Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju (昭和元禄落語心中) is a 13 episode historical slice of life drama based on the manga of the same name by Kumota Haruka. The anime originally aired in the winter of 2016.
Lowly yakuza underling Kyoji leaves prison with one goal in mind, to become an apprentice to the rakugo master Yakumo the 8th. He tracks down and throws himself at the wary elderly man, but something causes him to consider allowing Kyoji to be his apprentice. Something he has never done in the years since he has been a full fledged rakugo performer. Rakugo is a one man story telling performance that saw a resurgence following World Was 2 but has almost faded in modern times.
Yakumo the 8th see's in the energetic but dim witted Kyoji a chance to make reparations for a promise he was unable to keep to the man who grew up with him in the art form, a man who's daughter he adopted when she was young and raised as his own. He decides to recount his life's story to Kyoji and his adopted daughter to explain how he became the person they know. It is also a way for him to reflect and atone for his difficult life.
After putting off the praises from all corners of the otaku interwebs I finally broke down near the end of its simulcast and started watching this series...I was sorry that I waited as long as I did, but grateful I came around. This is an excellent drama that is driven by its characters and their lives. The story spans decades of time and beyond the first episode and parts of the last, lives entirely in the past. Yakumo the 8th recounts his life from when he was forced into rakugo apprenticeship after his prostitute mother abandoned him. It details the struggles he encounters in his apprenticeship, his personal relationship with the man he apprenticed along side and the challenges the art form faced during and after the reconstruction. It paints a vivid story of a handful of characters and how the drastically changing world affected them.
The artwork isn't the greatest but it fits the story perfectly. It reminded me of a cross between House of Five Leaves and Kids on the Slope honestly. The character designs are simplistic, Yakumo the 8th is a little strange looking, but the backgrounds and directing are excellent. What really drew me in was the rakugo performances themselves, of which each episode usually has segments of at least one performance. I can only imagine how mesmerizing it is/was to see it in person with how entrancing it is in the anime. The power of the story is through the performer being able to convey the different characters he is performing, separating out their personalities, as well as painting the scenery of the story through the dialogue and minute miming. You can close your eyes, focusing on the words themselves and life with in the world that is being expressed.
The anime handled the performances with grace, allowing the dialogue and the characters movements to paint most of the picture. It would have been easy to drift off and fully animate the stories instead very little was done to enhance the words themselves, which added so much more to the performance in my mind. If possible, I think the next time I am in Tokyo I may have to see if rakugo is done any longer, I would love to experience it at least once.
Anyways, this was amazingly well done and it really sets its self apart from so many other anime out there, past or present. It isn't for everyone though, as there is no action and a whole ton of well done dialogue. It is a cut and dry drama about characters with unique and well developed personalities and the way they struggle with themselves and others. It is a fascinating period piece about a unique art form and unique circumstances of Japan before the modern era and leading up to it. I highly recommend this amazing series.
It was simulcast on Crunchyroll and I believe Sentai will be releasing it on video at some point. No word on the manga though, which is a shame. However, there is fantastic news that a second season will be produced and aired at some point, this time telling more of Kyoji's tale.
Lowly yakuza underling Kyoji leaves prison with one goal in mind, to become an apprentice to the rakugo master Yakumo the 8th. He tracks down and throws himself at the wary elderly man, but something causes him to consider allowing Kyoji to be his apprentice. Something he has never done in the years since he has been a full fledged rakugo performer. Rakugo is a one man story telling performance that saw a resurgence following World Was 2 but has almost faded in modern times.
Yakumo the 8th see's in the energetic but dim witted Kyoji a chance to make reparations for a promise he was unable to keep to the man who grew up with him in the art form, a man who's daughter he adopted when she was young and raised as his own. He decides to recount his life's story to Kyoji and his adopted daughter to explain how he became the person they know. It is also a way for him to reflect and atone for his difficult life.
After putting off the praises from all corners of the otaku interwebs I finally broke down near the end of its simulcast and started watching this series...I was sorry that I waited as long as I did, but grateful I came around. This is an excellent drama that is driven by its characters and their lives. The story spans decades of time and beyond the first episode and parts of the last, lives entirely in the past. Yakumo the 8th recounts his life from when he was forced into rakugo apprenticeship after his prostitute mother abandoned him. It details the struggles he encounters in his apprenticeship, his personal relationship with the man he apprenticed along side and the challenges the art form faced during and after the reconstruction. It paints a vivid story of a handful of characters and how the drastically changing world affected them.
The artwork isn't the greatest but it fits the story perfectly. It reminded me of a cross between House of Five Leaves and Kids on the Slope honestly. The character designs are simplistic, Yakumo the 8th is a little strange looking, but the backgrounds and directing are excellent. What really drew me in was the rakugo performances themselves, of which each episode usually has segments of at least one performance. I can only imagine how mesmerizing it is/was to see it in person with how entrancing it is in the anime. The power of the story is through the performer being able to convey the different characters he is performing, separating out their personalities, as well as painting the scenery of the story through the dialogue and minute miming. You can close your eyes, focusing on the words themselves and life with in the world that is being expressed.
The anime handled the performances with grace, allowing the dialogue and the characters movements to paint most of the picture. It would have been easy to drift off and fully animate the stories instead very little was done to enhance the words themselves, which added so much more to the performance in my mind. If possible, I think the next time I am in Tokyo I may have to see if rakugo is done any longer, I would love to experience it at least once.
Anyways, this was amazingly well done and it really sets its self apart from so many other anime out there, past or present. It isn't for everyone though, as there is no action and a whole ton of well done dialogue. It is a cut and dry drama about characters with unique and well developed personalities and the way they struggle with themselves and others. It is a fascinating period piece about a unique art form and unique circumstances of Japan before the modern era and leading up to it. I highly recommend this amazing series.
It was simulcast on Crunchyroll and I believe Sentai will be releasing it on video at some point. No word on the manga though, which is a shame. However, there is fantastic news that a second season will be produced and aired at some point, this time telling more of Kyoji's tale.
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