The Twelve Kingdoms Forum

Could RakuShun be a true Sei-Nin? One raised for his own virtue, like Enho, rather than being registered as an immortal?

This is based on two points. Firstly, during Sugimoto's final fight with Youko, Rakushun yelled out a couple of times. From Sugimoto's reaction, she understood him, but she didn't have a Hinman at the time and obviously didn't understand when the others were talking among themselves.
Secondly, when he meets Shoukei, the ex-princess of Hou, she comments that he looks younger than his real age (which he gives as 22). How good she is at guessing the age of giant mice is unknown though.
If he had been registered, he'd know. He never mentions anything about this.

I know this is a reach, based on very little evidence, but what does anyone else think? He's definitely one of the wisest and most virtuous characters we've seen in the twelve kingdoms and is quite capable of earning that honor.

Hmm Rakushun as a Sei-Nin.
I will definatly agree with you on merit. He is the wisest character in the series. He gives exellent advise and better yet has a talent for wording it in a way that gets people to actually follow it .
I'm not sure how much evidence in the series suports the consept though.
I have not seen the final battle between youko and sugimoto in a while but are you sure sugimoto understands rakushun or is she just responding to hearing someone yell?
As for the Shoukei's ability to acuratly judge his age I would guess it to little to none. He is a giant rat and she made the comment having never seen his human form. Half beasts are rairly seen in public outside of En so she probably has very little to base that guess on.
I'm not going to place a guess on his human form because I know I am a lousy judge of age. But if some one with a better eye would like to coment I would love to hear their estimate of his human age.

It's true that Rakushun is very wise since he seems to know everything about the twelve kingdoms. But I don't think that he is a Sei-Nin. Firstly, when he first met Youko, he seemed very relief that Youko can understand him. If he is a Sei-Nin, he should have known that Sei-Nin had no language barrier. Secondly, Sugimoto did not understand what Rakushun was saying during the final fight with Youko. She was even surprised that Youko had understood Rakushun when she knew that Youko did not have her Hinman with her.

I'm talking about him becoming a Sei-Nin naturally. He'd know if he had been registered, but not if Tentei was elevating him on merit. Also, on the final fight, Sugimoto was shocked that Youko understood En-ou, but she seemed to respond differently when Rakushun spoke.