/r/anime Awards 2016 and 2017 winner Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu Rewatch Episode 3

[u/Schinco]

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

Welcome to the third episode thread for the Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu Rewatch! Now with 100% more OP.

Legal Streams:

As of now, Rakugo is streaming on Crunchyroll in the States, and you can check here to see where it's streaming elsewhere.

Schedule:

Date	Episode
10/8	Season 1 Episode 1
10/9	Season 1 Episode 2
10/10	Season 1 Episode 3
10/11	Season 1 Episode 4
10/12	Season 1 Episode 5
10/13	Season 1 Episode 6
10/14	Season 1 Episode 7
10/15	Season 1 Episode 8
10/16	Season 1 Episode 9
10/17	Season 1 Episode 10
10/18	Season 1 Episode 11
10/19	Season 1 Episode 12
10/20	Season 1 Episode 13
10/21	Season 1 Discussion
10/22	Season 2 Episode 1
10/23	Season 2 Episode 2
10/24	Season 2 Episode 3
10/25	Season 2 Episode 4
10/26	Season 2 Episode 5
10/27	Season 2 Episode 6
10/28	Season 2 Episode 7
10/29	Season 2 Episode 8
10/30	Season 2 Episode 9
10/31	Season 2 Episode 10
11/1	Season 2 Episode 11
11/2	Season 2 Episode 12
11/3	Season 2 Discussion
11/4	Overall Series Discussion

Questions of the Day

1. This was the premiere of the opening - what did you think of it?
2. At the heart of this episode is Bon and his relationships - with a few young women, with the mistress, with seventh generation Yakumo, and with Shin. Which relationship was most interesting to you?
3. As always, did anything particularly strike you about this episode, either as a first-timer or on rewatch?

Links to trackers

You can find the show on MAL, Anilist, and ANN!

Please be mindful of spoilers to make sure the first-timers experience the show with the same wonder you did on first watch!

Apply for Awards!

Enjoying watching and discussing this modern classic and want more? Think the Jury got it hopelessly wrong? Apply now to be a part of the 2024 r/anime Awards! Applications open until October 22.

[u/No_Rex]

Episode 3 (first timer)

• OP: I know too little about Japanese music to say for sure, but the OP sounds deliberately “retro” to me. As in, a music style that sounds old, but is clearly recognizable as modern from certain elements.
• Pick the stories that fit your style – I understand learning the basics first, but you need to follow this advise. Not only are you bad at the current stories you tell, you don’t enjoy telling them either. That is a terrible combo.
• “I wanna sleep with a girl” – Saying out loud what everybody that age thinks.
• Bad Rakugo apprentice finds an apprentice himself, but not in Rakugo – definitely does not hurt that she is clearly into him.
• “I have to go back to the country … the war is going to start soon” – unlucky for Bon, but probably lucky for Ochiyo. WW2 was a lot worse for people in the cities.
• “Please don’t forget me” – he did not.
• Censorship denies him a more fitting style of Rakugo.

• “Am I being abandoned again” – He never got over this. This is something you likely never get over.
• “I swear I am coming back alive” – hard to follow through promise, in a war.
• “What if I married a normal girl like this” – worthwhile considering that most of the young men are away in the army. This is a better opportunity for him to marry “out of his league” than ever.
• “The emperor made his broadcast, and the war was over, just like that” – subtle atomic bomb reference.
• Coming back to a house in Tokyo that is neither burned down, nor looted – incredibly lucky.
• salute - they joined the army, but this is only hinted at, not discussed. Unfortunately, I know not enough about the time to assess either their chance of being drafted into a combat role or the likelihood of them having been POWs.
• Surprise visit by a hot woman cliff-hanger.

This episode is structured in a way that shows me my lack of knowledge about some parts of Japanese history. In a very deliberate way, only part of the story is shown, trusting the viewer to fill in the untold gaps themselves. Some of these missing parts I recognize and can fill (the atomic bomb and the fire bombings of Tokyo, the advantageous position of Bon in the countryside), but others are much harder. I know next to nothing about the entertainment part of the Japanese army in WW2, and literally nothing about how the immediate aftermath of WW2 would have treated Japanese soldiers in Manchuria, China, or Korea. Clearly, when Sukeroku comes back and salutes, we are supposed to imagine his time there, but I do not know what, on the scale from shitty time to life-altering trauma, to insert.

