大奥

OOOKU

ONA

STATUS
COMPLETE
EPISODES
10
RELEASE
June 29, 2023
LENGTH
28 min

DESCRIPTION

In Edo period Japan (1603 to 1868), 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 to a quarter of the total female population. 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 Chambers.

(Source: VIZ Media)

Note: The first episode has a runtime of 1 hour and 18 minutes.

CAST

Arikoto Madenokoji
Mamoru Miyano
Iemitsu Tokugawa
Eriko Matsui
Yunoshin Mizuno
Tomokazu Seki
Yoshimune Tokugawa
Sanae Kobayashi
Sugishita
Ryuuichi Kijima
Onobu
Miyuki Satou
Gyokuei
Yuuki Kaji
Matsushima
Yuuichi Nakamura
Kakizoe
Ayumu Murase
Hisamichi Kanou
Takako Honda
Kashiwagi
Makoto Furukawa
Sutezou
Jun Fukuyama
Saburoza
Katsuyuki Konishi
Myoukei
Taku Yashiro
Nobutsuna Matsudaira
Kazuhiko Inoue
Fujinami
Nobutoshi Kanna
Masasuke Murase
Nobuo Tobita
Kasuga no Tsubone
Kikuko Inoue
Narrator
Hitoshi Kubota

EPISODES

Dubbed

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Not available on crunchyroll

RELATED TO OOOKU

MANGA DramaOooku

REVIEWS

colleensmangarecs
85/100
Ooku: The Inner Chambers is a series you CAN'T miss.
Ooku: The Inner Chambers is not what it seems. You may read the synopsis and think it's a girlboss reverse power fantasy, however the original mangaka, Fumi Yoshinaga, is smarter than that.

We follow the story of how Edo period Japan was affected by a rapidly spreading disease the effected only men. Killing 75% of the male population and leaving women to take up the roles that they once held. Even that of the shogun which is now being filled of the previous leader's daughter.

From that premise alone, some may turn up their nose. Oh, the world will just suddenly be happy because it's all led by women? No. No it won't. Because the men may have died but the patriarchy never left. Ooku allows us to explore what a world would be like if women were in the high power positions of men while acknowledging that the sexism built in society will never leave.
The first female shogun, Iemitsu does not get to live her own life. She does not get to live a life at all in fact. Her only purpose having been given to her is that of a baby making machine. She cannot love who she wants or even have the power to make decisions as a shogun. The women run the rice farms but at the same time they are still expected to be mothers, caretakers, cooks, and homemakers. Society has not changed beyond putting more of a burden on women.
The old lady, Kasuga, holds onto the ways of society before the disease spread. Hoping one day a man would take up the seat of shogun once again and terrorizing Iemitsu because of this. She valued that of a ghost before the person before her.

At the same time, the men also suffer from these patriarchal values. Our main character, Arikoto is forced to give up his monkhood to serve as a baby maker himself. Witnessing killings upon killings because of things out of his control. He as well as Iemitsu are no longer able to walk their own paths. They are both meant to be tools.

The way the anime navigated this story was done incredibly well. From the hour long first episode, you get pulled into the world of Ooku. As it unfolds, you can't help but be enraptured and horrified by the events that play out.

Mamoru Miyano stuns as Arikoto with some amazing voice work as always. His despair, his anger, his desperation is all felt so viscerally in every moment. Eriko Matsui does amazing job as Iemitsu as well. Her screams are filled with rage but also loneliness while she also conveys a great air of superiority.

I would love to give the anime a 10, but the only issue was the animation. At times stunning, at others it took me out of the moment. Several big emotional scenes were Miyano and Matsui are acting the hell out of their lines, the animation will be awkward and glitchy. The 3D animation also didn't blend well into the 2D like in the last scene of the series where it looked like PS2 graphics. I am usually not as harsh on animation but with how much emotion scenes make you feel only to laugh at poorly animated sequences is disappointing.

All in all, Ooku: The Inner Chambers is a series you CAN'T miss. The story and characters are extremely compelling, the music is beautiful, and it has one of the most interesting premises around. Then when you get hooked to the series, go read the manga! You got about 15 more volumes of the story to go.
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withlovedese
90/100
highly entertaining but at the risk of being highly disappointing
You know what I was expecting from this? I expected a bad-ass female lead saying "fuck the patriarchy" and to my utmost disappointment, I literally got the almost exact opposite (there's some promise with the new shogun in the first episode)

This story depicts early Tokugawa Japan with a twist: a rapidly spreading disease affecting only men kills 75% of the male population and leaves women to take up the roles that they once held. Even that of the shogun which is now being filled of the previous leader's daughter.

Given all I know about the historical context of the Sengoku wars and the Tokugawa period, this was highly entertaining but I won’t lie, the ending left an extremely bitter taste in my mouth.

Some people would say that it ended realistically but bruv pls no. If you were gonna make an alternative timeline where women ruled instead of men, at least give it a happy ending bro. Like seriously. I wouldn’t be surprised if a man wrote this story.

I think the first hour-long episode would have fit better at the end. That way at least we could get the illusion of a happy ending but rip

Why do I dislike the ending? Well, cause I hate tragic love stories and this unfortunately is one. A beautiful love story but still heartbreakingly tragic. The worst part is that it didn't need to be. It really did not need to be. Everyone was just limited by their narrow mindsets and that made it intriguing but also so extremely frustrating to watch. Like almost all the men are gone but why does patriarchy still exist??? Bro wtf, EXPAND YOUR MIND! That's literally all they needed to do to make it ...NOT TRAGIC. Hence my frustration

But besides that, I loved the characters and their emotional depth. It was absolute beautiful, especially Arikoto. He was so heartbreakingly perfect. He's by far the best character in this, in my opinion. His love, anger, despair, desperation, and passion are so deliciously exquisite, it's hard to not fall in love with his character but he too could have pushed Chie in a different direction.

Chie, Chie, Chie omfg. Pls rip her. SHE HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL AS A CHARACTER but I guess she just couldn't fathom a world where men and women were truly equal and because of this she put herself and my dear Arikoto through needless anguish and for that, while I understand her, I honestly can't bring myself to like her. sigh

Luckily there's more in the manga and I'm excited to read it and see what happens as the story does continue. Hopefully the new female shogun will be able to succeed where her predecessors failed and maybe even have a passionate (BUT NOT TRAGIC) love story of her own. I'm looking forward to it! 見せて!!

Despite me hating the ending, I’ll give this 5 stars lol. The emotional depth explored and the historical context are just too rich for anything lower.
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