Oooku

Set during the Edo period, this story flips traditional gender roles on their head. A devastating pandemic known as the Redface Pox has decimated the male population, leaving women to outnumber men four to one. Over the span of 80 years, society has drastically shifted, women now govern the nation, while men, stripped of status and stability, are often left to fight for survival. Marriage is now a privilege reserved for the wealthy, and conventional family roles have all but vanished. The plot centers on the female shogun ruling Edo Castle and the lives of the many men confined within its inner chambers. The premise immediately caught my interest, it’s a bold and fascinating setup, and I was genuinely excited to dive in. But the actual experience was incredibly difficult. The main couple is constantly torn apart, and the story is filled with emotionally heavy, often heartbreaking moments. What affected me most, though, were the scenes involving sexual violence. That kind of content is really hard for me to sit through, and it cast a shadow over the entire series. I kept holding out hope for a satisfying or redemptive ending, but in the end, I was left feeling let down. If I could do it over again, I think I would’ve chosen to skip this one.

Studio DEEN has always been one of the most criticized animation studios for being too inconsistent. Sometimes they make awful adaptations with pitiful animation quality and other times they just produce brilliant and cared series like this. Imagine that suddenly world turns around and a huge percentage of men simply die due to a pandemic disease. Women now has the power and young men became a valuable treasure due to their capacity to procreate with so many women. Even being prostituted and sold for a lot of money. And everything setted in Edo period. That's what Oooku is about. One of the things that impressed me the most was how the author wasn't afraid of anything. She didn't care of any kind of controversy, she felt just free enough to draw the story she wanted without avoiding any kind of subject. Prostitution, LGTB issues, empowerment of women... Oooku is such a well-written and complete work that cover whatever you can think of. When it comes to animation quality and sound, I have to congratulate Studio DEEN again for this. Obviously, this isn't a crazy visual spectacle like Ufotable or KyoAni shows, but the dedication that animators put on this series is clear. And the OST suits it pretty well. To sum up, this is such an interesting and dramatic story that could get anyone easily addicted to it. Especially for those interested in historic series. It has been an amazing surprise. I really hope to see more seasons coming soon.

This show was really unique—definitely not your average anime. If you are into Japanese culture and traditions, you'll like this show. If you are looking for your classic Isekai, sorry, this is probably not the right show for you. The story takes place in the Edo period of Japan, where a disease killed the majority of men,so now women have taken on all the roles traditionally granted to men. Characters are well designed,especially their personalities; everybody has their own goal in the show and a motive for why they are acting like that (something very rare in most anime). However, be aware that the show becomes very dark, with people being killed, a lot of abuse of power, rape and sex scenes (mostly non-explicit) and so on. The animation is really good;with the only exception of combat scenes,those are quite bad,but this show doesn't revolve around fighting or battle, so there's not much to complain about. I enjoyed the show for two main reasons: 1) Madenokoji, Arikoto: I can see this character really exists in the old Japanese Edo period,like this person has a reason for acting like that,he changes as the show progresses,he has passions and weaknesses even when described as perfect (Arikoto is incredible). 2) I appreciate Japanese culture; I think the Edo period is super fascinating,and this anime did a perfect job, in my opinion, to portray that time,the appreciation for literature and art, and everything that gives this sense of "beauty". Some years ago I read this book, "In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom," by Ango Sakaguchi. He described two different types of beauty: one from "nature," which man cannot understand and never reaches, and the second, "artificial," made by men to imitate nature. This show is a prime example of that second one.

Period drama anime Game of Thrones. If you like show where there is nothing but sadness and depression, along with a boatload of slightly dull political intrigue this is for you. It doesn't have quite the amount of violence and rape as GoT, but it's not far off. My biggest problems were it's failure to have a fixed central narrative, in particular it's insistence on being weirdly historically accurate in this alternate-history story. I'm still clueless as to what the premise has to do with any of the story. For the majority of the story the patriarchy is in full control and it doesn't play with the gender roles at all. Sure, you could argue it's realistic but I still don't see what the premise is adding, at least without it the show would be a slightly dark political drama as opposed to a confused mess. Another key problem is the characterisation. Outside of a couple of characters most are one-dimensional. Kasuga is a complex, well written highlight but honestly most others feel incredibly basic, with no real personality that extends beyond a D&D alignment chart. I get that GoT was popular, and people like period dramas in general, but this feels like a confused mess. A really depressing mess too. If you want the complex character sadness thing watch Scum's Wish, it's miles better. If you want the complex political/period drama thing I'm sure there are many that do that job better.

