(CR) Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju

[revive4563]

In fact episode 3 is very good episode as the story before and after war. Personally it is very interesting for me.
If anything I don't have an interest about manga but I really like direction of anime and seiyuu's great work very well.
Especially, I realized that Yamadera is really awesome once again.

Originally Posted by Botan_TM

Looks like manga author writes mostly Yaoi stories.

I'm trying to not have a prejudice against this series which is written by BL author.
Yes, actually this is not BL since this is BROMANCE.

Well, seriously there is no culture which is not "poisoned" by hidden intention.
Since we can't even define what is hidden intention. I know culture is the thing like that.

[DragoonKain3]

Oh yeah definitely, Kiku's story has a definite BL slant to it. Heck, eps 3 there's lots of symbolism about him leaving behind the peaceful normal life/girls in order to be reunited with Rakugo/Shin. Clearly Kiku is attracted to girls, but that doesn't mean he isn't bi, or that his relationship with Shin is the stuff fujos dream of. XD

Also can't help but burst out with laughter that Kiku and Shin pinky sweared to go to a hotel together after the war.

[blakstealth]

The woman from the PVs finally show up! YES!

And the OP and ED are sweet, too.

[MCAL]

Who could have possibly guessed that DEEN would have the best show of the season and perhaps for the year? The reunion scene really got to me.

[Benigmatica]

Episode 3:
Glad that Kikuhiko decides to perform rakugo and wait for his friend and rival Hatsutaro to come back for him. Man, the bromance is strong on this one, but I don't think it'll last though...

Meanwhile, glad that Megumi Hayashibara is back... Not only that, but I'm starting to get a hang of her sexy singing voice when performing the opening theme!

[Flower]

Ep 03

Now that was downright engrossing...what an interesting presentation and (albeit brief) illumination of mid 20th c history in Japan through a lens I had been unaware of, and how wonderfully it was done.

Downright excellent stuff. We get to see the OP this time, and while it was good I still find the ED as more evocative as a whole.

[somajo]

A lot of episodes, most likely... In the manga the flashback takes up altogether 3 volumes (from cca half of volume 2 to half of volume 5), it seems that with the next episode they'll reach the last third of volume 2. It's difficult to tell, though, they're cutting and pasting scenes and adding some original stuff as well (at least, while I can't check the manga atm, I'm pretty sure the two rakugo performances in this episode weren't in the manga).

It'll be about a half of the show then, I suppose. I hope there will be a place for main story too.

It must be horrifying to be in a middle of a Rakugo performance without hearing a single sound of laughter, you must really need the mental ability to keep going without just choking or stopping.

Yes, I think because he's got that ability he could manage to make it this far in rakugo.

I'm somebody who casually learned Japanese over 10+ years using anime, games and music and paying attention to not only the story but the language being used. Though eventually I took some university courses for easy credits and passed a level 3 proficiency test after dozens of painstaking sessions with kanji cards - "I can speak the language this well! It'd be a waste if I couldn't even pass this test!"

This is one of those anime that feels really fresh to me, because it's using a lot of words and grammar that don't usually come up. That engages my mind in an enjoyable way. It's also one of those times where I'm really relying on the Crunchyroll English translator to get things right, and I'm not sure whether they're getting it right all the time...

I think it has more literature-like lines than most anime shows that makes it more interesting to listen and of course harder to understand.

Yotaro's is playful, so I can see why he's looking to Sukeroku as a model; because even though he admires Yakumo's rakugo, the maturity of its presentation is not something he thinks he can obtain.

Yotaro and Sukeroku have some similar parts in their personalities. May be it's one of the reasons Yakumo made Yotaro his pupil. His determination to do rakugo was exactly the same as Sukeroku's back then.

I liked how in this episode was shown Kikuhiko becoming to love rakugo to the point of choosing it over another possible way of life and him becoming mentally stronger and confident. And Hatsutaro's energy is inspiring as always. I was happy when he with Master got back and the reunion was touching.

[Stark700]

Episode 4:

Great episode! The rakugo about the boat, murder, etc was very entertaining as it was performed with a great amount of humor and even small vibes of thriller. The character expression of it was brilliant too.

So it looks like they want to give Kiku some experience to show him as a person and develop his character. Interesting. I think he has an awkward yet interesting chemistry with Miyokishi so far. Speaking of who, she has talent as well. I'm curious to see how their relationship will develop especially to see how flexible it is.

[blakstealth]

Goddamn, Miyokichi is so good. Don't get me wrong; I love the bromance Kiku and Shin has going on, but I need some ladies on screen if you feel me. She really added some sensual vibes to this episode, which is what Kiku, and I, need.

[zztop]

Sights and sounds of old Tokyo.
1) The theatre where they meet Miyokoshi is the Ginza Kabuki-za, which was and still is the principal theatre for Kabuki in Tokyo. The building depicted was a 3rd gen building, built to replace the 2nd gen building destroyed in WW2.

The current theatre's a 4th gen building, which also includes an adjoining office tower. The 3rd gen was demolished in 2010 over earthquake-proof concerns and accessability issues.


2)The clock tower in the opening is the Wako department store, built in the 1930s. (building to left)

[cupumanager]

Here is it, folks. DEEN is saving anime in front of our eyes. This episode brings the Late 1940-1950s Japan alive for me, too bad the OP not playing for the topping.

