Ôoku: The Inner Chambers

I wasn't sure what to expect from this anime, going in. I think I was hoping for an inverted history of Japan, where women have taken over, and all is right with the world, with a bit of erotica and "I told you so" thrown into the mix.

That's not what I got, though. Sure, it's about a world where women do and decide everything; but nothing is without its consequences. It's not all fun and games. In fact, I might even venture a politically incorrect opinion that it's worse.

Men are still men, with all their urges, needs and shortcomings. Women are still women, with all of their fallacies. It's just an upside down version of the world as we know it, and everything that that would realistically entail in a medieval setting.

There is a trigger warning to this anime - sexual violence. I was expecting it to be graphic, in true anime style. Nothing of the sort. And yet, violence abounds, in ways I never expected to see it. It spares no-one, regardless of gender. It's not the presence of violence, though, that is key. Is how people deal with it, react to it. What they choose to do afterwards. This violence serves an important plot purpose. It is a rite of passage for the characters and isn't there just for fan-servicing purposes.

This anime is so much more than it lets on at first glance. It takes real-life qualities of people and applies them in inverted-power-dynamic circumstances. It has been a while since I came across something so mind-bendinglly captivating on Netflix. I literally could not peel myself away. The story doesn't impart any superpowers to anyone, it doesn't create unrealistic relationships, or unrealistic characters. It does however show how people deal with extraordinary circumstances in a believable way. I can see myself in the characters' decisions. This could have very well been the top secret, completely justified reason for Japan's utter isolation policy back in the Edo period.

The story is an alternate history anime. It's not meant to be an action or fighting anime. The story has a slice of life feel from the Edo Period. The content has more adult themes than other anime but the story needs these to build into the crisis being experienced. The Ooku being a real entity within the historic Edo Castle lends weight to the story, making the story closer to reality than other anime. Go into this not expecting anything other than alternate historical drama and you'll be pleasantly surprised. Wish there were a couple more episodes in the season but definitely more material for another season.

I'm a sucker for well-made alternate histories. This one makes the grade.

It's the Edo period in Japan. A mysterious plague decimates the male population. Women take over running the country. The plague's impact extends to the Shogun's household where there now is a male harem-the Ooku of the title-in attendance to the female Shogun. Palace intrigue ensues.

Based on just this outline you might think this was going to be just another harem-heavy comedy with fan service, adolescent jokes, and stale rom-com situations.

You would be mistaken. This series is actually an extended and sophisticated exploration of a range of serious themes such as gender identity, role reversal, sexual politics, and economic discrimination. If you like serious themes uniquely addressed, you should check this one out.

This is an interesting take on alternative history. I liked it all in all but if you're used to watching explosive (mostly shonen) anime series such as myself (the likes of AoT, Demon Slayer, Death Note etc.) please take into consideration that this series is as similar to those as The Dead Poet's Society is to Mission Impossible. It's just a completely different genre of anime with a much greater emphasis on very subtle character driven plotlines and grounded philosophical themes than your run of the mill shonen anime. This series does not rely on the power of friendship/love tropes you find in Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! This does not have the bombastic action scenes of Attack on Titan, the witty humour of Demon Slayer or the thrilling, clever plot line of Death Note. This series does however have its own mysterious charm. It asks questions such as "What would happen if women had to replace men in most matters of business and politics?" and "Is a person either good or evil or can they be a little bit of both?". It explores humanity, human emotions and the reasons for why we do the things we do and why we are the way we are. Most of the characters have both redeemable and reprehensible character traits; there is no good side and bad side, it's all a question of survival and making the best of the hand you're dealt.

The animation was mostly good, although there were a few scenes scattered in between where you could clearly see they switched from traditional hand animation to CGI, but nothing too jarring. I watched it with the English dub and I think they did a pretty good job, although the dialog was a little bit coerced in some scenes and a lot of very poorly disguised exposition forced into it (which, to be honest, I don't know is the fault of the English translators or if the script was just written that way originally). For example, in one of the scenes a boy talking to his mother says something along the lines of "You'll leave my little brother Niko behind." No child speaks to their mother about their sibling like that; they both know Niko is his younger brother, there's no need to elaborate on that, it just sounds very exposition-y, if you ask me. Anyways, I digress.

I would recommend people give this series a chance, at least the first couple of episodes, bearing in mind that this is neither and action- nor an adventure series but a somber, even melancholy exploration of human nature. If you enjoyed Violet Evergarden I think you might definitely like this one.

Ooku: The Inner Chambers has a very interesting premise: Edo devastated by a plague targeting only men, that inevitably brings about a reversal of roles for men and women. So the shogun is now a woman, and she is served by a 3000 men strong harem (Ooku being the name of the building where the male concubines live).

I thought that it was pretty interesting for those who are familiar with the history of Japan (Edo era), but one never really relates to the characters, so... However, just to put things right regarding a 1 star review posted some days ago, implying that having 800 concubines were never the case in East Asia: the real Ooku was home to 3000 concubines at its peak,and don't even get me started with China. The Ming Emperor, for instance, had at some point 9000 concubines (many of whom he never, ever saw).