I Will Write Write This Review Spoiler Free I feel very conflicted on how to rate this, on the one hand, it doesn't leave you feeling good in the end, its like My Lie In April but more depressing. On the other hand, very few anime make me feel such emotion even if that emotion isn't a good one. Oooku: The Inner Chambers is only worth watching for a very specific type of person. If you like a Tragic Romance anime that is very dark than this may appeal to you. If you are person who would like to watch an anime and not feel like crap than I would avoid this one.

Feels like something that would be much more enjoyable if you are familiar with the source material. Watched this because someone online said Miyano’s acting was really good in it. And it was. The acting is great. The animation is good. Only a few scenes had that obvious CGI that takes you out of it. Very much a Josei. That’s the audience it’s made for. Not probably going to like it if you really don’t jive with Josei. It falls into that common alternate history trope where the characters are written more like historical figures than like fictional characters. They grow and change but not in a way that’s really in service of a character arc. Things just happen to them and they have to respond. The world isn’t shaped to facilitate rewarding payoffs and character moments. And the narrative is very focused on the progression of history. This works great if you’re primarily invested in the lore, but not as much if you are really getting invested in the characters. Not really spoilers, but the premise is that a plague that only effects men has decimated the male population, forcing women to take up male roles including that of the Shogun. The first episode takes place well into this era, and even though you know what kicked it off, it’s not entirely why things are presently the way they are. It’s an interesting stand alone story. The remainder of the series goes more into how things got here and it sufficiently explains it. Sometimes it over explains but that could be due to condensing the source material. Netflix flagged it for nudity but I think it’s only because of a fisherwoman in traditional fishing attire that shows up once. The sexual violence tag is the one to take seriously. Little is actually shown but it is really clear what will/has taken place, and this could be a big issue for some viewers. They really should’ve flagged it for violence and gore too instead of “smoking”. Lot more katana action than smoking. It’s been called feminist but it’s not really pushing an agenda here. Things suck so much for men and women in this story and we see both men and women inflict pretty brutal stuff on the other sex. It outright states that the new status of men isn’t really anything like that of women previously, so it’s really not direct commentary. It just asks a lot of questions and leaves it up to the viewer. It can be very sympathetic to the unique struggles of both sexes.

If you're here because you thought the synopsis was intriguing, you made the right choice. This offers a lot more than what you initially expected. STORY (10/10) Oooku: The Inner Chambers is set in the Edo period or the period in medieval Japan marked by the Tokugawa shogunate's reign. The male population is reduced to 1/5th of the female population due to a fatal disease that affects only males. The anime starts with the appointment of the eighth Tokugawa shogun Yoshimune who goes on to uncover the secrets and the origin of the Oooku, or the residence of the 'harem' of young men for the shogun through the journal maintained since its creation "The Chronicles of the Dying Day." ANIMATION/ART AND MUSIC (8/10) The animation was satisfactory. It remained true to its source material, i.e. manga. The music however wasn't remarkable or memorable. The voice acting was amazing. Great choice with the castings. Every voice actor involved in this project did a wonderful job of bringing the characters to life by aptly conveying their thoughts and emotions. CHARACTER (10/10) Oooku has many characters and each of them is complex and interesting in their own ways. Only a few characters are fleshed out thoroughly but I guarantee you that the supporting cast does a wonderful job in driving the circumstances of the plot or bringing about notable developments in the main characters. The author does an incredible job at making the watchers/readers empathize with the characters. ENJOYMENT (10/10) Having read and immensely loved the manga, upon receiving the information about its anime adaptation, I was greatly surprised and elated. It wasn't very popular despite it winning several awards in Japan (or at least that's the impression I got because it wasn't known in the manga forums). I enjoyed this anime a lot and the fact that there's so much more this series has to offer makes me even more thrilled. From a critical standpoint, I give it a 9/10. But, coming from a fan whose expectations were met satisfactorily, it's a masterpiece 10/10. All I hope is that more people watch this show to experience peak fiction.

