Ōoku: The Inner Chambers, Vol. 3

大奥 [Ōoku] #3

by Fumi Yoshinaga

The tale told in the Chronicle of the Dying Day continues as the young female shogun Iemitsu tries desperately to conceive a male heir. But her lover Arikoto seems unable to give her a child, and they must betray their hearts to save their country. Meanwhile, the Redface Pox continues its ruthless progress through Japan, leaving famine, despair, and the threat of anarchy in its wake.

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

232 pages, Paperback

First published December 20, 2007

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

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

CW: pandemic/epidemic, child abuse, murder

Everything about this series is so cool and good.

My biggest criticism of this volume especially is that I feel like there weren't enough important female characters. While I know this is one of the transition volumes that looks into the beginning of the new government system, there were really only two women and everyone else were men, even with the entire male population falling apart around them.

[M. J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This kind of work simply elevates the comic book as an art form. Outstanding writing and art.

[Ilana (illi69) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a truly original and well executed manga series. Alternative historical fiction of Japan in which a “Red Pox” decimates a large portion of the male population and women must take control of households and governing ,leading to the first female Shogun. In this third volume, the first female shogun is trying to conceive a son, still in hopes of having a male successor, and while she has fallen in love with one man in the men’s pavillon, a former Buddhist monk who has given up his vows to serve her but is unable to make her pregnant, she is made to sleep with other men for the good of the imperial line.

This isn’t the stuff of children’s stories. The drawings are very good, the story is fascinating and full of intrigues, and it seems the French translation is much better than the English one, which I hear is rather clumsy in an attempt to evoke a medieval manner of speaking. None of that here but clear and direct dialogue that doesn’t get in the way of an excellent and highly addictive series which goes on for over a dozen volumes, all available at the municipal library, to my great joy.

[marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vol. 1 ★★★★☆
Vol. 2 ★★★★☆

Over the course of this volume, it becomes obvious that too many factors are at play for Lady Kasuga's plan to work. Even if Iemitsu finally gives birth to a male heir, there's always the chance that he might catch the Redface Pox and die. And then what? Whereas peasants and nobles play the cards they were dealt, the shogun's council clings to the hope of continuing the Tokugawa male line until the very last second. While I still enjoy the series, this volume is more about the circumstances that led to the first female shogun than individual characters and their dynamics with one another. On top of that, it's packed to the brim with side characters so there's little room to breath.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1692990...

Having enjoyed Volume 1 and Volume 2 of this series, I had fairly high hopes for this third instalment of the alternate history of a Japan where almost all men were wiped out by a mysterious plague in the 1630s. It didn't quite scratch my itches; the focus is much more on the court sexual politics of the Ōoku itself, and the relationship between Arikoto and the Lady Chiye (posing as the shōgun Iemitsu Tokugawa), in particular the political need for her to bear children by other men given Arikoto's apparent sterility. We do get some exploration of the social catastrophe wrought by the man-killing plague in Japan, and of why Chiye/Iemitsu's response, backed by her government, is to legitimise female succession rather than polygamy; I'd have liked more of that and less of the romance, but I guess I can't have everything. In any case, it is once again beautifully drawn and characterised, and with a welcome reduction in the brutal violence of the precious volume.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the union of Arikoto and the lady Shogun does not result in a child, she must look elsewhere.

This is an amazing manga series. The alternative history Japan, where women have to take the jobs and duties of men due to a pox that only strikes males, continues to fascinate me. I've given the previous two volumes five stars each (rare for me), but this one gets four. It's very, very good, but not the shining star quality of the first volumes. Still, there's absolutely no doubt that I'll be diving into the fourth book. Give this one a try for smart, mature, non-fluff manga.

[Doc · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the Redface Pox continuing to rampage across the country and continuing to kill many of the men the normally patriarchal society has continued to change reversing many of the roles in society. Meanwhile changes within the Inner Chamber are happening when Iemitsu finds out she cannot get pregnant with the man she has grown to love deeply. With the need of a male heir for the dynasty to survive (by the old standards) Iemitsu must choose if she will sacrifice love for what is expected of her.

