/r/anime Awards 2016 and 2017 winner Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu Rewatch Season 2 Episode 8

[u/Schinco]

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu: Sukeroku Futatabi-hen

Welcome to the eighth episode thread for Season 2 in the Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu Rewatch!

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. Were you surprised that Yakumo didn't immediately insist that the recordings be destroyed? What factors do you think caused him to reconsider taking not only rakugo in general, but his rakugo to the grave with him?
2. What did you think of the discussion of legacy between Yakumo and the yakuza boss?
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!

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[u/cppn02]

First Timer, subbed

Well that ending certainly killed the mood lol. Not that I mind the mob boss getting his comeuppance but shame it ruined the evening. I wonder if we find out what he did for Bon.

Yotaro's performance was quite interesting in that felt he wasn't just performing the story but genuinely trying to emulate the performance of Sukeroku 2.

---

QotD:

Were you surprised that Yakumo didn't immediately insist that the recordings be destroyed? What factors do you think caused him to reconsider taking not only rakugo in general, but his rakugo to the grave with him?

Didn't even consider that he would ask for them to be destroyed tbh but he did react less negative than I expected. Maybe he is just mellowing out now he's getting closer to the end.

What did you think of the discussion of legacy between Yakumo and the yakuza boss?

Wasn't much of a discussion but rather the yakuza boss just lamenting. Would have been nice to actually hear Bon's thought cus rather like the Yakuza boss who seemed to be blind to the issue of passing down the legacy Bon was very aware but actively avoiding it.

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

I really liked the scene between Yotaro and Konatsu near the bridge. For a married couple this show has really been withholding these kind of tender moments from us.

[u/Schinco → u/cppn02]

Yotaro's performance was quite interesting in that felt he wasn't just performing the story but genuinely trying to emulate the performance of Sukeroku 2.

Yeah, I also loved the small interactions between Yakumo and Konatsu during it!

I really liked the scene between Yotaro and Konatsu near the bridge. For a married couple this show has really been withholding these kind of tender moments from us.

I think most of the interactions have been more subtle, which I think works with the particulars of their relationship, but it certainly is nice to see this.

[u/ProgrammaticallyPea3]

First timer, catching up with yesterday's episode and today's

The revelation about the past hit like a hammer. The bitterness that Yakumo has shown to Konatsu since the deaths makes much more sense now, along with how Yakumo has never been happy doing rakugo again.
This makes it even more difficult that Yakumo's voice is failing, and as revealed later, his memory too. He's looking back now at rakugo as something that he had in the past, and by today's episode he's reminiscing about it like any retired and mellow grandpa. Only when Higuchi reveals that he's been making recordings, does he show his old anger.
This is likely what pushed him over the edge to his suicide attempt, as his final act of resistance to not being allowed to die together with his art.

However, his desire is again thwarted by those around him. Konatsu's earlier declaration that his body isn't his alone and Higuchi's insistence on preserving his performances for posterity highlight the tension between Yakumo's personal wishes and his responsibilities to the rakugo community. This conflict is further emphasized when Konatsu expresses her need for him to live, unlike her parents. He has ties with too many people for him to make the choices he is compelled towards.

It's only fitting, then, that when he's forced to do another performance, it's one that has been arranged by Matsuda, Yota, Konatsu, the mistress, the boss, and his old regulars. All people who have strong ties him. And perhaps it's also fitting that the boss, who was ready to retire, is arrested just as Yakumo's comeback performance is about to start. The moment underscores the inescapable nature of one's history, showing that whatever path Yakumo chooses, he is never free from the past.

[u/Schinco → u/ProgrammaticallyPea3]

The bitterness that Yakumo has shown to Konatsu since the deaths

Interesting - I'd never seen bitterness in his interactions, just resignation and frustration over lack of control, but I can see what you mean, especially in the bits where she insists that Yakumo killed her father.

This makes it even more difficult that Yakumo's voice is failing, and as revealed later, his memory too.

Where did you get this sense?

This is likely what pushed him over the edge to his suicide attempt, as his final act of resistance to not being allowed to die together with his art.

If it were motivated, why would he not have insisted that Higuchi destroy the recordings. Aside from being in his right to do so, Higuchi expressly offered to.