Recommended for viewers in need of a fresh story, lacking in tropes and recycled content. (Don't be put off by the "josei" tag", I nearly missed it because of that) The last 15 or so years of the anime industry have been very heavy and insistant on the same story, art and characters, the same technique has been so overused that the line between so many series becomes blurred in the eyes of a viewer that has grown up with the classics, is certainly grown tired of the same droppings, different season, and has a solid base for comparison. The factors for that are many, but a major one to mention is the very basic consupmtion = demand = production correlation, so naturaly at some point quantity inevitably overwhelms quality, as in many other products on the market. It's like authors and producers saw a collosal "Unsubscribe from creativity" button and agreed to hit it for good, truly a tragic story for another time and place. So, anyone who glorifies anime like CSM or Tokyo Revengers, please leave now and take your cry-me-a-river-no-jutsu along, as either: too young/uneducated/biased; or brain cell count is too low to understand why Oooku is actually good! (I'll gratefully take your confused or funny ratings instead). The story and the characters are not what you would call the buttercream of sophistication but both are multi-dimensional, have various depths, and progress proportionally. Even in a fictional setting, what is done exceptionally well here, and what constitutes the majority of my high appraisal, is the feel of reallity and relatability, where people are both strong and weak at the same time, have morals but also ignore them for the sake of something more important to them, fight to prevail but submit to the more powerful person or situatuon, each has their own motivation, convictions and goal but none is set in stone, and undergoes changes, and while each carries their own trauma and burden, none of those become the driving force behind their actions. In the end of the day it's just a fictional story and there's so much reality one can expect and demand, but if you've seen enough chosen-ones or 10 year-olds saving the world, regardless how exciting it is, you're bound to yearn for some adults adulting adult stuff, and no, not necessarily erotic (which was by the way nicely included in this gem). If "reason" is your thing, you'll find it here, so there... What you will not see the character do here is: being over-dramatic/aggressive/stupid/naive/stubborn/the epitome of good or evil. There is no one true "hero" and his respective "antagonist" counterpart, characters are not black versus white, they are sometimes influenced by others, or inspired, think on their own and make decisions, mistakes, learn, grow and change. Males do not fall under one of two classic categories: 1.macho/hero or 2.wimp/incompetent, and neither do the females, respectively: 1.tomboy/over-energetic or 2.damsel in permanent distress/can't think, can't walk or run without tripping and falling. Complaints are thrown around about the time setting and how it doesn't live up to period dramas, as well as how historically accurate it is or isn't, but was that really the point, and is it really that important? While the When and Where the action takes places does inevitably dictate some narrative, it feels like much less of a centre piece and more of a plot device. The premise is an interesting one, in the same way anime with their own unique worlds have charmed us before, an excellent food for thought and brain excercise in my opinion. Of course it's levels away from being perfect, but serves its role for the development of the story flawlessly. Not to mention what a breath of freshness is the break from school, isekai, harem/ecchi, teenagers overflooded themes/settings. The ending is really well-rounded, considering the anime doesn't cover even half the manga. You can leave it at that and still have a great, satisfactory, no-bull, completed story with an open to interpretation ending. And considering how little was covered from the manga, plenty of room was left to expand for more seasons, or even your own imagination. I found a very fulfilling balance in the execution, characters, story and development, setting, and overall was around the 8-9/10 mark, but plot holes, unexplained things and few bits and pieces here and there dropped a point (based purely on objective and constructive critisim, and by no means on enjoyment), which will not stop me from picking up the manga in the future.

This show literally felt like a #NoBetaReaderWeDieLikeMen or w/e tag on Ao3 put in anime form. It had an interesting concept but went about it so backwards it was honestly a hot mess.. and yet I binged it in a day so like it was semi entertaining to say the least. The ending was so disappointing it honestly felt like it just ended in the middle of an episode, no resolution or cliff hanger or anything, it just ended full stop which bothered me. If you're looking for a classic romance, look somewhere else. However if you're looking for something more akin to a greek tragedy, this might be more your style.