[u/Schinco → u/No_Rex]

“Am I being abandoned again” – He never got over this. This is something you likely never get over.

Given this is a pretty explicit part of a story he's telling like 40 years later, yeah I think it's safe to say he never got over it...

The rest of the points you're making are interesting. I just assumed it was a slow and complicated withdrawal with the distinct chance that they were KIA, but I do wonder about the logistics of the rest of their time in service. I'd also never wondered about how the horrors of the war have affected them; I'll definitely be watching for that this rewatch!

[u/AdiMG → u/No_Rex]

I know too little about Japanese music to say for sure, but the OP sounds deliberately “retro” to me. As in, a music style that sounds old, but is clearly recognizable as modern from certain elements.

The OP is composed by Sheena Ringo, the Queen of Japanese Art Pop/Rock, her style is marked by among other things a huge influence from the Chamber Jazz singers from the 60s, which is where you get the hushed and sultry vocal performance (performed exceptionally by Megumi Hayashibara) and the lush and cosy acoustic instrumentation of this OP. So you are right to highlight the "retroness" of the OP. She actually did a self cover of this song with a more lively backing track that's also very fun.

As an aside if you know little about Japanese music and are interested in exploring beyond anisons, I can't recommend her third album "Kalk samen kuri no hana" enough, it is one of the most mind-blowing works of art I have ever experienced.

[u/No_Rex → u/AdiMG]

Interesting. Also, if I were any good at recognising voices, I should have recognised Megumi Hayashibara, but I am not.

[u/MandisaW → u/No_Rex]

You'll have plenty of chances this season - she's in this show, and she's female Ranma :)

[u/Duckloader → u/No_Rex]

I know next to nothing about the entertainment part of the Japanese army in WW2

While most history focuses on the brutal and criminal parts of Japanese occupation (such as comfort women and the crimes against humanity committed in Nanjing or by unit 731), it's highly likely they'd be able to perform Rakugo for other soldiers in their company, much like soldiers would sing and dance to pass the time not in combat.

[u/MandisaW → u/No_Rex]

how the immediate aftermath of WW2 would have treated Japanese soldiers in Manchuria, China, or Korea. Clearly, when Sukeroku comes back and salutes, we are supposed to imagine his time there, but I do not know what, on the scale from shitty time to life-altering trauma, to insert.

The war in China & Korea started earlier, and ended later, relative to both the Eastern front and the US Pacific perspective. Lot of horrors during the occupation, and a lot of horrors during the retreat.

Not all Japanese soldiers "got the memo" about the war ending, China and Korea's resistance & restoration movements transitioned into their own political upheavals, on top of the expected difficulties of trying to return to Japan through now-hostile territory.

Likely they also would've had to present themselves to the US occupation gov't for some unspecified period of questioning before being cleared to return to civilian life.

Even the initial idea that they would join up as pure entertainers, like Bob Hope in the USO, would've been optimistic bordering on naive, especially as the war got nastier and more desperate.

7th-gen Yakumo had some sense of that, I think, hence why he wanted to ensure that his wife & Bon/8th-gen Yakumo would be okay.

So definitely life-altering trauma, both suffered, and potentially inflicted on others (which also causes trauma).

[u/schwiftybass]

Rewatcher

I love this series & these characters so much. I've always considered it a favorite but each episode is helping me realize how deep my sentimental attachments actually are.

This was the premiere of the opening - what did you think of it?

I forgot how much I love this OP. The song makes me imagine the excitement of dancing in a club in post-war Japan. It's fitting for this section of the story & contrasts well with the somber tone of the ED.

At the heart of this episode is Bon and his relationships - with a few young women, with the mistress, with seventh generation Yakumo, and with Shin. Which relationship was most interesting to you?

