Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Descending Stories: Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15462 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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I also thought that there was something to how the character in the rakugo makes the decision to stay behind, just as the storyteller stayed behind to perform it. How in the wake of Yakumo is out of commission, Yotaro is filling in for his performances. Perhaps like Yakumo thinks that Yotaro has been left to deal with a debt that can not be paid (recovering rakugo), but with some charm and inventiveness he might recover?
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Doodleboy
Posts: 296 |
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I did like the theater monologue. It served as a thematic counterpoint to the themes of progress that laces through the series.
Because despite the nostalgic affection the characters have for the old theater, it has to be rebuilt. It has to be upgraded to be attract a new audience. The worn down furnishings have to be replaced. And most importantly it needs to meet the new building codes so it won't kill it's audience in an earthquake. Just like how Rakugo needs new stories instead of endlessly repeating stories made for an audience hundreds of years ago. Just like how it needs to break away with the father/son tradition that kept it stagnating. Just like how Rakugo needs to let women perform, because barring talented people like Konatsu from performing and realizing their full potential just because of their gender is incredibly bad for the artform's survival and relevance (among being bad ethically). But with progress there will always have to be something lost and that loss can be painful. But that pain and loss shouldn't stop you from doing what's necessary. Also Yotaro's rakugo style is an interesting contrast. So much of what we've seen in this series are difficult men showing off their ego's. That to be a great artist you need to be driven to the point of being completely selfish. Yotaro is a nice counterpoint in showing that it's not the only way of doing art. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11354 |
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So Yakumo is Olivier and Yotaro is Hoffman? ;D
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Merida
 Posts: 1945 |
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Loved Yotaro's performance and i too hope that Mangetsu will eventually return to rakugo (you know you want to, dude!).
Yakumo's waking up and everyone's reaction to it brought a tear to my eyes, but now i'm eagerly looking forward to next week because it looks like we (and Konatsu!) will finally find out what really happened that night. |
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MCAL
Posts: 182 |
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spoiler[ Yeaaaaaah... I'm thinking Konatsu finding out may not be such a good idea anymore.] |
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Chocoreto
Posts: 105 |
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I too don't think Konatsu ever has to know about this. What could it possibly do for her except traumatize her to the point of madness? Few people would be able to handle something like that, and especially not the emotional and doting on her father Konatsu. Let her be. Yakumo has shouldered everyone's demons, and while it has been cruel for him, it's also quite noble and brave of his part.
Also, he definitely played his part at how the stabbing happened, so its reasonable that he feels guilty. Maybe the love confession wasn't adressed to Miyokichi, but to Sukeroku himself? Oh boy whatever happened this will be painful to watch... (in the good way!) |
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5424 Location: Iscandar |
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Episode 7 was definitely amazing and A+ worthy. I feel so sad for Konatsu and Kikuhiko; I hope they are able to sort things out and forgive each other before he dies. Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju is such an amazing show, and I hope someone licenses it for a R1 disc release soon.
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John Thacker
Posts: 1006 |
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It's also not uncommon for straight men to possess some stereotypically feminine qualities or pursuits while certainly identifying as male, either. It's particularly a stretch for me considering that Ishida's voice isn't that different from how he's played other characters, some of which were gay but many certainly not (and some where sexuality didn't enter into it). He has a relatively high pitched voice that can sound effeminate (while he has a very broad range, his voice still tends to end up fairly high pitched, especially compared to many other male voice actors). Sometimes that's an important part of the character, but it doesn't have to be. It seems like Ishida himself has not come to the same conclusions about the character, at least in interviews, but certainly a story like this with ambiguity lends itself to multiple interpretations (at least at this point.) |
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鏡
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When Yotaro first sits down in front of the stage at the inn I definitely got some chills. The second season has done a really good job of cultivating a sense of history and leaning into the mythos of the first season through Yotaro's wonderment and our own knowledge of everything that happened. I think the first season was more consistently engaging, but I think there's a sense of purpose driving the second season that replaces the intrigue of the first. Seeing Sukeroku at all, or any of his memorabilia, is enough to invoke melancholy.