The first episode is an '1 hour 20 minutes long film that will introduce us the main character of the anime: The Ooku. It was for me a nice choice, telling a hole story to show us the manner that place works and make us wonder how thigs get to this point, as it did it to the xogun. At same time most of the people showed in theis first episode (and was a lot), make the viewer more confused than bringing something to the table. In the following episodes the characters hasn't the maniqueist aprouch we used see in most anime, they have depth and meaning to the story telling and meke the audience sympathize, and hate them at the same time. Tho, so much subjetcts are introduced that they lost the capacity to keeping tracking, losing the meaning and make the anime looks like a soap opera. In short, Oooku has a good story, but it's so complex that they couldn't bring the way it deserve and turns tacky. Could be such a great work, but at the and of the day it's just ok(ish).

This anime has surprised me and I liked it a lot, but it has left a bittersweet taste in me because halfway through the series I thought it might deserve a 10, but it is deflating and the last chapter is very rushed, so I had to give it a thumbs up. 8. If anyone is interested, I am a man. What is most surprising at first is the exchange of roles (although the series itself reveals that there has not been a reversal of roles; and it is true, since basically the women deal with what they already dealt with, in addition to working and Men only dedicate themselves to procreate and are in great demand for it). The first chapter lasts almost 1h and 20 minutes and is truly captivating, where a story is presented. But in the following 9 standard-length episodes, they present another related but different story, with different protagonists. It's a shame, because I expected the series to have a more agile development to pick up the present and close both stories, but it didn't. The first story goes completely into oblivion and the second story develops at a good pace, but from chapter 6-7 there is hardly any big development, mostly consists of concubines, pregnancies and simple romances... the story becomes very superficial, although the key themes of the anime continue to be dealt with, which are prostitution, LGTB issues, empowerment of women, gender violence, new masculinities and exploitation of men... and for this reason the series continues to be very interesting even if it loses some strength. Among other lessons, logically, related to the role of women and that are obvious, I would like to highlight the lessons related to men. The series evidences the exploitation that men suffer, working in the hardest jobs and carrying the responsibility of the family, which consumes their lives because it is socially accepted and established that they are the ones who must deal with these heavy burdens. Overall, I liked the anime, but I think it had more potential and that it needs a second season, where more weighty events take place. It would be nice if they brought back the story of the first chapter, so we know how it progresses from there (which is supposed to be the current time). Also to say that the setting is great, the whole theme of kimonos, samurais and other characteristic aspects of the time, which makes it a very immersive anime.

