In Ooku ~Tanjou~ (大奥 ~誕生~ – Inner Palace ~Birth~), the shogun is a woman, and young men populate the inner palace/harem of Edo Castle. However, the situation is not yet normalized, and the Japanese public has no idea that Tokugawa Iemitsu has died, leaving only a daughter as heir. To reveal the death of the Tokugawa shogun at this point would plunge the entire country into another age of chaos and warfare like the one they had just exited a generation before.

Iemitsu’s daughter (Tabe Mikako), currently technically Shogun, is trapped in the Ooku for the rest of her life along with Arikoto (Sakai Masato) and all others who know the truth. Inaba Masakatsu (Hirayama Hiroyuki) handles official duties, pretending to be Tokugawa Iemitsu while wearing a hood. The goal is to hold out until the Shogun has a male heir who can take over. Lady Kasuga (Aso Yumi) forced Arikoto into the Ooku in the hope that he would be the Shogun’s consort.

Wow, this show takes a lot of explaining! As we pick the thread up, Arikoto’s assistant Gyokuei (Tanaka Koki) is telling an urban legend about the Ooku regarding a samurai seen holding a woman’s freshly severed head. Apparently, the Japanese liked telling horror stories four hundred years ago, too.

Continue reading →