I continue to enjoy this alternate view to Japanese history where it is not guaranteed that a character will survive to the end of the volume and any number of characters will show up and bring new light to this world (some that come in and pass on in the same volume.)

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

Not my favorite volume, particularly because I don’t care as much about the characters in the past as I do with the ones in the present-day scenario.

[Eressea · Rating 5 out of 5]

雖然畫風跟昨日的美食一樣，可是劇情的風格真是天差地遠

[Cameron Sant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jake Peralta voice: He’s got bum nards!

[Ruthsic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooh, the story keeps getting better and better. Still chronicling the 3rd shogun, we see a marked change in her temperament. She has learned to become a shogun and not just act like one, but even with all the power she wields, she is still a slave to her duty as a woman - to produce a heir for the next generation. It saddened me to see her and Arikoto's love being challenged by her duty. It also delves into the story of the person who created this entire system, the nurse of the original 3rd shogun. What was a desperate attempt to hold on to power came to change the entire structure of the society. Loads of character development and a beautiful storyline!

[Elizabeth A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book blurb: The tale told in the Chronicle of the Dying Day continues as the young female shogun Iemitsu tries desperately to conceive a male heir. But her lover Arikoto seems unable to give her a child, and they must betray their hearts to save their country.

I continue to love this manga series. In this installment, we remember what we all already know, that sometimes life is too good to be true. Our woman shogun and her lover are very much in love, but she has a duty to beget (don't you just love that word?) a heir, or else chaos will ensure. And our shogun is not one to shirk her duties. What happens next and how the story unfolds is such a great read.

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this volume we get the rest of the story of the beginning of the plague and how Japan switched over from a male dominated society to a female dominated society. It was interesting, and at times incredibly sad because of the lenghts people went to to try and preserve their way of life but I still can't wait for it to go back to the Emperor from the first book, which will hopefully be happening in the next book.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-stars, not because the story is lacking (It isn't.), but because of the number of detailed backstories we get for side characters. I'm assuming these side characters play roles later in the story, but the abrupt ways they were introduced here makes the volume feel a little uneven.

The main story, however, features a great character study in interpersonal relations, sacrifice, palace politics, and ambition. Great stuff.

[Loz · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not as bloodily dramatic as the last volume, this one managed to cover a lot of time and story in a compelling way. The art is gorgeous, as always. I am truly enjoying this series.

[Avasa Sarawan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 3 of Ooku continues off the story from volume 2 whereby a violent plague has killed of a large majority of the males in Japan. In order for the Tokugawa shogun clan to not disband and to prevent any violent uprising, the sole heir to the Tokugawa clan must disguise herself as a man to reign as shogun. She chooses an ex-priest to take basically as her concubine to hopefully produce a male heir for the clan to continue the reign. Eventually, she ends up really falling in love with the ex-priest however they are unable to conceive. This largely displeases the royal advisor at the time who is also deeply concerned with continuing the reign of the Tokugawa clan. Thus, the royal advisor almost forced the ex-priest to give up his spot as concubine such that someone else may father the next heir. Lmaoo though, the second the shogun takes someone else as her concubine she gets pregnant. She gives birth to a girl (which is better than nothing) however the concubine that gets her pregnant suffers a freak accident so he can no longer try and father an heir. The ex-priest is still in love with the shogun and it’s pretty sad that he is destined to remain inside the royal castle forever but he takes up time by attending to the needs of others (mainly intellectually by holding theological seminars) and overall raising the standard of living for the men of the castle. The ex-priests begs the royal advisor to let his attendant be the next to try and father an heir for the shogun since he can no longer bear to see randos with his girl. The advisor agrees and this plot point really fizzles out so I’m assuming they’ll pick it up in the next volume. This volume has a lovely ending though as it shows the forthcoming seeds of change in the Edo society, namely that the shogun freely expresses her gender. The book is super thorough in explaining how all these changes may have come about being that the shogun could only express her gender after working-class women were already taking over as the heads of their households. Additionally this change comes only after a long period of violence had subsided and there were barely enough men to raise an army and such bloodshed would be very ignorant given the epidemic beating their population’s ass.

