Ōoku: The Inner Chambers, Vol. 1

I almost stopped before I even got to the Shogun, but Ysa convinced me to keep going; I'm glad she did. The structure of this volume is very strange; the first two thirds are very different, presumably to set the stage for the rest. ( )

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1607789.html

It is an alternate history, set in a world where a gender-sensitive plague killed most of Japan's menfolk in the mid-17th century; the story itself is set a couple of generations later, in the early 18th century, in an era when men are prized as potential breeding stock but excluded from the levers of formal power. The first three of four issues collected here follow the story of Mizuno Yunoshin, a poor but good-looking boy who joins the Ōoku, essentially the harem of the shōgun, at a time of political change. (The fourth issue has the new shōgun looking into the archives and presumably setting up a framing narrative for historical flashbacks the next volume.)

It's a fascinating construction. This is a path that a couple of other writershave previously trodden, most notably John Wyndham in his story "Consider Her Ways" (where all men, rather than most, have become extinct). Apart from the information that men now become commodities to be traded on the marriage market, and that the plague has not affected other countries, most of this first volume simply looks at the inversion of gender relationships as applied to the shōgun's ōoku in our world. There's an extraordinary moment when the shōgun speaks to a visiting Dutch delegation from behind a curtain, so that they will not realise that she is a woman; and she then commands a historical exploration of why patriarchal nomenclature continues to be used. Indeed, although Mizuno Yonushin is the ostensible viewpoint figure of the first three issues, I found the new shōgun, Yoshitsune, much the most interesting character.

Anyway, I shall try and get hold of the remaining volumes - I see that the next three are available in English translation. Good for the Tiptree Award, for calling attention to fascinating works like this one. ( )

Take the sci-fi trope of a sexist plague wiping out a large portion of the male population and using it to explain why medieval Japan was so isolationist, should mean we get a interesting historical fiction tale with a twist. However we manage to get an awful translation, a bland plot and quite amazingly misogynistic overtones. Quite a feat when you think about it.

The translation isn't the books fault but old Japanese has been converted to a Disney version of ye olde English (forsooth etc.. ) that's just irritating although with luck it does fade. Then we have to put up with a simplistic main character who is far too noble and manly, who strides forth amongst the weak, the petty and those simpering homosexual types. I mean what this book needed obviously was more stereotyping (bordering on homophobia). Of course there are some women lying around err.. just a very manly Empress and the bland girlish cipher love interest.

Then of course there's the plot, which being a setup for the series is practically non-existent. Also the actual premise feels stupid. Twisting the facts to fit actual history doesn't actually work, I mean all the women in power take a mans name and aren't allowed to talk to foreigners. I mean who owns who here?

Of course it's had rave reviews and since I am not a huge fan of manga you might want to ignore my ranting (I keep trying though, any recommendations?) ( )

What Fumi Yoshinaga attempts in her manga is not so much a full-fledged alternate history (how would things have gone differently if "X" had or hadn't happened?) as an alternate explanation of the history (let's imagine why this historical turn occurred). The question of why seventeenth century Japan had to be so firmly closed off - one might even say quarantined - from outside influences and inquiries lurks in the background of this series.

The first volume lays out the core of this alternate causality, and it is a bit of a comics classic: an unknown source brings a strange plague to the island of Japan - the red pox - and it spreads quickly among the men, killing mostly the young swiftly and more than decimating the male population. Those of you who have read Y: The Last Man (or The Knife of Never Letting Go) may find this a familiar premise - the crucial difference is that this plague doesn't seem to obliterate a whole gender, but rather radically diminishes their numbers.

The importance of this shift in the ratio of men to women soon becomes clear. Some years later we find a nation in which the gender map of social hierarchy has been inverted. Since the men haven't been totally wiped out, what happens is an alteration in the economics of gender. Women are now the labor force, and both families and governmental structures have become matriarchal. Men are prized, but not for themselves so much as what they carry in their pants. They are regarded as creatures too delicate and precarious for harsh treatment, and much is done to preserve their value. But their value is utterly alienated from any sense of autonomy, any right to choose their actions or how they will contribute to the common wealth of family and nation, any sense that an individual man can pursue his personal happiness. Matriarchs regularly sell their sons' sexual services - temporarily or permanently - to the highest bidder to support the family. Marriage (which ties male procreative potential to a single womb) becomes the province of only the wealthiest families, those who can buy their daughters the exclusive rights to a man's bed. Poorer women muster their savings to afford a night at a brothel, and the hope that they might conceive.

[Excerpted from a longer review on my blog: http://sycoraxpine.blogspot.com/2010/08/sexual-ethics-ooku-inner-chambers.html] ( )

Out of all her series so far, Ōoku: The Inner Chambers is probably the one that has garnered the most awards and nominations for Fumi Yoshinaga, including the first ever James Tiptree, Jr. Award given to a manga. Even though Ōoku was the first of Yoshinaga's works that I learned about, I actually ended up reading, and thoroughly enjoying, several of her others before picking it up. The English edition of Ōoku is published by Viz Media as part of their Signature line. As of October 2009, five volumes of the series have been released in Japan and it is projected to run for a total of ten volumes. There is even a live-action adaption planned for October 2010. The release schedule is slower than most manga, only one volume per year, which results in some impatient readers, but also encourages the savoring of each individual installment.

After a brief introduction, most of the first volume concerns Yunoshin Mizuno. The year is 1716, more than eighty years have passed since the beginning of the Redface Pox epidemic; the male population of Japan has been reduced to nearly a quarter of what it once was. Out of necessity, women have taken on the roles previously held by men, including even the military rule of the country. In order to avoid an unwanted marriage and to best support his family, Mizuno decides to enter into service in the Ōoku, or Inner Chambers, of the Shogun. There, hundreds of men are kept and women barred except for the Shogun herself who may choose among the men for her concubines. Mizuno quickly realizes that life in the Inner Chambers is not exactly what he was expecting and finds himself caught up in others' political maneuverings. The first volume also give a good picture of Yoshimune Tokugawa, the current shogun--a strong-willed woman not afraid to challenges the status quo.

Ōoku is more serious overall than most of Yoshinaga's other work that I've read, but she still incorporates lovely moments of humor. Her artwork is as expressive as ever and I personally think it is some of her best. Backgrounds are slightly more detailed than I am used to seeing from Yoshinaga and her depictions of Edo era clothing are simply gorgeous. A few color plates are also included and are stunning. Viz's presentation is beautifully done, although occasionally a panel is cropped a little too closely, and the larger Signature format shows off the artwork nicely. All of the main characters have distinctive looks and even the secondary characters show a good variety of design, something that Yoshinaga seemed to struggle with in her earliest works but here is executed elegantly.

As any good alternate history should, Ōoku incorporates historically accurate elements--such as Japan's Edo era isolationism and the events surrounding the succession of the Shogunate--and gives them new meaning and reason. While the women are officially in charge, the men still have a tremendous amount of influence. Even so, Yoshignaga's women are strong and can hold their own--the Baron's smackdown of the Senior Chamberlain was brilliant, for one. Occasionally, Ōoku can be rather text heavy but the information conveyed is interesting and generally important. Unfortunately, the faux-Early Modern English is rather awkward when used. I think I understand what Viz was trying to do--capture the different levels of formality inherent in the Japanese language but no longer a prominent part of English--but they don't quite pull it off; the language is distracting. But overall, the first volume of Ōoku is a strong start to the series. Beautiful, emotional storytelling accompanies beautiful, expressive art. I am very much looking forward to continuing the series--I love what I've seen so far.

Experiments in Reading ( )