The Japanese YMCA. Ōoku: The Inner Chambers is a fascinatingly dark alternative look at an Edo-era Japan where a disease called the Redface Pox has ravished the country, decimating the male population to around a fifth and leaving the women to pick up the pieces by working the male roles such as farming, smithing, running the family business and even taking charge as the Shogun. The narrative revolves around the inner chambers of the Ōoku, where eight hundred of Japan's most beautiful men are sealed off from the outside world and the Redface Pox only to be seen and used by the Shogun as concubines. Whilst the first episode is a mighty 75 minutes, it sets the stage and atmosphere of the palace's inner walls and what life has become after years of disastrous events. Episode two then swings into the main narrative back to when the disease began, following a love story between a Buddhist monk forced to abandon his life and indoctrinated into the hellish life of the Ōoku and the first lady Shogun, forced to sit upon the throne as the daughter of the late Shogun and forced to bare children until she births a son. The script is incredibly well thought out. What’s striking about the story is how believable the characters feel which makes the overall level feel more tragic and depressing. Even side characters, especially the peasants outside of the place, must sink into incredibly dark lows to survive. Selling sons to the red light district, and abandoning sick or elderly family members because they’re seen as dead weight in an unrelenting new world, the story examines and explains in meticulous detail why and how these alternative historical events happen like they were a documentary. Life isn’t much easier in the inner chambers of the palace either as it could be more comparable to a prison. The environment has turned once proud men and samurai into little more than kitty bitches to win favours with the Shogun and her higher-ups, forming cliques for protection and to ostracise seemingly weaker members of the Ōoku. A bit like the Shawshank Redemption… uncomfortable sexual assaults included. Meanwhile, the members of the inner circle are clinging to traditions and bloodlines as they try to hide the fact the Shogun is a woman from the world, completely unaware of how dire the situation actually is. However, the show is stolen by the two leads. Shogun Iemitsu Tokugawa and former monk Arikoto Madenokoji's relationship is very twisted due to all the madness and tragedy forced upon them. It’s incredibly painful to watch their stories unfold within the walls of the palace because of how much their lives are interfered with, whether it would be the evil grandmother who is actually in control or other members of the Ōoku. Even when there is room for their relationship to breathe and blossom it doesn’t take long for your heart to sink for them again. The art, animation and presentation are good overall. There isn’t a lot of action that needs heavy, sakuga animation for Studio Deen to worry over, however, there are moments where faces will be off-model, or a background character will move peculiarly or use of some bad CGI animation that will leave you un-immersed to remind you that “Yep, this sure is a Studio Deen anime.” Also because this is a Netflix-produced show there is only one English subtitle option for the English dub and not one for a Japanese sub. Not only is it annoying for someone like me who likes to watch shows like this with the original Japanese voice actors, but the English subtitles have multiple spelling errors and random numbers and “@“ thrown in which is completely absurd. There are multiple spell and grammar checkers available. There's no excuse for this. Overall, Ōoku: The Inner Chambers is fantastic. It’s not going to be an anime for everyone and I wouldn’t advise bingeing it all in one day (I limited myself to an episode weekly), but if you’re into your Japanese history and “what if” scenarios and enjoy tragic love stories then I highly recommend it. Viewer discretion is advised though. It does get pretty dark and bleak. 8/10 Great.

