I liked what I saw of this… I think?
This is one of those premieres that plays its cards close to its chest – or at least, that’s what it felt like to me. I did read the synopsis of Raven of the Inner Palace/Koukyuu no Karasu and watch the trailer some time back, but as usual, I’d forgotten more or less everything about the show by the time it came out, so I was going in basically blind (which imo is never a bad thing).
I think anyone who enjoys Chinese-inspired historical fantasy and/or supernatural mysteries will probably like this. It doesn’t necessarily do anything new or groundbreaking within any of these genres, but it does approach them competently – this isn’t the kind of show that’s going to try and be popular by fitting in with the cool kids, so to speak; it has its own particular style and sticks with it, unconcerned with what everyone else is doing. It’s also very pretty, so if court ladies with elaborate hairstyles and costumes are your thing, there’ll be plenty of eye candy here for you.
That being said, I definitely don’t think Raven of the Inner Palace will be for everyone. It’s slow-burn for sure, fairly dialogue-driven, and I only realized this was even going to be a mystery series at all by the end of the episode – prior to that, it’s all setup. At this point, I’d say I’m curious and cautiously optimistic, but I’m really going to need to see more before coming to any solid conclusions.
Score: 6.5/10
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This sort of show either works for me or it doesn’t, but they rarely become favourites. I was happy to see this works with me. I think my favourite part of the show was the raven consort going out to investigate. I enjoyed that segment the most.
As so often, I care little about the mystery. It’s mostly about the mood for me, and it’s been pleasant to get from the start to the finish.
Also, as so often with Chinese-inspired anime, there’s this clash with what I hear and what the subtitles are saying, and since I tend to intuitively pay attention to both what I hear and what I read, this can on occasion be a little disorienting. Not a big deal, really, but something I’ll have to come to grips with.
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Yes, I can imagine most people sticking around primarily for the overall vibe and atmosphere rather than the plot specifics. Hopefully, I’ll get both, but still too soon to tell for me.
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