History Manga / Ooku

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Tsunayoshi borders on this. While she certainly meant well at times, the unpopular Edicts, her decision on the 47 Ronin, ineffective councilors who push her to the fringes of power, and finally her sheer longevity and delay in naming her heir have ultimately put her as this trope, at least in the eyes of the populace. And the truly tragic thing is she's aware of this, and would welcome [[TheKingslayer a kingslayer]] to end her life. [[spoiler: It's not entirely clear if Yoshiyasu murdering her was a MercyKill or a WomanScorned.]]

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Tsunayoshi borders on this.

* ApocalypticLog: The "Chronicle of a Dying Day" (and apparent source material for the current story arc) was commissioned as one by the Reverend Kasuga on her deathbed. It is not likely that she anticipated the man assigned to write it, the scribe Murase, being 97 when Shogun Yoshimune called on him for clarification on several traditions whose rationale has been forgotten.

* The seventh arc (chapters 30-): The story returns to Yoshimune as she begins her rule as shogun, institutes changes to better Japan and keep it isolated, commissions doctors to find a cure for the Redface Pox, and begins to bear children. With three daughters borne to her and a reputation as a popular ruler, Yoshimune's position looks very secure...or is it?

* EverythingIsWorseWithBears: The manga starts with a little boy being mauled by a bear. This may or may not be related to the fact that his brother is the first victim of the Red-Face Pox.

* GenderRarityValue

* The first arc (Chapters 1-4) takes place in the fourth month of the sixth year of Shotoku (1716) and focuses on two newcomers to Edo castle: Mizuno Yunoshin, a young man of a semi-impoverished Samurai family who decides that a lifetime sequestered as a courtier in the Inner Chambers of Edo Palace (with a healthy stipend sent home) is an improvement over the prospect of a 'good' marriage to someone other than the merchant's daughter he has known since childhood... and Tokeguwa Yoshimune, a ruler of the rural Kii province who maneuvered herself into position to become Shogun upon the death of the sickly child Ietsugu and is taking a hard look at what is around her.

* AllWomenAreLustful - Somewhat deconstructed, as it is the prospect of ''children'' that so many women who cannot afford a husband are willing to pay good money for.

* AnatomicallyImpossibleSex - A unfortunate consequence of being cooped up in the Ooku since young, Keishoin has no idea how pregnancy works and hence keeps pestering Tsunayoshi to have a baby despite the fact she no longer menstruates.
* AnimalWrongsGroup - Tsunayoshi's "Edicts on Compassion for Living Things" turn Japan's government into this, with punishment for swatting insects and ''execution'' for harming the packs of stray dogs wandering Edo.
* AnimationAnatomyAging - Most noticeable with Tsunayoshi and Yoshiyasu since they're seen at various stages from girlhood to old age.
* ApocalypticLog - The "Chronicle of a Dying Day" (and apparent source material for the current story arc) was commissioned as one by the Reverend Kasuga on her deathbed. It is not likely that she anticipated the man assigned to write it, the scribe Murase, being 97 when Shogun Yoshimune called on him for clarification on several traditions whose rationale has been forgotten.
* ArrangedMarriage - Part and parcel of the aristocratic life and a sign of a family's prosperity and status.
* ArtShift - The art style occasionally shifts to highly stylized figures that resemble old-fashioned Japanese woodcuts. Perhaps [[TheMikado it is simply Court etiquette]].
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning - The end of Volume 3. Strictly speaking it was the annual ceremony of tribute and fealty to the long-reigning Shogun Iemitsu, but the moment the screen behind which said Shogun [[ElCidPloy (supposedly)]] sat was raised for the first time in the better part of a decade and a young woman commanded all to look upon her? Counts.
* {{Bishonen}} - By the bucket.
* CastFullOfPrettyBoys - The Inner Chambers in general.
* AChildShallLeadThem - [[spoiler: Ietsuna]].

