Comic Picks By The Glick

I don’t know what we did to deserve a new volume of this series so soon after the previous one, but I’m not going to question it.  Now by going off the description on the back cover, one might be inclined to think that we’re getting the feudal Japan equivalent of “The Andromeda Strain” as the shogunate prepares to get serious about the eradication of the redface pox.  While I was prepared to accept the presence of the disease as an ongoing issue, the case is made that while it exists and the male population of Japan is kept in check the country leaves itself open to invasion from outside nations.

With this as the starting point, Gosaku, the bond-haired blue-eyed half-Japanese half-Dutch medicine man now known as Aonuma on admission to the Inner Chambers, sets about bringing knowledge of Western medicine to the shogunate.  His path follows a familiar route as he struggles against the disdain the Japanese have for half-breeds like him, but Aonuma’s dedication wins him some friends and after his knowledge saves some lives he finds more acceptance and even popularity.  So yeah, it’s a familiar narrative thread.  

Yet it still works and not just through mangaka Fumi Yoshinaga’s skill with characterization.  There’s the exoticness of the setting to consider and the science-based background of this part of the series too.  Even though a lot of the medical knowledge demonstrated here is of the “common sense” variety, Yoshinaga gets away with it by having her characters come to these minor scientific discoveries -- like the importance of washing one’s hands with soap -- on their own terms.  We’re essentially seeing the birth of basic hygiene and disease control in Japan and it’s fascinating to watch unfold.

Even though this talk of science is what dominates the volume, there’s still plenty of political drama to be had here as well.  After being introduced in the previous volume Lady Tanuma is promoted to the rank of Privy Councilor, the highest office in the nation behind that of Shogun.  Though she continues to have the best ideas for the nation, including the backing of Aonuma’s studies, her actions manage to rub some the wrong way.  None more so than Sadanobu, Baron of Etchu, and granddaughter to the great Shogun Yoshimune.  More to the point, she’s the daughter of Yoshimune’s second daughter who was passed over as heir to the throne in favor of the older, impaired Ieharu even though she was ostensibly more qualified.  That act consigned the woman to a lifetime of bitterness, which she passed on to her daughter Sadanobu who is charged with becoming shogun herself by her mother’s last words.

Though Sadanobu is the ostensible antagonist in this stage of the manga, it’s hard to really hate the woman or her actions.  We see how she’s living out her life as a virtual extension of her mother’s will rather than her own person.  This is seen quite well through the volume’s best scene when Sadanobu is trolled about her influences in what is meant to be a jovial manner by that rascally crossdressing scamp Gennai.  Though Gennai’s antics usually have the effect of confounding their intended target, they have a much different and tension-inducing result here.

That being said, I have to admit that I can understand the frustration that some of the characters, Aonuma more than Sadanobu, have with Gennai.  Though a lively, amusing character, she’s portrayed as the kind of person who is good at getting what she wants without really giving consideration to the feelings of those around her.  That, and there’s a certain smugness about her at times that no amount of scenes where fans of her erotic picture books express their admiration of her talents can offset.  In fact, it’s more amusing to see Tanuma manage her patron’s affections as she seems to realize that the only way to keep Gennai’s attention is to not fully give into her charms.  So even though I know that I should be worried about the events that are set in motion at the end of the volume, I still can’t help but think that Gennai does deserve to be taken down a peg or two.

Now I can only hope that we’ll find out what happens there later this year.  For the past few years, new volumes of “Ooku” have been an annual event and with this one coming so soon on the heels of vol. 8 I can only hope that’s a trend which will continue in the future.