What do you think?
Rate this book
大奥 [Ōoku] #5
大奥 5
五代将軍・綱吉の御台所が、京から呼び寄せた右衛門佐。家光が寵愛した有功の後、長く空席だった大奥総取締の座を手に入れた彼の目的は…!? そして、後継ぎのいない綱吉を巡り様々な思惑が…!?
215 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 29, 2009
11 people are currently reading
244 people want to read
About the author
Fumi Yoshinaga
157 books248 followersJapanese: 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
July 29, 2025
Kudos to Yoshinaga, who was able to stir my recollections of what happened previously in this multigenerational alt-history, when I'd read volume 4 over a year and a half ago. The shogunate loses its only heir, and a fever renders the shogun infertile and unable to bear another, though that isn't brought to light right away. As she ages, it becomes more evident that this branch of her family tree has ended, and another branch must succeed to the shogun's role when she is gone.
January 20, 2019
This series is so addictive! Someone said they’re like a soap opera and I guess they are—if only soap operas were set in the 17th and 18th centuries and set in the Japanese court of female Shoguns because in this version of history a terrible pox has taken away most of the male population and women now rule the country. This is no kiddie manga. Lots of activity in the rulers bedchamber with a rotating cast of men trying to impregnate the Shogun while pleasuring her too so as not to lose their heads. Role reversals can be so much fun sometimes! 😊
Read
March 30, 2022二到五集都在交代第一集德川吉宗之前的故事，對日本這段正史一無所知，但也不影響閱讀。吉永史刻劃角色的功力真是一流。
February 24, 2021
3.5 stars
August 17, 2021
整本都是鋼吉的故事，提到「生類憐憫令」和「赤穗四十七浪士」；雖說逆轉了史實上的男女性別，但也不是完全相反的安排，有時候反而留著男女衝突來推進後續的故事，並且持續探討生於這樣的世間，女人和男人因此所受的苦難。
聯想到《皇上說的是》和《世界誕生之日》，前者宮廷言情小說後者科幻故事，想想宮廷劇這種體裁之所以歷久不衰，或許就是在非常人身上看到一點如常人般的掙扎，還有幸好自己已非生於那樣世代的安心感？
聯想到《皇上說的是》和《世界誕生之日》，前者宮廷言情小說後者科幻故事，想想宮廷劇這種體裁之所以歷久不衰，或許就是在非常人身上看到一點如常人般的掙扎，還有幸好自己已非生於那樣世代的安心感？
October 15, 2025
Poor Tsunayoshi… she really put her all into making an heir 🥲 I enjoy how the author has introduced a few shoguns now as quite cruel (or at least unlikable) but despite it all, toward the end she’s won the audience over (At least me lol. Though I’m easily won over.)
Also shout out to page 126 for finally remembering that lesbians exist lol. This reminds me of Crossplay Love… they took six volumes for the protagonists to realize they look like lesbians, Ooku took five to remember that queer women actually would probably be more normalized in this gender-imbalance scenario.
Will we actually get a queer woman on the page?? I kind of doubt it, but I can hope! With better rep than the original Iemitsu?? Again, I’m not optimistic, but I can hope!
Also shout out to page 126 for finally remembering that lesbians exist lol. This reminds me of Crossplay Love… they took six volumes for the protagonists to realize they look like lesbians, Ooku took five to remember that queer women actually would probably be more normalized in this gender-imbalance scenario.
Will we actually get a queer woman on the page?? I kind of doubt it, but I can hope! With better rep than the original Iemitsu?? Again, I’m not optimistic, but I can hope!
May 14, 2025
Vol. 1 ★★★★☆
Vol. 2 ★★★★☆
Vol. 3 ★★★☆☆
Vol. 4 ★★★☆☆
One of my favorite aspects about Ōoku is how it depicts even when women are in power, patriarchal conditioning runs strong. Despite how politically shrewd Tsunayoshi is, she is still reduced to a womb and treated as if she's good for nothing but producing heirs. Absolutely depressing but also very realistic.