Overall, I think I liked this volume more than volume 2 and this one ended with more convinction but also somehow more mystery than the second volume.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usually when I read "speculative" manga--or light novels, for that matter--I have the sense that the author is much more interested in storytelling than worldbuilding. I'm impressed with and appreciative of Ōoku, in part, because it's so carefully considered on all levels.

Its fictional "red-face plague," which has cut the male population of Japan to a fifth of its former strength, affects all strata of society, from peasants to the shōgun herself. Women all over Japan are taking on tasks that men usually perform, such as farming and hauling. Nobles disguise their daughters in male garb and present them at court. The shōgun's central council is reluctant to enable women to inherit under the law, because they are holding out hope that the plague will have run its course and life can return to normal again. (hmm. sounds familiar, somehow. this was published in 2007 and is, therefore, not a response to current events.) A famine, and another surge of the plague, threaten all of Japan with instability and ruin.

The psychological drama is well-done, too. The shōgun Iemitsu is on the cover of this volume for a reason, because she is the central character this time around. She must conceal the fact that she is a woman from the world outside the palace, and continually bear children in the hope that some number of them will both be male, and live to adulthood. She is in love with Arikoto, but the two of them have had no luck conceiving a child. Iemitsu must take on other lovers, despite whatever other attachments she might have. Arikoto arranges for his devoted attendant Gyokuei to be Iemitsu's new lover. Lady Kasuga is mortally ill, and her absence will certainly be felt in the Inner Palace.

The cast is large, and despite how well Yoshinaga distinguishes the Inner Palace men's faces and builds from each other, I confess I have trouble keeping track of the ones in secondary roles, never mind their polysyllabic family and given names. Despite the detailed endnotes, my lack of knowledge of this time period's real-life historical figures sets me back, as well. Regardless of that, I highly recommend this manga, a fine wine among the cheap beer I typically consume.

[Nicolas Lontel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Après les deux premiers tomes, mes attentes sont quand même élevées, le premier chapitre du manga m'a donc laissé sur ma fin avant de trouver les chapitres suivants beaucoup plus interpellant.

Situé juste après la fin du tome 2 (je pensais que le restant des tomes seraient tous dans le désordre, mais ce n'est pas le cas), on reprend tous les mêmes personnages qui grandissent de deux ou trois ans maximum dans ce tome. On introduit aussi brièvement quelques personnages et on ficelle les questions que le tome 1 laissait comme mystère et comment les changements hiérarchiques et la domination des femmes dans les métiers, le shogunat, etc. a été réalisé.

Contrairement aux autres tomes où je voyais des thèmes émerger (la mode, les fleurs, etc.), le tome 3 semble beaucoup concentré sur le ficelage des intrigues, les changements qui attendent la société, la famine et le destin de certains des protagonistes que par une véritable oeuvre en soi avec sa propre poétique. Ça reste un très bon volume, simplement, pas aussi bon que les excellents deux premiers qui m'avaient fait une très grande impression. Il m'a aussi semblé que l' "inversion" des rôles genrés est aussi un peu moins intéressante ou moins réflexive que dans les tomes précédents.

Finalement, Arikoto était très intéressant dans le tome 2, mais là, on dirait qu'il se caricature lui-même; je trouvais ça un peu dommage pour le personnage.

[MOmo Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This third volume of Ōoku was deeply satisfying and so beautifully done. The emotional weight and political transformation in this volume are handled with such care.

We see a shift in Itsemisu—no longer the young woman we first met, but a more refined, calculated leader. Her growth is mirrored in the character arcs of Arikoto and Gyokuei, who both undergo their own personal evolutions. I found myself especially moved by how the series explores not just individual development, but systemic change—how power, gender, class, and inheritance are shaped by both affection and ambition.

The female Shogun’s desire to stay connected to the people leads her to walk the city streets. While this seems like an act of care, it’s clear that her decisions are still marked by ruthless pragmatism. Her complicated love for Arikoto continues to hover over every choice she makes, and the introduction of the concubines only deepens this emotional tension.

