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Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu (TV).


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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 9:37 am Reply with quote


Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu (TV)

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Josei, Slice of Life
Themes:

Plot Summary: When a certain man is released from prison, he knows exactly where he's heading first. After falling in love with a traditional comic storyteller's rendition of the story called "Shinigami," he is determined to become his apprentice. The performer, Yakumo, has never taken an apprentice before, but to everyone's surprise, he accepts the eager ex-prisoner, nicknaming him "Yotaro."

As Yotaro happily begins his new life, he meets others in Yakumo's life, including Yakumo's ward Konatsu. Konatsu was the daughter of a famous storyteller, and Yakumo took her in after her father's tragic death. Konatsu loved her father's storytelling, and would love to become a performer in her own right--but that path is not available for women.
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I saw the OVA awhile ago and thought was fairly neat considering the comedy and setting of the characters. From the previews I've seen for the franchise, it looks good and I think this could be a rare gem. There's a lot they could do with the performance of the premise for this series' adaptation imo.
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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 5:11 pm Reply with quote
Wow, the first episode was long - 47 minutes. I think the rest are normal length though.

Good episode for the premiere. I like Yotaro already for his ability to connect with the audience. At first, he struggled a bit but I think he grew confidence as time went on and he has the "it factor" if keeps up the momentum.

This girl is also a tomboy and I like her role in this show already. The josei atmosphere is also nice to embrace. Dark horse of the season, calling it now.

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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15462
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 8:31 am Reply with quote
Episode 1

I am familiar of rakugo from watching Joshiraku, a zany slice of life comedy set between the characters performing it. Just a look at the style of the show, I was not impressed with this. Noticing that I had loaded a 47 minute episode, I was frustrated that I got myself involved in one long boring story. But then something happened, I was drawn in.

This was long and slow, the main characters a semi-annoyingly enthusiastic ex-criminal, a grumpy old man, a somewhat prickly tomboy smoker, this should have been difficult to sit through. Instead the storytelling seemed to slowly slip in and capture me, grabbing my attention in a way I would imagine the act of rakugo is meant to for its audience. This was especially true as I found myself engrossed in a performance, which people seem to say was 10 minutes long, it felt like it flew by.

The rakugo performance worked not only to tell the story the character was telling, but the story of the character in the moment. I even laughed at the jokes within the story, probably one rather old, but I enjoyed it. And this was while also carrying the tension that was in the air around Yotaro, along with the irony of the ex-criminal telling the story of a bumbling burglar, the situation of his boss offering work.

This was slow, totally not for everybody, and far away from my usual show. But I really enjoyed this episode.
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ookamigirl



Joined: 15 Jul 2012
Posts: 2274
Location: Croatia
PostPosted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 12:48 pm Reply with quote
Another different anime.
Looks like this anime season has a few of those.
My first time hearing about rakugo too.
Not bad and realistic.
Just not my kind of thing.
Gonna skip this after all.
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Keichitsu0305





PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 9:12 pm Reply with quote
So apparently there are two versions of this episode.

The first version I saw was raw with these specific scenes. It had more screen time with the flamboyant theater owner getting pissed off at Yotaro, Yakumo petting Yotaro (like a puppy!) during the spring, and Yotaro had two rakugo routines. The first was with a nearly empty room with him conversing with the female stagehands afterwards while the second one with his boss in the audience went on longer and had more shots of the audience listening to the routine.

The second version cuts out most of this but, adds more winter scenes where we see spoiler[Konatsu talking with a woman who worked in the red-light district and knew her mother, a glimpse at another student with dark hair and glasses, Yotaru snoring at Yakumo's big rakugo performance, and it ends with Yakumo telling Konatsu and Yotaru the promise made with Sukeroku.]

