Le pavillon des hommes, Tome 8

大奥 [Ōoku] #8

by Fumi Yoshinaga

In this 17th Century Japan, the Shogun is a woman...and the harem is full of men.In Edo period Japan, a strange new disease called the Redface Pox has begun to prey on the country's men. Within eighty years of the first outbreak, the male population has fallen by seventy-five percent. Women have taken on all the roles traditionally granted to men, even that of the shogun. The men, precious providers of life, are carefully protected. And the most beautiful of the men are sent to serve in the shogun's Inner Chamber...

Yoshimune has secured her place in history as a cunning and capable ruler, but the time has come for her to officially declare an heir. Many in her court hope she will pass over her oafish older daughter Ieshige in favor of the urbane Munetake. Yoshimune has never been one to bow to convention, but this time the future of her country is at stake!

Reads R to L (Japanese Style) for mature audiences.

Genres: Manga, Historical Fiction, Comics, Graphic Novels, Japan, Historical, Josei

248 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2012

About the author

Japanese: よしなが ふみ

Fumi Yoshinaga (よしなが ふみ Yoshinaga Fumi, born 1971) is a Japanese manga artist known for her shōjo and shōnen-ai works.

Fumi Yoshinaga was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1971. She attended the prestigious Keio University in Tokyo.

In an interview, she said that "I want to show the people who didn't win, whose dreams didn't come true. It is not possible for everybody to get first prize. I want my readers to understand the happiness that people can get from trying hard, going through the process, and getting frustrated."

Little is known about her personal life. She mentions that her favourite operas are those by Mozart in the author's note of Solfege.

She debuted in 1994 with The Moon and the Sandals, serialized in Hanaoto magazine, but was previously a participant in comic markets.

Of Yoshinaga's many works, several have been licensed internationally. She was also selected and exhibited as one of the "Twenty Major Manga artist Who Contributed to the World of Shōjo Manga (World War II to Present)" for Professor Masami Toku's exhibition, "Shōjo Manga: Girl Power!" at CSU-Chico.

Outside of her work with Japanese publishers, she also self-publishes original doujinshi on a regular basis, most notably for Antique Bakery. Yoshinaga has also drawn fan parodies of Slam Dunk, Rose of Versailles, and Legend of Galactic Heroes.

Reviews

[Elizabeth A · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing about this wonderful manga series, is that 8 volumes in, I am still loving the complexity of the story telling. There are several interesting plot lines in this one, and I so felt for Ieshige. How awful to be the "oafish" older daughter in a world that values outward beauty, and to have a beautiful mother and sister to boot. I was rooting for her all the way, though she is not as good a leader as her Mother, but then, who could really match Yoshimune? Interesting gender role reversals continue to highlight some of the ridiculous norms that are still accepted in our times. Can't wait to see what happens next.

[meeners · Rating 4 out of 5]

someone i know was complaining to me the other day that this volume is too fluffy and shoujo-manga-esque, but i don't think this is necessarily a bad thing - yoshinaga fumi is the master (mistress) of the light touch, and she shows it off well here. the farcical moments get shaded with sympathy; the tragic moments, with pragmatism.

was going to give this only 3 stars because of the random cooking bit (i think this is part of the reason why this person i know was complaining - too much like 『なにたべ』) and a bit too many other filler moments . . . until the moment i discovered this volume features none other than HIRAGA GENNAI!!!!! a.k.a. one of the most awesome edo writers ever. yayayayayay. in real life he was a polymath and all-around genius, but more importantly, he is the one who bequeathed to the world the masterpiece that is "a theory of farting"（放屁論）. i am totally not kidding; he really did write an essay called that. i dare you to look it up. very glad to see that yoshinaga fumi seems to agree with me about how awesome hiraga gennai is. crossing my fingers that she keeps it up in volume 9!

[Loz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder and intrigue and machinations. With some cooking thrown into this volume. Really enjoyed it!

[Nicolas Lontel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ce volume est beaucoup plus modelé sur un récit à nouvelles, mais liées par une poétique commune du préjugé. Tous les personnages dont on raconte les récits sont victimes de préjugés qui les empêche de s'accomplir pleinement comme personne ou même de naviguer à travers leur société, autant du côté des femmes que des hommes. Je pense que cette poétique était brillamment explorée de différentes niveaux et on voyait aussi bien comment ça affectait les différents personnages de différentes manières (colère, honte, désir de se dépasser, désir de mourir, humour, etc.).

L'aspect plus recueil de nouvelles permettait aussi à la série de se distancier un peu des intrigues politiques (qui perdurent évidemment) et plus se concentrer sur les sentiments et ressentis intimes des personnages que je trouve comme un bel écart par rapport à la politique froide à laquelle on nous a habitué un peu.

J'ai adoré l'aspect plus manga de cuisine qu'il y avait dans une des nouvelles, ça parodiait vraiment bien le genre (du moins, ce que j'en connais) et permettait aussi d'explorer la discrimination envers les hommes d'une manière intelligente, sensible et qui n'était pas un simple gender-swap comme on le voit souvent. C'est la force de cette série d'ailleurs de vraiment explorer les formes de discrimination qui pourraient être (sont parfois) propre aux hommes par les femmes et le récit du cuisinier l'explorait de manière particulièrement remarquable.

