This movie is based on Ooku: The Inner Chambers  an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fumi Yoshinaga. The plot follows an alternate history of medieval Japan in which an unknown disease kills most of the male population, leading to a matriarchal society in which the Ooku becomes a harem of men serving the now female shogun. Set in 1715 (Shotoku era in real world) and it is a peaceful time where Samurai do not know the fear of dying in battle.

The inner workings of the harem are shown to have politics and romances (800 men to 1 woman) between harem members.  The story follows the life of a man who holds the bushido code dear, but is from a poor samurai family.  His path takes him places he never dreamed possible.  Ninomiya, as always, excelled with the part, you felt all the emotions with the character he portrayed.  Every one did a good job and not once did I feel not immersed in the story. There is BL elements to this story and it is folded in nicely and not portrayed as comical or over the top, it just is.

I would definitely re-watch this again with the right person.  I might even buy it on dvd.  Overall I gave it a 9.5 because yes it was kind of rushed but on the other hand nothing was really lost in the story telling you knew the protagonists story arc, and it showed there was more story to be told about the Shogun.