Vol. 2 ★★★★☆
Vol. 3 ★★★☆☆
Vol. 4 ★★★☆☆
One of my favorite aspects about Ōoku is how it depicts even when women are in power, patriarchal conditioning runs strong. Despite how politically shrewd Tsunayoshi is, she is still reduced to a womb and treated as if she's good for nothing but producing heirs. Absolutely depressing but also very realistic.
April 11, 2025
This has to be my favorite so far. The way so many threads came together and the politics of the nation were brought to the forefront was a lot of fun in this.
I find myself feeling more and more empathy for each shogun as I get deeper into the culture of this world. It’s interesting to have my understand of the characters be so closely linked to governance.
Love
I find myself feeling more and more empathy for each shogun as I get deeper into the culture of this world. It’s interesting to have my understand of the characters be so closely linked to governance.
Love
January 8, 2026
Un volumen que me dejó sorprendida de lo bien escrito que está y de lo profundo que puede ser el sufrimiento de la condición femenina. Un magnífico tomo que empieza a acercarse cada vez más de la historia del primer tomo.
March 16, 2021
結果赤穗四十七浪士還是都設成男的圓過去了，小失望
August 29, 2018
Wonderful. Soap opera level drama, height of intrigue, beautiful art. Just keeps building up the story and background. Love it!
June 5, 2025
3.5 rounded up
'pon my troth, this Edo period (17th century Japan) soap opera slaps. it's set in an alternate history in which a disease that only affects males reduces that population to about a quarter of the female, so that women inherit roles and take up positions previously reserved for men, most notably the title of shogun. basically a reverse harem, but classy.
'pon my troth, this Edo period (17th century Japan) soap opera slaps. it's set in an alternate history in which a disease that only affects males reduces that population to about a quarter of the female, so that women inherit roles and take up positions previously reserved for men, most notably the title of shogun. basically a reverse harem, but classy.
February 9, 2016
I am slowly making my way through this manga series, and they continue to be really good. How often can one say that about a 10 book series?
When one's most important role is to produce an heir at any cost, things tend to get crazy. This volume introduces new characters, brings back some old dearly loved ones, and the intrigue, and plotting continue unabated. Deliciously fun.
When one's most important role is to produce an heir at any cost, things tend to get crazy. This volume introduces new characters, brings back some old dearly loved ones, and the intrigue, and plotting continue unabated. Deliciously fun.
February 6, 2025
CW: sexual violence, sexual harassment, child death, death, blood, violence, infertility, (mentioned) incest
If you thought the previous volumes were wild, get ready for a RIDE. I've seen a lot of comments likening this to a soap opera and I dont disagree.
If you thought the previous volumes were wild, get ready for a RIDE. I've seen a lot of comments likening this to a soap opera and I dont disagree.
May 29, 2022
I probably should have paced myself better and not jumped into this right after Volume 4, but I couldn’t resist … as always very well done.
We left Volume 4 with the rise of a new (maybe evil) Senior Chamberlain during the reign of the 5th Tokugawa Shogun. I was expecting this volume to be the full of conniving and scheming politicking and I was surprised at how emotional this was to be honest.
The politics are there - make no mistake - but after the rapid transitions in Volume 4 we take the time to follow some significant events in Shogun Tsunayoshi’s life - who ruled for a 21 years as Shogun. Based on my admistaly cursory research, IRL, Tsunayoshi was a significant ruler in the Tokugawa dynasty so it’s fitting we get an entire volume in this series dedicated to her / him.
Along with Tsunayoshi we follow the Senior Chamberlain, Sir Emmonsuke, Baron Yoshiyasu and the Shogun’s aged father who we met in Volume 2. After the absolutely creepy and entitled (evil!) behavior of Tsunayoshi in Volume 4 I was surprised at how much I liked her here. A testament to the quality of the write that despite the scheming of these characters and their abuse of power - most of them come across as complex people who are real in their reactions.
