Twelve Kingdoms (Juuni Kokki) Discussion

First of all, if you haven't seen this anime, find a way to see it. Now. Seriously. Or Rydia will hunt you down. >__>; See the recommendation for it here!

For those of you who have seen it, you already know there's a lot to discuss. Out of sheer curiousity, has anyone read the book from which this anime is based on? Sadly, as far as I know that book was never reprinted in English, but if it is, someone let me know so I might buy it and read it 30 times.

There were a few loose ends and one rather large one, namely the Taiki arc. I've done a bit of research and found a forum where someone translated the text from the chapter of the book that contained Taiki's arc and its ending. If you haven't seen the series, I'd advise looking away although it doesn't matter -- there are so many terms and what not you probably wouldn't have a clue anyway.

Quote was taken from an amalgamation of posts on another forum.

Spoiler:

"The search for Taiki was conducted by 4 Kirins with the help of magical devices from Han and Ren. Renrin and Hanrin found traces of Taiki�s Shirei which lead them to Taiki. The overall mission leader was En-O.

When they found Taiki, they could not regard him as a Kirin and technically/legally, he could not be brought back to the 12 Kingdoms. There was a debate whether Taiki should be brought back and if yes, how this is going to be lawfully possible. You have to read the details to fully understand why En-O is possibly the only person who can fetch Taiki from Horai.

My sense was that Youko, after realizing the details of Taiki�s predicament did not firmly press for his return. she either asked questions or kept quiet. It was Han-O who firmly said that Taiki should be brought back regardless of whether he will be rejected by this world or otherwise.

Youko's role was that of a host to the search party. En-O requested for help from the 12 kingdoms and sent Enki to confer with the fairy on Mt Ho to make sure this collaborative effort did not violate heaven's rules. Youko accompanied Enki in this trip and clarified the boundaries in which the kingdoms can and cannot act. This whole Taiki incident was like a learning experience for Youko and Keiki. The author reminds us that Youko is only a teenager and Keiki is a young Kirin.

If not for Enki's quick thinking, Taiki would not have made it back -- dead or alive.

Taiki had his horn chopped off by Asen and that removed his mystical powers. Also, his parents were making him eat meat which his body regarded as a foreign substance. His shirei started to starve (they feed off of a Kirins life force) and went mad. This was slowly killing Taiki. When Keiki & co. finally found him, he was a mortal who was (outwardly) healthy but inside he was dying.

If they left him in Horai he would die soon. Bringing him back to Kei would also kill him because only Senin can pass through Shoku. I think they could not use the magic rope from Ren because he was no longer Senin. Basically, he would die no matter what they did, so why not bring him home. En-o temporarily placed him on the En registry as a refugee, then went to Horai to make Taiki a Senin and bring him through Shoku to Kei. From there Risai took him to Mt. Ho and the Goddess Saiobo (spelling) healed him, and said his horn will probably grow back in time.

Risai had to do a lot of begging because the Goddess didn't want to do it and questioned Risai's motives as personal instead of Tai-oriented. She takes away his Shirei (including Sanshe) because they are insane. She said she will cure them and they can return then. She took him back to Kei. When he was well enough to travel En-o removed him from the En registry and Risai and Taiki flew off into the sunset to search for Tai-O.

Taiki and Risai were unnerved by the attempted coup in Kei and decided they should leave - that they were being a burden and they had to get started finding Gyousou anyway. They left by flying above the sea of clouds, where there is no youma. Apparently, only the king is allowed to fly there usually? Not sure why.

Taiki and Youko were talking together when the rebellion stormed into Taiki's room and interrupted them. I'm not sure what they were talking about... couldn't realling understand it. There won't be any chance of relations until Gyousou is back and Tai is stable again."

So, that's apparently what happened to Taiki. If there are other loose ends or points to be discussed, please bring them up!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Fjordor

It's been a while since I saw this. Was Taiki the guardian who grew up in Japan, came to the other world, and then returned to Japan later?

Taiki was the Kirin with black hair. An airborne Shoku tore his fruit from the tree and he wound up in Japan for several years until Hanrin found him and Sanshi pulled him back. Fast-forward after he names Gyousou king and there you have the spoiler stuff.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

It's been licensed. I know where you can get the entire series for about $40 though.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Rydia

I have two favorite moments in the series.

When Taiki was unable to bow:

I felt relieved when I found out it was just proof of his true loyalty. The scene very intense though.

No doubt. It was a really intense moment waiting to see what was going to happen. I was shocked at how King En was acting -- didn't fit his personality at all.

