News

Akane-banashi Anime's New Video Previews Karaku Cup Arc

The staff for the anime of writer Yūki Suenaga and illustrator Takamasa Moue's Akane-banashi manga posted a new promotional video and key visual on Sunday. The video teases the Karaku Cup arc about the student rakugo storytelling tournament of the same name.

"With only your voice and body—master the art."

Akane Osaki, captivated since childhood by the magical performances of her father, Shinta Arakawa, witnesses a shocking incident during his decisive performance for promotion to shin'uchi (master rank). Six years later, now a high school student, she sets her sights on becoming a shin'uchi herself—pushing forward in the highly competitive world of rakugo.

A passionate and authentic rakugo drama begins now!

The anime stars:

• Anna Nagase as Akane Osaki, a high school girl aiming for the highest rank in the world of rakugo: Shin'uchi
• Takuya Eguchi as Karashi Nerimaya, a university student currently on a two-time winning streak at the Student Rakugo Championship, the Karaku Cup
• Rie Takahashi as Hikaru Koragi, a rising star in the voice acting world
• Jun Fukuyama as Shinta Arakawa (Tohru Osaki)
• Nobunaga Shimazaki as Maikeru Arakawa
• Chiaki Kobayashi as Koguma Arakawa
• Yōhei Azakami as Kyoji Arakawa
• Seiichirō Yamashita as Guriko Arakawa
• Akihisa Shiono as Kaisei Arakawa
• Masaki Terasoma as Shiguma Arakawa
• Akio Ōtsuka as Isshō Arakawa
• Fumihiko Tachiki as Zenshō Arakawa
• Hiroaki Hirata as Ikken Arakawa
• Shizuka Itō as Masaki Ōsaki
• Yumiko Konatsu as Saki Yoshino
• Ryōta Iwasaki as Kimihisa Kashio

Ayumu Watanabe (Children of the Sea, Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko) is directing the anime at ZEXCS. Yu Harima (episode director for Summer Time Rendering, Tokyo Revengers) is the assistant director, and Kii Tanaka (Cheating Craft, Hinomaru Sumo) is both the character designer and chief animation director. Michihiro Tsuchiya (PriPara, Cross Game) is overseeing the series scripts, and Akio Izutsu (Phi-Brain - Puzzle of God, Akuma Kun) is composing the music. Kikuhiko Hayashiya is the rakugo supervisor.

Keisuke Kuwata is performing the opening theme song "Hitotarashi" and ending theme song "AKANE On My Mind ~ Manjū Kowai" He wrote the lyrics and music for the both songs specifically for the anime.

The anime began airing on TV Asahi's "IMAnimation" programming block on April 4. The anime also has its own "Akane-banashi Global" YouTube channel, where full episodes stream for free in North America and Latin America, after their television broadcast in Japan. Netflix will begin streaming the series, along with an English dub on May 17. The first two episodes will stream on the service on that date, and later ones will launch weekly.

The anime is also streaming on aniverse in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. ADN is streaming it in France, Monaco, Andorra, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Anime Box is streaming it in Spain and Anime Generation is streaming it in Italy. The Ani-One YouTube channel is streaming the anime in the Asia Pacific (excluding Korea and China). Bahamut, ChungHwa Telecom MOD & Hami Video, LiTV & Ofiii, Line TV, My-Video, Catchplay, and friDay is streaming the anime in Taiwan. Bahamut is streaming it in Hong Kong and Macao. Catchplay is streaming it in Indonesia and TrueID is streaming it in Thailand. playmax.mn STAR TV is streaming it in Mongolia. Laftel and Aniplus Channel are streaming it in South Korea.

Suenaga and Moue launched the manga in February 2022. Shueisha published the 21sy compiled book volume on April 3. The manga was nominated for the 47th Kodansha Manga Awards and the 16th Manga Taisho awards in 2023. The manga ranked at #4 for the top 20 list of manga for male readers in the 2023 edition of Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! (This Manga Is Amazing!) guidebook.

Viz Media's Shonen Jump service and Shueisha's MANGA Plus service both publish the manga in English. Viz Media is also publishing the manga in print.

The manga made the American Library Association's (ALA's) Young Adult Library Services Association's (YALSA) 2024 list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens, and The New York Public Library also named the manga on its Best Books list for teens in 2023.

Sources: TV Asahi Animation's YouTube channel, Akane-banashi anime's X/Twitter account, Comic Natalie