[FIRST IMPRESSION] Showa Genroku Rakugou Shinjuu 1 - Just be Yourself
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Despite only just knowing a little about what is actually Rakugou is, I always sign up for anything that has josei material anime, and indeed this series had fulfill my desires in only just 1 episodes. TRULY SHOCKING! And it also had 45 minutes long too which is I feel like watching a short movie rather than anime episodes. I feel shiver after I finished this episode since I hardly can write the review and want to re-watch again AND CAN'T HELP BUT MIDDLING IN CURIOSITY for next episodes. You can say another strong candidate of best winter anime, and also as for now my favorite series after BokuMachi. Now let me remind you again, the series sadly is not for the generic anime fans who wants more anime-ish stuff. Also surprisingly, please look who the studio that handling this, It's DEEN.
The story focused on Yotarou (CV: Tomokazu Seki) a man who apparently just released from prisoner. He’s got no family and very little money, but after getting a visit from the “grim reaper” of rakugo storytelling while serving his sentence, he had a sudden passionates toward Rakugou Storytelling, thus he want to meet the well-known Rakugou master who idolized so much to be his appertince. So the master is none other than Yuurakutei Yakumo (CV: Ishida Akira) who seems like a quiet and yet grumpy old man. Ever since he saw Yakumo perform from prison, Yotaro has wanted to make this Edo-era style of one-man theater his own passion and trade, but there are a couple obstacles barring his path.
At first, he's simply untalented, barely able to deliver monologues without stammering or being criticized on his delivery by Konatsu (CV: Kobayashi Yuu), a lodger in Yakumo's house who has long studied her late father's style of rakugo but cannot perform herself because she is a woman. So because on how matters is getting worse, Yotaro got tutored by Konatsu with her late father's style which is slowly Yotaro's rakugou resemble his style so much. (It gettin proven after when he tried to show his efforts on rakugou in front of his former aniki who apparently also worked together as a "thief"). It is in the end, not making Yakumo pleased and until Yotaro even almost ruin his stage, he even threw him out as his student, but gladly then he gave some advice in which Yotaro better have to develop his own style of rakugo, he'll have to learn more about the history of not only the performance art itself, but the lives of the people it has already transformed around him
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Young Adult Yakumo gives me chill.... in a good way (////)
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Holy hell. Seriously this anime successfully dragging me to rakugou world smoothly, I mean like fucking want to check irl rakugou right now. It's just smoothly entertaining and everything that dealing with each character conversations. I have to give a great applause for DEEN and the fucking directing of each shot when both Yotaro and Yakumo doing the Rakugou, their expressiveness gave me in touch. I even did laugh at the actual rakugou that had been played by Ryotarou as a buglar, the part when he said "I've got a three sick wives and starving kid at home" cracks me up soo much. Not sure why but I felt like Yakumo's 2nd rakugou tend to lack comedy which is no wonder Yotaro (including myself lol) unamused and he even fell asleep which is pretty much unrespectful for Yotaro.
And then we get a brief past about Yakumo, which is pretty much I believe what a clearly difficult past between Konatsu and her late father's friend Yakumo, the rakugo master apparent protagonist Yotaro is training under, is definitely intriguing and has all the makings of a very different kind of theatre. I do suspect that Yotaro and Konatsu are more of a framing device for that tale of the past, in part because Yakumo is so clearly haunted by the deceased, very possibly in a literal way. The use of “showa” in the title doesn't really tell us anything on that front, since the era lasted from 1926 to 1989. However, a brief flashback to the “accident” that killed Konatsu's father and the fact that the word “shinju,” meaning “double suicide,” is in the title definitely has some much darker implications, which is interesting since rakugo tends to be thought of, in my experience, as a lighter form of entertainment.
Also I just still can't believe this beautiful series PRODUCED BY DEEN like I mean the all richness of the atmosphere, the jazz soundtrack despite it's took more japanese setting of showa (surprisingly fitting!!), and captivating characters like Yotaro strong presence is neither annoying and overbearing. VOICE ACTING IN HERE IS DEFINITELY A+ WELL OKAY IT'S ALL ABOUT ISHIDA & TOMOKAZU SEKI SO NOT SURPRISING BUT STILL HOLY GOD it brings character much realistic so bad which is Yotaro become secretly my favorite ishida character. All of that praise aside, this is a long, relatively slow episode, and it really isn't going to appeal to everyone. Not much happens, and if you don't like listening to stories, this will have limited appeal, because wonderful as the animation and voices are, this is far from action packed or urgent. So only recommended for people who are enjoying more story-telling and wanting to get knowledge about Japanese-culture.
Looking Foward: Basically the past between Yakumo and Konatsu's Dad, they seems to have a good friendship. Also if by any chance Konatsu's Dad rakugou also being showed so I might can see how he might have similarity with Yotaro.
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SCORE: A-