to realize that he needs to face his past as things could get really ugly if he doesn't. This episode focuses on his confidant Wen Ying, formerly known as Que Er. He has a warning to Shouxue that she needs to behave herself seeing that she's not an actual consort. Seeing that ghosts and stuff are involved that it was only a matter of time before everybody needs to face their pasts. Anyway, that was just messed up the life Wen Ying lived being born to a prostitute who committed suicide, leaving him high and dry. And then the placement of the opening and ending was unexpected.

runec

HOOfan_1

runec said:
The ol' Suspiciously Early Credits trick.

Not only that, but they played the OP at the end...weird

LouieGrandie

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Dec 2016

4777

HOOfan_1

54bubbles said:
The pronunciation is not close what you're alluding to.

none of the pronunciations sound close to the phonetic spelling with the Latin alphabet from what I can see/hear.

Offline

Dec 2016

4777

runec

GridironOtaku

Lots of background information revealed here as some old guy knows Shouxue's name, something that's supposed to be a closely-guarded secret. It all started out as a case involving Princess Mingzhu, who slit her own throat while in pursuit by guards, and when Xue Yuyong comes on knowing who Shouxue is, the emperor asks for the Shuangtongdian from Shouxue and the history of how the Raven Consort came to be is explained. Pretty much, it's all about the summer king and the winter king as one can't exist without the other. Luan Xi, a general, was the winter king, and Xiang Qiang, a slave who fell in love with Xi, became the Raven Consort, and that bird-like creature in the opening is Niao Lian, who chose Shouxue to be the next Raven Consort. So with history explained, that ending was just came out of nowhere as Bingyue has possessed Jiu-Jiu and is threatening to kill her. Pretty interesting history there, but nevertheless it's something needed to make sense of everything going on.

HOOfan_1

LouieGrandie

HOOfan_1 said:
This show is probably the most underwatched show this season. Love the art and the story is slowly coming together.

Agree, great art and great writing. Like it a lot.

Gafennec

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Dec 2016

4777

With so many high-profile series this season, it's no wonder people are overlooking this one. Their loss.

curr0001

I'm watching it. Just later in the week cause satudays are packed.

HOOfan_1

I figured this one was right up your alley

Offline

Dec 2016

4777

GridironOtaku

As it turns out, Bingyue needed a favor out of Shouxue. But he should have just asked her straight rather than threatening to kill Jiu-Jiu to get her attention, and had it not been for the emperor's intervention, Shouxue was about to go on a rampage. And then Shouxue helps Ding Lan and the emperor's mother find peace now that she has been avenged. So after all that, Shouxue is no longer wanted as a member of the Luan dynasty. Great episode that was as it's all about dealing with the past and moving forward, whether it be forming friendships and a brighter future together or the deceased passing on.

Gafennec

HOOfan_1

runec

I think this is my favourite show this season. Pity it seems like its flying under the radar.

Gafennec

GridironOtaku

The next case involves Yi Siha, a eunuch or castrated guard, who came from Hadan and is being caned for saying that he saw a ghost. He comes in carrying a feather from a blue swallow, and with Shouxue's power, it reveals that it belonged to a swallow that died, and after Yuisha buried it, he came forward with a feather and was executed for it. Ever since then his friend carried a whole lot of guilt with him. In the end, Shouxue makes Yi Siha her eunuch. That was just brutal what Yi Siha had to go through as if being a eunuch wasn't bad enough, now he's being punished excessively for speaking the truth about something he's supposed to keep his mouth zipped about. And that post-credits sequence there is quite ominous, so it will be interesting to see what comes of that.

Gafennec

HOOfan_1

Reminds me of the book River God about ancient Egypt, and the eunuch who was basically the first person observer for the whole book.

runec

It's a bit unsettling that the ol' chop chop is such a universal practice in history.

HOOfan_1

Gafennec

HOOfan_1 said:
I am not a fan of the OP at all, but the ED is the best of the season...maybe best of the year

Agreed. I love the ED.

runec

HOOfan_1 said:
I am not a fan of the OP at all, but the ED is the best of the season...maybe best of the year

The OP is strange. Almost strange enough to come back around to interesting from the guy's voice but then he sings "MYSSSSTERRRIOUS" and it all comes crashing down.

GridironOtaku

The mythical bird is coming for Shouxue, and that has been keeping her on edge, and while she doesn't realize it Xiaoxue is after her life. So while the big encounter has still yet to emerge, there's another case this time, and it just so happens that the client this time is a ghost herself. Huilan has been hearing voices, and it turns out it belongs to Wanlin, who is somebody who Huilan indirectly had a hand in killing. Things are really starting to intensify now as that mythical bird looms large, and then there is Xiaoxue who is definitely bad news.