Hello, here´s an incel misogynistic cisgender male pig reviewing the feminist anime Oooku, a Netflix property based on a rather famous, acclaimed and highly rewarded manga, in turn inspired by many other series and movies which uses the same setting of a real place in life and history of Japan. The premise this time around has to do with an everlasting pandemic around the Edo era that only affects men for some reason, leading to a matriarchy government and way of how society functions in Japan. So, basically is the kind of stuff that makes you instantly think it’s woke garbage. Not only that, but the first episode, which is 80 minutes long for some reason, is half exposition to explain how things are inside the chambers the series is named after and takes place in, and half of it is comically swapping gender roles. Men go through so many situations women are historically thought to go through, and if I bothered to watch that world famous and successful movie made by a company who historically sent the opposite messages that it wanted to convey with said film, I’d probably compare it to that. But I didn’t watch it and I don’t intend to do it in my life. From the promotional material I saw, it seemed that said movie hammers you in the head with its message, while at the very least Oooku puts men in situations that used to happen to women, and it doesn’t just say it out loud, it lets you figure it out by yourself. The problem is that, because of the light tone, it doesn’t feel like a serious exploration of what it’s trying to convey and say. The rest of it has a female Shogun somehow changing decades old rules and customs with extreme ease and practically no opposition. It makes for a proactive character with strong presence and attitude, but without a very solid nor believable script because of how well and smoothly such big changes are allowed to happen. The animation was done by Studio Deen, and it was what you can expect from them when making a serious drama such as this one. The character designs are quite realistic, which is a plus for the time period where the series takes place in, and the show manages to balance the pretty looking characters, recognized as such in-series, with the average looking ones. The overall artwork is not very good, especially with long shots, and the character figures would deform at times, particularly the faces. Giving the type of series, this anime is full of moments where everyone remains still, and even during those where there are movements, the motions themselves are quite stiff as well. With that said, the backgrounds are quite well done, initially only the chambers are shown, but later on cities and fields are present in the anime to break the visual monotony. Finally, the special effects are good for this series, and there are some pretty good directing moments here and there. Overall, the visual department is good enough, as you can expect from these people. As for the sound, the sound effects are mediocre, sometimes good, sometimes completely absent. The music is good and fitting, there’s no opening but a very good ending which even fits the type of show for once in the historical genre, and the voice acting is serious, mature, a bit atypical, and every voice fits its character well and is well performed. Another good enough department. If you ask yourself why did I move to talk about other aspects when I only covered the first episode of the show when talking about the script, it’s because so does the series itself. The first thing that needs to be clarified about Oooku is that what you see on the first episode is not where its focus is going to be, as the other nine are a flashback that shows the origin of how things lead to the starting point of the anime. Quite a rare and risky narrative choice, as it leaves it with very little plot progression from where it begins and without an actual ending, it also doesn’t give an answer about what it’s done with the pandemic or why and how it only affects men. There is some kind of explanation about this point, given at the very beginning, but it feels vague, superstitious and not enough. With everything I said so far you would think that I consider Oooku to be a show that’s not worth watching, and you would be wrong. It is certainly flawed, but I found it to be a pleasant surprise and the biggest one from this year as of yet. The second thing that needs to be clarified about it is that it is for a bit of an acquired taste and not the type of series you casually sit to watch to have a good time. If you want some happy little escapism that leaves you with a good feeling at the end, this is not your show, it’s pretty dark and it doesn’t shy away from covering some quite messed up stuff, even taking or ruining the lives of many characters. Once the prologue is over, the rest of the series is dedicated to explore its setting in a way that feels like it doesn’t leaves anything hanging or unexplained, and practically everything not only makes sense, it also feels respectful and accurate to actual Japanese history, besides the pandemic and the change of genders. With that said, it probably wouldn’t have lost much if the genders were swapped, but it is still a well-made alternative history type of show. The exposition is still not the best, as many characters would begin to talk about their lives in quite awkward moments and ways. Besides a good world building, Oooku also deals with many themes you could expect from it, from the role of samurais, their code of honor, with the passing of time and change of eras and what needs to be done with and because of them, political relationships with other countries, what and how a ruler should be, financial management, unrequited loves, the extends one can go to for the sake of their country, and of course the pandemic itself and how men and women roles are changed because of it, with obviously the themes of oppression that can be expected from the premise, handled through the plot and not with preachy monologues. At the beginning only the chambers are shown but as the series goes on it also bothers to show how the commoners are doing, which helps in establishing the setting as displayed on the first episode, as well as covering other layers of the conflict. If the anime only showed the palace, it would feel a bit incomplete. The series is also not afraid of showing dark topics such as rapes, systematized netorare for the sake of producing an heir (yes), and it forces characters into positions and lives they don’t want to convey how that might have actually happened to real people, and more specifically, women. The presentation is done tactfully and rather tastefully, as it shows enough for the scenes to be understood, yet not much to come off as edgy, exploitive and sensational, leaving the worst things implied. Also, no character acts like a straight up psycho. Despite that, it’s not like the series is misery porn either, as it shows the characters’ backdrops to explain their mentality and where they come from, it has them being tainted by the corrupted setting and doing some immoral shit themselves, yet also confronting others and themselves, forming strong dynamics with others, and making it through the horrible things that happen to them to find some light at the end of the tunnel for them, as well as some kind of middle ground and point of respect and understanding with even their biggest enemies. No main character from episode 2 and onwards is left unexplored, undeveloped and without some type of catharsis, even when their endings are bittersweet. It’s still hard to consider the cast as amazing regardless, as there are a lot of them for the short amount of episodes, with even more than one name, which combined with their simple looks and clothes makes them hard to become memorable, and some minor ones are just irremediable assholes for the sake of showing the dark setting. Out of the main ones from the first ep…

