Ōoku: The Inner Chambers

A manga about an alternate history of the Edo period of Japan where a disease wipes out 90% of the male population and the government is ruled by female shoguns who make use of a special male harem to produce offspring.

I love Fumi Yoshinaga’s work but when I started reading Ōoku I felt I had to take notes because there were SO MANY characters spanning various timelines of different rulers. The alternate history aspect was also fascinating but hard to follow because I’m so ignorant of Japanese history. The use of early modern English in the translation also didn’t help.

I recently read the newest volume and was reminded of how beautifully crafted this series was. Despite my ignorance with the historical references, I couldn’t help but be invested in the characters and their motives within the Japanese court.

The series is phenomenal and available in English from VIZ. I highly recommended it.

~dakazu