Short Takes: Library Wars, Ooku: The Inner Chambers, and Your & My Secret

A unseasonably cold, rainy weekend proved just what I needed to catch up on my reading; not only did I tackle a big part of my review pile, I also had a chance to flip through several recent purchases: bilingual editions of Doraemon and The Tale of Genji, Helen McCarthy’s The Art of Osamu Tezuka, and the long-anticipated Korea as Viewed by 12 Creators. I’ll post reviews of all these titles in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, I’m dedicating this week’s column to three continuing series: Library Wars, Ooku: The Inner Chamber, and Your & My Secret.

LIBRARY WARS: LOVE & WAR, VOL. 2

STORY & ART BY KIIRO YUMI • ORIGINAL CONCEPT BY KIRO ARIKAWA • VIZ • 200 pp. • RATING: OLDER TEEN (16+)

I’m happy to report that the second volume of Library Wars is more compelling than the first. More happens, for one thing; the Media Betterment Committee stages a raid on the Kanto Library in an effort to confiscate books found in the possession of a teenage murderer. The raid raises a host of interesting ethical questions — can literature corrupt suggestible minds? should readers’ privacy be protected at all costs? does one’s reading habits reveal anything about one’s propensity for violence? — and creates a strange alliance between the Library Defense Forces and one of its avowed enemies, the Department of Education. Iku has more opportunities to opportunity to strut her stuff, for another: she rappels down the side of a building to prevent MBC thugs from capturing the “degenerate” titles in question, absolving the scornful Tezuka from performing the one task that unnerves him.

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Short Takes: Detroit Metal City, Jormungand, and Ooku: The Inner Chambers

A death-metal legend who just wants to write tender pop songs. A stony-faced child solider who works the illegal arms trade. A teenage girl who discovers she’s the sole heir to the Tokugawa throne  — these are just a few of the characters who feature prominently in this week’s Short Takes column, which focuses on manga for the over-eighteen crowd. First up: volumes two and three of Kiminori Wakasugi’s rude, raunchy, rock-n-roll comedy Detroit Metal City (VIZ). Next on the agenda is volume one of Keitaro Takahashi’s Jormungand (VIZ), a high-velocity thriller set in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. And last but not least is volume two of Fumi Yoshinaga’s Ooku: The Inner Chambers (VIZ), an alternate history of Tokugawa Japan in which women run the show.

DETROIT METAL CITY, VOLS. 2-3

BY KIMINORI WAKASUGI • VIZ • RATING: MATURE (18+)

There’s a fine line between stupid and clever, and Kiminori Wakasugi toes that line with the expertise of a high-wire acrobat. Though Detroit Metal City earns plenty of laughs skewering the excesses of heavy metal culture — rabid groupies, fan lore, band rivalries, death-obsessed lyrics — some of the most inspired moments in volumes two and three come from Negishi’s desperate efforts to impress his friend Yuri, who edits a trendy lifestyle magazine. In the third volume, for example, Negishi agrees to help Yuri and her pals run a booth at a flea market. The “cool gods” smile on Negishi for a little while, allowing him to blend in with Yuri’s friends, chat about his favorite pop bands, and propose that the group form their own “United Nations of Cool,” an organization “devoted to maintaining peace and coolness in the world.” Yuri’s friends embrace the idea, allowing Negishi to briefly bask in their approbation. When Yuri’s ex-boyfriend Yutaro arrives on the scene, however, it doesn’t take long for Negishi’s joy to curdle into jealousy, prompting him to engage in DMC-style theatrics to express his disapproval of Yutaro.

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Ooku: The Inner Chambers, Vol. 1

Built in 1607, the Ooku, or “great interior,” housed the women of the Tokugawa clan, from the shogun’s mother to his wife and concubines. Strict rules prevented residents from fraternizing with outsiders, or leaving the grounds of Edo Castle without permission. Within the Ooku, an elaborate hierarchy governed day-to-day life; at the very top were the joro otoshiyori, or senior elders, who supervised the shogun’s attendants and served as court liaisons; beneath them were a web of concubines, priests, pages, cooks, and char women who hailed from politically connected families. This elaborate social system was mirrored in the physical structure of the Ooku, which was divided into three distinct areas — the Rear Quarters, the Middle Interior, and the Front Quarters — each intended solely ladies of a particular rank. The only male permitted into the Ooku (unescorted, that is), was the shogun himself, who accessed the “great interior” by means of the Osuzu Roka, a long corridor that connected the shogun’s living quarters with the imperial harem.

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Poll: The Best of Fumi Yoshinaga

I love Fumi Yoshinaga for many reasons: her chatty scripts. Her fondness for men in eye patches. Her gratuitous references to Rousseau. Her tendency to recycle character designs. (I like to call them “The Fumi Yoshinaga Players.”) Her stubborn insistence on creating characters with real emotional lives and realistically handsome faces in a genre known primarily for its man-on-man action. Much as I admire her work, however, I’d be hard-pressed to choose a favorite title; if I had to choose — and death was not an option — I’d have to say that Flower of Life tops my list, followed closely by The Antique Bakery. I admit I was a little disappointed by Ooku: The Inner Chamber — not because it was awful (it wasn’t), but because it wasn’t as exuberant or bold as it might have been. Before you question my sanity or my reviewing credentials, tell me which Fumi Yoshinaga series you like best: did Ooku knock Antique Bakery off its pedestal, or do you prefer titles with less talk and more action?

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