After red-faced smallpox plagues Japan, the population of men is reduced to half. Men under the age of 35 are struck by the disease and soon, the virus spreads outside the Kanto region and starts affecting the entire world. In such a disastrous scenario, when men have turned scarce, the reign of women begins. Netflix’s Ooku: The Inner Chambers anime depicts the scenario under the direction of Noriyuki Abe. It is a harem anime and a unique take on the social imbalance we have been facing for a couple of decades now. The anime more or less feels like a satirical take on the injustice inflicted upon humans by humans under the name of rituals and legacies.
While the eight-episode-long anime has stuffed several arcs into one, its ambivalent ending leaves us a bit baffled, doesn’t it? If you want to know what happened to the protagonist, Arikoto-Dono in Ooku: The Inner Chambers, here is your chance!
Ooku: The Inner Chambers Plot Synopsis
The anime commences with depicting the imbalance Kanto region is facing in terms of the male-female ratio. Most of the jobs are hogged by women including labour and medicine while men have become mere prospects for a marriage. Their role is limited to marrying a woman and producing heirs, preferably sons. Women have started to feel lonely and men have become nothing but a commodity, a measure to weigh down luxury.
In this scenario, a man, Yunoshin Mizuno has dared to fall in love with the daughter of a reputed medicinal herb seller, O-Nabu. With Yunoshin’s dire financial conditions and the impossibility of his situation to be with O-Nabu, he decides to enrol on the Ooku castle. The said castle is a community of over 3000 elegant men who reside together to serve the shogun. In exchange for their service, their family receives compensation and doesn’t have to worry about feeding another mouth.
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Mizuno Is Promoted To A Higher Rank
As soon as O-Nabu hears about Yunoshin enrolling on the Ooku, her heart shatters. However, her tears cannot wipe away the differences between them. Mizuno’s perception of the Ooku has been too high but as soon as he enters the castle, he realises that Ooku isn’t just a community of men; it is a different world altogether. Here, men are segregated into groups into omemia and non-omemia classes. Men from omemia class get to serve the shogun directly under the guidance of Master Fujinami.
As Mizuno gets himself frequented by the regulations of the castle, he has a hard time yielding to the submissiveness expected of him. He is a samurai through and through. Fujinami, after witnessing Mizuno’s exceptional fighting skills, promotes his rank and now, he is a member of the elite Grooms of the Bedchamber class.
Does Yoshimune Kill Yunoshin?
As the shogun, Yoshimune, takes over the Kanto region, she is expected to visit the Ooku castle. A fest is arranged by Fujinami and Yoshimune’s assistant, Hisamachi, in which the members of the Grooms of the Bedchamber are exhibited to her. While everyone else relents to Yoshimune’s demands, Mizuno stands out and is chosen to become the secret swain aka the first man to become the shogun’s lover. This isn’t a position of responsibility though; anyone who’s chosen to become the secret swain has to die.
Yunoshin agrees to accept the responsibility and Fujinami’s treacherous plan succeeds. He knew about the tradition and didn’t want his lover, Kashiwagi, a member of the Grooms of the Bedchamber, to suffer a melancholic fate. However, Yoshimune arranges a secret plan to salvage Mizuno by faking his death. Mizuno, under the identity of Shinkichi, a tradesman, makes it out of the Ooku castle alive and reconciles with O-Nabu. But Yoshimune isn’t satiated yet.
What Happens To Ietsugo?
Yoshimune realises how ridiculous and cathartic the Ooku chambers are. Given the scarcity of men around the town, it is sluggish to confine over 800 men into one place to serve one woman. She dismisses everyone under the age of 35 and begins searching for the truth behind the Ooku chambers. The people of Kanto have long forgotten their history in which men dominated the region in every aspect. Yoshimune has now become suspicious and curious. To explore the history of the Ooku chambers, Yoshimune ends up knocking on the door of an old historian.
Around a century back, the shogun, Ietsugu, ruled over Kanto. His guardian, Kasuga-Dono, helped him maintain the composure of the town. Ietsugu wasn’t a sanguine leader, he was a bloodthirsty hound who feasted on other people’s weaknesses. When the red-faced smallpox virus spread around, his already fragile body was infected and he soon succumbed to death.
Ooku: The Inner Chambers Ending Explained
The Ooku castle was constructed for Ietsugo in which Kasuga assembled hundreds of women to lure Ietsugo. She has always been fond of the seven-coloured meal strategy in which she prepared seven different meals for Ietsugo to lure him. Given that he was into men, Kasugo decided to use the same strategy here, too. As Kasugo started to wander around, he came across a beautiful woman and broke his streak. A couple of months later, that woman gave birth to Iemitsu but Ietsugo didn’t accept her before he died.
Kasugo raised Ietsugu to pretend to be Iemitsu, whose death became a top-class secret. Ietsugo was assaulted by a man when she was merely 14 and gave birth to a child a year later but her child died a while later. Now, Ietsugo has become a sadist and enjoys inflicting pain on everyone around her but she doesn’t seem to be interested in anyone. Kasugo’s concern leads her to a monk who is acclaimed to be the most pious and handsome of all but he is a monk.
Nothing fazes Kasugo as she crosses every possible length including trapping the monk and killing his companions to have him break his oath. Iemitsu doesn’t take it easy on Arikoto-Dono either but they survive Kasugo and her barbaric ploys. A year later, when Iemitsu isn’t pregnant yet, Kasugo dismisses Arikoto from his position. While Arikoto has survived every cruelty inflicted upon him, pushing Iemitsu into another man’s arms slays him. Though he doesn’t die until he watches Iemitsu’s daughter, Ietsuna, take charge, Arikoto has become just another breathing machine.
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