English Dub Review: Raven in the Inner Palace: “The Whistle”

Overview: Shouxue (Alexis Tipton) decides to help Yun, a close friend of Gaojun (Christopher Wehkamp) and the highest ranking concubine of the inner palace second only to the emperor himself. When her deceased lover’s soul does not return to evoke the whistle of her flower flute, she becomes worried about his state and asks the Raven Consort to look into it more closely. 

Our Take: While trying to decipher the meaning of melody-less flute is an enjoyable self-contained little tale, the real heart lies in that of Shouxue. 

Before getting to her case, Gaojun’s childhood friend, Yun Huaniang, serves to show just how much Gaojun is bonding with Shouxue and how much he puts her above the rest of the consorts he must visit. How she grapples and pushes back against her newfound friends and connections she has made in not only him but against Jiujiu and Su is more fuel for the fire in how desperately tries to keep people at an arm’s length.

Liu’s encounter with the sorcerer capturing lost souls is nicely maneuvered in the being’s looming presence that eventually connects the details she finds as to why Yun’s lost lover, Ou Xuanyou, has yet to make his way to her whistle. With so little work within the ways of scenes together, how Yun describes Ou’s passionate nuanced disposition does a good job of displaying their genuine affection even with his participation being confined to a few stills. However, the unknown sorcerer, who is of the same lineage, reveals in his final moments before being defeated, tantalizes with all potential desires that the Raven Consort could have. Yun coming to terms with Ou’s death, setting his soul free is another sad but uplifting farewell in him being able to return to make her flute chime. 

Shouxue’s past is saddening in what she was subjected to as a slave but wholesome in the home she eventually found. It is endearing how she adorably pushes back against her close companions’ help and feeling sympathy for her clients to avoid the deep-rooted fear and pain of getting attached only to be hurt that is instilled upon her, along with her sense of duty, by the last family she had left in the previous Raven Consort. What makes it even more impactful is how everyone around pushes back against that, whether it be Jiujiu and Su continuously wanting to serve her, Yun showing her great kindness, also giving her gifts, or the emperor wanting to visit her, despite her warnings to stay away. All of them drawn by her compassion and giving it back to her is sweet as can be and satisfying in her tragic childhood. How the sorcerer’s words will come into play and be expanded upon with Gaojun looking into the role of the Raven Consort will be interesting if she chooses to forge ahead with the new relationships she has built.