Une des meilleures entrée de la série jusqu'à présent.

L'autrice dessine aussi super bien les oiseaux!

[Andrea Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great as usual but I still wish they would include some kind of appendix or guide to help keep track of the characters. Even just a list of all the previous shoguns would be welcome.

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is volume 8. I think this series is still great.

[Eressea · Rating 5 out of 5]

心軟不能作名君
耳根軟不能作名君
沒學識不能做名君
優柔也不行，不能納諫更不行

光帶個專案就快不行的我
要是能當統治者
暴君或許不至於
但一定是名傳千古的昏君

[MasterSal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short review follows - full review to come later

We’re now in the 8th Shogun’s reign and are caught up to the present storyline in the universe. This was an interesting volume because we saw the most variety in pov characters.

We see the shogun, advisors etc as usually but we we also get a cook, doctors etc. This was great. We also got to go back to explicitly exploring gender prejudice but this time outside of the Ooku as well. I liked that a lot.

Some touching moments which made me tear up - par for the course for the series! At least it didn’t break me this time - that is a good thing I suppose.

I found parts of this volume cute ! Never thought I’d be saying that for this series. I’m interested to see if the change in tone continues and how it works for me going forward.

4 stars - mostly because these are really a collection of shorter tales put together. I really liked that but not all the stories are of equal quality. The first story didn’t really connect like the rest. Still the rest were great.

[marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vol. 3 ★★★☆☆
Vol. 4 ★★★☆☆
Vol. 5 ★★★☆☆
Vol. 6 ★★★☆☆
Vol. 7 ★★★☆☆

Even though Yoshimune is no longer the shogun, she remains the heart of the story. This volume focuses on those in her periphery, such as her eldest daughter and a chef working in the Inner Chambers. There is no overarching arcs; rather, they are short stories that set the stage for the next phase of the saga.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yoshimune officially declares her older daughter Ieshige, who has health issues that hinder her bodily control yet has a sound mind, as her heir much to the dismay of the court and lovely younger daughter Munetake.

We also see the end of Yoshimune's reign, and as she reflects with with her retainer, we see her learn how she got there. Something I suspected all along, and wonder if she did as well...

In the end, we meet a half Dutch, half Japanese doctor who almost dies of the red-face pox, but does not! He agrees to go back to the capital to help aid research to find a cure.

[S.M.M. Lindström · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you're on part 8th of a series this ongoing and closely connected with itself, it's really hard to review it without the review being 100% spoilers. All I can say is, if you like the court intrigues in the first parts, you'll probably like the rest of it.

Also, if you can, get the all the released volumes and read them back-to-back while you still have them all at hand, so you can double-check who is who because this is a series with a gazillion characters and that spans generations. Do yourself a favor, start making a flowchart of the cast from chapter one and you might keep up!

[ashes ➷]

Several new characters which very much excite me-- we get a mixed-race Dutch/Japanese guy and, my favorite, a woman masquerading as a man! I especially loved that the latter was presented to us quite differently from all the previous women doing the same, who often had big close-ups on their Soft Feminine Faces. Oddest of all, I found myself thinking that these two look very like the type of boys Yoshinaga likes to draw in her yaoi... hm.........

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm invested, I have so many pages read that at this point it feels like I am just reading these to get through this whole thing. How many years have passed in this story? Couldn't tell you. What's the name of the current leader? No clue, but I like the art, I have the books and they WILL get read.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new chef in the Inner Chambers saves a condemned man's life and a new shogun is chosen.

These books continue to amaze me. I enjoy the smaller, complete-in-one volume stories just as much as the larger 'what will the new shogun do'. Most of the leaders try to do well but the results show how hobbled even an extremely powerful person is to cause real lasting change.

[Rosalind · Rating 5 out of 5]

as always the way these stories are told is so capturing like your reading a bunch of short stories but they all connect and i think thats what drew me in as a reader being able to point out one character from the last part in the next part and it does not hurt that the art is beautiful

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I caught myself really invested in this volume, specifically Zenjiro/Yoshizo's story. I was really rooting for him to become a Chief Cook, considering all he went through to gain the culinary knowledge that he did.
Overall, a very great volume.

[Grace Ziehm · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Jillian -always aspiring- · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s getting irritating that as soon as you connect to one character and their journey then they up and die...

[Piyali Mukherjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 but rounded up for Ieshige. An interesting exploration of Shogunate politics and the economy as enforced by the disease. Also this book contains possibility of closure of the story's main arc.

[addie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5 gonna stop here. I started to care less and less about the characters. The story was too fast paced making it very hard to follow.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

長崎が出てきて嬉しい！(数ヶ月前行ったばっかだから)

[Sushi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story telling is getting much better

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intrigues of politics and gender imbalance.