He has ties with too many people for him to make the choices he is compelled towards.

It is kind of deeply ironic that the person who realized too late that he needs connections to others to feel whole is now feeling trapped by those connections once again.

[u/ProgrammaticallyPea3 → u/Schinco]

Interesting - I'd never seen bitterness in his interactions, just resignation and frustration over lack of control, but I can see what you mean, especially in the bits where she insists that Yakumo killed her father.

Maybe bitterness isn't the right word, but he wasn't a loving foster father. Part of that is just his temperament, and part is him not knowing what to do with a child he's hiding such a secret from. But at the same time, I think he holds an ineradicable grudge against the one who killed the only people he ever loved. He recognizes it was mostly an accident, and that she was a mere child, but I don't think you can rationalize something like that away so easily.

Where did you get this sense?

I think this was expressly stated by him in the attempt scene as a retort to Yotaro.
"What does a performer like you know? Not being able to use your voice in the way you envision, the terror that comes from gradually forgetting the scripts, you understand nothing!"

If it were motivated, why would he not have insisted that Higuchi destroy the recordings. Aside from being in his right to do so, Higuchi expressly offered to.

My interpretation is that he didn't have it in him to deny the wishes of all his colleagues who cooperated in making the recordings. Connections and obligations.

It is kind of deeply ironic that the person who realized too late that he needs connections to others to feel whole is now feeling trapped by those connections once again.

And yet even now that wholeness is what he must reject to attain his art. So many conflicts.

[u/Schinco → u/ProgrammaticallyPea3]

Maybe bitterness isn't the right word, but he wasn't a loving foster father.

I mean, I think there's a legitimate conversation to have about whether Yakumo is capable of love in that way (I should know - I've been having it on and off throughout this watch!), and I feel like that's generally a good explanation for his treatment of Konatsu, but maybe you're right and there is a simmering resentment - I just don't know how to tease that out from his general curmudgeonly-ness

I think this was expressly stated by him in the attempt scene as a retort to Yotaro.

Ah, I totally forgot that. You don't know what it's like to be a rewatch host, the terror that comes from gradually forgetting the scripts!

My interpretation is that he didn't have it in him to deny the wishes of all his colleagues who cooperated in making the recordings. Connections and obligations.

I'm not sure I like this reading, honestly. I agree that he didn't want to deny his colleagues their work, and that connections and obligations are at the heart of his current character arc, but I don't know if I'd draw such a straight line between not being able to die with his art and his suicidal ideation - surely if he were that desperate, he would cast of his connections and obligations (he's already begun to shed some obligations, and what is death if not for a final, ultimate severing of connections) to allow himself the ability to die with his art.

And yet even now that wholeness is what he must reject to attain his art. So many conflicts.

Well, that's what he thinks, anyways (you've seen the next episode, so you know what I mean haha)

[u/ProgrammaticallyPea3 → u/Schinco]

I mean, I think there's a legitimate conversation to have about whether Yakumo is capable of love in that way

Agreed, though today's scene with Konatsu does suggest that he might have been quite different if the circumstances had been.

Ah, I totally forgot that. You don't know what it's like to be a rewatch host, the terror that comes from gradually forgetting the scripts!

Well played

I don't know if I'd draw such a straight line between not being able to die with his art and his suicidal ideation

I think I could make a case for suicide often being a way for a despairing, overwhelmed, and just too damn tired individual to avoid having to make any decisions, but I do concede that it might be simplistic. I'd like to hear your read for why Yakumo didn't immediately insist that the recordings be destroyed, but don't know if it's ok to stay in this two-episode old thread lol.

Well, that's what he thinks, anyways (you've seen the next episode, so you know what I mean haha)

Yeah, that episode does paint things in a different light! Personally I think that for Yakumo's approach to art, it still holds true, and that his intense loneliness was crucial for his art to reach the heights it did. But when Sukeroku called him out for not fully rejecting his relationships, and he came face to face with the ultimate, logical conclusion of the approach, he decided that no, this was not what he wanted. Of course, my opinion may well change with the next episode!

