Twelve kingdoms (Juuni Kokki)
 

Oh, spoiler alert, but this show is old anyway. Not to mention complicated enough that reading this post without having watched the show would just be gibberish anyway.

So I just watched all currently subbed episodes of 12 kingdoms (42), and a number of seemingly important plot points went completely unanswered. I was wondering if anyone who has read the novels on which this absolutely GREAT anime is based on could fill me in (or maybe if there's a fan website that has tons of info, point me to it).

Specifically: What happened to Tai's Kirin Taiki? Why is he back in Japan? His story kindof stopped with him still in the TAI kingdom? Does anything else happen between Yuuka and Taiki in Japan? What was the nature of his curse (well, I can guess what it was, it was obviously that uber power youma he caught, but how is the issue resolved?) Why has Tai fallen into such chaos with a seemingly good natured emperor?

If there was only one fruit growing on the tree where Kirin's are born (the one for Kou), that implies that Hou's Kirin was not actually killed in the uprising, or that it had already been reborn and is currently being raised by the Sages (which would seem odd that you never see him/her there when Youko visits). Why has Ryuu gone corrupt? What's the deal with the youma's that even Kirin's and emperors cannot defeat? Are they as powerful as the god's? Since there are so many kaikyaku's in En, and En's kirin goes to Japan all the time, why hasn't anyone ever managed to return home, especially when it's common knowledge that the coutrie's Taioh was born as a Taika?

Did anyone else notice that the only conspiring minister that is spared the empresses wrath at the end of the show is the female? I almost found that a bit sexist since she was obviously conspiring with the coucil-head guy.

So that was a bunch of questions, but the main one is the first one... it seems to me like that's a whole arc they left out.

I think some of the Taiki stuff is told more in the books, but from what I've heard the story is not yet complete, and it doesn't look like the author of the books will be writing more anytime soon. That is also similar to the reason why they stopped the series at ep 45. We won't be getting any answers to the stories unresolved plots anytime soon I'm afraid.

Is that true? Hmm thats too sad if its really true... :(

Actually, I understand that we would have gotten back to Taiki's story in episode 46, but the producers stopped the show because they felt that viewers wouldn't really be interested in it unless they could work Youko into the story. Originally they were going to rewrite it so that Youko could play a major part, but they ran into trouble with the rewrites since there wasn't enough information on some of the characters (Tai's General of the Left Division) to be sure of how they would react in the rewritten scenario. Their hope is that future books will reveal more information on the characters so that they can rewrite the story the way they want it to be.

That's why it is on indefinite hiatus.

Ditto! I hate the reason that they cancelled the show, but I think I'd hate it more if they had rewritten it. Ugh! It's like choosing between being in the frying pan or the fire!

Although I really like Youko I think the author of these novels are doing a super great job! So I really dont mind if they continue on without rewriting. But at the same time it would be cool if we could see Youko more as well...

wish they did finish this anime, its 2 god to leave it as it is :(

You can't have your cake and eat it too. =p

Yeah unfortunately thats too true. ;)

Twelve kingdoms
 

Did anybody see it? I watched the first episode on a demo disk from Newtype magazine and it looked really good. It reminded me of Fushigi Yuugi and Magic Knights Rayearth and even Ceres. :)

But its a series which means I cant just buy 1-2 DVDs.....$$$$$ :( So trying to see if its that good....

its a amazinf series and well done, not many animes have put that much detail into the story.

buy it :P or rent it

I wish I could enough japanese to read the books the series is based on.

If you liked the first episode then this show might be worth getting. A lot of people I talked with said they didnt like the beginning and it took them a few episodes to get into it and now they love it. For me, the show just got better and better after each episode. I'm glad I'm buying the dvds because it gives me an excuse to watch it all over again and understand plot points that I may have missed earlier.

Words cant adequately describe my love for this series.......although there is a bit of disapointment that they are cutting it short in japan :(

Even so, at 5 eps per disc its well worth the buy. When you think Fushigi Yuugi, you're not totally off in the similarities, but the story and the development of the world of the Twelve Kingdoms go far beyond and wind up blowing it away (and most other series for that matter:p). I think its the type of series you want to watch over and over......at least for me it is.

The DVDs are truley a great investment.

It's an amazing show. It talks a lot of politics but it's not boring at all. The first time I watched it I hated it because of all the whining in the first few episodes. But the second time around I managed to go through that and I got hooked up and it became one of my all-time favorite anime. Too bad they have to cut it short because of the material.

As many have said before, this series is really the best out there! At least for me who only like to watch good anime. :p The character development is really good as you can see how the characters change because of different things that they encounter. The details are great and there are no plot holes at all at least not that I know of. This series is really worth the gold it costs simply because the show is pure gold!

This show is marvelous. The first episode grabbed me right away because of how Keiki summons his youmas, kinda felt like a mature Pokemon. But I was surprised on how much depth this anime had. Rakushun is the man!

yea i didnt like iot at the start, was annoying when she kept crying but now i love this series

Thats great! I ordered the DVD!!! :p

How come they cut the number of episodes then?


PS
sorry!!! didnt see it.

They caught up to the novels. To go any further they would have had to make stuff up and I don't think they wanted (or even could) do that.

It's quite possible that given enough time to write more novels, NHK will pick the series up and continue it. Won't be for a while though.