For those who are fascinated by the world of 12 Kingdoms:

One aspect of the charm that the series "Juuni Kokki" exudes is its political struggles unlike our world's. Even if a good emperor is given eternity to rule a kingdom, how shall he start? Those who read or watched "Kaze no Banri, Reimei no Sora (風の万里　黎明の空 Thousand Miles of Wind, Sky of the Dawn)" should be familar with Youko's struggles to rule her new kingdom. What if the same situation comes to our great emperor of all times, Syouryuu Emperor of En?

The book under translation this time, Higashi no Watatsumi, Nishi no Soukai, should the first book of Juuni Kokki if the books are reordered in chronological order. The time is twenty years after Emperor of En was enthroned. The storyline goes two ways: a memoir about the fateful encounter between Emperor and Kirin twenty years before, and a looming plot endangering En once again.

It is very interesting to compare Syouryuu and Youko in their ways to rule their kingdoms. The moral seems to be that there is no one way to rule a country well in the world of Junni Kokki. By the way, this book is the third published book in Juuni Kokki, right between "Kaze no Umi, Meikyuu no Kishi (風の海　迷宮の岸 Sea of the Wind, Shore of the Labyrinth)" and "Kaze no Banri, Reimei no Sora (風の万里　黎明の空 Thousand Miles of Wind, Sky of the Dawn)".

Some portion of the story is shown in the anime (in just one episode!), but most of the story is left uncaptured. Youko doesn't appear at all in this title.

And for those who don't know about the world of 12 Kingdoms, don't worry! I'm going to translate little by little the avaliable Japanese website resources on Juuni Kokki. O-tanoshimi-ni!

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