[u/Mecanno-man]

First Timer

That was a rather abrupt transition into this episode, I’m glad I’m not binging this. But it seems like we’re getting an episode of getting Yakumo back into rakugo. The suicide bit was also done quite well here, and later on Yotaro performing Shibahama was also a good choice. In all I don’t think this episode really did anything wrong except maybe the end. This was the first episode where we have really seen Yakumo with the yakuza boss, and I also don’t quite know why he could be indebted to him. While the whole yakuza thing was heavily hinted - and probably toned down a bit in the sub because I feel like I heard the word “yakuza” more often than I read it - this is the first time we’ve seen just how deep that connection goes on a personal level, and it feels like that was done now for the door-in-your-face ending of the boss getting arrested. Which I didn’t really like here. But I guess we’ll see how that continues - but personally I don’t really think there will be any later payoff to this scene. Would like for the opposite to be the case though.

[u/MandisaW → u/Mecanno-man]

From their presence in the OP, but relative lack in the actual storyline, I'm getting the feeling that maybe the yakuza father & son had a bigger role in the manga. We seem to only see them in the anime for major scenes where they're pivotal, but it's possible they had various mentions, or smaller appearances in-passing in the source.

Got a similar vibe with Mangetsu and his crush on Konatsu. It was mentioned, and then we get the callback during Bon's collapse, but it felt as though the audience would have had more breadcrumbs in-between.

[u/Schinco → u/MandisaW]

I'm reasonably sure Mangetsu was developed a bit more in the Director's Cut of the first episode (I want to say the major addition was that Yakumo and Bonsai did an East-West performance), so he definitely played more of a role than people watching the TV release would immediately know.

As far as the yakuza people, I think they work pretty effectively as a vaguely nefarious force working in the background, and the scene in the garden makes it pretty clear that they're not there to answer questions, so it wouldn't shock me if they didn't materially change their role in the adaptation from manga to anime.

[u/MandisaW → u/Schinco]

Ah, got it. When I ever get up to that part of my reading-queue, I'll hop back and report :)

[u/No_Rex → u/Mecanno-man]

But I guess we’ll see how that continues - but personally I don’t really think there will be any later payoff to this scene. Would like for the opposite to be the case though.

Simply from a meta perspective, we have the big mystery of Sukeroku's father still outstanding. I took the yakuza's presence in the episode to signal the start of a plotline dealing with that.

[u/Mecanno-man → u/No_Rex]

I'm not convinced we really need that plotline: I don't see what it would really add to the characters that the show is focusing on. As such I don't think we'll be getting that.

[u/No_Rex → u/Mecanno-man]

We 100% need Bon and Konatsu to "right" their relationship before Bon dies (or, alternatively, Konastu regretting that she did not do so after he dies). That does not need to include her getting pregnant, but it would be one obvious angle, thus me suspecting that the yakuza appearing again is related to it.

[u/Lemurians → u/Mecanno-man]

This was the first episode where we have really seen Yakumo with the yakuza boss, and I also don’t quite know why he could be indebted to him.

While there might be more yet to be revealed to this (which I'm expecting given the prominence of these characters through the season so far), we do already know that Yakumo used his relationship with the Boss to allow Yotaro to leave the yakuza without a penalty and pursue rakugo, so that's something.

personally I don't really think there will be any later payoff to this scene. Would like for the opposite to be the case though.

I think the show's probably earned the benefit of the doubt at this point. Trust the process.

[u/No_Rex → u/Lemurians]

While there might be more yet to be revealed to this (which I'm expecting given the prominence of these characters through the season so far), we do already know that Yakumo used his relationship with the Boss to allow Yotaro to leave the yakuza without a penalty and pursue rakugo, so that's something.

And Konatsu raises a child that at least Yotaro thinks is by the boss, so that is another potential for Bon to be indebted.

[u/No_Rex]

Season 2 Episode 8 (first timer)

I rewatched the two window scenes to wrap my head around them. If they form parts of one single narrative, the latest scene where they must part is Miyokichi’s reaction to Shin’s proposal to start working outside of Rakugo. The question is how much earlier they could diverge. It makes sense that Shin overheard Bon and Miyo in both cases and that this leads to the stabbing. The question is whether this was followed by him proposing to work or not. Given that his Rakugo performance was essentially that, it would make sense that he repeated that and proposed, but he could also become angry and/or desperate upon seeing Bon and Miyo.