For all her power Tsunayoshi is as much a victim to the system and her inability to produce heirs. A lot of this volume follows her desperate attempts to ensure the succession. There is such pain in her character and such well done art showing the emptiness of the pleasure she indulges in. Her appetites get more monstrous as the volume progresses as the “pleasure” and sex is basically meaningless - the author did a great job with that, both in the plotting and in the art.
Volume 4 showed us Tsunayoshi’s rise as a young woman who was cruel in her youth and her power. This volume showed an aging woman who lost her child and ended up being unpopular and alone. There was a calcification of the politics and like in the Ooku which I enjoyed reading about. Less emotional than previous volumes but a lot more creepy in places and conscious of the impact of age in grinding you down.
There were just a few too many side tangents with the minor characters which were distracting. Mostly I enjoyed them as they flushed out the minor characters as well but there was a few pages too many.
Still an excellent entry - 4.5 stars and ½ only docked because I didn;t think this hit the extremely high bar of the rest of the volumes. I am rounding up on GR as this was still excellent - one of the best meditations on age and emptiness of pleasure that I’ve seen in comic form (probably in book form too).
We left Volume 4 with the rise of a new (maybe evil) Senior Chamberlain during the reign of the 5th Tokugawa Shogun. I was expecting this volume to be the full of conniving and scheming politicking and I was surprised at how emotional this was to be honest.
The politics are there - make no mistake - but after the rapid transitions in Volume 4 we take the time to follow some significant events in Shogun Tsunayoshi’s life - who ruled for a 21 years as Shogun. Based on my admistaly cursory research, IRL, Tsunayoshi was a significant ruler in the Tokugawa dynasty so it’s fitting we get an entire volume in this series dedicated to her / him.
Along with Tsunayoshi we follow the Senior Chamberlain, Sir Emmonsuke, Baron Yoshiyasu and the Shogun’s aged father who we met in Volume 2. After the absolutely creepy and entitled (evil!) behavior of Tsunayoshi in Volume 4 I was surprised at how much I liked her here. A testament to the quality of the write that despite the scheming of these characters and their abuse of power - most of them come across as complex people who are real in their reactions.
For all her power Tsunayoshi is as much a victim to the system and her inability to produce heirs. A lot of this volume follows her desperate attempts to ensure the succession. There is such pain in her character and such well done art showing the emptiness of the pleasure she indulges in. Her appetites get more monstrous as the volume progresses as the “pleasure” and sex is basically meaningless - the author did a great job with that, both in the plotting and in the art.
Volume 4 showed us Tsunayoshi’s rise as a young woman who was cruel in her youth and her power. This volume showed an aging woman who lost her child and ended up being unpopular and alone. There was a calcification of the politics and like in the Ooku which I enjoyed reading about. Less emotional than previous volumes but a lot more creepy in places and conscious of the impact of age in grinding you down.
There were just a few too many side tangents with the minor characters which were distracting. Mostly I enjoyed them as they flushed out the minor characters as well but there was a few pages too many.
Still an excellent entry - 4.5 stars and ½ only docked because I didn;t think this hit the extremely high bar of the rest of the volumes. I am rounding up on GR as this was still excellent - one of the best meditations on age and emptiness of pleasure that I’ve seen in comic form (probably in book form too).
July 2, 2019
Un ralentissement sur la chronologie le bienvenu suite à l'expédition des Shogun du dernier volume. Dans ce volume, on suit Tsuguhito qui consolide son influence politique qui fait construire au père de la future Shogun (les concubins qui donne la première descendance au Shogun ont des privilèges spéciaux) son propre palais, lui de l'influence politique du pavillon des hommes. Déjà dans les très bonnes grâces de la Shogun (à plusieurs égards, je ne pouvais m'empêcher de penser à la similarité de son rôle avec madame de Pompadour) en lui fournissant les meilleurs concubins et organisant de nombreux événement, une lutte politique sera entraîner avec le père du Shogun qui est prêt à tout pour conserver son pouvoir et obtenir une descendance directe de la Shogun quitte à verser dans des interprétations religieuses qui auront un énorme impact dans les lois du royaume. Je n'en dis pas plus à ce niveau.