READING TIME: ~2 minutes INTRODUCTION Ooku is a moving period piece on an alternate-history Edo era Japan. It promises nuanced character relationships, compelling themes, and consistent tone and exceeded my expectations in all these categories. Despite a somewhat awkward transition from its first episode to the remainder of the story and some disturbing scenes of sexual violence, this show is certainly worth your time to watch. NOTE ON THE FIRST EPISODE First, anyone’s experience with the show will be better if they understand that the first episode is 1) over an hour long and 2) is mostly an unrelated framing story to introduce episodes 2 – 10. The remainder of the show does tie to one major plot point of the first episode, but the transition from episode 1 to 2 may ultimately feel disjointed and awkward. This is likely because Episode 1 devotes a lot of time setting up an interesting lead character and then slams on the breaks to transition to an entirely new story. Episode 2 also re-establishes lore points from Episode 1, which makes the first half of Episode 2 relatively unengaging. WHY YOU MAY ENJOY OOKU Regardless, the two main reasons why someone ought to watch this show is for its fascinating character relationships and the compelling themes that arise from them. The male and female leads are complicated and tragic characters whose actions affect everyone within the Ooku in dynamic and unexpected ways. Sprouting from this relationship are really nuanced themes of fulfilling one’s duty versus their personal desires; how people respond to dire circumstances beyond their control; how political entities respond to national hardships; how powerful people justify actions that are normatively unacceptable; forgiving in lieu of evil actions or jealousy; and the centrality of sexuality and sexual relationships within societies. WHY YOU MAY NOT ENJOY OOKU This show will not provide a light, easy-going experience. This season’s My Happy Marriage is a much better contender for that kind of show with a period piece element. Additionally, this show does depict scenes of sexual violence multiple times. Though I think Ooku avoids portraying these scenes in a Goblin Slayer-esque manner, victims of sexual violence and those sensitive to it may be disturbed by them. Less seriously, there are also some predictable, but oddly out of place CGI shots that can be distracting. Finally, the show has a relatively large cast of characters, so some are fleshed out better than others. CONCLUSION All in all, I think this OVA ought to be rated higher than it currently is and provides a very moving experience.

This had the potential to be a 10/10 anime. The premise was interesting, the characters felt real, the plot was entertaining, and it's a character-driven story. My only issue is that the first episode belongs in season 2, but I don't believe there will be a season 2, which is unfortunate for such a good story like this. I think the adaptation would've flown much nicer if the first half of ep 1 was cut out or if ep 1 was shortened because imo there has to be a shorter way to introduce the chronicles without an hour-long episode that we never get back to again. It's disappointing that season 2 most likely won't be produced, and we will never get back to the present again. This would've been much better had it only shown the past recorded in the chronicles. One thing I will do, though, is put the manga into my to-read list.

Translated with Google Translate: Portuguese We often see romance anime that are extremely poor when it comes to the story, or the characters are completely poorly written or simply have the personality of a 5 year old. In oooku we are blessed with a good script and what appears to be a very extensive universe creation. The art often leaves something to be desired, but compared to the offensiveness of anime today... it's not that bothersome. If the only romance-related thing you want to see is a cute little girl getting shy every time she sees her senpai, find a girlfriend.

Having watched the live-action Japanese drama and movie starring Sakai Masato over a decade ago, I was shocked to see that Ōoku wasn't animated until recently (the manga itself began in 2004 and ended in 2020). Set in the Edo period governed by the Tokugawa shogunate, this anime portrays an alternate universe where a traditional patriarchy becomes dominated by women due to a red-face smallpox pandemic that wipes out 75-80% of young men. Women are rainmakers while men are preciously preserved behind closed doors serving as fertility storks or left to thrive in the Yoshiwara red-light district as male courtesans. I was constantly reminded while watching this anime that the live-action drama/movie from over a decade ago is deeply ingrained in my mind as I still vividly recall the plot surrounding an illegitimate child turned female shogun Iemitsu and her ikemen monk turned consort Arikoto residing in a prison known as the Ōoku, that's how impactful the story is. Although I have never read the manga, the genre is clearly geared towards the Josei audience with bishounen galore in the inner chambers aka a reverse harem but blended in near perfection with elements of Japanese history and culture. I have to admit this anime can be a bit heavy with doses of murder, rape, and neglect etc but the darkness is offset with sprinkles of personal growth, love, and parenthood (or the lack there of). All in all, Ōoku is an excellent addition to your typical weeknight anime-watching marathon that everyone craves once in a while (or at least some of us do).

