Ōoku: The Inner Chambers

Ōoku: The Inner Chambers
230px First English edition of Ōoku: The Inner Chambers, as published by Viz Media
大奥 (Ōoku)
Genre	Alternate history, Romance
Manga
Written by	Fumi Yoshinaga
Published by	Hakusensha
English publisher	NA Viz Media
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Melody
Original run	September 29, 2005 – present
Volumes	12
Live-action film
Directed by	Fuminori Kaneko
Released	October 1, 2010 (2010-10-01)
Television drama
Ōoku: Arikoto Iemitsu Hen
Directed by	Fuminori Kaneko
Written by	Minako Kamiyama
Original run	October 2012 – December 2012
Live-action film
Ōoku: Emonnosuke Tsunayoshi Hen
Directed by	Fuminori Kaneko
Written by	Minako Kamiyama
Released	December 22, 2012 (2012-12-22)

Ōoku: The Inner Chambers (大奥, Ōoku) is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fumi Yoshinaga. The plot follows an alternate history of medieval Japan in which an unknown disease kills most of the male population, leading to a matriarchal society in which the Ōoku becomes a harem of men serving the now female shogun.

The manga has been serialized in Hakusensha's josei magazine Melody since 2005. Hakusensha has released twelve tankōbon volumes to date, starting in September 29, 2005. The manga is licensed in North America by Viz Media and in Taiwan by Sharp Point Press. In addition to winning an Excellence Prize at the 2006 Japan Media Arts Festival and a special prize at The Japanese Association of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy's fifth annual Sense of Gender Awards in 2005, the manga was nominated for the first annual Manga Taishō in 2008 and three times for the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize before winning the Grand Prize in April 2009. It was adapted into a live action film in 2010 and it will be adapted into a drama series and another live action film in 2012.

Plot

In an alternative timeline of feudal Japan, a strange disease that only affects men has caused a massive reduction of male population, thus women have to pick up men's jobs, changing the social structure. Now, after 80 years of the initial outbreak and current man:woman ratio of 1:4, Japan has become completely matriarchal, with women holding important political positions and men being their consort. Only the most powerful woman—head of Tokugawa shogunate—can keep a harem of handsome yet unproductive men, known as "Ooku."

Media

Manga

No.	Original release date	Original ISBN	English release date	English ISBN
1	October 4, 2005	ISBN 4592143019	August 18, 2009	ISBN 1-4215-2747-2
Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four End Notes
A young man, Mizuno Yunoshin, from a poor family resolves to give his sister a dowry by joining the inner chambers of the shogun, a seven-year-old girl, leaving his childhood sweetheart behind to hopefully find a husband. He adjusts to the life of the Ooku with the assistance of Sugishita, including the advances of his superiors there. The shogun dies and a new shogun who is thrifty but who does not know the customs, Yoshimune takes power. Mizuno rises in the ranks to be in the group of men from whom Yoshimune can take a lover. She approves of his simple attire and chooses him to be her first lover, a position that customarily ensures his death. The morning after, he is taken to the woods to be executed, but is spared by Yoshimune, who gives him a new name and some money and tells him where his still-unmarried childhood sweetheart is. Yoshimune meets a Dutch ambassador by dressing in men's clothes and hiding behind a screen. She violates protocol by speaking within his hearing. Later, she discusses with her friend the customs of naming. Yoshimune later dismisses all the young men of the inner chambers, telling them to marry, and arranges for Sugishita to be in the pool of men from whom she can take a lover, and takes him as a personal attendant. Yoshimune seeks out the oldest member of the Ooku, who she suspects may know more about the strange customs, and he gives her a book called "Chronicle of a Dying Day".
2	December 4, 2006	ISBN 4592143027	December 15, 2009	ISBN 1-4215-2748-0
Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine End Notes
3	December 25, 2007	ISBN 978-4-592-14303-1	April 20, 2010	ISBN 1-4215-2749-9
Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen End Notes
4	December 24, 2008	ISBN 978-4-592-14304-8	August 17, 2010	ISBN 1-4215-3169-0
Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen End Notes
5	October 5, 2009	ISBN 978-4-592-14305-5	December 21, 2010	ISBN 1-4215-3669-2
Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two End Notes
6	August 28, 2010	ISBN 9784592143062	July 19, 2011	ISBN 1-4215-3961-6
Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six End Notes
7	June 28, 2011	ISBN 9784592143079	July 17, 2012	ISBN 978-1-4215-4220-1
Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty End Notes
8	September 28, 2012	ISBN 9784592143086	September 17, 2013	ISBN 978-1-4215-5482-2
Chapter Thirty-One Chapter Thirty-Two Chapter Thirty-Three Chapter Thirty-Four Chapter Thirty-Five End Notes
9	December 3, 2012	ISBN 9784592143093	January 21, 2014	ISBN 1-4215-5877-7
10	October 28, 2013	ISBN 9784592143109	November 18, 2014	ISBN 1-4215-7242-7
11	August 28, 2014	ISBN 9784592145455	November 17, 2015	—
12	June 26, 2015	ISBN 9784592145462