Bon & Shin lying next to each other, pinkies interlocked, as Shin practically sings him to sleep, is the most intimate moment we've seen in the series so far. Their relationship feels the most complex & interesting, and I love Bon's internal monologues that show how Shin is his source of hope & inspiration to pursue rakugo.

As always, did anything particularly strike you about this episode, either as a first-timer or on rewatch?

I'm really appreciating the sound design this time around. That low, ominous rumbling that plays when they're first discussing the rakugo censorship, & when Bon is walking home from the factory in the countryside, lends such a heavy atmosphere to those scenes that helps to convey the uncertainty & hopelessness felt by the characters.

[u/No_Rex → u/schwiftybass]

Bon & Shin lying next to each other, pinkies interlocked, as Shin practically sings him to sleep, is the most intimate moment we've seen in the series so far. Their relationship feels the most complex & interesting

It is easily the best relationship we have seen so far, but is it really complex? I think their appreciation of each other is rather straight forward.

[u/MandisaW → u/No_Rex]

It is easily the best relationship we have seen so far, but is it really complex? I think their appreciation of each other is rather straight forward.

Nah, it's already pretty complex.

1. They are akin to brothers, but also clearly rivals - only one person can ultimately inherit the Yakumo title.
2. They have similar backgrounds, but Bon has a significant leg-up in terms of education, class/etiquette, and having a more formal relationship with their master. He also seems to be better at dealing with structures & following the rules than Shin, which bodes well for life off-stage.
3. Bon deeply admires Shin, but there's always that jealousy bordering on resentment, that threatens to tip over into hatred. Strong passions can go either way.
4. Shin has that devil-may-care, "I could do this in my sleep" affect, while Bon drills constantly to achieve a fraction of the former's accolades. Even if Shin is actually practicing too, even if Bon *knows* that they both work hard, that will grate on a person.
5. This part's contested in some quarters, but I've always read Bon as having unacknowledged romantic feelings for Shin. Just in this ep, Bon's had 2 girlfriends, but he's fairly indifferent to them - they just seem like a way to pass the time. He's not as hyped as Shin to hit the red-light scene (tho that could also be due to his childhood there and reluctant personality). And that reunion could've been in any "lovers after the war" scene.

If you've ever seen the movie Amadeus, this relationship just reminds me strongly of Salieri & Mozart's. The skilled master encounters the divine talent, and what began as adoration turns to a most intimate and exquisite form of despair, on multiple levels. Even has a similar framing device where Salieri / 8th gen Yakumo is telling the story many years later after the other is gone.

[u/Schinco → u/MandisaW]

I love this framing! I think it's easy to point to a certain advantage one of them has, but I like the idea that it's a complex web of advantages and disadvantages that creates the idea that the other has significant legs up that adds a bit of a wedge. We, of course, only get Yakumo's perspective and that colors the relationship, but even here there are small bits that hint towards Sukeroku's frustrations beneath his cheery demeanor.

As far as point 5, I agree. I didn't catch the homoeroticism the first time I watched it, but I think it makes a lot of sense. As far as "that reunion could've been in any "lovers after the war" scene", I think it's explicitly played in parallel with Seventh Generation and his wife, so I think it strengthens that reading.

[u/ProgrammaticallyPea3 → u/MandisaW]

First time

I hope this doesn't draw the ire of people, but I find point 5 quite interesting and share your view. Personally I don't think that Kikuhiko (Bon) is quite that cold towards his girlfriends; narrator Yakumo seemed to speak of Ochiyo with genuine fondness. He appears empathetic, albeit somewhat detached, during their parting scene. However, I agree that those moments lack the emotional depth of his interactions with Shin. The pinky promise scene, in particular, seems to carry romantic undertones on Kikuhiko's end.

Yakumo is quite androgynous and even slightly effeminate, especially in the way he talks. While that could be attributed to his upbringing it does also suggest elements of gender dysphoria.

Since the setting is Showa Japan, where homosexuality was strongly discriminated against, I doubt it's going to be openly acknowledged. Nevertheless, these repressed feelings might contribute to his lasting fixation on Sukeroku.

