First Look: Summer 2023 Anime Overview: Ooku (Patreon)

It's time to review the Summer 2023 season! My overviews are going to (hopefully) be short this time.

Ooku: The Inner Chambers

Premise: The story of Ooku is an alternate history taking place during Japan’s Edo period. After a mysterious plague starts wiping out most of the men in Japan, social upheaval occurs and female shogun take the reigns. Meanwhile the Ooku, a group of women who must stay in Edo castle and exist to serve the shogun, often in the bedroom, becomes a group of young men instead.

Ooku: The Inner Chambers is a fascinating take on alternate history where women are supposedly in power, because it show how even when the male population declines, misogyny still persists and things don’t get any easier for women. The misogynist systems are still in place, and some men become even more highly valued because of their scarcity even as their roles change. Even the women thrust into power still suffer and face limitations due to their gender. It feels more true to life compared to other role-reversal stories, much like how simply putting a woman in charge of a company won't necessarily make it a better place for other women. Historical events in Ooku still unfold similarly to how they did in our timeline, but the context around them heavily changes.

If you’re interested in history, political drama and/or examination of gender roles and toxic systems, I really encourage you to check out Ooku because there’s a ton to chew on. There’s also some well-developed but fraught romance to appreciate as well. The characters are complicated and at times detestable, but you can always see the humanity beneath.

Some might struggle a bit with the story because of how dark it can be (there’s rape, death and abuse aplenty), but it doesn’t really revel in the darkness, and presents it very straightforwardly. Also, while while you don’t need a great understanding of Japanese imperial history to appreciate it, it greatly enhances it. The animation is also pretty limited, which makes some of the kissing scenes incredibly awkward, but mostly the anime does a decent job hiding how limited it’s resources are with detailed character designs that do a lot of talking anyway. (The art in the manga is much better; I prefer putting up with stiff animation rather than dealing with the official English manga’s faux-Shakespearean translation, but that’s very YMMV).

Still, Ooku is a great story for those who like complex character, sociological themes, and tantalizing what-ifs. As it's a dense, historical josei show without amazing production values,  it’s likely to be overlooked, but you owe it to yourself to give it (or the manga) a shot.