GridironOtaku

And now, Shouxue is presented with a paper mask, which just so happens to be infused with the soul of a lute player in it. Shicui was quite a talented lute player, but was also somebody who had no friends and lived to only play the lute. But then Yao took the lute away hoping that it would set him straight, but instead it led Shicui to hanging himself, and now he's another soul that Shouxue is tasked with setting free. Shouxue has Yao play the lute, Shicui's soul is drawn out from the mask and into the lute, and then it's set ablaze to set him free. Once again, serious things were teased, but the episode is just another typical case for Shouxue, though a lot of pieces outside of that have been put in place from Xiao Xue looking to kill the Raven Consort to the attack that happens there at the end.

marklebid

It's decent, but not much happens in a given single episode.

GridironOtaku

Shouxue puts on the eunuch disguise again as she's seeking advice and gathering intel. For the next case, it revolves around the Magpie Consort in the Quechao Palace. She's bedridden and will only allow the eunuch Feng Xiao Yue to get anywhere close to her. And then there's the late court lady Xue Cheng who Shouxue finds out hasn't become a ghost yet, so she can't do her job. Suspicion grows when Wen Ying was sent to Quechao Palace and hasn't returned as Xiao Yue captured him, and realizing that something's amiss when Wen Ying didn't return, Shouxue and company decide to go to the palace themselves to get to the bottom of things. And they are exactly right as the Magpie Consort's room is filled with some kind of incense, all while her eunuch has that zombie-like look in his face. Things are getting dicey here as there's quite a lot of tension in the room.

runec

Gafennec

runec said:
She's only 16? I thought she was older than that.

Yeah, I wonder if that was a mistranslation. I could have sworn she was 18-23 years old.

GridironOtaku

So the Magpie Consort has been like this because of her brother's death, and apparently Xiao Yue can bring him back to life. But what Xiao Yue actually did was create a zombie-like doll to resemble her brother. It's no wonder why she pushed everybody else aside seeing that he's quite dangerous to be around. So with that case solved with Wen Ying now back, there's the matter of Xiao Yue himself as it turns out he isn't exactly human being an executioner from the Palace of Seclusion, a place for the gods. He's the brother of the Raven, as in the spirit residing inside Shouxue that is the source of her powers. He has no ill will towards Shouxue, but he needs to kill her in order to release the Raven from her vessel as he just can't let the Raven continue to roam. One more episode left to go as this show took quite a roundabout approach, but now the main matter about the Raven spirit is finally at hand.

runec

Gafennec

runec said:
I'm starting to wonder about this place's security. Shouldn't someone have at least stopped him when he walked away without answering the Emperor's question?

Yeah, that was weird, It's like they want the Emperor to die.

GridironOtaku

And just like that, Shouxue managed to repel Xiao Yue's attack, but the threat is far from over. And then Xiao Yue's master comes in to talk to Shouxue over a game of go with some of that incense burning to talk about Li Niang, and then to kill her. But Shouxue knew about his intentions and Gaojun was right there waiting for his bloodlust to come out, and then send him out to retirement. After that, it's a lot of reflections and stuff as Shouxue is falling in love with Gaojun, and she awaits the day when she can finally be herself. The confrontation ended pretty quickly, and the finale was mostly spent to settle things down seeing that after all, there's somebody who is after her life. Pretty low-key way to end things as it's all about looking ahead.

Final Thoughts

This show has a great atmosphere and does an excellent job with the mystery aspect. All the mysteries in this show are interesting and does a nice job in making the point that the dead cannot be brought back to life, but making peace is the most important thing. The animation style is perfectly suited towards this show, all while the characters are an interesting bunch even if it can be difficult to keep track of them. That said, this show has some issues with the large cast of rotating characters that make things hard to keep track of, a story that built in the background rather than front and center as things of direct consequence don't show up until certain points of the show, and the whole mystery of the week thing was misapplied in a number of instances. But in the grand scheme of things it's all enjoyable for the mystery and the fact that Shouxue is someone with a mysterious history to boot.

Grade: B- (7/10)

runec

8/10

HOOfan_1

Close to a 9/10 for me, but feeling like it's incomplete it goes to an 8/10 instead. Best ED of the season...the OP howvever, not a fan.

RMikami

(And I also agree that I'm not a fan of the OP.)

Gafennec

LouieGrandie