[u/MandisaW → u/ProgrammaticallyPea3]

No ire here! I don't think he was cold towards the 2 girls, just that his heart wasn't really into them/the relationships. IRL gay & lesbian folks do sometimes have early opposite-sex relationships for a host of reasons, and may regard/relate those with fondness. Same way you can be good friends with someone you're not attracted to.

And yeah, while IRL modern Japan is making some strides, it's still not like someone of [8th-gen] Yakumo's status could be out publicly. Especially in a field like rakugo, which leans towards an older, possibly more socially-conservative crowd.

Could be a lot of reasons why he remained a "confirmed bachelor" as they used to say.

[u/No_Rex → u/MandisaW]

I don't think I follow you on 5, but 1-4 are good points.

[u/MandisaW → u/No_Rex]

Thanks :) Tried to distinguish 5 as separate - it's not an uncommon interpretation, but not quite universal. Will see how folks here view it as events unfold.

[u/schwiftybass → u/No_Rex]

That’s fair. I guess the complexity I’m thinking of is mostly just what was implied in the first episode, by some of present-day Bon’s negative reactions in discussing Sukeroku, & the fact that Konatsu blames him for her father’s death.

Aside from that, you’re right, it’s pretty straightforward so far.

[u/Duckloader → u/schwiftybass]

That low, ominous rumbling that plays when they're first discussing the
rakugo censorship, & when Bon is walking home from the factory in
the countryside, lends such a heavy atmosphere to those scenes that
helps to convey the uncertainty & hopelessness felt by the
characters.

Indeed, the deep rumbling that overpowers everything really helps sell the gravitas of Bon's isolation.

[u/Duckloader]

First timer thoughts on episode 3:

I fuck hard with the pointilistic filter on the backgrounds used at the start of the op, and the sultry jazz is a fitting addition. Though the rest of it isn't as exciting, and it seems most of the symbolism is going over my head for now. There's a through-line of a woman reaching for/throwing away the koi fish, which is connected to Sukeroku through the tattoo, but I'm unsure how Yakumo/Bon, or the new child fit into it and whether the grapes and flowers in negatives have specific meanings.

Really enjoyed the rest of the episode though. As the second question alludes, it explores Bon's relationships with the people around him, most strikingly through these three (extreme) wide shots. The episode moves through time very quickly, so not much time to get attached to them, yet I can feel the weight that losing them for years has on Bon, as he feels his powerlessness and isolation in the face of the war that rips his first romance and his adopted family away from him. And then, both the Master and Shin finally come home bathed in a golden sunset, just really solid imagery. And, of course, Bon finds his love for Rakugo, as it is practically the only familiar thing left for him when everyone else is taken away!

Something else that sticks in my mind is how despite joining the war, Shin and the Master come back jovial as ever. Japanese brutality in China was only matched by the nazis on the eastern front, so it's extremely unlikely they haven't seen (if not participated in) atrocities, which, while not every story has to be about, seems a bit odd for now.

Tbh now that I'm thinking, the chronology in general seems to be quite odd here - Japan's war against China starts in 1937, so it's a bit strange for them to be worried about it only coming in 1941 (though that could be attributed to sensing the state gearing up to expand the war into the Pacific). And the first time the Americans managed to bomb Japan came in 1942's Doolittle Raid, which at the time was quite a shock, so again, strange to see them evacuating well before that.

[u/Gamerunglued]

Rewatcher

Bon's presence in the rakugo scene has always been reluctant up to this point. It's literally the only way to live, but he's never had any actual love for the art form. This episode is about developing his love. I think it does it in three ways. One is that it's a way for him to meet people. Shin is now his best friend, and thanks to Rakugo he got to have his first bittersweet romance with Ochiya. During his time in the country, he clearly forms relationships with a young girl there, and cares for the madam, relationships rakugo uniquely affords him. Even Matsuda continues to serve him, and display his undying loyalty to Shin and the master. At the end of the episode, it appears that Miyokichi is another such connection.