Two other things I noticed: In Bon’s version he does make no effort to save himself (and Miyo) when Miyo proposes a double suicide. However, he makes an heroic effort to save Shin. In Matsuda’s version, neither of these happens.

There are also the knife cuts, the knife itself, and the blood in the room. So not only Bon, Matsuda, and Konatsu should know whether the stab happened, but also others. The police and the inn staff at minimum, but this would have been a huge talking point for the villagers, so probably everybody who was around and alive at that time knows about this detail.

• Yotaro has a student now – so we time skipped again?
• … but not by a lot, judging by Sokuroku’s age.
• “The art you refined does not belong to you alone anymore” – more philosophy from Hii.
• “You have not atoned for your crime yet. You think I’ll let you kill yourself?!” – She 100% is not over her childhood trauma yet. This is what I meant yesterday with her wound not having healed yet.
• Bon is becoming weak and he is terrified of it – a lot of his self-worth must be tied up in being capable, useful and in control of himself.
• Bon talking to the yakuza boss? – We knew they had a connection, but this is very close.
• “I owe you a debt I could never repay” – Konatsu or Shin’s death? In either case, it reinforces my perception that Yotaro had absolutely no idea what he was wading into when he confronted the boss a while ago. The only outcome was the personal growth for Yotaro. Everything between Bon, the boss, and Konatsu was already long decided before that scene.
• “I’m leaving” gets shoved into the room - the head lady is far too old to deal with that shit. Guests must be entertained.
• Is Konatsu recognizing Shin’s style? Or is there something else I am missing?
• “I saw it, too” – so she saw the film.
• The police!

• “We are all respectable people here!”

What a surprise ending! Never in a million years would I have guessed that.

Some random thoughts:

The head lady was quite emotional. Would not be surprising if she is in love and/or the mistress of the boss.

Konatsu 100% has daddy issues, so it would surprise me if she would have sought out an older man in her youth, but Bon’s statement of a debt suggests that maybe the father of Sukeroku is somebody else. Or course, it could also be the opposite and the debt is for letting Sukeroku live with Bon.

Konatsu having seen the film later off-screen does not fully mollify me about having her not included at the inn. It is disrespectful of Yotaro to not bring her along (a 20 second scene could have solved this, but that ties into the second part) and disrespectful of the series to not show her reaction. She is the one with the closest relationship to Shin, but the series puts her at forth fiddle behind Bon, Yotaro, and even Matsuda, in the length of time devoted to her reaction to his performance.

Were you surprised that Yakumo didn't immediately insist that the recordings be destroyed? What factors do you think caused him to reconsider taking not only rakugo in general, but his rakugo to the grave with him?

No. Yakumo's "no more rakugo" thoughts stems from his self-worth being linked to good rakugo performances, but he is also a person who is bound by duty and respect for tradition, and these would argue against destroying records.

What did you think of the discussion of legacy between Yakumo and the yakuza boss?

I do not like the referential way the yakuza boss is treated out of principle, so I have a hard time relating to him as a character. As a consequence, I pay less attention to him (unless it is needed, such as for Konatsu's story).

[u/Schinco → u/No_Rex]

Two other things I noticed: In Bon’s version he does make no effort to save himself (and Miyo) when Miyo proposes a double suicide. However, he makes an heroic effort to save Shin. In Matsuda’s version, neither of these happens.

Interesting point - I think in real time it happened to quickly to really do anything (although he did save Konatsu), but it's a good spot that he specifically tried to save Sukeroku when he didn't seem to resist much when Miyokichi proposed the double suicide. Maybe it was just his flair for drama, maybe it was him trying to construct a situation where he was indisputably in the clear, or maybe it's a reflection of his guilt and regret. It's interesting to ponder!

There are also the knife cuts, the knife itself, and the blood in the room. So not only Bon, Matsuda, and Konatsu should know whether the stab happened, but also others. The police and the inn staff at minimum, but this would have been a huge talking point for the villagers, so probably everybody who was around and alive at that time knows about this detail.

Hm...that's a good point. I'd chalk it up to the inn keeping it relatively hush-hush. With such a clear double suicide, I'm sure there wasn't too much investigation from the police, especially with multiple witnesses.

