Within the imperial palace, the emperor lives with his consorts. One such woman is the Raven Consort, who does not perform night time duties and remains in solitude.
This Raven Consort, a title currently held by the young Liu Shouxue, is charged with handling spiritual matters brought to her – everything from finding lost items to sending on spirits. It is even said that she can perform curses.
After living her days often undisturbed, she is visited by the young emperor Xia Gaojun, whose visits become even more frequent as the pair bond and she assists him in unraveling the spiritual mysteries of the inner palace.
There are few ways an anime can be more alluring than feeding you small spoonfuls of information leading towards bigger solving a bigger mystery. Combine that with absolutely lovable characters, and you have a show that really keeps you coming back for more. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like the Raven of the Inner Palace, head on down below.
Anime Like Raven of the Inner Palace
For Fans of Imperial Palace Intrigue
The Story of Saiunkoku
Although her family was once nobles, they fell on hard times. Now, with her father making a pittance as an archivist, Shuurei takes odds jobs to make ends meet.
One day, she receives an offer to become the emperor’s consort for a huge sum of money. She accepts in hopes that it could further her own governmental ambitions.
Both series are anime that take place in Chinese-inspired imperial palaces.
They feature a girl who essentially helps everyone with their various problems and, in doing so, becomes closer to them.
Whereas Raven of the Inner Palace is more about unraveling history and solving spiritual matters with some light romance, The Story of Saiunkoku is more about political and character drama with a larger emphasis on a building love story.
Psychic Princess
It was the emperor who arranged the marriage between the contentious Qian and Ye families.
Troubled that his beloved daughter Qian Yunshang will be harmed due to the bad blood, Qian Aotian summons his firstborn daughter, unknown to everyone except the family, to pose as a stand-in for her younger sister and marry Ye Youming instead.
Qian Yun Xi was sent to live in the wilderness by her family due to her strange powers, but agrees to her father’s wishes.
At first, her new husband is cold to her, but her attitude begins to win him over.
While Raven of the Inner Palace is only Chinese-inspired, Psychic Princess is an actual Chinese-made anime series.
That aside, both series feature characters of nobility forming a relationship. In both series, the female main characters have unique powers and a certain child-like attitude that actually makes them fairly charming to their more reserved male love interest.
However, while Raven of the Inner Palace is often more about mysteries, Psychic Princess is more your standard romance series.
For Fans of Spiritual Mysteries
Gosick
Kujou Kazuya is a transfer student to the elite Saint Marguerite Academy in the Southern European country of Sauville. However, because of his Japanese descent, he is shunned by the other students.
One day in the library of the school, he ends up following a long blonde hair to a beautiful doll-like girl call Victorique de Blois who can predict the future, including their own currently entwined one.
Together, the pair begin to solve the mysteries that are beginning to plague their surroundings.
While Chinese-inspired Imperial Palace and Victorian boarding school are vastly different settings, both Raven of the Inner Palace and Gosick have similar plot progressions.
The characters happen across a spiritual mystery, the talented female main character solves it, and after it is unraveled, a little bit of the intertwining character plot between the main female and main male character is explored.
The major difference is the mysteries in Gosick seem supernatural, but when solved often have causes rooted in reality. The Raven of the Inner Palace instead sticks to solving spiritual mysteries with her mystical powers as well as a reasonable amount of actual detective work.
Mushishi
In this world, there exist Mushi, spirits that often exist with no purpose. However, these Mushi can affect the physical world in countless forms from diseases to more pleasant phenomenon.
Why do these Mushi exist?
That is the question that Ginko the Mushi-shi, a researcher on the phenomenon, asks himself as he travels the land investigating Mushi-related incidents.
Both series take place in a world where spirits exist and everyone accepts that. They focus on main characters whose primary purpose is to explore these spiritual matters.
However, unlike in the Raven of the Inner Palace where she deals with various spirits that haven’t moved on, in Mushishi, Ginko is simply studying the various phenomenon that are caused by the mushi. He is rather impartial whereas Shouxue is supposed to be impartial, but often more invested than she should be.
Natsume’s Book of Friends
For as long as he can remember, Takashi Natsume has been chased by spirits, but recently he discovered that the reason was because his deceased grandmother had passed on to him her “Book of Friends,” a book containing all the spirits she had brought under her control.
Now Natsume realizes that these spirits haunt him in hopes of gaining freedom. With few friends, no loving home, and constantly hunted by malicious spirits, Natsume looks for a place where he belongs.
Raven of the Inner Palace has several overall mysteries that it slowly unravels as it explores smaller spiritual mystery solving plots.
