Oooku certainly isn’t a mass-produced model, as Midousuji (or me, ad nauseam) would say.  The LiA backstory here is that Samu picked it as his “best manga that will never get an anime” on the January 2022 podcast.  Needless to say he’s got egg on his face now, but his recommendation is no small factor in this series’ favor.  Likewise a Tezuka and Manga Taisho award (13 years apart).  I think it’s pretty safe to say Oooku would never have gotten that anime if it weren’t for Netflix – and neither would Pluto in all likelihood.  So anyone bitching about Netflix’ role in the anime industry is barking up the wrong tree IMO.

Oooku (as I noted in the preview, surely the first show I’ve ever covered with three of the same letter consecutively appearing in its name) has been run in both shoujo and jousei publications during its long (16 year) run.  It definitely comes off more as a jousei title, which is fine by me as jousei anime are even rarer than shoujo.  It’s the story of a Japan literally scarred by a mysteries smallpox-like disease which only afflicts young men, killing 80% of them.  The eventual result is a country where women represent 80% of the population and have assumed the reins of power.

Assuming the historical names referenced are based on reality, this all seems to have taken place around the 16th and 17th Centuries.   Netflix has chosen to release this one in dump fashion, with all ten episodes dropping today.  As always I’ll have to make a decision on how I want to cover a show like that, none of the options especially appealing.  They also decided to make the “premiere” about 80 minutes long, which seems kind of meaningless if you’re just going to release the whole thing anyway.  I get why they did it though, as this premiere amounts to a prologue, complete with a false main character.

That FMC is Mizuno Yuunoshin (Seki Tomokazu), a low-ranking samurai in an age with no war.  With women so outnumbering men only the most privileged females get to marry, and everyone else is desperate for “seed”.  Many if not most families in Mizuno’s situation sell their sons’ bodies for money, but his mother never did that – just tried to marry him off against his will.  He sees himself as a sort of spermatozoa Robin Hood, spreading it around to those in need, but his heart belongs to the wealthy merchant’s daughter O-Nobu (Saitou Miyuki) – a marriage that can never realistically happen in the current reality.

Eventually Mizuno talks his way (he could talk for Japan) into being accepted into the Oooku, the men-in-waiting at the shogun’s palace.  He can never leave, but his family will be taken care of, and he imagines a life where he can pursue his love of the sword and bed noble women to his heart’s content. The reality is very different – the Oooku is a den of back-stabbing and petty court politics, and the only sex the men are getting is with each other.  This is a pretty obvious role reversal of how court life is portrayed in more historically “accurate” anime, which I suspect is one reason for the mediocre rankings the anime is getting so far.

As it happens the current shogun is a 7 year-old girl, so the Oooku’s nominal role is basically moot anyway.  Things change when the child dies of illness and a formidable warrior from Kii named Yoshimune (Kobayashi Sanae) wins the struggle to take her place.  Yoshimune has little interest in the Oooku, preferring quickies in the garden to formal sessions in the bedchamber with attendants.  When she does finally agree to examine the Oooku she takes a shine to Mizuno, however, admiring his simple black kimono and fearless gaze.  Unfortunately for him her attentions come with a cost – as the “secret swain” her first lover is to be executed for defiling her (though no one has any doubt that ship has long since sailed).

I get that Mizuno is a creature of the prologue only,  but he makes an excellent focal point.  Seki is always fantastic, first of all, and Mizuno is quite a likeable guy with a lot of integrity. He’s even willing to accept his sentence as long as his family is taken care of, though he does beg to call Yoshimune by O-Nobu’s name during their fatal tryst.  Yoshimune, however, isn’t one to take pointless custom as immutable (very un-Japanese of her).  The death of any healthy young man in this society is a waste – of one as formidable as Mizuno a travesty.  She gives Mizuno his happy ending and good on her for doing so, though one suspect happy endings are going to be the exception rather than the rule in this series.

This is all quite interesting, and very well-directed by the redoubtable Noriyuki Abe.  It’s not one of those rare DEEN shows with lavish production values, but on the whole it looks fine, and certainly Oooku is lifted by the presence of Kawai Kenji’s score.  It appears likely we’re going to get a small portion of the manga adapted, and I don’t know how well it lends itself to that, but there are certainly no warning signs in the premiere.  It’s very good indeed, with an interesting premise and cast.  I don’t know how I’ll cover it, but as long as it stays at this level I’ll certainly do so one way or the other.