It is a fascinating series and I loved it all the more because the gendered power dynamics are not simply turned on their heads - in the countryside scenes in particular, we see how much power the few men have retained and how the women still serve them. The scene where the prettiest men of the Ôoku are packed off the to the Yoshiwara - and the horrified men are suddenly prostitutes - is really telling as to the power and consent dynamics of the book, I think. The powerful can give or withhold consent, the consent of the less powerful is entirely assumed (not just sexually, either).