English Dub Review: Raven in the Inner Palace: “Groundwork”

Overview: With the help of Wen Ying, Jiujiu (Bryn Apprill), and her friends, Shouxue (Alexis Tipton) investigates the murder of a court lady hailing from the Quechao Palace, who was killed due to a carnal bite. 

Our Take: The inner conflict stirring within Shouxue has been the biggest throughline for her and the story thus far. It finally feels like it has come to a head as the series wraps up. 

I began to debate how long her hesitation towards others would be unnecessarily drawn out or if it would be of any consequence even. However, the case of the mauled woman puts those worries to bed with it being built upon greatly, acting as an effective means of pushing her closer to Jiujiu, Yi Siha and the others in helping her solve the court lady’s murder. 

This is all despite Xue Yuyong’s warnings and how her actions have put Wen Ying in Feng Xiaoyue’s crosshairs with her learning to lean on them. Even the mere simplicity of Liu trying to play and epically losing at Go pays off the slow burn of her and Gaojun’s genuine bond, not to mention her strides in coming out of her shell. Besides that, their playful banter is just plain cute in the immature pouting Gaojun brings out of her.

This all comes as the mysterious circumstances surrounding past consorts’ deaths that arise within eight years of naming a new successor come to light. With this in mind, I would not be shocked if Xiaoyue’s role as the Owl and his intent to murder the Raven Consort is one that has been passed down, similar to Liu’s. As she finally faces off against Feng, friends in tow, it will be interesting to gleam the truth behind his bloodlust towards her and how Shouxue’s predecessors have died.