Viz has stated the manga is "coming out in Japan at a rate of only one volume per year, with a projected ten volumes." Pancha Diaz, Fumi Yoshinaga's editor at Viz Media, explained that Ōoku was chosen to be "part of the Viz Signature line of manga" because "they’re manga that don’t easily fit into the shojo [for young girls] or shonen [for young boys] projected market, which might appeal to older readers. Books that might interest people who like American comics but avoid manga due to preconceptions. [Viz Media] wanted them to have a different presentation, to look a little different. Lots of manga are meant to be read very quickly, almost like a static cartoon, but these are meant to be savored. That’s why we chose the larger size—to signal that to the audience."

The manga is licensed in French by Kana and in Taiwan by Sharp Point Press.

Film

ja is the director of a live-action adaptation of the manga entitled Ooku Danjo Gyakuten (one English translation of the title being Lady Shogun and her Men), specifically of the Yoshimune and Mizuno arc. Filming began in the spring of 2010, and the film opened on October 1, 2010. Kazunari Ninomiya played the role of Yuunoshin Mizuno, a new addition to the shogun's harem, and Kou Shibasaki played Shogun Yoshimune.

Drama

A ten episode drama, 大奥〜誕生［有功・家光篇］ aired on TBS between 2012.10.12 - 2012.12.14, starring Masato Sakai and Mikako Tabe. The screenwriter was ja. It achieved an audience share of between 7.0% and 11.6% during its first airing. Masato Sakai won a prize in the Galaxy Award for his part in this drama and another work of his.

Reception

It was nominated for the first annual Manga Taishō in 2008. It was nominated for the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize three years in a row from 2007 to 2009 before it won the Grand Prize in April 2009. Previously, the manga also won an Excellence Prize in the 2006 Japan Media Arts Festival and special prize in The Japanese Association of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy's fifth annual Sense of Gender Awards in 2005. In January 2010, The American Library Association's Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) division listed first volume of VIZ Media version of Ōoku: The Inner Chambers in the 2010 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens list. The fourth volume of Ōoku: The Inner Chambers was ranked 5th on the Tohan charts between December 23, 2008 and January 5, 2009 and ranked 24th on the Tohan charts between January 6 and 12, 2009. The manga won the 2009 James Tiptree Jr. Award, which is awarded to science fiction works which expand or explore one's understanding of gender. In January 2011, the manga won 56th Shogakukan Manga Award in Girls' Category. The seventh volume of the manga sold around 167,000 copies in its debut week and reached No. 1 on the Japan's Oricon weekly comic ranking for the first time in July 2011.

In a review of the first volume, Casey Brienza of Anime News Network stated that "the manga is the perfect marriage of stylistic shortcomings to appropriate subject matter—the beautiful costumes are important players and plot points throughout the story, and the lack of character expression matches a world of intensely ritualized social interaction perfectly. Furthermore, while Yoshinaga isn't know[n] for her gorgeously rendered settings, artistic assistants provide much needed background detail and atmosphere." Holly Ellingwood describes the manga as a "fascinating study of 'what if'", and praises Viz's presentation of the manga. Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane found it difficult to connect with the characters in the first volume. Katherine Dacey criticised the English translation of the manga, finding it awkwardly juxtaposed faux-old-English with modern language, and enjoyed the characterisation of Yoshimune. She found the second volume more engaging than the first, but found the language distracting. Carlo Santos of Anime News Network enjoyed the artwork which shows the period detail, but disliked the lack of character development in the second volume and the English translation.

Leroy Douresseaux wrote that by the sixth volume, the focus of the series was much more on character drama and the political climate than on gender roles.

External links

• Ōoku: The Inner Chambers (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia