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mastersal's review against another edition
4.5
I probably should have paced myself better and not jumped into this right after Volume 4, but I couldn’t resist … as always very well done.
We left Volume 4 with the rise of a new (maybe evil) Senior Chamberlain during the reign of the 5th Tokugawa Shogun. I was expecting this volume to be the full of conniving and scheming politicking and I was surprised at how emotional this was to be honest.
The politics are there - make no mistake - but after the rapid transitions in Volume 4 we take the time to follow some significant events in Shogun Tsunayoshi’s life - who ruled for a 21 years as Shogun. Based on my admistaly cursory research, IRL, Tsunayoshi was a significant ruler in the Tokugawa dynasty so it’s fitting we get an entire volume in this series dedicated to her / him.
Along with Tsunayoshi we follow the Senior Chamberlain, Sir Emmonsuke, Baron Yoshiyasu and the Shogun’s aged father who we met in Volume 2. After the absolutely creepy and entitled (evil!) behavior of Tsunayoshi in Volume 4 I was surprised at how much I liked her here. A testament to the quality of the write that despite the scheming of these characters and their abuse of power - most of them come across as complex people who are real in their reactions.
For all her power Tsunayoshi is as much a victim to the system and her inability to produce heirs. A lot of this volume follows her desperate attempts to ensure the succession. There is such pain in her character and such well done art showing the emptiness of the pleasure she indulges in. Her appetites get more monstrous as the volume progresses as the “pleasure” and sex is basically meaningless - the author did a great job with that, both in the plotting and in the art.
Volume 4 showed us Tsunayoshi’s rise as a young woman who was cruel in her youth and her power. This volume showed an aging woman who lost her child and ended up being unpopular and alone. There was a calcification of the politics and like in the Ooku which I enjoyed reading about. Less emotional than previous volumes but a lot more creepy in places and conscious of the impact of age in grinding you down.
There were just a few too many side tangents with the minor characters which were distracting. Mostly I enjoyed them as they flushed out the minor characters as well but there was a few pages too many.
Still an excellent entry - 4.5 stars and ½ only docked because I didn;t think this hit the extremely high bar of the rest of the volumes. I am rounding up on GR as this was still excellent - one of the best meditations on age and emptiness of pleasure that I’ve seen in comic form (probably in book form too).
We left Volume 4 with the rise of a new (maybe evil) Senior Chamberlain during the reign of the 5th Tokugawa Shogun. I was expecting this volume to be the full of conniving and scheming politicking and I was surprised at how emotional this was to be honest.
The politics are there - make no mistake - but after the rapid transitions in Volume 4 we take the time to follow some significant events in Shogun Tsunayoshi’s life - who ruled for a 21 years as Shogun. Based on my admistaly cursory research, IRL, Tsunayoshi was a significant ruler in the Tokugawa dynasty so it’s fitting we get an entire volume in this series dedicated to her / him.
Along with Tsunayoshi we follow the Senior Chamberlain, Sir Emmonsuke, Baron Yoshiyasu and the Shogun’s aged father who we met in Volume 2. After the absolutely creepy and entitled (evil!) behavior of Tsunayoshi in Volume 4 I was surprised at how much I liked her here. A testament to the quality of the write that despite the scheming of these characters and their abuse of power - most of them come across as complex people who are real in their reactions.
For all her power Tsunayoshi is as much a victim to the system and her inability to produce heirs. A lot of this volume follows her desperate attempts to ensure the succession. There is such pain in her character and such well done art showing the emptiness of the pleasure she indulges in. Her appetites get more monstrous as the volume progresses as the “pleasure” and sex is basically meaningless - the author did a great job with that, both in the plotting and in the art.
Volume 4 showed us Tsunayoshi’s rise as a young woman who was cruel in her youth and her power. This volume showed an aging woman who lost her child and ended up being unpopular and alone. There was a calcification of the politics and like in the Ooku which I enjoyed reading about. Less emotional than previous volumes but a lot more creepy in places and conscious of the impact of age in grinding you down.
There were just a few too many side tangents with the minor characters which were distracting. Mostly I enjoyed them as they flushed out the minor characters as well but there was a few pages too many.
Still an excellent entry - 4.5 stars and ½ only docked because I didn;t think this hit the extremely high bar of the rest of the volumes. I am rounding up on GR as this was still excellent - one of the best meditations on age and emptiness of pleasure that I’ve seen in comic form (probably in book form too).
brakebills42's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
peelspls's review against another edition
4.0
Mm mm brew me some fresh court politics scheming and unresolved sexual tension, thank you. Also the first episodic series that I've read in a long while and am not entirely against the idea. Also, the narratives of each generation of Shogun carries forward linearly, which makes for an easy read.
cloudweaver's review against another edition
3.5
I would advise you take notes on the basic plot outline and characters, doing this made it much easier and more enjoyable to follow
kamreadsandrecs's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
emeraldreverie's review against another edition
4.0
Wonderful. Soap opera level drama, height of intrigue, beautiful art. Just keeps building up the story and background. Love it!
misssusan's review against another edition
4.0
one of the most interesting things about ooku is that despite first appearances it's not about a matriarchy or a straightforward flip of current gender roles
in fact, in terms of how it deal with gender it makes me think of the world wars
i'm no expert but if i recall correctly both wars saw women moving more visibly into the public sphere out of war time necessity
this didn't mean gender constraints disappeared but that they became more malleable for a time
and that the post-war period saw pushback in a desire to return to 'normal'
and the interesting thing about ooku is that the plague acts as a similar change agent
because for all that women rule publically as a shoguns in the series they are still subject to the same restrictive ideas of womenhood as their predecessors
and i think i get the point of tsunayoshi now because her story is all about that
she's both clever and politically savvy but she's constantly told that her only duty is to produce a heir
not particularly surprising that would make her cruel then. she parallels her mother iemetsu but she lacks the support her mother received in arikoto
after seeing ietsuna and tsunayoshi i'm pretty excited to get back to yoshimune tbh, she's even more a breath of fresh air compared to the shoguns who ruled before her
4 stars
in fact, in terms of how it deal with gender it makes me think of the world wars
i'm no expert but if i recall correctly both wars saw women moving more visibly into the public sphere out of war time necessity
this didn't mean gender constraints disappeared but that they became more malleable for a time
and that the post-war period saw pushback in a desire to return to 'normal'
and the interesting thing about ooku is that the plague acts as a similar change agent
because for all that women rule publically as a shoguns in the series they are still subject to the same restrictive ideas of womenhood as their predecessors
and i think i get the point of tsunayoshi now because her story is all about that
she's both clever and politically savvy but she's constantly told that her only duty is to produce a heir
not particularly surprising that would make her cruel then. she parallels her mother iemetsu but she lacks the support her mother received in arikoto
after seeing ietsuna and tsunayoshi i'm pretty excited to get back to yoshimune tbh, she's even more a breath of fresh air compared to the shoguns who ruled before her
4 stars
notthatlibrarian's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
directorpurry's review against another edition
4.0
If you thought the previous volumes were wild, get ready for a RIDE. I've seen a lot of comments likening this to a soap opera and I dont disagree.
nwhyte's review against another edition
2.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1996879.html[return][return]There were a couple of stories I liked here - Stephen Baxter's "Last Contact", and Keith Brooke's "The Accord" (which I note were also the two picked by Gardner Dozois for his annual collection) - many which didn't especially grab me, and one awful attempt to channel Kurt Vonnegut by Mike Resnick and David Gerrold.