ANIME REVIEW: ŌOKU-THE INNER CHAMBERS

4/5

The Chamber Of Secrets. 

10 Episodes. Starring: Eriko Matsui, Kikuko Inoue & Mamoru Miyano. Director: Noriyuki Abe. On: Netflix.

In a time when more stories are finally being told about women in their voice, from the billion dollar 'Barbie' blockbuster of the year, to the new iconic 'Ahsoka' Star Wars series debuting this week on Disney +, Netflix give us a ten-part anime that flips gender norms and Japanese history on its head. Sliding the wood panelled screen-door to the side, the streaming service shows us 'Ōoku: The Inner Chambers' based on the bestselling manga. Right next to the 'Ōoku' movie for a story that's become Japanese lore like a woodblock print (there are nice nods here from one art form to that one) and adapted more times than Batman (see 'Batman Ninja'). This compelling standalone series takes 'Yasuke' like divergent history to 'The Way Of The Househusband', all whilst remaining authentic and realistic. You won't find ridiculous robots here muddling historical facts with future dreams like you will in Netflix's nice 'Yasuke' series whose real history lessons and messages of equality hopefully still translate to an awe-struck audience. 

Noriyuki Abe's (the 'Bleach' and 'Black Butler' series') 'Inner Chambers', with incredible vocal acting from Eriko Matsui, Kikuko Inoue and Mamoru Miyano, reveals an ancient Japan in crisis, right at a time when there are population problems pointing to the future and families that aren't being made. It's a lonely world, especially in this digital-age, but this amazing animation and sobering story, offers as part cautionary tale, part celebration of women and just what they can do by themselves in this so-called "man's world". This alternative look at the Edo period of Japan is a complicated love story wrapped in hallmark history with revisions and liberties, much like the hugely popular 'The Legend and The Butterfly' movie released this year starring Japanese megastars Haruka Ayase and Takuya Kimura. Sexual politics and binary lines like kabuki and onna are explored like they have done through time, all for a modern world finding out who they really are, to hopefully a more welcome place in society. 

If that wasn't enough real-world matter for you in an updated story of the shogunate than the catalyst of this traditional creation couldn't be more timely. An aggressive strain of red-faced smallpox is killing all the young men in 'The Inner Chambers'. A national tragedy leading to famine and the risk of Japan sinking into death and despair with no way out. Until the sister to the last male heir of the Tokugawa clan who has just passed, replaces him and is taken to the palace to be raised as a man. Good job there wasn't those "not my Little Mermaid" trumps back then to raise hell from their parent's basements. With the male population on the decline like the economy and many men selling their body through the night (shedding some light on what it's really like for those who have to in a hope that the men of the world can relate), the daughter Iemitsu lives in isolation with thousands of male concubines ready for her and the heir she will bring into this world. 

Through the bloodline and the beauty and the brutality of this life she manages to find love, but can she hold on to it when her life's service and identity is forcefully dedicated to maintain her families legend and lineage? Be warned, this may be an animation, but there are scenes of sexual violence here, amongst other acts of depravity, that feel all too real despite being displayed on a catalyst. Further proof in this Marvel movie world that Japanese anime can bring real drama as convincing as any of its real-life counterparts. Just like Samuel L. Jackson told Howard Stern. And just for the record, this is no dig, I loved the compelling and cruelly underrated 'Secret Invasion'. The inner goings-on of 'Ōoku' inspire great influence, especially today. So much so in an embracing moment of poignant power where two characters come together both dressed in garments and made-up to assume the other's gender. In a world waking up to trans rights and those of a woman and her body, we need stories like 'Ōoku: The Inner Chambers' to show those who don't know, why this is so important. Make sure these chambers no longer hold secrets. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'Ōoku', 'Yasuke', 'The Way Of The Househusband'.