Kasuga’s death was poignant. Her fears for the family line echo in the background, but the scribe’s final words offer a note of defiance and hope. That ending scene, with the inauguration of Iemitsu, ties the emotional and political threads of this volume so perfectly.

The entire experience of reading this series—from back to front—has been phenomenal. This volume, in particular, made me pause and reflect. It’s not just a historical retelling, but a layered, feminist meditation on power and care.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume continues the story of Iemitsu and Arikoto, but we also get Lady Kasuga's story too. This volume really makes clear that it is not just reimagining a different history for Japan in which women rule instead of men, but one in which the same (or a very similar) history is happening with different people behind the scenes. It's pretty neat actually, but again I appreciate the historical notes to help clarify what I don't know (which is a heck of a lot) about Japanese history, language, and culture.

The story is really well told, and the art style is well suited to it. I'm appreciating all of this a lot more now that I've gotten past my initial skepticism, as well as the language, and have been able to settle into the mood of things more.

With the change in scene from the 1st volume to the 2nd, I didn't get too invested in sorting out who was who in the 2nd volume, figuring it would just change again. It didn't really, well some characters are new, but overall they are the same. I think I'd appreciate a more attentive re-read, but time is limited and I really want to move on to the next volume.

[L.G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4 stars

This Volume contains Chapters 10-14 and continues the backstory begun in Volume 2.

In Edo period Japan, a strange new disease called the Red Pox has begun to prey on the country’s men. When the last Shogan of the Tokugawa line (Lord Iemitsu) dies of the disease, his only child (Chie - a young girl) is forced to secretly replace him (taking his name and disguising herself as a male). The plan is for Lady Chie to bear a male heir and secure the succession. The lies must be kept secret, on pain of death, to protect the country from both domestic and foreign conflict.

[Thresk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm glad to have given this series a chance, and delighted that what at first appeared to be a relatively simple pseudo-historical exploration of cultural mores and gender roles has matured into a masterly, quasi-Shakespearean courtly drama. Arikoto's become, to my mind, one of the dearest, noblest, and most human characters in recent gekiga, and I am increasingly impressed by Yoshinaga's storytelling and conventional illustration.

If this volume's indicative of what's to come in this series, I'm in for one of the best manga in recent memory.

★★★★½

[Ebbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I'm correct, this might conclude the flashback that started in volume 2. It's however better than volume 2 as the reader now knows more about the context, the character, etc. Volume 2 was confusing at times, but not this one. That being said, I'm looking forward to more "things" to happen over the "background story" of why Japan got to this place we were shown in volume 1. I don't mind if it's still in the past vs the present of the story of volume 1, as long as we get going.

[Fulya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inner Chambers'ın neden erkekle dolu olduğunu anlatan sayı bu. Kim birilerini yönetmek ister ki gerçekten? Sarayda geçen bir hapis hayatı resmen, ne yöneten orada olmak istiyor ne de haremindeki erkekler orada kendi özgür iradeleriyle bulunuyor. Tamamen esaret üzerine bir hayat saray hayatı. Orada olmadığımız için üzülmemek lazım aslında.

[ashes ➷]

A satisfying continuation to the series that introduces a surprise forbidden historical romance. I'm particularly enjoying the peek into Japanese historical fiction tropes; they're obviously different from Western ones and are wonderful to see both for their own sake and because it's just so refreshing to read something new.

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

Here in volume three of the series we dive further into the first female shogun's early life and the changing political landscape of Japan. Inner chamber diplomacy and back-stabbing contrast with national tragedies.

This series continues to be brilliant! Need more a-sap!

[Ravenswan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still absolutely loving this series, the combination of history (albiet alternate) and drama is perfect for me. In this volume we see some glimpses of life for the ordinary folk outside the palace, I wish there was more of this but maybe too many characters would ruin the flow of the narrative.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

The moment when the “woman” shogun appeared? Goosebumps.
So good.
And to think that most of the stuff happening in this story really happened. (Aside from the whole “male population dropping to 1/5 of that of female” part)

[Rafael Suleiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting tale about Japanese nobility and life.

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read Harder Challenge: A book of manga