Fumi Yoshinaga has quite the fan following based on her short series Antique Bakery and Flower of Life, as well as her yaoi works. With its strong, science fiction-like concept and old-fashioned flavor, Ooku: The Inner Chambers has the potential to make fans of even more manga readers. In medieval Japan, the ooku was a harem, an area of the ruler’s castle where his concubines lived and no men were allowed. In Yoshinaga’s story, there’s been a plague that kills […]

I was stunned to realize that this volume didn’t conclude the series, since so many plot points are tied up and conflicts resolved. All the themes of the series are prominently on display: * Robots demonstrating human emotions. Detective Gesicht solves the murders based on a self-described hunch. * The horror of war. Gesicht’s visit to a Persian bazaar seeking clues introduces him to a robot child maimed during the past conflict and reduced to begging. * Trying to survive […]