Creative Staff
Story and Art: Fumi Yoshinaga
Translation/Adaptation: Akemi Wegmuller
What They Say
Yoshimune has secured her place in history as a cunning and capable ruler, but the time has come for her to officially declare an heir. Many in her court hope she will pass over her oafish older daughter Ieshige in favor of the urbane Munetake. Yoshimune has never been one to bow to convention, but this time the future of her country is at stake!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Shoguns come and go, but few live long lives and successfully leave the post to their first-born daughter. Shogun Yoshimune successfully usurped a lot of competitors in her youth to become the Shogun, instilled many social changes, and now has three healthy daughters to replace her if she dies or enters retirement. But like all rulers, the real power behind her success rested with her closest confidant and servant since childhood, Hisamichi.
It takes a somewhat out of place flashback to see Shogun Yoshimune’s childhood and the exact moment her servant, Hisamichi, states that she believes Yoshimune will one day overcome all the odds and become Shogun. While this flashback, and others like it in this series, is a little jarring it is still very much needed and creates that greater connection and flow to the story. This is actually one of the better parts about this book. The author has an impressive ability to create multitudes of connections between characters and believable motives for them.
While most of Shogun Yoshimune’s rule has gone quite successfully for her, she now has the problem of retiring and passing her title on to her oldest daughter. While it certainly doesn’t sound like much of a problem, her oldest daughter has a speech impediment that makes her seem uneducated and she acts very much like a stereotypical male ruler; drinking and bedding as many partners as possible. On the other hand, Shogun Yoshimune’s second oldest daughter is very refined and intelligent, and many of the courtesans are begging the Shogun to name her second daughter as the next Shogun. This is a tough position for Yoshimune; she certainly sees the problem with her oldest daughter but also follows the edicts of law to the letter.
That whole part of this story arc is one of the best parts of this series; women of power behaving like men of power. This flipping of standards between the sexes is a common theme throughout this series and it gets a completely new angle when the story shifts to follow the life of a guy working the kitchen at a popular restaurant, something literally unheard of in their wold. Yoshizo is a great cook and better than most of the women, but because he is a guy, he is shunned and treated poorly. It is all another great role reversal as Yoshizo gets fired because his presence upsets his coworkers. Eventually, he finds his way to the Inner Chambers where he joins the other men cooking for some of the aristocracy.
Yoshizo’s life changes forever once he enters the chambers and befriends Shogun Yoshimune’s eldest daughters consort. The two form an odd relationship as both men prove they are more than the sum of their exteriors. But what of the next shogun, will it be the oafish oldest daughter or the second oldest that replaces their mother as the next shogun? And what of the Dutch trading Japan has been doing, will the secret of Japan’s decimated male population be discovered by the Dutch and spread throughout the world?
In Summary
I love the uniqueness of this series; both in examining a feudal Japan ruled by women and in the massive scope of the timeframe covered. It isn’t often that a series spans the lives of multiple rulers in the matter of only eight volumes. This massive breadth of storytelling could easily fall into disarray if it weren’t for this author’s ability to create realistic characters with believable needs and desires in a matter of a few pages. I am proud to display this series on my shelves as I look forward to rereading it in the future and love the great packaging job that Viz has done.
As always, highly recommended series.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Mature
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: September 17th, 2013
MSRP: $12.99
