Descending Stories: Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū

Episode 5

After several weeks spent focused on the junior crew, it's time to get back to Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu's original hero, Yakumo Yurakutei, the man formerly known as Kikuhiko. This was another important, but straightforward episode of Rakugo. Yakumo has been stagnant for a while in-show, so we've reached the point for him to start receiving some internal opposition to his deadly resolve. While I don't think he's quite conscious of it yet, some part of him knows that his lover's suicide may not be the best idea, which begins to catch up with him in the middle of his Shinagawa Shinjuu performance. Shinagawa Shinjuu is based on the legend of hangon-ko, a magical incense that summons images of the dead. Of course, this is the perfect performance for Yakumo to have a syncope and start hallucinating his dead frenemies, starting with Miyokichi and climaxing in a visit to the bridge to the afterlife, where a languid Sukeroku looks none-too-happy to greet him. The curtain is closing on Kiku-san's life, and our hero has started to realize that his emotional constipation hasn't prepared him for a peaceful rest.

It's ambiguous whether Miyokichi's specter is an actual spirit or just Yakumo's hallucination. I could go either way, because I don't think it makes much of a difference in the end. I'll get to my interpretation of the scene in a minute, but before that, it's worth noting that vengeful female ghosts are a Japanese literary trope that dates back centuries, which were subject to feminist reinterpretation during the 20th century. The ultimate example of this sort of stuff dates back to The Tale of Genji, in which Prince Genji's wife, the Lady Aoi, is possessed and killed by the ghost of his former mistress, the Lady Rokujo. The feminist reinterpretation of this scene (most famously articulated by the writer Fumiko Enchi in her novel, Masks) is that Rokujo's spirit represents female wrath; Aoi was angry at Genji for mistreating her. These feelings are made external to Aoi, framed as the results of an invasive spirit, due to the social conception that such feelings are unnatural to women. They “kill” her because Aoi no longer exists within the sphere of what's considered acceptable for women. This trope serves as a source of unease for men (as a glimpse of what exists beyond mandated gender roles, where they are the dominant sex) and catharsis for women.

While I would say that Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu is engaging with this tradition, it's ambiguous which role Yakumo is playing in the whole scenario. After all, the formula is supposed to be two women and a man. Sukeroku is for sure a man, Miyokichi is definitely a woman, but Yakumo is also a man? At least on the surface? Sure, Konatsu shows up briefly, but she's literally present on stage rather than part of the hallucination, and she's certainly not the victim of Miyokichi's retribution as "the other woman." That role belongs to Yakumo, which just raises all sorts of interesting questions. So at this point, it's worth bringing up that there has been to doubt Yakumo's gender identity throughout the series. This is a sensitive topic, and I don't think it'll ever get “confirmed” to the extent of Yakumo turning to the camera and saying “I am a transwoman who experiences gender dysphoria” any more than we'll get direct confirmation for the romantic feelings he held for Sukeroku, but there's a good deal of support for the theory.

For one thing, Yakumo has pretty much always felt uncomfortable “acting” male and always experienced revelatory moments by “masquerading” as a woman. His demeanor, behavior, and personality have always read to me as way more female-coded than male-coded, and characters keep saying that he comes off more like a woman. That's definitely a deliberate choice. Overall, while Yakumo's potential trans-ness isn't as important as his illicit attraction to Sukeroku (which needs to be acknowledged for the show to make any sense), I'd say that the possibility is definitely there. I've perused Haruko Kumota's other works, and she clearly has some knowledge of trans discourse. One of her BL one-shots, for example, features an explicitly intersex character with gender dysphoria who happens to look exactly like Yakumo. I'm not coming to a definite side on the topic, mostly because it's impossible to determine short of an official confirmation. However, I will say that it's an important possibility, as central to the narrative as Yakumo's love for Sukeroku.

Back to the main point, this means that there's some ambiguity over who Yakumo is being equated to in the classic Genji/Rokujo/Aoi triangle. Is he a Genji, and thus the target of Miyokichi's gendered grievances? Or is he an Aoi, and thus her co-conspirator through sympathy? My response to this dilemma is "why not both?" If you're taking a psychoanalytic view of Aoi's situation (meaning that you read the ghost as a metaphor for her repressed feelings), then you can easily do the same thing with Yakumo. He's angry at himself for his role in the tragedy (Genji-side), but also at Sukeroku, as the unthinking representation of the patriarchal system that fostered this entire situation in the first place (Aoi-side). Yakumo idealizes Sukeroku, so he has trouble acknowledging his friend's faults, even to the point of instantly forgiving the guy for mooching off his own young child for years. In this scenario, it'd make sense for Yakumo to externalize his anger toward Sukeroku by wrapping it up in Miyokichi's image. In reality, Yakumo's relationship with Miyokichi is more one of identification - he relates to her more than he's willing to admit. So in the end, when Sukeroku's specter attacks Yakumo, I take that as a sign for him – maybe sent from beyond, maybe from within himself – that things were never quite straight (in both senses of the word) between them, and Yakumo needs to confront that. That'll be the key to undoing his romanticization of the past, which causes him to reject innovation, thus condemning both rakugo and his home life to death-by-stagnation.

As an aside, did anyone notice that ghost-Sukeroku's eyes in the opening have turned bright red? I went back and checked, and this wasn't present in previous versions of the OP. The show may be trying to emphasize the distinction between Sukeroku's smiling ghost, who is mute, and the dour version who just appeared to greet Yakumo in the afterlife. I believe that mute-Suke, who's been around since the first episode, represents Yakumo's toxic idealization of Sukeroku, primarily the product of Yakumo's mind. Appropriately, he's often shown leading Yakumo into the grave. Talking-Suke is a different entity – possibly supernatural – who harbors no illusions about their relationship. It won't be confirmed until next week, but I suspect that, in violently grabbing Yakumo, talking-Suke is trying to send him back to the side of the living.

Back to the younger generation, it looks like Yotaro is finally becoming comfortable with his own brand of rakugo. The show seems to have settled on his lack of ego as the distinct thing about his performance style. That comes to a head in his rendition of Inokori, which he develops by listening to recordings by former masters. Honestly, after four weeks on the subject, the Yotaro-finds-his-rakugo plot is getting a little dull, being overshadowed by more compelling material. That's not to say that it's bad – it just feels pretty much resolved already, and I'd like to spend time on juicier plotlines, like Konatsu getting more opportunities to perform. I am happy that Yotaro found it in him to complete his back tattoo, showing that he's come to terms with – and even embraced – his shady past.

We're almost at the midpoint of this second season. Yakumo's life is approaching its end, and he's almost out of time to turn what's left of it around. He's been a static figure throughout this season so far, mostly serving as a curmudgeon obstacle for the forward-thinking Yotaro, Higuchi, and Konatsu, but now it looks like Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu is shifting the spotlight back to its original protagonist. He's got a lot of work to do, and not much time left to do it. I look forward to seeing how the drama unfolds.

Grade: A

Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Gabriella Ekens studies film and literature at a US university. Follow her on twitter.