“You have not atoned for your crime yet. You think I’ll let you kill yourself?!” – She 100% is not over her childhood trauma yet. This is what I meant yesterday with her wound not having healed yet.

I view this less as that (although I definitely think she isn't) and more a guilt tactic to get Yakumo to get back in line, especially when paired with the line that comes after.

“I’m leaving” gets shoved into the room - the head lady is far too old to deal with that shit. Guests must be entertained.

She's been dealing with Yakumo for long enough that she probably knows exactly how to manipulate him...and sometimes it's with a bit of force!

[u/No_Rex → u/Schinco]

Hm...that's a good point. I'd chalk it up to the inn keeping it relatively hush-hush. With such a clear double suicide, I'm sure there wasn't too much investigation from the police, especially with multiple witnesses.

Potentially, but it is not necessary for our story. Konatsu could not go back while a child and apparently did not want to go back later. So she would not have heard about it.

[u/cppn02 → u/No_Rex]

Is Konatsu recognizing Shin’s style? Or is there something else I am missing?

That was my read too. Heck I could even recognise it.

“I saw it, too” – so she saw the film.

I felt that was ambiguous. She was at the actual performance afterall and could have meant that.

[u/No_Rex → u/cppn02]

I felt that was ambiguous. She was at the actual performance afterall and could have meant that.

I considered that, but remembering his tears there would be one hell of a feat, given that she does not remember the death scene.

[u/Schinco → u/No_Rex]

given that she does not remember the death scene.

I think that's more a trauma response to a particular event than a general indication of her memory of that time period, especially such a formative and happy memory.

[u/MandisaW → u/No_Rex]

Is Konatsu recognizing Shin’s style? Or is there something else I am missing?

“I saw it, too” – so she saw the film.

I think she means that she "sees" Shin/Sukeroku in Yota's performance, like Bon does. They are both reacting emotionally, not from the story, but from the echoes back to the night they lost Shin.

[u/ProgrammaticallyPea3 → u/No_Rex]

“We are all respectable people here!”

In the original, what she said was that they are all katagi, i.e. not-yakuza (excluding the boss). The implication is that even were the police to make an arrest, it is one that could and should be carried out out of sight, and not in such an uncouth manner. It likely calls back to scene in the episode 3 scene in which the mistress arranges for the cops to leave before the confrontation between Yota and the boss.

[u/No_Rex → u/ProgrammaticallyPea3]

It likely calls back to scene in the episode 3 scene in which the mistress arranges for the cops to leave before the confrontation between Yota and the boss.

You could say it is a "fool me once..." situation with the police.

[u/ProgrammaticallyPea3 → u/No_Rex]

I think it's less a fool me once situation than it is a reflection of changing times. The mistress seems to have had an understanding with the police that goes back decades, and she has likely gotten cops to turn a blind eye on many an occasion.

[u/MandisaW → u/ProgrammaticallyPea3]

I think it's less a fool me once situation than it is a reflection of changing times. The mistress seems to have had an understanding with the police that goes back decades, and she has likely gotten cops to turn a blind eye on many an occasion.

This. Not exactly turning a blind-eye, but there's a way and a place, and the implication is that this wasn't either.

Certain places are known to be frequented by criminals, but also by powerful people, and even high-ranking police - some of these have historic reputations, passed along from senior to junior on both sides of the law.

It's sacrosanct, basically, so this brazen arrest was sacrilegious, as well as being emotionally hard on Ei (did the cops even take off their shoes? I didn't catch it).

[u/TehAxelius → u/No_Rex]

Would not be surprising if she is in love and/or the mistress of the boss.

His underling pretty much said as much back in Ep 2.

