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barbosa2007Firstly, I must say how unfair it is to publicise for what looks like an awesome movie 10 months before it's premiered in theatres in Japan. Argh. This is totally crushing for a person who thrives on instant gratification.
Secondly, I read online reviews on the manga Ooku and what I gathered from the sources (Manga Recon and Manga Review) are as follows:
The main story begins with Mizuno, the handsome son of a poor hatamoto (shogunate retainers) family who is in love with his childhood friend, O-Nobu. O-Nobu, however, is the daughter of a rich merchant family and thus, Mizuno is an unsuitable marriage match for her. Spurred on by the fact that he can never marry the one he loves, he chooses to enter the service of the Inner Chamber.
But through Mizuno’s eyes, we catch a glimpse of the Inner Chamber and the politicking that’s a daily way of life for the men who live there. It’s a fascinating contrast to see the coping mechanisms and machinations of men in a situation that, traditionally speaking when it comes to fiction, has belonged to women.
The man whom we follow for most of the volume, Mizuno Yunoshin, is removed from the spotlight near its end through the complicated politics of the Inner Chambers, the glorified harem of men that serves the female shogun, where he resides. The really riveting character becomes instead the shogun herself, a practical and sharp-witted woman who plans to tackle Japan’s festering social tension over gender politics head-on.
I liked novels along the lines of Empress Orchid and Memoirs of Geisha, so to see a movie adaptation of this manga sounds exciting to me. Shibasaki Kou, who's cast as the Shogun seems to have lots of spunk (I remember her being cast in Shaolin Shojo) and Nino, being an innate cheapskate and possessing a Showa counternance, is perfect as an impoverished shogunal vassal's son. It might push more fans to read up about Japanese history and such, which is always a plus.