Je n'ai pas nécessairement trouvé la richesse d'analyse que je vois dans les autres d'habitude, mais, à part un départ un peu lent et ordinaire (mais on comprend vite pourquoi), la narration m'a définitivement accroché d'un bout à l'autre. Les intrigues politiques sont beaucoup plus claires que d'habitude, les dilemmes, �� mon avis, encore plus déchirant, les revirements de situation et dévoilements d'intrigue sont plutôt nombreux et font même parfois sourire quand on réalise qu'on aurait pu deviner ça tout seul. On voit aussi la fin de l'arc autour des rônins d'Ako et la fin du volume prépare vraiment bien le suivant et nous donne vraiment le goût de continuer.
Un volume très accès sur un nombre un peu plus restreints de personnages (ce que j'accueille avec un grand enthousiasme après certains autres volumes), les explorent vraiment bien, les met aussi très bien en péril, les intrigues sont bonnes. Si le style n'égale peut-être pas celui des volumes 1, 2 et 4, il s'agit de la meilleur narration de la série que je lis jusqu'à présent et je ne pouvais tout simplement pas reposer le livre.
Je n'ai pas nécessairement trouvé la richesse d'analyse que je vois dans les autres d'habitude, mais, à part un départ un peu lent et ordinaire (mais on comprend vite pourquoi), la narration m'a définitivement accroché d'un bout à l'autre. Les intrigues politiques sont beaucoup plus claires que d'habitude, les dilemmes, �� mon avis, encore plus déchirant, les revirements de situation et dévoilements d'intrigue sont plutôt nombreux et font même parfois sourire quand on réalise qu'on aurait pu deviner ça tout seul. On voit aussi la fin de l'arc autour des rônins d'Ako et la fin du volume prépare vraiment bien le suivant et nous donne vraiment le goût de continuer.
Un volume très accès sur un nombre un peu plus restreints de personnages (ce que j'accueille avec un grand enthousiasme après certains autres volumes), les explorent vraiment bien, les met aussi très bien en péril, les intrigues sont bonnes. Si le style n'égale peut-être pas celui des volumes 1, 2 et 4, il s'agit de la meilleur narration de la série que je lis jusqu'à présent et je ne pouvais tout simplement pas reposer le livre.
December 17, 2022
Rating: 4 stars
In the 5th Volume (Chapters 19 - 22), there is still no male Tokugawa heir. Female heirs continue to become Shogun, but this is no longer a secret. Most of the noble families have female leaders. Gyokuei, who first arrived at the Inner Chambers as a young novitiate monk, has risen to become one of the Shogun Tsunayoshi's advisors. He hopes to protect the shogunate the same way his mentor Arikoto once did. But the numerous intrigues of the Inner Chambers—and the shogun herself—are pushing Gyokuei's patience and cunning to the breaking point.
More male children are surviving to adulthood, but this seems to only increase tensions amongst the populace. This is made even worse by Tsunayoshi's only child's death. With no clearly declared successor, court intrigue flourishes.
I took long breaks between reading chapters. I found this volume to be very sad. I am in awe of the artwork and subtlety of the plot.
In the 5th Volume (Chapters 19 - 22), there is still no male Tokugawa heir. Female heirs continue to become Shogun, but this is no longer a secret. Most of the noble families have female leaders. Gyokuei, who first arrived at the Inner Chambers as a young novitiate monk, has risen to become one of the Shogun Tsunayoshi's advisors. He hopes to protect the shogunate the same way his mentor Arikoto once did. But the numerous intrigues of the Inner Chambers—and the shogun herself—are pushing Gyokuei's patience and cunning to the breaking point.
More male children are surviving to adulthood, but this seems to only increase tensions amongst the populace. This is made even worse by Tsunayoshi's only child's death. With no clearly declared successor, court intrigue flourishes.
I took long breaks between reading chapters. I found this volume to be very sad. I am in awe of the artwork and subtlety of the plot.
