Nothings more tragically mesmerizing than scandal behind castle walls amongst power-hungry, back-stabbing, sex-starved wives and concubines.
Ooku also known as Oh-Oku: The Women of the Inner Palace is set during the short reign of the popular historical Japanese child-shogun, Tokugawa Ietsugu (1709-1716), in 1713 once his Shogun father passes away. In this story, he comes to power at a terribly young age and assumes rule at four years of age. The transition of monarchical power went fairly well, but the shuffling of administrative and related powers within Edo Castles inner court proved less so. The keep of the Edo Castle is divided into the outer, central, and inner palace. The inner chambers protects the maidens of the castle, guarding all their secrets.The business of government is carried out daily in it's central chambers, later to be led by a favorite of the previous shogun in the film. A pivotal figure in this 'new administration', he is Manabe Akifusa: Lord Protector of Echizen. That also makes him lord protector, left hand man, and shot-caller for shogun Jr. He is a 'handsome' former Noh actor whose influence becomes discreetly extended beyond gov & into the inner palace as well. Along w/ this suspected discretion he guards w/ his life, his new position doesn't sit well w/ senior shogunal councilors.The deceased-Shogun's wife, Lady Tenei-in (Reiko Takashima), who proved barren, and the current baby-Shogun who so happens to be the progeny of his father's concubine, Gekkou-in (Haruka Igawa), fit into this picture quite well. Understandably, the former Shogun's widow didnt take too kindly to the younger concubine's newly acquired political power due to her 4 yr. old son's rise in status. The rivalry evolves into an all out potential ousting, with the wicked Lady Tenei-in seeking a way to remove the good hearted, fragile Lady Gekkou-in from power. A mind blowing plot involving deceit, political intrigue, back-stabbing, death, illicit relationships, and a whole lot of women is hatched & this roller coaster-of-a-story kicks into high gear! The film depicts one of the most popular Japanese scandals of the inner courts in the Edo period.Their graves can be seen at Rysen-ji in Echizen. Redone and completed by Ms.BronzeKeilani -aka-bluepeas
