Raven of the Inner Palace

Shouxue is known as the Raven Consort, a reclusive figure who lives deep inside the emperor's inner palace but does not perform the usual duties of a consort. People disagree about her appearance, some insisting she looks like an old woman, others swearing she seems like a young girl. She practices strange arts and offers to carry out almost any request, from locating lost items to laying a lethal curse. When Emperor Gaojun visits one night and asks for a favor, their encounter opens a hidden layer of palace life and uncovers a secret with far-reaching consequences, without revealing the full outcome.

Released in 2022, Raven of the Inner Palace is an anime series created by Satomi Oshima and Kouko Shirakawa, featuring voice leads Saku Mizuno, Masaaki Mizunaka, Taku Yashiro, Marika Kouno, and Nobunaga Shimazaki.

The show hasn’t collected major industry awards, but it has been noticed by niche reviewers and genre blogs for its distinctive aesthetic and the clarity of its voice performances. That attention helped it find a modest but dedicated audience among fans of atmospheric fantasy anime.

Online viewers and commentators picked up on the series’ striking imagery and its treatment of ambiguous identity, power, and ritual. Scenes of the inner palace, the Raven Consort’s eerie rituals, and the shifting portrayal of Shouxue’s age prompted discussion about gender presentation and how authority operates in closed courts, giving the show a presence in fan art and commentary threads.

Critical and fan reactions have been mixed, reflected in a vote average of 6.4/10 from 37 votes. Many praise the series for mood, voice acting, and world mood, while others point to slow pacing and a preference for mystery over clear exposition. Thematically, it centers on secrecy, the costs of power, and how personal wishes intersect with political history.