I really don't buy any reading of Kiku's decision to lie to Konatsu about what happened as in any sense heroic, or even for Konatsu's sake at all really, and I hope the show makes it clearer that Kiku is not the downtrodden moral paragon in this arrangement. It seemed to me like the lie was more for his own sake and from his own inability to deal with the reality of the situation than it was for the protection of Konatsu. I mean, if it were actually concern for Konatsu that motivated him, he would have realized that his behaviour was seriously harming her quality of life - instead he's used her as a whipping post for his metaphorical self and scorned her desire to do rakugo. And while I'm sure he's aware on some level that it has basically been to Konatsu's detriment, that awareness sure doesn't undo his actions. This is not to say that I think Kiku is actually malicious, but that maliciousness became a coping mechanism for him when his already fragile relationships violently collapsed and there was no one available to blame or explain why it happened other than himself and rakugo. He's spent most of his life after that night running from his inability to reason with what happened, and the fact that Konatsu can be read as "responsible" for it (an obviously incorrect reading given that she was a shocked child) is pretty much just a convenient way for him to frame his refusal to confront it as martyrdom. I think self-hatred is a big part of it, but the sheer force of the trauma and his lack of a support network is the other half. Regardless this was definitely the best episode in season 2 so far, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how the Kiku/Konatsu relationship ends. If Konatsu ends up asking him for forgiveness I'm going to be very mad and sad at the same damn time. Konatsu has absolutely nothing to apologize for, and if the show frames her behaviour towards Kiku when she was being fed his line as naive or foolish, or if it even tries to make off like they somehow share in responsibility and moral stain, I will be mad. Thankfully Yotaro seems to have a good read on the situation, and those tears seemed empathetic enough that I'm confident the show will give Konatsu her due and maybe even explore why Kiku had no choice but to react to what happened in the pretty destructive way that he did. Last edited by 鏡 on Sun Feb 19, 2017 2:47 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Chrysostomus
Posts: 335 |
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This plot twist was just dumb. How old was Konatsu? 5 or 6? A child that small pushed a grown woman back several feet and then down a balcony? What?
At least we know Yakumo did (almost) nothing wrong. It was all Sukeroku's and Miyokishi's fault. He for being a horrible, lazy and irresponsible father, and she for causing literally nothing but trouble for everyone as soon as she entered the picture. |
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Merida
Posts: 1945 |
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Well, on the bright side, Mangetsu went back to doing rakugo! Yay!
As for "the big reveal", that wasn't entirely surprising but still rather shocking. And wanting to spare Konatsu from finding out what really happened seems rather condescending to me. She was a child when it happened but she's an adult now and deserves to know the truth which doesn't equal blaming her because like Matsuda said, they were all victims. If Yakumo is to blame for anything, it's that he didn't tell her sooner but chose to play the martyr instead... |
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SaitoHajime101
 Posts: 281 |
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Miyokichi was crouched on her feet when Konatsu pushed her initially. The push forced Miyokichi to stand up a bit more to catch her balance and the continual highly aggressive shoves from Konatsu kept Miyokichi from maintaining her balance. To keep balance, Miyokichi was backing up a few steps, but it wasn't enough as Konatsu jumped into her which caused her to land hard on an already weakened wooden balcony which then proceeded to break causing the fall. From this explanation, which matches the scene entirely, it is entirely plausible that a 5 to 6 year old could push a grown person down. The blame in this tragedy is split very evenly amongst the three individuals. The biggest issue that all three of them shared was the lack of communicating what is hurting them the most. Neither one of them communicated what was truly bothering them in the end, which cultivated into the final act there in the Kame-ya Inn. |
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MarshalBanana
 Posts: 5317 |
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I'm confused, I remember season 1 ending with an entirely different way that they died.
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shizukanashinah
Posts: 14 |
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Remember, the entirety of the season one "flashback" was not a true flashback at all, but was actually the story that Yakumo began telling at the end of episode 1. He lied about their deaths in his story. |
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Animechic420
 Posts: 1727 Location: A Cave Filled With Riches |
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No. I still think somebody should tell her. You do not want to go through life believing other individuals are responsible for something you did. I don't like it when adults keep secrets like that and I hate the fact that just because Konastu was a child they can twist things around to keep her from remembering what happened. What if she finds out after Yakumo dies? That's a shit show waiting to happen. 
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