Either way, I'm in love with this series and the overall dramatic tone its taking with this archaic form of storytelling. It's not for everyone which sadly means I should expect this to never get a U.S. release or pray that Madmen Ent. in Australia will pick this up.
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FenixFiesta



Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 2581
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 11:30 pm Reply with quote
This is well made yet at the same time it isn't for everyone. It is a slow burn drama about getting into what amounts to a craft.

I will get back into this later, but it isn't a priority watch unless my mood is stricken for it.
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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 5:01 pm Reply with quote
Another good episode. The performance levels has a sharp contrast imo with the final rakugo of this week's episode being very entertaining. I just love how Hatsuhiro connected with the audience. Very entrancing with the way he performed using clever dialogues, facial expressions, and interactions with his "props". Phenomenal.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11354
PostPosted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 4:13 am Reply with quote
keichitsu0305 wrote:
So apparently there are two versions of this episode.

Are you sure you weren't watching the two OVAs that were released with the manga last year? Those were never subbed afaik, and my understanding is that they were worked into the long epiosde 1 (and maybe part of ep 3, since I saw a pinky swear in the preview after ep 2?) we just got.

Anyway, I'm enthralled. Smile Again, outstanding voice work, camera work, writing, everything. Is that really why babies are akanbou? Laughing
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Kamagor



Joined: 11 Jan 2016
Posts: 32
PostPosted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 4:27 am Reply with quote
This was a surprise to pick. I wasn't sure what I was wanting out of it, I didn't even know what rakugo was when I started, but I genuinely laughed as Yotaro's story went along and now it'll be interesting to see how things go from here. Really love getting into something unique like this.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15462
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 8:19 am Reply with quote
Episode 2

Talk about a huge contrast in performances. The first he had structure, but was not able to give much into his characters, he bored the audience and then started to panic until he just wanted it to finish. But the second performance, he instantly demanded the audience's attention, and although he lack some structure he put a huge amount of character into his performance, and the props made it feel more than just a story being told. Neither did meet the standards of Yotaro's performance, but it really should not have.

I was a bit worried with this going into the past thing, but I am starting to feel good about it.
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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2016 4:38 pm Reply with quote
Episode 3:

Great episode. Felt a little bit slow because of the extensive background storytelling about Kikuhiko but still wonderfully crafted.

I almost forgot that the setting takes place during WWII when Japan was also involved.
The rakugo felt lacking this episode but that's alright because it's more about characterization.

The OP song is great. Very stylistic with this show. Can't wait for the full version of it.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11354
PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2016 4:41 am Reply with quote
Yeah, I really liked the OP too.

It was interesting since most of what I've seen in anime about WWII has only been all the terrible hardships and sacrifices, so I think I'd kind of formed the idea that the whole country was in a state of disaster by the end of the war. Bon actually seemed to have had a fairly serene life during that time.

I wonder what happened to Yakumo (the 7th) and Shin in Manchuria.
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vonPeterhof



Joined: 10 Nov 2014
Posts: 729
PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2016 9:43 am Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:
I wonder what happened to Yakumo (the 7th) and Shin in Manchuria.
Assuming they were still there when the war ended, chances are that they've spent a few years in a Siberian labour camp. But then, the fact that the master had stopped writing letters well before the end of the war might imply that they got caught by the Chinese or imprisoned by the Kempeitai.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11354
PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2016 9:32 pm Reply with quote
Now I kinda wish I hadn't asked. While I think it's important not to look away from evil, I clicked through and learned things that will give me nightmares for awhile until I process it.

Some days I really hate human beings, or at least people claiming to be human, and such monsters seem to be in positions of authority in every country.
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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 29, 2016 4:33 pm Reply with quote
Episode 4:

Great episode! The rakugo about the boat, murder, etc was very entertaining as it was performed with a great amount of humor and even small vibes of thriller. The character expression of it was brilliant too.

So it looks like they want to give Kiku some experience to show him as a person and develop his character. Interesting. I think he has an awkward yet interesting chemistry with Miyokishi so far. Speaking of who, she has talent as well. I'm curious to see how their relationship will develop~
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