Review: OOKU: The Inner Chambers Volume 11

OOKU: THE INNER CHAMBERS, VOL. 11
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Fumi Yoshinaga
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Akemi Wegmüller
LETTERER: Monlisa De Asis
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7979-5; paperback (November 2015); Rated “M” for “Mature”
232pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN

Ōoku: The Inner Chambers is an alternate history and romance manga created by Fumi Yoshinaga.  The series presents an alternative version of Japan’s history in which a strange disease, called the Redface Pox, begins to kill young men and boys  in the 1600s.

The male population falls to about one-fourth of the female population, and men eventually become protected as precious “seed bearers.”  Japan becomes a matriarchal society, with women taking on the roles traditionally held by men, including the role of Shogun.  This story focuses on life at Edo Castle and is set inside its Inner Chambers, a sort of harem filled with men who serve the female Shogun.

Ōoku: The Inner Chambers, Vol. 11 (Chapters 44 to 47) opens early in the reign of the 11th shogun, Lord Ienari, the first male shogun in 150 years.  Tokugawa Harusada has schemed for many years to make her son, Tokugawa Ienari, shogun, but she is the one who truly holds the reigns of power.  Ienari is merely a “studhorse,” pleasuring the now female-dominated Inner Chambers.  However, Ienari has been reading “The Chronicle of a Dying Day,” and he dreams of a better future for his country.

Meanwhile, after being thrown out of Edo Castle, former Inner Chamber men, Kuroki Ryojun and Ihei, operate an infirmary together.  Kuroki, an assistant to the late Aonuma, who found a way to cure the Redface Pox, experiences a great change in his life.  Now, he must rediscover his former mentor's miracle.

Is it okay if I still continue to admire the Ōoku: The Inner Chambers manga?  I have asked this question before because, for a long time, this manga seemed to focus on something different with each volume.  That annoyed me, and I thought that meant the narrative was problematic.  Instead of giving it a negative review, I found myself enjoying Ōoku.  I had to accept the series for what it was and not for what I thought it should be.  My very reservations seemed to suggest that this was an exceptional comic book.

At times, Ōoku is a character drama, historical fiction, historical drama, alternate-world fantasy (or science fiction), soap opera, backstairs drama, or royal drama – depending upon the volume I read.  Just go with it, Leroy.

Ōoku: The Inner Chambers Volume 11 embraces it all.  In the chapters that comprise this volume, creator Fumi Yoshinaga fashions humanity for her characters and then, begins an excavation of their personalities, motivations, psych profiles, and desires.  Why do people do what they do the way they do it?  Who knows?  It seems like a deeply held secret, even to the creator of such complex and winning characters.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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Ooku: Japan Goes Dutch

I read Ôoku: The Inner Chambers, Vol. 9 (Ooku: The Inner Chambers)

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin (which has free smart phone apps and comics).

Ooku: Ieshige the Oaf

I read Ôoku: The Inner Chambers, Vol. 8 (Ooku: The Inner Chambers)

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin (which has free smart phone apps and comics).

I'll Give it My All... Tomorrow: The Final Chapter

I read I'll Give It My All...Tomorrow, Vol. 5

I posted a review at ComicBookBin (which has free smart phone apps and comics).

Review: 21ST CENTURY BOYS Volume 2

21ST CENTURY BOYS, VOL. 2
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

WRITER: Naoki Urasawa with Takashi Nagasaki
ARTIST: Naoki Urasawa
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Akemi Wegmüller
LETTERS: Freeman Wong
ISBN: 978-1-4215-4327-7; paperback (March 2013); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
200pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Naoki Urasawa’s epic 20th Century Boys comes to an end with the second volume of 21st Century Boys.

The war is over. The “Friend,” leader of the worldwide cult known as the “Friends,” is dead. But has peace really come to Tokyo, after the world was on the brink of destruction? Many mysteries concerning the Friend remain, such as the Friend’s true identity. Are any of his diabolical plans still in motion? The answers may be in the memories of Kenji Endo, the returning hero and the Friend’s sworn enemy. 20th Century Boys has concluded. Welcome to 21st Century Boys.

Naoki Urasawa’s 21st Century Boys, Vol. 2 (entitled 20th Century Boy) is the final volume of the series. It opens in the Friends’ virtual reality game. Working with United Nations Forces, Kenji Endo entered the game, which is mostly a simulation of Kenji and his friends’ childhood neighborhood. Kenji’s goal is to learn the secrets behind the Friend’s final plot – an anti-proton bomb that can apparently destroy the world.

Meanwhile, Kanna (Kenji’s niece), Yukiji, Chono, and Maruo race to help Kendo. Yukiji, the woman Kendo has loved since they were children, and Kanna, however, are about to endanger themselves in their attempt to help Kenji. Can he save them and the world before it’s too late? And why does he keep going back into the Friends’ virtual reality game? The answers are in Kenji’s memories.