** Ietsugu, the seventh Shogun died at seven, after a reign of three years.
* CluelessChickMagnet - Poor, poor Arikoto. Women of all stations making calf-eyes at him when he was a monk was one thing, [[spoiler: but the teenaged girl he pledged his late beloved he would raise as a daughter making an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove? ''Awk''ward.]]
* CostumePorn
* DarkAndTroubledPast - Let us say that when we first meet Shogun Iemitsu the Younger there is a reason she comes off as a budding [[TheCaligula Caligula]].

* DeathByChildbirth - Not explicitly stated, but [[spoiler: it is strongly implied that the numerous miscarriages Iemitsu suffered in her efforts to [[HeirClubForMen bear a male heir]] were a major contributor to her early death.]]
* DeathBySex - [[spoiler: It is a rule dating from the time of Iemitsu for the first courtier of the Inner Chambers to lie with an unmarried Shogun to be discreetly executed for causing injury to her Hymen (Iemitsu the Younger had... [[ThereAreNoTherapists issues]]). Too bad nobody told [[UnwittingPawn Mizuno]] or Yoshimune ahead of time.]]
* DeusAngstMachina - [[spoiler: Arikoto comes to terms with being forced to abandon his religious vocation and become [[AMatchMadeInStockholm the bedtoy of the Shogun]] only discover that he is infertile... and Iemitsu is not.]]
* DisposableSexWorker - [[spoiler: The ladies Kasuga hires for the monks.]]

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale - For Yoshimune, [[HistoryOfTheWorldPartOne It's good to be the Shogun.]]
* DrinkingContest - Sakyo is first seen winning money in one. It seems he regularly drinks women under the table on a bet.
* ElCidPloy - The original plan was to [[spoiler: conceal the death of Shogun Iemitsu until someone could sire a male heir on his bastard daughter and continue the Tokugawa line]].
* EverythingIsWorseWithBears - The manga starts with a little boy being mauled by a bear. This may or may not be related to the fact that his brother is the first victim of the Red-Face Pox.
* EvilChancellor - Emonnosuke, despite the overt ManipulativeBastard streak ultimately avoids this.
* EvilMatriarch - Blessed Kasuga. Full Stop. Yes, she was 'merely' Iemitsu's wet nurse. She still counts.
* FakingTheDead - [[spoiler: Mizuno Yunoshin]]
* The47Ronin - Mourned as a waste of good men.
* {{Gendercide}} - Comparatively mild with the gender ratio stablizing at 1:4, but no less dramatic in terms of ramifications for that.

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen - Tsunayoshi borders on this.
* [[PrisonRape Harem Rape]] - Yes, they went there. [[AvertedTrope No]], it's not [[DoubleStandardRapeMaleOnMale played for laughs]].
* HeirClubForMen - Kasuga is essentially a member of the club, but most of Japan gives up on it by the time the younger Iemitsu is unveiled.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemiplegia Hemiplegia]] [[DeathByFallingOver By Falling Over]] - [[spoiler: Even [[{{Jerkass}} Sutezo]] did not deserve that.]]
* HiddenElfVillage - The closing of Japan had a rather different rationale here. While the Dutch factory at [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deshima Deshima]] remained open, every trip the local ''Kapitan'' made to pay homage was precisely stage managed to conceal the lack of men in the country and government.

* HonestAdvisor - Baron Hisamichi.
* ImpoverishedPatrician - Yunoshin and Sugishita in the first arc, various aristocrats from Kyoto later on, including Arikoto and Emonnosuke.
* InSpiteOfANail - Despite being the opposite sex, the Shoguns of this timeline share the same names, reign dates and have very similar personalites to their historical counterparts.
* JidaiGeki - The Reverend Kasuga lived through the tail of the Sengoku period and the main body of the series is set in the early Edo period.
* KnightTemplar - The Reverend Kasuga. She murders and kidnaps without batting an eye, and will use the only person she is halfway fond of as a brood mare. Her motivation?