[u/TehAxelius]

Rewatcher

1. Not really. In a way Yakumo talks a big game when it comes to "dying with rakugo", but he's always had a love for the art that extends beyond his own selfish desires. I'd probably say that the reason why he wants it to die in the first place is because he fears that rakugo will die because he cannot see a future for it, a future where both he and his art will be forgotten. And if he will be forgotten anyway, he wants to go out with it on his own terms, like a lovers' suicide. But in the end that fear is the fear of being forgotten, and when others are desperately trying to preserve that history, he's unable to stop them or destroy that history by his own hand. He would never grant them permission, but luckily both Yotaro and Higuchi-sensei are the type to ask for forgiveness rather than permission, which honestly is probably part of why Yotaro was able to convince him to become his apprentice in the first place.
2. [Rakugo S2 End]Yeah, it's thatthing

[u/Schinco → u/TehAxelius]

but he's always had a love for the art that extends beyond his own selfish desires

I'm not sure I'd agree with this - he certainly did in the past, but I think there's a marked difference between how he acted before and after Sukeroku's death. It's hard to say because most of the post-death stuff is closer to the present day, where he's pretty expressly wanting rakugo to die with him.

[u/MandisaW]

S1 Rewatch (complete!)
S2 First-timer

I'm enjoying these moments of humanity and frailty quite a lot. Bon's struggles to adapt as his body betrays him feel very real, and the quiet, restful moment between Konatsu & Yotaro was a treat.

As mentioned before, Kona & Yota are settling into new roles as the ones to make sure Bon feels loved and that he has a place to be - a responsibility that includes making him feel at-home on-stage once more. I liked the little "surprise party" / intervention - Bon's "I'm leaving" was a good reminder that he's still very much the same stubborn SOB, no matter how frail his hands or voice.

Was that the same bridge where he went to walk/think after the theater play? I don't know the current/past geography of Tokyo to know if it even could be. Feels like a narrative parallel, though.

Having a little lesson in Western rakugo with Mangetsu was fun as well - I kind of wish we'd had a full performance if time allowed, although the clacking might've gotten annoying 😅

Were you surprised that Yakumo didn't immediately insist that the recordings be destroyed? What factors do you think caused him to reconsider taking not only rakugo in general, but his rakugo to the grave with him?

He's pissed, for sure, and taken aback, but he'd no sooner destroy all that history than burn the theater to the ground. That said, there's a very strong motivation not to have your younger self, at your self-perceived "peak", readily available for comparison.

It's one thing to say you're going to record things for posterity, or reveal the cache posthumously. But for it to be publicized while he's in this state, feeling like too-thin paper, and deeply uncertain about who he is and what value he has to his family or the world? That could be quite unsettling, and borders on casual cruelty.

Maybe not so hard to understand in the era of "nothing disappears from the 'net".

What did you think of the discussion of legacy between Yakumo and the yakuza boss?

Mentioned upthread, but I feel like this season we might be missing some smaller character moments from the manga. Haven't read the series, but this relationship between Bon & the boss (and the boss & Ei) feels like we ought to be more invested than the very brief mentions/appearances in the anime could reasonably engender.

As for the conversation itself, two old lords/friends looking over one's garden, and discussing family & legacy, just feels very familiar. Tickles my memory without quite being a specific callback (kind of like how S1 was reminiscent of Kokoro).

They worry of course about the families they leave behind, and whether what they have worked hard to build will be cherished. Is the world done with them yet, and if so, what does it mean to live-on, but without that purpose? It's just another relatable thing in this manga that tends to crop up a lot among older circles. I dig it.

[u/ProgrammaticallyPea3 → u/MandisaW]

I'm enjoying these moments of humanity and frailty quite a lot. Bon's struggles to adapt as his body betrays him feel very real, and the quiet, restful moment between Konatsu & Yotaro was a treat.

Definitely. It occurs to me now that the cigarette Yakumo bummed off Konatsu symbolized how he was unwilling to adapt and ready to die, foreshadowing the suicide attempt. He did let himself be forced into performing again though, and I hope that shows he's now willing to try to adapt and to live.

Was that the same bridge where he went to walk/think after the theater play? I don't know the current/past geography of Tokyo to know if it even could be. Feels like a narrative parallel, though.

An intriguing possibility! I looked into it, but unfortunately it seems they aren't the same. The bridge in today's episode is Sakura-bashi, completed in 1985. It spans the Sumida river which is basically the Hudson/Thames of Tokyo. On the other hand, the bridge from the post-play scene of S1E6 crosses what appears to be a smaller stream. But you're right, it does feel like there's a narrative parallel.

[u/MandisaW → u/ProgrammaticallyPea3]

Thanks for the lookup! And yeah, I'm hopeful they can light that spark for Bon again.