Now that Kikuhiko has begun to find his voice, both he and Sukeroku are in high demand. They’re even getting radio play now, which is something that Kikuhiko wouldn’t have imagined for himself just a short time ago. Behind the scenes, though, there’s a fair bit of tension between the two performers. Sukeroku has never been one to take things seriously, including his time commitments and dedication to practicing his art. He overreaches by attempting Rakugo stories that are typically outside the purview of a futatsume, and it’s Kikuhiko that has to cover for him by adjusting for time, and asking for forgiveness from their superiors. To Sukeroku, who virtually lives off of alcohol and the laughter of his audiences, things like “saving money” and “dressing properly” just don’t matter. Between acting like a parent to a man who is ostensibly like a brother to him, and working to perfect his art, Kiku is finding less and less time to devote to Miyokichi.
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Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju – Episode 7 Simulcast Review
2 replies on “Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju – Episode 7 Simulcast Review”
I finally started watching this! A little late, but better than never. Was kind of shocked to see the episodes were longer than normal, which is a good thing. It feels like I’m watching an animated television drama series. Binged watched and caught up to episode 7 and I can already see where they’re going with this. I was really hoping there would be a falling out between them without a woman being involved. Not because of disdain for the story, but I was just hoping that there was some other reason Kikuhiko had such disdain over Sukeroku’s daughter so much. As soon as Miyokichi showed up, I got this sinking feeling in my stomach as I could already see where the was going to go. I was really enjoying the positive tone of the series.
Now I’m gonna have the episodes that leave the bitter taste in my mouth because I’ll have to watch these characters I’m invested in make some crumby decisions. At the same time, I feel that is what makes a show like this so good. The fact that it can make these feelings surface in it’s audience is amazing in itself. I noticed at times Kikuhiko is narrating the story, almost like he’s telling a rakugo of his own life. I thought it was a really cool parallel. This series is turning out to be an unexpected gem that has really grown on me. I just hope it dosent ruin it all and end on a really sour note.
Yeah, like I mentioned in a review from a previous week, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. I definitely don’t want to fault the show entirely for making the conflict potentially mostly about a woman (and really, we don’t /really/ know yet how it will all play out, maybe it will be less tedious than expected… maybe), but I was kind of hoping that it would be something more unexpected or creative.
I like your observation about how meta this is/how it’s almost like a rakugo itself. One thing about rakugo stories I’ve noticed (both in what we’ve seen performed so far in the show and some that I’ve sought out online to watch recently) is that they could mostly all be described as having very simplistic, cliche morals and corny humor. So in a way, this story of two men and a woman being so predictable falls in line with that. On the other hand… life is usually a little bit more complex than a silly story that can be told in ten minutes.
What I’m interested to see is if telling the story allows Yakumo/Kikihiko to more fully understand his own story in retrospect. He’s getting a refresher on his own bad decisions (forgoing his relationship completely in pursuit of his art) and i wonder if that will affect his attitude in the present. It really is hard to see him, who I’ve grown to care about over the past several episodes, heading down a sad road of heartbreak. Even though I can see it coming a mile away, it speaks to the show’s ability to develop a character and I like to think that will see it through some of the character’s bad decisions.
I’ve definitely made my share of bad decisions so far in my life and probably irritated and hurt a lot of people, and I hope people would be interested to hear me talk about that stuff anyway! I’m also more impressed by a show that reaches towards but doesn’t quite achieve perfection than one which doesn’t try in the first place, so I think it would take a lot to truly turn me off of the show at this point (some people might call that a fault and maybe they’re right – but once I get invested I tend to see things through and argue that my time wasn’t wasted).