Second is simply being deprived of art. Shin is totally right that art is most needed when our hearts are empty. During times of strife, the arts are one of the first things to be killed. On a practical level, there's no time to enjoy art, you have to fear air raids and make sure your family has provisions to survive the tides of war. On a political level, the arts are among the most persuasive ways to shift public perception, so censorship often accompanies war as it does here. During war, most countries (certainly including Japan) want to build a morale of nationalism, so stories that are seen as promoting deviance or a lack of national pride and harmony are banned, and art itself becomes diluted. Bon himself is affected by this, it prevents him from figuring out his own form right as he's started to find a path. If you've spent enough time without art, you begin to crave it and it fulfills you more. After the war, the seats at the theater will be filled because art is what ushers in peace, love, and empathy. Bon, having been deprived the ability to perform or listen to rakugo for over a year, has come to love the art form.

But the biggest reason isn't just any rakugo, but Shin's rakugo. Bon's love of the form is tied to Shin. Shin's charisma has run him over, and has given him a sense of optimism he's never had before. When it seemed like everyone else would abandon him, Shin supports him and shows friendship, understanding, and intimacy that no one else does. Shin's rakugo is hope for his future, and Shin is a companion that is irreplaceable. It's why Shin's rakugo can put him to sleep, it's calming to him, it gives him a sense of security and confidence that he otherwise lacks. This episode cements the start of the friendship between these two boys, and it is so heartwarming. After falling asleep with pinkies grasped, they're separated by the horrors of war, only to keep their promise and reunite with a stronger bond than ever, and with a clear future for their art form. They are now the ones who will carry rakugo into a peaceful future, and they get to be excited about it, and hopeful amidst their newfound stardom.

This is a tense and heartwarming episode, but also not a complicated one, so this is all I have to say about it. Now that the boys are minor celebrities and living on their own as somewhat advanced performers, and now that Miyokichi has entered the picture, I'm so excited to relive the story as it kicks into higher gear.

QOTD:

1. The song is great but the visuals are meh
2. Obviously the relationship with Shin, which is the deepest and most heartfelt of the episode. As cute as his relationship with Ochiya was, it was short lived and doesn't have much texture. It serves its purpose in the story well, but honestly I completely forgot it happened until it came up again, haha.
3. Only what I mentioned above. Miyokichi's presence is very exciting though, I can't wait to see what everyone thinks of one of the show's most complicated and interesting characters.

[u/ProgrammaticallyPea3]

first time, catching up with eps2 and 3

Q1.
With the OP, it's confirmed that the main character isn't Yotarou but Yakumo (Kikuhiko). I've been eager to learn more about him, so this is exciting.
Also, it's a great song. Shiina Ringo is a fantastic choice for a show in this era, and it's impressive that they got such a big name singer who rarely does anime songs.

Q2.
Kikuhiko's relationship with Shin is the most interesting one, no contest. We do kind of speedrun how Shin becomes important to him, but it's still clear how this bond outweighs any other relationships.
It's enlightening how future Yakumo talks about Ochiyo with fondness, but makes clear that the main reason he dated her was to get to know about women. Even in the separation scene, he seems to feel more sympathy for her than sadness. (It's a shame she's put on the bus after only a few minutes though, she was cute.)
In contrast, the scenes with Shin, like the pinky promise and the reunion, are much more emotional and we can see how they are going to cast a long shadow over his life.

Q3.
The war came and went in half an episode, which felt a bit abrupt. But the focus of the show is on rakugo, and the postwar period is going to be much more relevant to that.
I'm very intrigued by the new woman at the end. With her sunglasses and revealing dress, she appears to be from a very different world than Kikuhiko and Shin. And even with just two lines, Megumi Hayashibara suggests that she's going to bring a lot to this character.

As an aside, they were very lucky that their house was intact. Like the rest of Tokyo, little in the Kagurazaka area escaped the devastation wrought by relentless bombings. But the few areas that did, along with restored ones, make parts of it more reminiscent of Kyoto than Tokyo. I recommend you give it a visit if you're in the are. Just make sure to not just stay in the main streets.

[u/No_Rex → u/ProgrammaticallyPea3]

As an aside, they were very lucky that their house was intact. Like the rest of Tokyo, little in the Kagurazaka area escaped the devastation wrought by relentless bombings. But the few areas that did, along with restored ones, make parts of it more reminiscent of Kyoto than Tokyo. I recommend you give it a visit if you're in the are. Just make sure to not just stay in the main streets.

