Smut That Doesn't Suck: Sakuran

It's a difficult thing to write a story about sex workers. A big reason for that is that regardless of place or time period, prostitution is a distinctly unglamorous thing. The women who perform it often come from impoverished, abusive backgrounds. Their lives are often equally impoverished and abusive, not to mention short and tragic. In fiction, such women may be used to drive home some moral point, a demonstration of what happens to those women who stray from conventional morality. They may be the focus of some tragedy, showing the downfall of some poor noble creature who is either saved from her wretchedness by an outside force or by killing herself to escape her life with some sense of honor or dignity. More often than not, they're nothing but sexy, trashy window dressing for the real story. That's what makes a manga like Sakuran all the more unusual. It's not just about how the main character became a prostitute, but also how she regards that world from the inside, as well as how she and her worldview evolves over time.

Editor's Note: While this series shows nothing explicit, and does not go over porn or hentai, the works covered are highly sexually charged, and some images used will reflect this. Reader discretion is advised.

Before I can properly talk about the story, I do need to provide a bit of historical context. During the Tokugawa era, things were hard for a lot of the peasantry and many took up prostitution out of desperation.  In an attempt to contain it, the emperor decreed that prostitutes could only operate within select neighborhoods within the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Edo (now Tokyo). These neighborhoods became attractions within their own right, luring men of both high and low status to enjoy some cheap drinks, a bit of song and dance, and all the pleasures of the flesh. Over time, the power structure within the pleasure quarters evolved, and those girls with exceptional looks, personality, and talent were sorted into ranks, with the highest being oiran. Those girls with higher ranks got benefits like private quarters, higher rates, expensive and elaborate wardrobes, and the ability to be much more selective about their clientele. Those may not sound like great liberties, but these were women who were all but slaves to the brothel owners. Their only way out was through death or marriage, so those women within them took what few pleasures and benefits that could be had. By the mid-1700s, the oirans were mostly phased out, as their elaborate ranks and structure had evolved into the refined subculture of the geisha. The biggest difference between the two was sex. Geishas were meant more for high-class companionship than for sex. Oirans, on the other hand, were prostitutes first and foremost. 

Sakuran is the story of Kiyoha, a young woman growing up in the pleasure quarter of Edo. As a child, she was sold to the brothel to serve as a maid to the resident oiran. She was something of a wild child, always stealing things, manipulating others, and trying to escape. Unsurprisingly, she was also frequently punished, but even during the most brutal beatings she never shed so much as a single tear. As she ages, her beauty and brash attitude make her something of a star in the brothel, and by her late teens attains the rank of oiran. Nonetheless, she hates this world and longs to escape. She thinks that she might have found her opportunity in the arms of a kindly local florist, but sadly nothing in life is ever so simple. Even Kiyoha has to learn that the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the brothel gate.

According to a recent interview with Publisher's Weekly, Moyoco Anno wanted to do something different with Sakuran. In Japanese media, oiran are portrayed as tragic, silent figures on the sidelines. Historically, there were a few who were known for being sharp-tongued, but those women often met their end upon a samurai's blade. Anno wanted to write about write about an oiran who was also a strong person in her own right, as well as to tell a story that wasn't just a tragedy about a short, sad life. I think it's more than safe to say that Anno succeeded at both those points with Kiyoha.  She's a compelling and complex person, and while she may be frustrated with the oiran lifestyle she's the sort to take action instead of wallowing in self-pity. That being said, Kiyoha is a hard woman to like. There's a fierce, feral quality about her that tends to alienate all those around her. Those qualities give her the drive and will to survive and succeed within the brothel, but they also lead her to be positively spiteful and snarky towards those below her, just as others were to her when she was a child. She never really loses those feral qualities when she grows up. She still gobbles down her food like a starving animal. She still lashes out at others when angered with punches, kicks, and scratches. She never loses the frank, confrontational look in her eyes, as if every interaction is a challenge she is determined to stare down. They ultimately become a sort of signature for her, as many clients find that her cynical eyes and sharp tongue enhance her beauty, in much the same way that bitter espresso can serve as contrast to a sugary dessert.

The reader follows Kiyoha through her life, watching her grow from snot-nosed child to cocky young woman in a way that reads less like an ill-fated tragedy and more like a success story. Nonetheless, Kiyoha is still very much a teenager when she becomes oiran, and just like any teenager she is prone to making bad choices in the name of rebellion. She ends up falling in love with Soujiro, a local florist, a gentle young man who treats her sweetly and sensuously during their times together. For years beforehand, Kiyoha was skeptical of love, seeing how their customers treated the other women they professed to admire and the lengths to which some of them would declare it in return. Now she too has fallen, and love humbles her in a way that nothing else past or present could. At the height of her love, she becomes a bit more generous, kind and empathetic towards her fellow oiran and trainees. At her lowest points, she's almost melodramatically mopey, with little concern for her appearance or her regular clients.  I'm sure that were it possible, she would stamp into her room, slam the door, and cry about the world being SO TOTALLY UNFAIR, YOU GUYS, she would have.

Without getting into spoiler territory, the ending is both precisely what you would and wouldn't expect from such a story. It's not some Pretty Woman sort of happily-ever-after, but neither is it pure tragedy. Much like Kiyoha herself, the ending is bittersweet, pragmatic, and oddly satisfying. It allows things to end on something of a positive note, and it makes sense for Kiyoha and her particular outlook on life. After all, it would be out of character for her to do anything than endure and survive whatever life throws her way.

Moyoco Anno's art is very much a love-it-or-hate-it sort of affair. It's somewhat stylized, particularly in how she draws faces. Her characters seem oddly bobbleheaded, thanks to their huge, dark, wide-set eyes and pouting lips. Despite that, there's a lot of subtlety in the looks and body language of the cast. Anno can communicate volumes about what a character is thinking with just a flicker of a wry smile or the angle of someone's gaze. With so many elaborately yet similarly dressed women, it could be easy to mix up just who is whom. Thankfully, she keeps the proportions normal and realistically varied, and with her characteristic glare it's always easy to distinguish Kiyoha from the crowd. The girls and women of the brothel all wear robes covered in layers of pattern, shade, and color, accented with loads of accessories and elaborate hairstyles. The backgrounds are equally well-drawn, heightening the constrast between the oiran's lush looks and their more mundane surroundings and duties. The best parts are the many color splash pages before each chapter, in which everything practically explodes in an array of brilliant color.

Of course, this column wouldn't be what it is without the smut, and strictly speaking there certainly is a lot of it to be found here. Not surprisingly for a story about prostitution, sex and female nudity are abundant and realistic, if not overly graphic. Interestingly, all of that nakedness and sex are presented in the most mundane and non-titillating way possible. To Kiyoha and her fellow workers, sex is just another chore, and the visual presentation reflects that same concept. It also helps to put the few scenes of true sensuality into context, although even then they tend to be more abstract and discreet. It's not that this series doesn't earn its 18+ rating, but it's just strange to find a series that focuses so much on sex, and yet the art is so unabashedly unsexy.

Sakuran is a story about a time and place that looked glamorous and flashy on the surface, but just beneath was a hard, complicated world, and we the readers experience it firsthand through a hard, complicated woman. Even the title reflects that same sense of dissonance - Sakuran can be read as either a portmanteau of sakura and oiran, or it can be translated as "derangement." Sakuran may feature a lot of adult content, but it's also a glimpse into the mind and life of an incredibly well-written heroine. Kiyoha's life makes for great drama, and in turn this book serves as a great introduction to one of the best and most distinctive creators in manga today.