Whodunit? What is the face behind the mask? Who is pulling the strings? After reading two other fantastic Naoki Urasawa manga (Monster, Pluto), I get it, or I think I do. The fun in reading Urasawa and the greatness of his work are found in the journey. It’s the threat, the conflict, the desires and goals, the plot, the subplots, the cast of thousands, the action, the mystery, the surprises, the stunning revelations, the cameos, and the narrative. The bad guy is lost in all of that, at least after awhile.

Naoki Urasawa’s manga are just as fantastically conceived and executed as the work produced by the top names in comic books from American publishers. Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, and Grant Morrison: Urasawa’s manga are just as good (if not better, hmm?) than these creators’ most famous works. The last volume has been published, but Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys and 2lst Century Boys will be fresh to new readers looking for great comic books. People who have already read the books may return to the Boys and find things they missed.

As we close out this great series, I must say again that comic book readers who want great comics want 20th Century Boys and 21st Century Boys.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Review: 21st CENTURY BOYS Volume 1

21ST CENTURY BOYS, VOL. 01
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

WRITER: Naoki Urasawa with Takashi Nagasaki
ARTIST: Naoki Urasawa
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Akemi Wegmüller
LETTERS: Freeman Wong
ISBN: 978-1-4215-4326-0; paperback; Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
200pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

20th Century Boys is a science fiction and mystery manga from creator Naoki Urasawa. The series was originally serialized from 1999 to 2006 in the Japanese manga magazine, Big Comic Spirits. The series, a seinen manga (comics for adult men), was collected in 22 graphic novels (called tankobon in Japan). The series also has a 16-chapter sequel (of sorts), entitled 21st Century Boys.

20th Century Boys is concluded. The war is over. The “Friend,” leader of the worldwide cult known as the “Friends,” is dead. But has peace really come to Tokyo, after the world was on the brink of destruction? Many mysteries concerning the Friend remain, such as the Friend’s true identity. Are any of his diabolical plans still in motion? The answers may be in the memories of Kenji Endo, the returning hero and the Friend’s sworn enemy. Welcome to 21st Century Boys.

Naoki Urasawa’s 21st Century Boys, Vol. 1 (entitled Death of the Friend) picks up after the end of the Eisner Award-winning Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys. The Friend dies, but not before speaking cryptically to Kenji. The Friend’s stand-in, Sadakiyo, lies in a hospital. He is watched over by Kenji’s niece, Kanna, as she tries to understand what Sadakiyo is trying to tell her. United Nations Forces move into Tokyo, and Kenji prepares to makes a dangerous trip into the mind games of the Friends.

This first volume of the 21st Century Boys manga, the sort of sequel to the 20th Century Boys manga, offers more of the same, but not quite. The first series pitted a large cast of characters against a primary adversary, the Friend. In this new series, it seems as if the heroes are chasing ghosts and confronting a vaguely outlined adversary, so the series strikes an odd tone. It is as if creator Naoki Urasawa wants the characters to discover things about their pasts that are better left alone and unknown.

Comic book readers who loved 20th Century Boys will want the follow-up, VIZ Signature’s Naoki Urasawa’s 21st Century Boys.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

20th Century Boys: The Beginning of Justice

I read Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys, Vol. 22

I posted a review at ComicBookBin (which has free smart phone apps and comics).

I Reads You Review: 20TH CENTURY BOYS, Volume 21

Creators: Naoki Urasawa with Takashi Nagasaki and Akemi Wegmüller (English adaptation)
Publishing Information: VIZ Media, paperback, B&W, 208 pages, $12.99 (US), $14.99 CAN, £8.99 UK
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4215-3539-5

Rating: “T+ for Older Teens”

There once was a boy who imagined the end of the world. That is the spine of the story in 20th Century Boys, a science fiction adventure series from famed manga creator, Naoki Urasawa. The story begins with Kenji Endo, a hardworking and honorable young man.

He operates his family’s small business (a convenience store). He is also a single parent to Kanna, the child abandoned by his sister, Kiriko. In 1997, Kenji discovers a series of ominous incidents that follow “The Book of Prophecy,” a ridiculous scenario Kenji and his friend made up as children in the early 1970s.

A bizarre religious cult called the Friends and their leader, the “Friend,” are behind a plot that leads to December 31, 2000. Called “Bloody New Year’s Eve,” this day sees the world brought to the brink of destruction. The Friend is called the hero who saved the world. Kenji, who tried to stop the Friend’s destruction, is branded a terrorist.

Fourteen years later, Neo Tokyo is a thriving, multiethnic metropolis, but another crisis occurs when the Friend is assassinated in 2015 by a member of his own organization. He comes back to life in time to save the Pope and also order the dispersal of a killer virus that changes the world.

Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, Vol. 21 (entitled Arrival of the Space Aliens) opens in Year Three of the Friendship Era. Word of Kenji Endo’s return spreads slowly, but steadily in the barrens outside Tokyo, but a DJ learns that not everyone wants to hear the good news. Father Nitani, head of the Kabuki-cho Catholic Church, patiently waits to meet with his old friend, the Pope, but he’ll need a food delivery boy to deliver some good news for him.

Meanwhile, Takasu marvels at the special package that she is carrying for the friend. Kanna, Kenji’s niece, makes a startling discovery about the old Expo venue. In a flashback, we see the battle to save Kenji and his friends’ secret hideout. Finally, the Friend makes a very special announcement.

20th Century Boys is a battle of good versus evil or even crazy versus brave. As such, it is a riveting suspense thriller built on countless subplots and plot threads that spread out in all literary directions. All, however, eventually come back to the center – the battle against the Friend’s conspiracy, as told in “The New Book of Prophecy.”

The book also delves into cults, as well as the cult of personality. Sometimes, a charismatic person can spread his mental illness to his followers. These acolytes can find themselves doing nonsensical things in spite of what they know to be correct, or at least to be the better choice. It makes for unsettling reading, this comic book depiction in such clear terms and in stark visual storytelling.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Review: OOKU: THE INNER CHAMBERS, VOL. 7

OOKU: THE INNER CHAMBERS, VOL. 7
VIZ MEDIA

CARTOONIST: Fumi Yoshinaga
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Akemi Wegmüller
LETTERER: Monlisa De Asis
ISBN: 978-1-4215-4220-1; paperback; Rated “M” for “Mature”
224pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN

Fumi Yoshinaga is the prolific female Japanese graphic novelist and mangaka known for her comics in the shojo and shonen-ai genres. She has created such manga as The Moon and the Sandals and Antique Bakery.

Ōoku: The Inner Chambers (The Shogun’s Harem) is her current series and began publication in 2005. This alternate-Earth story is set in Japan and imagines a strange new disease, called the Redface Pox, which kills young men and boys. The male population begins to fall in the 1600s to about one-fourth of the female population. Men eventually become protected as precious “seed bearers,” and women take on the roles traditionally held by men, including the role of Shogun. This story focuses on life at Edo Castle and is set inside its Inner Chambers, a sort of harem filled with men who serve the female Shogun.

Ōoku: The Inner Chambers, Vol. 7 (Chapters 23-26) opens with the death of (Tokugawa) Lord Yoshimichi. Her demise signals that various domain lords (daimyo) are jockeying to position themselves as the next shogun. Ietsugu, the daughter of Ienobu, the previous shogun, is only five-year-old and is also sickly and not expected to live long.

Ietsugu’s protector. Manabe Akifusa, believes Lord Yoshimune, lord of the Kii domain, is plotting to be the next shogun. However, Sir Gekko-In, Ienobu’s concubine and Ietsugu’s father, and his supporters in the Inner Chambers are standing in Yoshimune’s way. Ejima Shinzaburo, Groom of the Bedchamber and Senior Chamberlain of the Inner Chambers, will be the key to whether Yoshimune’s gets her way or not.

Also, a new shogun wonders if Japan is the only place that has been stricken by the Redface Pox. If so, does a lack of men capable of being warriors make Japan vulnerable to outside attack?

The seventh volume of the Ōoku: The Inner Chambers manga arrives over a year after the sixth volume was published. Creator Fumi Yoshinaga inserts enough captions and exposition to explain the characters and situations to him readers familiar with the series get familiar with this section in the narrative. New readers will need a little more context.

Early in the series, Ōoku examined gender roles in a society where male dominance suddenly became a thing of the past, a necessity after a plague had wiped out a significant portion of the male population. In fact, the plague continues to hang over the narrative. One of the most interesting things about this series is how Yoshinaga imagines what role reversal might look like in 17th and 18th century Japan. In a sort of alternate history/science fiction way, the Redface Pox plague can be used to explain Japan’s “closed country” police which began in the mid-1600s and lasted until the arrival of the United States Navy forced the country open in 1854.

Whatever themes and philosophies Yoshinaga wishes to explore here, she does through character drama and palace intrigue. Considering that this series has depicted brutal murder and assault, I can honestly say that what is in Vol. 7 is the most intense character drama yet in this story. I’m not naïve about the world, but I was astounded by the extent to which the characters playing in Chapters 23 to 26 were willing to go to get what they wanted. There is a real-world verisimilitude here that gives me the chills. I think readers will be interested to know that Fumi Yoshinaga never holds back here. Ōoku: The Inner Chambers is drama writ out entirely in capitol letters.

A+

20th Century Boys: Humanity in the Balance

I read Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys, Vol. 20

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has free comics).

