Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu Episode 1 [First Impression]

Eva’s First Impression

I wasn’t fully sure what I was in store for Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu, but I knew based off the promos and synopsis, this was going to be an interesting one, and it did not disappoint. In fact, lots had happened this episode (and I mean: packed!), but none of it felt rushed.

The story begins with Yotaro, a young man who had just been released from prison and is determined to become Yakuno’s apprentice (despite the fact the man having no records of accepting apprentices). He became inspired to do Rakugo after Yakuno performed the story, Shinigami for the prisoners. It helps that Yotaro is genuinely passionate and interested in rakugo, so watching him practice and study it makes it fun and charming to watch, and not to mention, absolutely precious.

For those who don’t know, rakugo is a traditional performance of art where a lone storyteller would sit on stage, telling a long and complicated comical story. They never stand up, they remain seated, using their head and specific body gestures and adjusting their tone of voice for each character. Regardless of it being animated, it was a unique experience to watch the performances and it makes me curious enough to watch a few real life performances on youtube.

With no home and family to return to, Yotaro was lucky that Yakuno invited him to stay at his place since he learned Yotaro had no home. But make no mistake, just because he brought him into his home, didn’t mean he was going to train him. And for a long time, he doesn’t. Yakuno is without a doubt a strange and mysterious character, one who is difficult to read and guess what is going through his head. He is often also cold- and can at times be warm, he has a tense relationship with Konatsu and I can’t figure out how he feels about Sukeroku. It makes it all more complicated when Konatsu thinks Yakuno had killed her father Sukeroku.

Having been taken in by Yakuno, rather than being mentored by the man himself, Yotaro finds help with Konatsu who is also passionate about rakugo thanks to her late father. It is because she is a woman she cannot perform rakugo, and it is extremely frustrating to her, so much so she wish she was born as a boy. But perhaps what I appreciate the most between Yotaro and Konatsu so far, is that Yotaro was impressed by her ability and wanted to see her thrive by even trying to have Yakuno take her as an apprentice as well when he begged him to the second time. Unfortunately for him, he only added oil to the fire. Later on as time passes further along, after a lackluster opening for Yakuno’s show and falling asleep and snoring during Yakuno’s performance (welp that was awkward), Yakuno decided to expel him on the spot.

Like I said earlier, Yakuno’s character is a tricky one. He can be one hell of a cruel and nasty old man, but sometimes he can be one with a good heart. It is difficult to identify what kind of character he is, but it is something I look forward to learning more about over the course of the show. But what I am the most intrigued about is of course the his history, his relationship and his promise with Sukeroku. Yakuno is particularly sensitive every time Sukeroku is brought up. So it surprised me when finally, at the end of the episode, Yakuno suddenly decided to open up to both Yotaro and Konatsu, and promised to accept Yotaro as his apprentice as long as he keeps three promises: (i) Yakuno will assist him on the first two promises, until then, he will beat both his and Sukeroku’s rakugo into Yotaro. By doing so, Yotaro should be able to find his way to his own rakugo. (ii) Complete the unfulfilled promise he made with Sukeroku, swearing they would open a path for rakugo’s survival. (iii) He mustn’t die before he does, and this applies to Konatsu as well. We will be finding out more about their past and relationship in next week’s episode as it looks like it may be entirely devoted to Yakuno’s and Sukeroku’s unique friendship, and probably childhood rivalry, leading to the promise the two of them made with each other: Swearing they would open a path for rakugo’s survival.

While I am very interested in this show and the story it will tell, I don’t think this is the type of show for me to cover. However, I will give it another episode before I make up my mind, while waiting to see if anyone else is interested in picking this show up.

Possibility of Watching: Guaranteed
Possibility of Blogging: Low

Stay tuned for more first impressions!