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Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū
Episode 6

by Gabriella Ekens,

How would you rate episode 6 of
Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū ?
Community score: 3.6

Following his triumphant performance in the play, Yakumo turns introspective. He's finally discovered what he knew was missing in his life as a performer – the unique artistic spark that lets him captivate an audience – and he now faces the question: so what? Is rakugo really what he wants to do with his life? Can he overcome his years of bare subsistence and self-doubt to impart this artistic discovery onto his rakugo? Yakumo had previously performed because he needed to for his livelihood and approval from others. But now he's starting to perform because he wants to, because he loves the art and enjoys entertaining people. This realization comes with new responsibilities. Yakumo is now more invested in maintaining standards for himself and a certain relationship with his audience. This is also all tangled into his complicated feelings of longing and envy towards Sukeroku.

I've made much ado about the physical component of Yakumo's feelings for Sukeroku, but this episode brings the emotional aspect back into focus. Yakumo doesn't just want Sukeroku – he wants what Sukeroku has. “These are the parts of rakugo I hate most,” Yakumo says, watching his childhood companion perform. “It's not the type of rakugo I can do.” Yakumo hates that he can't be the same type of person as Sukeroku no matter how hard he tries. He cannot have the easy charm and sense of overwhelming purpose that Sukeroku attained at an early age. As far as we know, Sukeroku has never anguished over what he wants out of life. From the moment Yakumo met him, he's been single-minded about rakugo and plowed through every obstacle that stood between him and performing. Sukeroku's current place in life is entirely the result of his own effort. By contrast, Yakumo has followed the path of least resistance. He's felt excluded and powerless from childhood – first because his status as a boy limited his career options as a dancer, and later when an injury shut that off altogether. When he was shuffled off to perform rakugo, another apprentice overshadowed him. (Of course, he reminisces about all this while gazing at a river, the go-to symbol for passively following a set path.) Yakumo's resentment of Sukeroku is all misdirected self-loathing and not really any issue with his friend's behavior. Sukeroku has been nothing but appreciative of Yakumo. He's always encouraged him to realize his own strengths, but that makes it worse in a way. In Yakumo's eyes, Sukeroku had everything figured out before him – including the solution to his own issues. That only widens the inferiority complex. Yakumo loves Sukeroku dearly, but the way these feelings are bottled up, they're bound to explode some day.

Sukeroku also appears to have a cohesive self. His private demeanor is the same as the one he flaunts to the world. while Yakumo is much more reserved. Even when not on stage, he's still performing around most people, grasping for the approval and security that he never had as a child. On a basic emotional level, Yakumo believes that belonging is conditional on being useful. So he obsessively maintains his appearance and propriety. As a result, Yakumo seems increasingly split between two personas. There's the self-conscious and proper young man that we've come to know intimately, and then there's the fox-faced showman who capitalizes on his androgynous good looks and killer side-eye to reel in customers - while also keeping them at arm's length. While 1970s Yakumo has mastered the mask, the young version of him we're following now is just beginning to learn how to use it to his advantage. I'm curious as to where that sensitivity has gone in the future, and what led him to taking on the mask full-time. Have his insecurities been conquered, or are they just buried? Judging by the way an elder Yakumo longingly reached out to Sukeroku's specter, I'm guessing the latter. The question remains, what made him this way? And when will this tragedy reach a tipping point?

The episode culminates in Yakumo's first successful performance. It's a comic story about a man and a woman who try to emulate the classic romantic image of a lover's suicide for petty reasons. His sinister talents provoke laughs that are very different from Sukeroku's – they stem from breaks in his carefully constructed sense of tension rather than a constant barrage of raucous energy. For the first time, Yakumo has the ability to transport his audience, creating the impression that he has become each of those characters. This is also shown via cutaways to scenes from the story, which are thankfully integrated much better than they were in the fourth episode – they show Yakumo continuing to act as the scene changes around him, as if the setting is emanating from his performance. When it's over, Yakumo walks home with a satisfied expression on his face. Something about him has changed, and everyone can tell. We'll see how this affects his intimate relationships next episode.

Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū continues to be a delicate drama about a man's journey towards emotional and creative self-discovery. It's still proceeding without substantial melodramatic intrusion from outside events, but the next episode may buck that trend, judging from some shots of Sukeroku and Miyokichi looking impassioned. I wonder what Yakumo's performance ginned up in Miyokichi? While most of the cutaways to the audience showed them enthralled or laughing, hers looked disturbed. Does this material hit a nerve? Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū is now past its midpoint, so I expect some sort of dramatic culmination to come soon. I suspect Miyokichi will be the catalyst for the brewing interpersonal chemical reaction. The show's mostly been building things up, so I look forward to when they'll start knocking things down.

Grade: A

Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Gabriella Ekens studies film and literature at a US university. Follow her on twitter.


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