It has a very nice twist on a fictional Chinese world. There's comedy and adventure in it and romance for those that enjoy it. The story is well written because it starts off as a simple plot and then changes to something a little more complicated. It quite literally grows in the ending. The protagonist, Shuurei, is a young but strong girl. She takes her problems head on and isn't the type to sit and whine about it. Saiunkoku Monogatari teaches its viewers to deal with your problems. Shuurei in the story was discriminated because of her gender and she reverses people's thoughts on how people are treated due to gender. The dialogue can get a bit exciting in the later story arc. Everything's pretty straightforward. Animation is great and I appreciate how the author of the original story uses Chinese culture as a base from clothing to foods to names of characters. I also appreciate the fact that the soundtrack compliments it quite nicely.

I highly recommend you give this anime a try. (show less)

First off this anime is a reverse harem bishounen, which means a whole lot of beautiful male characters and what's nice about it is that two of them are princes (as such brothers) and both love the same girl, one like a brother, another one like a lover. So.... what am I so bummed about. Well this anime has two seasons but you don't really see much development on the romance side of things. There's a good chemistry between the two main characters but by the end of the second season it falls flat. I must say however that this anime is one of those rare beauties that flow so naturally and remains as unconfusing as possible. Apparently the light novels on which this anime is based makes for a better read than watching the anime itself ... well if it does come to that then I would not mind. A good anime but a really disappointing end that is not at all what one would expect from a budding romance. Hanasakeru Seishounen takes the cake for the best reverse harem bishounen i have seen in a while. :) (show less)

[Some other tags that weren't available for selecting when I added this series: Historical]

This-is-a-classic. It is one of the best animes I've ever watched, especially since it's a really long running one too, with a span of 2 seasons with 39 episodes each. However, I appreciate that because it is so good, that it's a thankful thing that you get so many episodes to enjoy. This is not an anime for light-watch. As an audience, you can't let your brain go to sleep when you watch this. This anime is surprisingly clever and intelligent, as knowledge-packed as it is entertainment-packed and romance-packed, and emotionally-packed, and so on.

The storyline/plot is a unique one, extremely intelligent, and the story unfolds very nicely, which is more than enough to keep you hooked on. The protagonist is one of the most admirable young anime girls ever (really) and the characters in this anime have the rare power of dragging your feelings along. I find myself crying with them, laughing with them, being scared with them.

As mentioned before, this is a serious anime that is not the least dim-witted in any way. Especially at first, it should go warned that the names are very confusing. About half of the names of characters contain the syllable "Shu" or "Shuu" (not that I mind, I have it in my own name as well... ^^;) but from Shuurei to Shuuran to Shusui to Shuuei, along with many other names introduced in only the first episodes, I kind of recommend taking notes....

One of the most outstanding points to note: the music. The soundtrack is absolutely lovely, I must say, even though it is agreed among many that it is not the composer's best work. The exotism of the oriental feel, its melodies, and great choice of intrumentation is to be applauded. The openings and endings as well, is beautiful and truly sets the mood for the anime.

This anime does not drag. Especially not in this first season. Also, you may find that this anime is not heads-on romance based, though the doses are mild, but extraordinarily sweet, and Awwwww~ - worthy.

This is coming to be the longest review I've ever written, but that is, I assure you, because the series Saiunkoku Monogatari is one of the few anime that I truly admire and love close to my heart as an anime fan. I hope you'll be able to give it a chance and truly enjoy this lovely anime. (show less)