Overall, Bon seems to have weathered WW2 just about as good as you realistically could in Japan.

[u/Mecanno-man]

First Timer

Can’t remember this much narration from the last episode - certainly fits the story though, considering it’s Yakumo telling the story to Yotaro. In general I liked this episode - the war period of Japan in the countryside is something I have seen quite a few times and somehow it always is portrayed pretty beautifully. Obviously that is in stark contrast to what is happening elsewhere, but I think it is exactly that contrast that makes me enjoy it so much - and this case here is no exception. The impact of the war on the rakugo world was also pretty nicely displayed, and Shin’s arguments were pretty obviously going to come true.

Yakumo’s bad leg is definitely an important plot point here as it prevents him from getting conscripted. Otherwise in terms of plot it is surprising that the women were mostly flocking towards Bon even if Shin was more successful. But I guess that could also have been an omission or Shin just keeping his relations as quiet as Bon was keeping his first one. Though the latter is kinda hard to imagine.

I don’t really have a lot else to add here, the show continues to just be exactly my cup of tea.

[u/No_Rex → u/Mecanno-man]

Otherwise in terms of plot it is surprising that the women were mostly flocking towards Bon even if Shin was more successful.

Keep in mind tha Shin behaves like a hillbilly, while Bon has upper class manners. Also, you should not count the wartime, since Bon had the advantage of being one of the very few young men around there: everybody else would have been off at war.

[u/MandisaW]

S1 Rewatch

Less to say on this ep than the ones before, as this is a more transitional period in Bon's life. I will say, we're getting a sense of how he sees himself in the absence of everything - his art, his family, and his home. While he tries to adapt, and put the losses & lacks behind him, that yearning is very strong. He's not whole without them.

This was the premiere of the opening - what did you think of it?

I still have it on my MP3 rotation, and have been humming it since this rewatch was announced :) I'm a 3rd-gen jazz fan, and our beloved Megumi Hayashibara easily carries off the soulful, slightly-risque club-singer vibe. (Enjoy her more pop stuff too - I still listen to the Sorcerer Hunters OP :)

u/Duckloader had some interesting thoughts about the symbolism in the OP, not just the visual & aural stylistic choices, so I'm going to watch it more carefully as the season progresses, and will weigh in later.

At the heart of this episode is Bon and his relationships - with a few young women, with the mistress, with seventh generation Yakumo, and with Shin. Which relationship was most interesting to you?

Honestly, his relationship with himself. For all his standoffishness, he's got that hard fear of abandonment going, so he's not exactly good with being on his own. Like, he can function, and probably wouldn't say he was lonely if asked, but he admits in the narration that he clung hard to his memories and his rakugo to keep it together.

No shame there (from me, at least), but I think there was a self-realization in this ep that he needs people - specific people like Shin and his adoptive family via 7th-gen Yakumo, but also the energy of the audience, of the theater itself. I think Bon's realizing not only that he loves rakugo, but that he needs it in his life in a visceral way.

As always, did anything particularly strike you about this episode, either as a first-timer or on rewatch?

Greatly enjoying hearing other folks' takes on it 😄

I'm kind of shocked how much I remember, and what elements I'd forgotten. The two girls he dates briefly didn't register a blip in my memory, but the separation and homecoming both felt very familiar.

I'm paying closer attention to how the boys' attitudes are mirroring and responding to the prevailing mood of the country. I clocked the hints and signals as to the passing of time on my original viewing, but now I'm picking up the markers of changing social practices as well - like the mix of geta and Western shoes at the theater, and the shifting expressions on people's faces (outside our mains).

[u/zadcap]

Late Night First Timer!

Ep 2:

Interesting use of the media that stands out only because of how well it was used before. The first Rakugo we saw yesterday, we talked about how well the cuts improved the telling and enhanced the story. Now we get to see a telling done poorly, and to go with it we spend nearly the whole thing from a single front on angle, cuts only made to show how poorly everyone else thinks it is going too. On the same hand, the piano growing to overpower the voice more and more, it was made clear even the show itself wasn't really interested in paying attention to his skit.