20th Century Boys: The Man Who Came Back

I read Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys, Vol. 19

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has free comics).

20th Century Boys: Everybody's Song

I read 20th Century Boys Volume 8 / Name Your Link


I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has free comics).

20th Century Boys: Cross-Counter

I read 20th Century Boys 17 / Name Your Link

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which as FREE smart phone apps and comics).

I Reads You Review: 20TH CENTURY BOYS, VOL. 16

Creators: Naoki Urasawa with Takashi Nagasaki and Akemi Wegmüller (English adaptation)
Publishing Information: VIZ Media, paperback, B&W, 208 pages, $12.99 (US), $14.99 CAN, £8.99 UK
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4215-3534-0

Rating: “T+ for Older Teens”

20th Century Boys is a science fiction adventure series from famed manga creator, Naoki Urasawa. The story begins with Kenji Endo, a hardworking and honorable young man who runs his family’s small business (a convenience store). In 1997, Kenji discovers a series of ominous incidents that follow “The Book of Prophecy,” a ridiculous scenario Kenji and his friend made up as children in the early 1970s.

A bizarre religious cult called the Friends and their leader, the “Friend,” are behind a plot that leads to December 31, 2000. Called “Bloody New Year’s Eve,” this day sees the world brought to the brink of destruction. Fourteen years later, Neo Tokyo is a thriving multiethnic metropolis until the Friends ruin it and the world.

Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, Vol. 16 (entitled Beyond the Looking Glass) opens on a flashback as we see pivotal moments from Kenji and his pals’ childhood. However, they are seen from the point of view of the boy who would become the Friend.

Then, the narrative moves forward to the third year of the Friendship Era. A killer virus has decimated the world’s population. Tokyo has been quarantined behind a giant wall patrolled by the Friend’s secret police and the Global Defense Forces. The story focuses on Tokyo teens, Sanae and her brother, Katsuo. They have given shelter to an injured man who hides in a shack near their home, and his name is Otcho AKA Shogun.

I’ve long since run out of words to praise manga creator Naoki Urasawa. I love his intricate plots, and 20th Century Boys is like a warehouse of intricate plots and is a veritable subplot-o-rama. I assume that there are many ideas about why Urasawa’s storytelling is so successfully spellbinding I tend to think (cause I’ve changed my mind a few times about this) that 20th Century Boys, like his other comics, is successful because of Urasawa’s ability to make every character with a speaking role – from smallest to largest – relevant in the reader’s eyes. Not every character contributes something that is momentous, but that contribution is relatively important to the time in which he or she contributes it or perhaps, to a past or future moment. And this manga still jumps off the page like a summer potboiler.

A+

I Reads You Review: 20TH CENTURY BOYS, VOL. 8

Creators: Naoki Urasawa with Akemi Wegmüller (English adaptation)
Publishing Information: VIZ Media, paperback, 216 pages, $12.99 (US), $16.99 CAN, £8.99 UK
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4215-2343-9 (ISBN-13)

20th Century Boys, a science fiction adventure series from famed manga creator, Naoki Urasawa, began with Kenji Endo. A hardworking, honorable man that some considered a loser, Kenji ran the family business (a convenience store). Some people, including his big-mouthed mother, thought that he wasn’t doing that well at it. Kenji also took care of Kanna, the infant daughter his sister abandoned before she disappeared. Kenji may have considered himself a failed rock musician, but he turned out to be the most important man in the world. Someone from his past was behind the rise of a bizarre religious cult called the Friends that was planning millennial doom.

On December 31, 2000, Bloody New Year’s Eve brought the world to the brink of destruction. Fourteen years later, Neo Tokyo is a thriving multiethnic, metropolis that lives under the shadow of the worldwide cult of the Friends. Now, Kenji’s niece, Kanna, finds herself caught in another Friends’ plot.

In Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, Vol. 8 (entitled Kenji’s Song), the narrative focuses on Koizumi Kyoko, a student at the high school Kanna’s attends. Because of her history project on Bloody New Year’s Eve, Koizumi has earned herself an extended stay at the surreal, hellish theme park/re-education camp, Friend Land. There she meets a former friend of Kenji’s, which leads her even deeper into the secrets of the Friends. Meanwhile, still more of the events of Bloody New Year’s Eve and an incident from Kenji’s youth are revealed in two separate flashbacks.

As is usual with a Naoki Urasawa manga, 20th Century Boys is an absolutely fantastic read. Once you start, you won’t want to stop. Naoki spins this narrative from the point of view of multiple protagonists and antagonists, which can sometimes be confusing. The suspense, action, and breakneck speed of the narrative, however, delivers such joys that the reader will work hard not to be confused by the menagerie of characters. This manga jumps off the page like a summer potboiler.

A+