This is basically a “fluff” volume, although it's not bad – a nice transition from the recent threat to Shurei's dreams to Shurei and Eigetsu beginning their time as joint governors of Sa Province.

The stuff with Ryuren was mostly silly. I don't know that I like him much, but Yukino's attempts to paint him as more than just “that irresponsible weirdo” were interesting. The stuff with Reishin's Shoka masks was just...creepy. I get that Reishin loves his brother, but he needs to scale it back some.

My favorite part of the volume was probably the flashback at the beginning. I enjoyed getting to see young Shoka, who apparently has had to do and see horrible things from a very young age. As creepy as Reishin can sometimes be, I found it kind of touching that he still adores and supports his older brother, even knowing what Shoka has had to do in order to protect the family.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Those still reading this series for the romance are going to be sorely disappointed. Because I'd seen the anime, I knew it was coming. I honestly have no idea if we'll get to come back to the romance at the end of the series, or if Ryuki will just give up at some point. I think Shurei will be fine – it's Ryuki I'm worried about.

The efforts to defend Shurei were nice. I'm still trying to decide how I feel about Official Ro bullying Shurei and Eigetsu because he felt they had the most promise out of all the new civil servants. However, it was kind of sweet that he was the one leaving snacks for them. I had thought maybe Shurei's dad was arranging all of that.

The politics in this volume was nice and a little twisty, although the stuff about the ring and Sa Province confused me a little.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

I read this a bit too long after reading volume 6 – it took me some time to remember the characters and political situation. The most important things to understand were that 1) the Hong clan is very powerful, 2) Reishin is head of the Hong clan, and 3) Reishin loves his niece very much. Ryuki may be the emperor, but Reishin demonstrates quite well the necessity of keeping the Hong clan happy after Shurei is falsely accused.

I appreciated how honest Eigetsu was about his reasons for becoming a civil servant. He flat-out says he wants to be rich and powerful. He grew up poor, so he knows how much money can help those who have nothing. His basic goal is to help people, but he understands that just wanting to do something isn't always enough - you have to have enough funds to make things happen.

One thing in this volume that shocked me: I can't for the life of me remember if this was brought up in a previous volume, but at one point someone mentioned that

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

I can't help it, I love stories in which the underdog main character perseveres against bullying in order to prove their strength. I can't wait for the triumphant moment when those characters succeed even in the face of all of that.

Eigetsu is bullied because he's young and came from a poor village. Shurei is bullied even more because she's the first woman ever to take and pass the civil servant exam. Ryuki and the others are limited in what they can do to help, because their aid might make the situation worse and might cause others to doubt that Shurei excelled on the basis of her own efforts. Still, there were little moments when they could help, and I enjoyed those moments.

The whole Ryuki/Shurei thing makes me sigh. Shurei is now physically closer to Ryuki, but, in a lot of ways, much farther away. The difference between their positions is so great. Shurei adjusts to this fairly well (being a civil servant is more important to her than romance has ever been), but it really drives home to Ryuki how impossible his love for Shurei might be. He thought about some of this in previous volumes, and I'm glad he chose to support Shurei's happiness anyway. But wow, that's some painful one-sided love.

A couple other things I liked: Ryuki's hair (so pretty...), and the whole “make-up is war paint” thing.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

For some reason, I've finally become hooked on the manga version of this series. This volume had just the right mix of action, humor, and lovely character interaction. Shurei made extra money by doing the books for a brothel, and I laughed when it was revealed that both her dad and Seiran knew. Shurei had thought it was her little secret.

The beginning of the volume was basically just fluff, but it was wonderfully fun fluff. I enjoyed watching everyone fret over Shurei. The two shorts at the end of the volume were also good. I particularly liked the one with a younger Shoka and his brothers. Reishin's over-the-top love for Shurei is kind of adorable.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)