[Ainara M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Éste ha sido mi volumen favorito. Me encanto la subtrama del cocinero, y como se profundiza en el personaje de Yoshimune Tokugawa, la octava shogun.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Viz's Signature Line Series Ooku, the Inner Chambers, continues with Volume 8 (the publishing company suggests this will be about 10 volumes total).

As with the previous volumes, we are given chapter-length vignettes which explore a character's history - and that then tie into the overall history of an alternate universe Japan. Fumi Yoshinaga's work is definitely known for its attention to detail and underlying pathos rather than straightforward linear storytelling.

The story in Volume 8:

Shogun Yoshimune has ruled Japan effectively and efficiently. But she is in her twilight years and needs to choose a successor. Her two eldest, Ieshige and Munetake, are her strongest candidates. But Ieshige suffers from a birth defect that affects her ability to control her body (but not necessarily her mind). Meanwhile, Munetake is gracious, intelligent, and accomplished - an attractive candidate over her older sister. As in the real history of Japan, Yoshimune's choice of Ieshige as his heir created considerable controversy within the shogunate Tokugawa Munetake appeared to be far more suitable candidate. Yoshimune continued to insist on his decision, favoring the Confucian principle of primogeniture; and Ieshige continued in the role of formal head of the shogunate. In the book, mangaka Fumi Yoshinaga comes up with a novel way of showing why Yoshimune chose the debilitated older child as heir.

Meanwhile, inn cook Zenjiro is chafing at not being able to pursue his culinary talents - all because he is a man and that avenue is not allowed to males. He takes a job in the Inner Chamber as an apprentice cook - but is soon attached to entice an Ooku harem, prisoner Sir O-kou,to eat again. A former concubine of Shogun Ieshige and disgraced for carrying a sword, cook Zenjiro will devise a model way to get his charge to take up food again and not starve himself to death.

The next chapter are moments of reflection for former Shogunate and now titled "venerable" Yoshimune. Her cheeky granddaughter gives her worry and, in a beautifully revealing story with her retainer, the real reason she was able to rise from a lowly country baronet position into become Shogun is revealed. And she will make an unorthodox request before she dies - sending a young retainer of her daughter's to find the cure for the red pox that decimated the male population.

Finally, a half Dutch/half Japanese doctor almost dies of the red pox - but miraculously, the plague doesn't ravage the city this time. Could it be changing? He will be called into the Shogunate's inner chamber to find the cure.

In all, the story continues to be fascinating and well worth reading, if only to have a glimpse into Japanese history - but with a matriarchal twist. The art continues to be cleanly and beautifully drawn - a good reason why this was such an award winner and chosen for Viz's select signature line.

Received as an ARC from the publisher.

[Denicemarcell]

Even though i lost the continuity books ago I still look forward to each volume of this series. Pretty much each volume is complete unto itself and fits
somehow into the continuity of the series.
Seems to me everyone has at least 2 names which adds to my confusion.
Anyway this volume has a soon to retire shogun, her heir who has some difficulties--more physical than mental, two of their valets(maids) and a minor
story about the men of the inner chamber. I liked the minor story even though i was supposed to know all the men involved and didn't. The ending
chapter and the cover picture start a new thread--Japan via the shogun figuring out how to use western medicine against the red face pox.

[Arminzerella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was more a collection of shorter stories about more minor characters who may or may not be of any importance in future installments. Yoshimune’s daughter assumes the Shogunate despite her infirmities. She seems sound of mind for the most part, but she has difficult making her body do what she wants it to. Nothing really changes under her rule. Some progress is made concerning “Holland studies” – the ban upon learning anything Western is lifted and the Japanese begin to study Western medicine and language. A brief outbreak of the red pox is seen in one of the provinces, but the men recover quickly. Women still outnumber men and the Japanese are determined to keep this fact hidden from the outside world – lest the Japanese be seen as weak.

[scarlettraces · Rating 5 out of 5]

if i were in any way attracted to proselytism, i'd be a Yoshinaga-sensei evangelist, handing out copies of Flowers of Life and Ooku (ignore the translation, it's still really great!) on street corners. there are too many things about Yoshinaga-sensei's work which fill me with delight to list, but one of them is that her work gets better and better with each series and with each volume in each series. and you forget about the ye olde translation style after a bit. (to be honest, i'm fine with it as, presumably, a realistic rendering of antiquated Japanese, but a lot of people have trouble with it.)

[Denise みか Hutchins · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with every entry I've read in this series, I very much enjoyed Ōoku Volume 8. It makes me wish I knew more about Japanese history so that I could really see where the author is making reference to or diverging from it. Even without that knowledge, I just can't get enough of this alternate telling of Japan's most famous historical era. The art is gorgeous, the characters are compelling, the stories are touching, this manga is unlike anything I've ever read. Can't wait to dig into the next volume!

[Lady Entropy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the previous volumes, but that being said, still bloody awesome.

Seriously, this is the book that has complex characters, amazing setting (both imaginary AND historically accurate), throwbacks to japanese history, alternative history.

I think that the characters this time 'round weren't as awesome as the previous but it was still amazingly engaging.

Highly recommended for history buffs, alternate history fans, and japanphiles.