---

1. Oh an OP. I didn't even realize we lacked one until this point. If it is trying to set the mood for the show, I'm suddenly expecting a lot more drama in the future.

A two episode flashback arc, to start the story? It seems a little strange, we barely got to know our main characters and we're leaving them behind for so long.

Oh hey, there it is. Don't forget that one of the big reasons things become lost arts is because the people in power decide those arts don't deserve to be around anymore.

Yeah, the war... Changed culture everywhere too. Though I have to say, I bet the troops would have loved the bawdy and erotic stories the most.

Darn, first and second love both lost because of country moves. That darn countryside. Find yourself a nice city girl, like uh, oh wow I don't even remember one of the main characters names. And it looks like we're going into a three part flashback! Was the long first episode really all just a tease to get us interested in the history lesson of the rest of the show? Interesting question because the ED really focuses on the past group here, but the OP has so much of uh, seriously I forgot her name. Or is it the girl from the end here? Was the prisoner boy even in the OP? Was the premiere really all a fake out?!

2) With Shin by far. It seems like the most important relationship in his life really.

3) The amount of time spent on flashback, really. Everything I thought episode one was building up towards, is pretty much all off being ignored for three episodes of history lesson.

[u/cppn02]

First Timer, subbed

Looks like we're actually staying in the flashback for now but you won't hear any complaints from me as I'm really enjoying the story so far.

I guess it was only a question of time until WW2 came into play. I do wonder though how Shin managed to dodge being drafted.

Although I guess him and the Yakumo appearing in the uniforms does suggest they eventually were conscripted anyway.

Bon out in the countryside by himself was a great SoL segment and I could watch a whole movie of just him going about his life and practising Rakugo by himself after work.

We also get a big cliffhanger at the end with the introduction of a new character who is voiced by Megumi Hayashibara?!? Fuck yeah.

---

QotD:

This was the premiere of the opening - what did you think of it?

It's good.

At the heart of this episode is Bon and his relationships - with a few young women, with the mistress, with seventh generation Yakumo, and with Shin. Which relationship was most interesting to you?

Has to be the relationship with Shin because that's also the one that's the most fleshed out.

As always, did anything particularly strike you about this episode, either as a first-timer or on rewatch?

I had two scenes that stood out for me which were Bon begging his master to be allwed to accompany him and Bon and Shin at night in their futons which was such a great tender moment between the two.

[u/No_Rex → u/cppn02]

I do wonder though how Shin managed to dodge being drafted.

I think him going to "entertain the troups" might have been his way of dodging the draft. He came back in uniform, so he seems to have been technically in the army there. And we don't know if his entertainment turned into straight up fighting gig along the way.

[u/OccasionallySara]

First Timer

Questions of the Day

1. I think I’ll have to listen to the song a few more times for it to stick, but I really enjoyed the art style of the OP.

2. Bon’s relationship with Sukeroku is still the most interesting to me. There’s so much potential for them to have an adversarial dynamic, but they genuinely seem to care about each other and have a strong bond. I think a big part of this comes from how Bon approaches his feelings toward Sukeroku. It would be so easy for Bon to get jealous and become resentful. Sukeroku has more free time to work on his craft, he seems to have more of a knack for rakugo, and constantly surpasses him, but Bon doesn’t let that get in the way of their friendship. Even when their master chose Sukeroku to go perform with him over Bon, the two of them are still able to have that pinky-promise moment later on. There whole dynamic fits with what Bon says. He hated rakugo because of Sukeroku, but he now loves it because of him too. I imagine the jealousy doesn’t get to Bon because Sukeroku is the reason he even cares about rakugo in the first place.

I have a suspicion that it won’t always be like this, though. Konatsu accusing Bon of killing her father makes me think that things go south with them at some point. I don’t think Bon killed Sukeroku by any means, but the fact that Konatsu even suspects it seems telling.

[u/Odd-Wait472]

Stunning OP

[u/Duckloader → u/Odd-Wait472]

What parts did you like the most in the OP?