September 10, 2019
It's been a while since I read the first 4, but the nice thing here is that it isn't hard to pick these back up as the cast of characters changes rather frequently, while the setting itself remains the same. I think that this set has been my favorite so far. Emonnosuke, Akimoto, Gyokuei, and of course Tsunayoshi, are all mischievous and fascinating in their own ways. And then of course I'm quite curious about the young lady we meet at the end, O-Nobu soon to be Yoshimune.
Read
December 9, 2020A lot of politics and intrigue in this volume. The series seems to have devolved into re-imagining the historical events of the Tokugawa shogunate and seeing how they would be different if women were in charge. Oh, and there was a long arc about Tsunayoshi trying to conceive an heir. It's depressing that even when the regime is headed by women, there is still so much pressure on the woman at the top to produce an heir.
Read
June 22, 2022Love the turn from simple soap opera drama to tragedy here. The drama is absolutely still in the air, but Yoshinaga's empathy is obvious in Tsunayoshi's arc. It's really fresh and exciting to see her write women (Yoshinaga is usually a yaoi mangaka) and particularly such interesting and well-rounded ones. In particular it's wonderful to see characters grow, develop, and generally change over time in such a large-scale series.
July 3, 2023
The era of Tsuneyoshi's reign was peaceful and abundant, but because of that Tsuneyoshi engaged in hedonistic pursuits, and kept up a castle that was by all means flamboyant. But at the end of the day, as with all those before her, all that mattered was her ability to produce heirs. Her father instilled in her this duty because he reasoned that her mother Iemitsu died due to her participation in state affairs.
ALSO, OMG ARIKOTO MADE AN APPEARANCE, AND I CRIED. ARIKOTO BEST BOY :(
ALSO, OMG ARIKOTO MADE AN APPEARANCE, AND I CRIED. ARIKOTO BEST BOY :(
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 10, 2019
The flashbacks to previous female shoguns continue, and we're slowly but surely catch up with "present day". Intrigue and tension abounds!
I reaaaally need to buy this series. It's great, but at this point there are so many characters it would be helpful to check back with previous volumes (that I've returned to the library). Still highly recommend this!
I reaaaally need to buy this series. It's great, but at this point there are so many characters it would be helpful to check back with previous volumes (that I've returned to the library). Still highly recommend this!
December 19, 2019
Mm mm brew me some fresh court politics scheming and unresolved sexual tension, thank you. Also the first episodic series that I've read in a long while and am not entirely against the idea. Also, the narratives of each generation of Shogun carries forward linearly, which makes for an easy read.
January 4, 2023
「浅野長矩の刃傷然り 赤穂浪士の討ち入り然り...
遠き戦国の血なまぐさい気風を男とともに政から消し去ってしまえ！！」
...有名は赤穂浪士の話が出てくるとは思わなんだ！
どういう経緯なのか全く知らなかったが、なんとなく分かって面白い。
この漫画、江戸時代の歴史を上手く取り入れてるから勉強になる。(勿論性別は逆だけど)
遠き戦国の血なまぐさい気風を男とともに政から消し去ってしまえ！！」
...有名は赤穂浪士の話が出てくるとは思わなんだ！
どういう経緯なのか全く知らなかったが、なんとなく分かって面白い。
この漫画、江戸時代の歴史を上手く取り入れてるから勉強になる。(勿論性別は逆だけど)
April 7, 2025
3.5 rounded down
It's weird how these books feel like an introductory thing for the next volume but are also contained within themselves.
Anyway, I don't exactly know why but I enjoyed this one. Maybe because people in power were being a little messy.
It's weird how these books feel like an introductory thing for the next volume but are also contained within themselves.
Anyway, I don't exactly know why but I enjoyed this one. Maybe because people in power were being a little messy.
September 11, 2019
Not the best volume so far, but there were still interesting power plays at work in these chapters.
November 17, 2019
Way better then the last volume. It gave me a soap opera vibe.
Newts, graphic novel
Newts, graphic novel
May 17, 2022
3/5 It’s very well written but it becomes harder and harder to read. There are so many characters and the formal writing really exhausted me.
May 2, 2023
ARIKOTO MY BELOVED!!!!! you will always be famous.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews