All the News and Reviews from Anime NYC 2025
Akane-banashi Producer, Manga Editor Share How to Bring Rakugo to Anime
by Jairus Taylor,
Araki discussed how the manga has received strong words of recommendation from Hideaki Anno, the director of Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Eiichiro Oda, the author of One Piece, and how that put a lot of pressure to deliver a high-quality adaptation. The panel then went into a general introduction to the culture of rakugo and the hierarchy of rakugo performers from the starting rank of zenza all the way up to the master class of shin'uchi.
When asked about his favorite character from the manga, Araki said that he really liked Akane and finds her sense of optimism refreshing and easy to root for. Araki also spoke about the beginnings of the manga and how the creators had initially come to him with a one-shot centering around Japanese stand-up comedy. However, Araki thought it would be more interesting to make a story about rakugo instead, and worked with the authors to retool the manga into its current form. Araki feels that the strongest element of the manga is its sense of realism and that this realism is what helps it to stand out within the lineup of Shonen Jump. However, because it focuses so much on realism, they've also had to put a lot of emphasis on research to make sure they pay proper respect to the art form of rakugo.
The panel then played the trailer for the anime, as Endo went into his thoughts on the upcoming adaptation. Endo stated that he was drawn to the series from the manga's first chapter, and since he was a fan of rakugo himself, he decided to send Shueisha a pitch for an anime adaptation. Ayumu Watanabe, the anime's director, is a rakugo fan as well, and it was one of the primary reasons Endo wanted to bring him on board for the project. Endo also noted how the manga is overseen by a rakugo performer named Kikuhiko Hayashiya to ensure the performances depicted are accurate, and that they had brought him on board to supervise the performances in the anime for the same purpose.
In addition to having the rakugo performances supervised, Endo also felt that it was imperative to gather a cast of actors who were not only popular but were willing to train in the art of rakugo. He then showed a special video of the three central actors of the anime, Anna Nagase (the voice of Akane), Rie Takahashi (the voice of Hikaru), and Takuya Eguchi (the voice of Karashi), all doing live rakugo sketches, which drew a lot of laughs from the crowd. As the panel wound down, the audience was shown a message from Anna Nagase, where she talked about all the rakugo training she's been doing and hopes that fans are looking forward to the anime. Endo also said that fans can look forward to learning more about the anime at Jump Festa in December.
The Akane-banashi anime will air in 2026 on TV Asahi, and the manga is currently available in English through Viz Media.
ANN's coverage of Anime NYC 2025 is sponsored by Yen Press!
discuss this in the forum (1 post) |
back to All the News and Reviews from Anime NYC 2025
Convention homepage / archives