However, Natsume’s Book of Friends lacks an overall driven plot or really anything to unravel. Each episode is often the main character dealing with a spirits’ various problems before they will go away. It has its serious and downright sad moments, but it is more often a light-hearted sort of show.
For Fans of Chosen Girls of Spiritual Significance
Red Data Girl
Izumiko Suzuhara just wants to be a normal girl, but that will never happen. She was raised in a shrine deep in the woods because she is in fact the vessel of a Goddess. Even something as simple as cutting her hair is a shock to her protectors.
However, even this painfully shy living shrine can make a go at changing her life, but it might put everyone in danger.
Like Raven of the Inner Palace, Red Data Girl features a female main character who is kept in seclusion due to her special spiritual powers.
However, while Shouxue is relatively safe under the emperor’s watch, Red Data Girl is all about the threat to her life and her guardian having to constantly save her from it.
While both shows have an element of romance to them, the dynamic in Red Data Girl is much different from the more harmonious dynamic in Raven of the Inner Palace.
Hiiro no Kakera
High school girl Tamaki Kasuga is being sent to live with her grandmother in the rural village of Kifumura. When she arrives, she is attacked by a strange creature and is informed that the females in her family carry the blood of the Tamayori Princess.
This makes it their responsibility to ensure ghosts and gods remain sealed away so they cannot hurt people. As her responsibilities are dangerous, she is given five guardians to keep her safe.
Both series feature a woman who is of some spiritual significance to the area they are in, and therefor must be protected.
While the Imperial Palace provides protection to Shouxue, Hiiro no Kakera, as it is based off an otome game, has a whole slew of handsome guardians that protect her.
However, whereas Shouxue is adept at her spiritual arts, Tamaki is a complete novice and often needs all the protection she can get.
Fushigi Yuugi
One day while visiting the National Library, junior high students Maika and Yui are transported inside a mysterious book about ancient China called The Universe of the Four Gods.
Within, Maika finds herself with the responsibility of being the priestess of Suzaku, and must gather all his celestial warriors to summon him for three wishes.
However, she is put at odds with Yui when she is manipulated into becoming the priestess of Seiryuu by an enemy nation.
The most obvious similarity between these two is the very strong Chinese history and mythology inspirations that it uses.
However, they also both feature a story surrounding female main characters who are chosen to essentially be mystical priestesses.
Outside of that, Fushigi Yuugi has a more action-oriented story and is often filled with a lot more levity.
For Fans of Lore-Rich Worlds Filled With Mythology
Yona of the Dawn
After having her luxurious life shattered by the betrayal of her cousin, Princess Yona is forced to escape with her childhood friend Son Hak.
However, leaving her palace forces her to see the poverty and strife that really makes up her beloved kingdom.
Now she must journey to not only regain her rightful throne, but to return her kingdom to its former glory.
These series do really well to present the idea that the worlds of both series have been going on much longer than the moment you see unfolding in the anime.
Furthermore, both series feature main characters that live rather sheltered lives prior to the story. As they get involved in matters, their knowledge of the world and connection to others is expanded.
They are also notable for being inspired from other areas of Asia. Raven of the Inner Palace is distinctly Chinese-inspired while Yona of the Dawn has Korean influences.
The Twelve Kingdoms
In what started as a normal day as a normal high school student, Nakajima Youko has her reality shattered when a strange man named Keiki appears before her, swearing his allegiance.
When Youko and her friends are attacked by demons, they are pulled into a different world, one she has never known. Separated from Keiki, Youko and her friends must do whatever they have to in order to survive this strange, harsh place.
If you enjoy the intricate politics and rich spirituality of the world in Raven of the Inner Palace, The Twelve Kingdoms, though well aged at this point, is no finer example of it in anime.
It excels in creating a vast world full of diverse cultures, politics, people, and general lore then spends its time exploring that through the main character.
Raven of the Inner Palace is rather narrow and focused in scope, but The Twelve Kingdoms and its broad story is home to truly charming world-building.
Fena – Pirate Princess
After tragedy at sea left her stranded and orphaned on an island, Fena was raised to be pleasure slave for soldiers of the British Empire.
However, after being broken from her chains by members from her past, she sets out to the sea in order find a place she can be free and unravel the mystery behind a strange stone left behind by her father involving a place called Eden.
Ancient Chinese-inspired Raven of the Inner Palace and Age of Discovery-inspired Fena: Pirate Princess both feature “chosen girls” that play a significant part in the world and essentially have a destiny to fulfill.
The entire plot of both shows is about the characters unraveling what exactly that is.
Do you have more anime recommendations like Raven of the Inner Palace? Let fans know in the comments section below.