Ah, so the girl at last must enter the scene, hm? Now the boys are not only competing for their masters' title, but potentially their masters' mistress too. Masuda the butler as a plus, shouldn't forget the poor loyal butler.
Back off Miyokichi, Bon OTP is with Shin alone.

So, Butler Cafe aimed at young women are alreaady in business at the time, hm? Curious, Bon can serve just fine with the lame leg of his, it doesn't even shows.

[Guardian Enzo]

That's not a butler cafe - he's just a waiter those girls think is hot.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by cupumanager

Here is it, folks. DEEN is saving anime in front of our eyes. This episode brings the Late 1940-1950s Japan alive for me, too bad the OP not playing for the topping.

As someone who never hate DEEN as a studio and actually like many of their works (they gave me the excellent Patlabor and Rurouni Kenshin for crying out loud), this really doesn’t surprise me. Their latest work that impressed me before this season was Rozen Maiden: Zurückspulen two-or-so years ago, and now they have two hits this season (Konosuba & this Showa Genroku), at least to me. DEEN can make something excellent when they’re serious and I’m glad they can prove it time and time again (especially this season) after their hater-bait that is FSN adaptation.

On a more on-topic note, I'm really enjoying this Showa Genroku adaptation so far despite source-readers saying that the studio made some bad/weird/questionable decisions. I think the pacing is good to great for this kind of story. This anime really drew me into the world of Rakugo like Chihayafuru & Hikaru no Go did with Karuta & Go.

[Guardian Enzo]

I'm not a DEEN hater either, but as a die-hard Rurouni Kenshin fan I have to point out that everything DEEN did with that series was post shark-jumping, pretty much. The two seasons that were faithful to the manga were Gallop, including of course the peerless Kyoto Arc. DEEN did the mostly original third season and all the completely unfaithful OVAs.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

I'm not a DEEN hater either, but as a die-hard Rurouni Kenshin fan I have to point out that everything DEEN did with that series was post shark-jumping, pretty much. The two seasons that were faithful to the manga were Gallop, including of course the peerless Kyoto Arc. DEEN did the mostly original third season and all the completely unfaithful OVAs.

I actually have read all the RK manga (all the available local releases that is) right after the Shishio arc finished airing in my country AFAICR, and I must say, the Pirate arc, Shogo Amakusa arc, and the Feng-shui arc are pretty good. They're miles better than many other shounen-fillers except for the fillers in HxH (1999) which is equally good if not better. Also, the only RK OVA that I hate is Seisouhen, but I love Tsuiokuhen. One of the good things I can say for Tsuiokuhen is that I always thought the fight when Kenshin was trying to get Tomoe back from the assassins was too staged-y and video-game-y in the manga with all the fancy setups to dull Kenshin's senses one by one. I much prefer the "more realistic" approach in the said OVA.

[Guardian Enzo]

I do resent all the OVA material especially (not forgetting the especially execrable Okada movie tie-ins) because I find them utterly inconsistent with the spirit of Watsuki's work (as indeed does he). But if the manga had at least gotten a full adaptation, I would probably find it easier to appreciate the older OVAs for their technical competence in abstract.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

I do resent all the OVA material especially (not forgetting the especially execrable Okada movie tie-ins)

I actually forgot all about Okada's movies when I wrote my post above . I guess I never really count it as RK tie-in .

[kuromitsu]

(As a fan of Rurouni Kenshin, ugh, the OVAs. Double Ugh for the latest, what on earth was even that. /off-topic)

Anyway, if there's any "saving of anime" going on here (that I very much don't think so, but anyway) I wonder how it is being done by DEEN. For one, this show is so far a very close adaptation of the manga, all the anime is adding is the animation, visual direction and the voice acting, plus some reorganizing the story here and there to make it flow better in 20-min. episodes. Any praise should go to the mangaka, the anime writer for not screwing it up, the director for being competent, the seiyuu for doing a very good job, and the producers who decided to get this story a TV anime in the first place. As far as I'm aware DEEN are just doing the animation. It doesn't look crap, I guess, but it's not really praiseworthy in and of itself..

(It's a bit like how with Sakamichi no Apollon everyone kept heaping praise on Watanabe Shinichirou, even though he barely added anything of value to it, with the exception of the music scenes... but even the music they played came from the manga, not chosen by Watanabe.)

Anyway, I'm just waiting for the flashback to end...

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Any praise should go to the mangaka, the anime writer for not screwing it up, the director for being competent, the seiyuu for doing a very good job, and the producers who decided to get this story a TV anime in the first place. As far as I'm aware DEEN are just doing the animation. It doesn't look crap, I guess, but it's not really praiseworthy in and of itself..

Aren't you underselling the studio's effort a bit much? Aren't studios also responsible for choosing the right person/team to make an adaptation? You know this kind of material can easily go wrong if not treated carefully, right? For latest example, look at Utawarerumono 2 (ugh). Also, the animation here is a lot more than "doesn't look crap". It actually looks great and detailed even above many series this season which is saying much because this season is pretty strong (visually, at least). Give credits when credit's due, girl.

[Kanon]

Sukeroku's rakugo was really great this week. Both the choice of story and his own performance. Shame we didn't get to see how Kiku compares to him now.

Miyukichi is a very charming woman, and it's obvious she's going to be a source of discord between the two friends and possibly even with their master (I'm not 100% convinced she's his mistress yet, even if all signs point to it).