Youko's Rebellion:

At first, I wasn't sure where this arc in the story was going to lead. Hindsight reveals to me that the seemingly unconnected Shoukei, Suzu, and Youko would eventually lead to one of the coolest rebellions ever.

Suzu makes it to Shoukou's town and watches her friend die, then joins a band of rebels to overthrow Shoukou along with Youko. I was really surprised that Youko kept her identity hidden for so long -- would've thought I lot of people would know what the sword Suiguu looked like. Shoukei, the former princess of Hou, joined up with another band who was playing to scare Gahou.

Through rather odd circumstances, the three of them ended up together which quite a large band of rebels and mercenaries and held back the provincial army of Wa. The best part was when Keiki bowed in front of Youko and everyone suddenly realized what was going on. Youko rode away on Keiki's back and demanded (you go girl) to know why the queen's private army was mobilized without her consent. The whole provincial army and royal army bowed and had that look of "Oh shit we're in trouble" on their faces. Good stuff.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Oh yeah! I forgot about Taiki's "little" victory. That was also really cool.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Agreed, Ginko. I was really impressed with the character growth of Youko, Suzu, and Shoukei, but also Keiki. It became obvious that Keiki had some growing up to do of his own, and he did that.

I was, dare I say, proud of Youko once the series ended. She came to the Twelve Kingdoms as a scared, confused high schooler, and turned into an intelligent, thoughtful queen. Her growth was very intriguing to watch.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Well xanth, a little thing about Sugimoto...

Spoiler:

In the first couple of episodes, Youko saw her reading a novel that had a dragon illustration in it. If you assume that the book is something about mythology or more likely, fantasy-fiction, you can see that Sugimoto believes she's the one who belongs in the other world, not Nakajima.

She's basically really jealous that a creature from her fantasy novels, i.e. Keiki and the Youma that appeared and even the sword Suiguu, went to a girl like Youko whom Sugimoto felt didn't deserve any of it. That was her progression into envy.

Regarding Youko, I wonder why she kept the Minister of Law around. She was just as involved in the coup as Gahou, Shoukou, and the other Ministers. Granted, Youko did have a tighter leash on her, but still. She put the rest of them away.

FELIPE NO

Rydia, do you have the whole soundtrack? I made a request thread for it in Audio Requests, but no one's responded yet.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

If it's at all possible, would you consider placing that Juuni Kokki OST on YSI for a leech like me to latch onto it?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Between all of the secondary and tertiary names of the characters (excluding their primary name, of course. Example: Primary = Youko \ Secondary = Sekishi \Tertiary = Well...I won't spoil it for you, suffice it to say it's much more formal), the names of the countries, the other two words for "Japan", etc. etc. there have got to be 100+ vocabulary terms to learn in Twelve Kingdoms.

And not to mention all of the cultural aspects as well. It's certainly not anything you'd forget quickly!

Double Post:
Good lord! For 16 tracks that is one HELL of a long soundtrack. It rivals OSTs with 50+ tracks in it. When I opened the .rar and noticed it was 150+ MBs in size, I expected there to be dozens upon dozens of tracks, but nope only 16.

Still, this is one hell of a good soundtrack. Very ambient and atmospheric. Doesn't really blow out your ear drums or give you the desire to headbang -- much more relaxing than that.

Most amazing jew boots

Whew. Long time no see, thread of mine.

The purpose for this brief revival is to place this link here. http://www.otyaku.com/animeObserver/toei/toei_menu.htm

Someone on the Minitokyo forums was kind enough to post this link which has the entire Taiki arc from the actual story the anime is based on translated and broken apart into smaller chapters which is really quite amazing.

For a brief refresher course, the Taiki arc in the anime needed desperately to be explored in much greater detail, but alas it was not, and thus left the only plot hole gaping wide open by the series end. Everything else was finished up nice and neatly, but the Taiki arc eluded every viewer. But this translation of the story should prove to finally put an end to any questions or frustrations about the the actual happenings with Taiki.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Nothing short of greatness indeed. This could've easily been a near-100 episode series. And you're right, there were 5 kingdoms never discussed save for a brief intermission about them and their current status.

I don't think the anime ever took us into Ryuu, but it did take us into Sai. Kou, En, Sai, Han, Tai, and Kei are all I can remember.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

StarCrossedSoul, if you'd like to read about the conclusion of the Taiki arc, I can at least provide you with the end to it.

http://www.otyaku.com/animeObserver/toei/toei_menu.htm

That link is the Chinese mythology the anime was based on, translated. The Taiki arc has a pretty nice closing to it, so I'd suggest reading it if you're interested.

I was speaking idiomatically.

TokyoPop's releasing the original hardcover novels by Fuyumi Oni in the U.S. The first one's already available - Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadow.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?