This actually could’ve been a masterpiece, if only the manga were fully adapted. The concept itself is very intriguing. The concept is a period drama where a plague takes out most of the men in Japan, so the gender roles are flipped. Women start to work the fields, take positions in government, and do the traditional jobs for men. Because people didn’t want the plague to wipe the men out, they started keeping the men indoors and only used them to have children, which was a sexist role reserved for women back in the day. This anime starts off good. We see the ramifications of that through women working the fields, men being prostitutes at the red light district, and a female shogun. After we meet the new Shogun and some events happen, she wants to study the history of how they got there. What happened with the plague and the recorded history around those and the first female shogun. So we go into the past. Kasuga and Iemitsu are complex characters. They carry the series. Though unfortunately, this series isn't without problems. An issue that I have is the limited perspectives. We’re supposed to believe that women outnumber men 5 to 1, but the majority of what we see is a reverse harem. We needed more screen time from the commoners; show, don’t tell. And the love story between Arikoto and Iemitsu is heartbreaking and so good, but that can’t carry the show. Especially since Iemitsu having a harem makes it hard for me to see the lack of men in the world, when she’s sleeping with like 6 different men. Lack of men where? If anything, it’s a lack of women… Even in a plague that wipes away most of the men, most of the named characters are men. A bitter sense of irony... The final issue is the potential of this concept. The main thing is about gender, but most of it centers on straight cisgender people. The only time queerness is brought up, is in a negative connotation. Either non-consensual cross dressing and identifying as another gender, or non consensual acts with the same sex. And those aren't bad on their own. They're valid takes in this world. The issue It is when they're the only perspective. It's kind of like Fruits Basket in a way. Which is why I unfairly judged this series the first time around. Both are good, but how they portray anyone not fitting in a heteronormative box is infuriating. It would have been interesting to explore gay or asexual men, outside of the Ooku, since they’re pretty much being forced into prostitution. Even exploring sexuality in the Ooku, again, outside of the non-consensual acts. You could explore a lesbian/asexual Shogun, since she’s the only one that’s able to sleep with the men, and she’s expected to sleep with them to breed an heir. Do I recommend it? Yes. The visuals are great, and so is the acting. Kasuga is an interesting character and Arikoto and Iemitsu have a tragically heartbreaking story and past. The plot point is interesting as well. Though it really needed more exploration of other characters and depth. More of the perspective of commoners, and not the privileged people in the Ooku. Maybe more episodes would've fixed this? Like, this anime should've had 24 episodes instead of 10 (technically 13 since the first episode was so long?). Perhaps 24 episodes, per season, with multiple seasons. That way you can flesh out more characters and get more perspectives. The thing about Shoujo is that sometimes it takes a while to build up. So only having limited episodes doesn't really showcase how great the series is.

Fans of Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju will get a taste of something they may enjoy again, but may be left wanting for more. Many of the best of Deen's longtime VA talent join together and give perhaps their most emotional and heartfelt performances in a decade. But the story almost seems hostile to the viewer in that it wants you to get invested over and over again only to never give any payoff, aside from a few moments. That describes much of every episode, but also the series at large. I wanted to LOVE it, but I come away just liking it. Not bad, not amazing. The voice acting is what makes this worth watching at all to be frank. While the direction was overall phenomenal, the sound design aside from the spoken words was extremely lacking, and the story was just plain awful. So much they could have done with a premise that interesting and they just had to commit to forcing it to play out as lame as possible, all the while trying to give these sly winks and nods to the audience that come off as extremely cringe and kind of moment breaking. Overall, If you were a fan of the works that put Deen on the map for many people, you will find something to enjoy in this series. But unfortunately it fails to live up to, or surpass, the works and performing history that lead to it.

No spoilers review- If you’re looking for something even remotely cute, heartwarming, or happy romance, this is not for you. This is a fair warning as to what kind of story it is so you don’t have different expectations going in. It’s definitely not wholesome or uplifting. This is on the morose and depressing side. Personally, I wouldn’t even categorize it as a romance even though it technically is. I wouldn’t say it’s a court drama about consorts either (examples of what it is not like in terms of court drama: Apothecary Diaries, No Doubt in Us, Psychic Princess). It has several dark themes. Content warnings for sexual violence (throughout the show), violence (many overt murders), and suicide. Sexual violence is done by both genders and often in same gender situations. It left me feeling empty. I wasn’t expecting a sugary show, but definitely not this either. Immediately after I had to watch a cute romance with a happy ending to cleanse my palate (Tonikawa).