* LadyLand - Not only have women supplanted men in all remotely dangerous or strenuous occupations, but by the time of Yoshimune they have also almost entirely sidelined men in rulership and administrative positions.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters - The story develops over several decades, so this trope naturally applies.
* AMatchMadeInStockholm - Subverted when Arikoto learns that the Shogun in whose name who he was effectively kidnapped and forced to abandon his vocation was as much a prisoner as he is. And possibly even more of a victim.
* ModestRoyalty - Shogun Yoshimune. When one uses the gift of ornate robes as an excuse to dismiss a privy councillor and is known to meet with high officials in what amounts to her pyjamas it is hard to describe a ruler as anything else.
* MyBelovedSmother - Kasuga [[spoiler: to the original Iemitsu.]]
* OhCrap - When Shogun Yoshimune informs her childhood friend and longtime retainer Hisamichi of her intent to replace all the privy councillors with a single intermediary to serve as a go-between between her and both the councillors and "that troublesome lot in the Inner Chambers," the latter could only giggle at first.

* OnlySixFaces - Mostly applied to young men.
* PersecutionFlip - Inversion of traditional gender roles is a major part of the premise, after all.
* PoorCommunicationKills - [[spoiler: Blessed Kasuga was not going to let Abbot Arikoto leave Edo Castle alive ''anyway'', so why not level with him about needing his services as a stud and appeal to his patriotism and[=/=]or love of peace instead of starting off with the dark hints and murders?]]
* PraetorianGuard - A secondary purpose for gathering so many male samurai in one place, especially early in the Ooku's history. Even in the series' present day, the men of the harem are required to train with the sword and to patrol the castle.
* PrimalScene - Tsunayoshi catches [[spoiler: Yoshiyasu and Keishou-in, her best friend and her father]] and has a breakdown.
* RapeAsBackstory - [[spoiler: Iemitsu (Chie), [[ChildByRape twice over]]]].

* RedLightDistrict: Yoshiwara in Edo, which fell on hard times with the coming of the Red Pox and was later revived by Iemitsu to provide the women of the city a chance at children.
* ScarpiaUltimatum - Blessed Kasuga chooses an indirect method. Rather than threaten Arikoto directly she [[spoiler: has one of her men start killing his companions and the courtesans she sent in to tempt him into violating his priestly vows right before his eyes]].
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem - Averted. [[spoiler: As horrified as she was by the whole "Secret Swain" bit, and for all her intent to rescind the edict once she found out about it, Yoshimune had to let the execution of Mizuno go through... [[FakingTheDead one way or the other]]]].
* SheIsTheKing - Women who take on rulership or administrative roles, as well as those who register as heads of noble or samurai households, not only take male titles but use alternate male names for records and official functions. By the time of Shogun Yoshimune few even think twice as to why.
* SituationalSexuality - Considered quite normal in the Ooku, much to the shock of newcomers such as Yunoshin.
** Also outside the Ooku. Yunoshin expressed shock at the idea of male homosexuality, since he thinks there is no point for men to sleep with men because there are so many women.
** It's more a case of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUspLVStPbk this]]
* SliceOfLife - There are numerous interludes in the various flashback arcs showing how common farmers and townspeople are adjusting to the death of menfolk.
* StarCrossedLovers - ''Nothing'' seems to go right for Arikoto and Iemitsu. The next couple Shoguns have problems of their own along these lines.
* SuccessionCrisis - Multiple.
** The whole [[ElCidPloy shell game]] with the two Iemitsu was to avoid one.
** The death of Shogun Tsunayoshi's child and the politics surrounding which of her nieces to pick add to the (considerable) troubles of her reign.
* SweetPollyOliver - In the first years after the coming of the Redface Pox, several noble houses dressed a daughter in drag and discreetly substituted them for a dead heir. [[spoiler: Iemitsu stopped that practice cold just by showing up, although those taking 'masculine' positions still take male names]].
* TimeSkip - several in Volume 4.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The two Shoguns - Tsunayoshi and Yoshimune. Taught since young that she should strive to be attractive to handsome men, Tsunayoshi was shocked at Yoshimune's alternative view that since she no interest in bishonen, stands to reason that there would be men insterested in plainer girls like her.
* UnluckyChildhoodFriend - O-nobu, the daughter of a wealthy merchant house and longtime neighbor of Yunoshin. [[spoiler: The guy she marries shortly after his sudden death from illness within the Ooku was reported? Well, maybe they do look a bit similar....]]
* WifeHusbandry - Nearly occurs [[CluelessChickMagnet totally by accident]], but to his credit [[spoiler: Arikoto]] gave as emphatic a rejection as one could give [[spoiler: a reigning Shogun]]
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe - The translator made an honest effort at representing the archaic speech of the original Japanese which:

* ApocalypticLog - The "Chronicle of a Dying Day" (and apparent source material for the current story arc) was commissioned as one by the Reverend Kasuga on her deathbed. Given that the man assigned to write it, the scribe Murase, was 97 when Shogun Yoshimune called on him for clarification on several traditions whose rationale has been forgotten.

* FridgeHorror - Healthy postpubecent men are [[GenderRarityValue rare]], and there are women who will never scrape up the money for more than a session or two with the most damaged whores. An unarmed man alone in the wrong part of town or a strange hamlet is a serious temptation to a few work-hardened sorts with access to hammers, as they only need one appendage working right.

* ApocalypticLog - The "Chronicle of a Dying Day" (and apparent source material for the current story arc) was commissioned as one by the Reverend Kasuga on her deathbed. Given that the man assigned to write it, the scribe Murase, was 97 when Shogun Yoshimune called on him for clarification on several traditions whose rationale has been forgotten YourMilageMayVary on the 'Apocalyptic' part.

* [[PrisonRape Harem Rape]] - Yes, they went there. [[AvertedTrope No]], it's not [[RapeIsFunnyWhenItIsMaleOnMale played for laughs]].

* RapeIsOkayWhenItIsFemaleOnMale - For Yoshimune, [[HistoryOfTheWorldPartOne It's good to be the Shogun.]]

* AnatomicallyImpossibleSex - A unfortunate consequence of being cooped up in the Ooku since young, Keishoin has no idea how pregnancy works and hence keeps pestering Tsunayoshi to have a baby despite the fact she no longer menstruates.

* PrimalScene - Tsunayoshi catches [[spoiler: Yoshiyasu and Keishou-in, her best friend and her father]] and has a breakdown.

* FridgeHorror - Healthy postpubecent men are [[GenderRarityValue rare]], and there are women who will never scrape up the money for more than a session or two with the most damaged whores. An unarmed man alone in the wrong part of town or a strange hamlet is a serious temptation to a few work-hardened sorts with access to hammers they only need one appendage working right).

* FridgeHorror - Healthy postpubecent men are [[GenderRarityValue rare]], and there are women who will never scrape up the money for more than a session or two with the most damaged whores. An unarmed man alone in the wrong part of town or a strange hamlet is a serious temptation to a few work-hardened sorts with access to hammers ([[IfYouKnowWhatIMean they only need one appendage working right]]).

** Also outside the Ooku. Yunoshin expressed shock at the idea of male homosexuality, since [[{{YouFailSexEdForever}} he thinks there is no point for men to sleep with men because there are so many women.]]

* ArtisticLicenseSexEd - A unfortunate consequence of being cooped up in the Ooku since young, Keishoin has no idea how pregnancy works and hence keeps pestering Tsunayoshi to have a baby despite the fact she no longer menstruates.

* [[{{ptitlej2qa66yo}} Screw The Rules, I Make Them!]] - Averted. [[spoiler: As horrified as she was by the whole "Secret Swain" bit, and for all her intent to rescind the edict once she found out about it, Yoshimune had to let the execution of Mizuno go through... [[FakingTheDead one way or the other]]]].

* JerkassWoobie - Shogun Iemitsu the Younger (or Lady Chie, depending on who you ask), especially in Volume Two.

* MoralEventHorizon - "Cut down the monk on the left." [[spoiler: Earlier, Kasuga orders the killing of Chie's mother as she drags the kid away, though the reader doesn't find out until much later.]]

* TearJerker - Where to ''start''?