Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū
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HelloBucket
 Posts: 477 Location: Upstate New York |
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I say it specifically because I don't think one way or the other adds any value to the story (for me). Kiku losing his adoptive brother and closest (and only) friend doesn't become more tragic by virtue of sexual attraction. Likewise, Kiku fits the pattern of being burdened by society gay or not: He's being foisted into a leadership position due to his class and gender when he's naturally more of a supporter, and if the other male characters in the show are any indication he's not terribly masculine by the standards of the time. I'll admit, though, that my concept of value in a story may be poorly suited for this show. Slow character-driven drama is not my normal habitat. I'm not quite a fish out of water, but I'm not exactly thriving.
It certainly isn't my goal to be a dick. I'm not exactly an impartial judge as to whether or not I'm succeeding, though.
This wasn't meant as a criticism... of anyone's comments, actually. I was just an explanation of why I hadn't factored in the author.
As far as I know, it's never been attempted! |
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VoidWitch
 Posts: 157 |
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Well… Uh… That’s a weird conversation to have. It's like saying that Deadpool's omnisexuality doesn't matter because there is no romance in comic books or Constantine's bisexuality. Sexuality is such a major part of everyday life. It takes quite a big chunk of people's identity. (and character's identity too!) It's just as important in media as in real life. So personally for me it IS important. It changes relationship dynamics between two characters drastically the same way gender affects relationship. It's also easier to understand character's feelings and motivations knowing what type of fruit they are. And don't get me started on importance of visibility. It's complicated and important. It's not about tragedy. It's about clarity.
Naaaaah you are fine. It was a little bit weird to see that whole “unhealthy train of thought” comment. It’s like complaining about how someone got piece of candy when you got cake. There is plenty of tasteful representation of straight feminine males yet almost none if not zero of gay feminine males. Most of the time they are called to be perverts (Hello, Grimgar) or used as a comedic relief (Hello, Speed Grapher) or both (Yes, I’m looking at you One Punch Man). And other anime like Stein’s Gate with all the spoiler[ gender bender] stuff is just reeks of creepy rule 34 bait. Not cool.
How useful\harmful death of the author as method is a whole another conversation to have. One day. Also aren’t you supposed to take scenes like “ear cleaning scene” more seriously if you do use the concept? Or are you picky about where are you going to use it? 
Welp. Be on guard 
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bonbonsrus
 Posts: 1537 Location: Michigan, USA |
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Wow, I haven't been around here to ANN in quite a while, but I find the discussion going on about this show certainly different than I was expecting.
I love this show, so very much, and personally the last episode (ep 12) I mostly loved... My personal take of this show from watching every week has not really changed, I always felt like Kiku was holding himself back from Miyokichi, not allowing himself any feelings to respect his master who had a thing for her and because it wasn't going to benefit his career...I always felt like the responsibility of living up to his masters expectations, said or wished, were of most importance to him. Now that his master is gone and times are changing and he feels the weight of all he's lost. When he licked her tears, in that moment, I felt that he let his guard down now and figured it was maybe time to live for himself a bit. I love how both the rakugo stories mirrored the feelings they had, I have always adored stories within stories like that. I felt the way the fall came about was a little bit of a stretch, but I really felt like it was really an accident, not any sort of purposeful suicide certainly, despite Miyokichi talking about it. Sad for sure, but explains all of Kiku's guilt in present day. As if he was never meant to reach for happiness. I look forward to seeing what happens in the last episode later today, however having seen this much, I am satisfied with the story, I thought it was interesting, intriguing, informative (I learned something new!) and really the kind of story I enjoy. <3 |
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KenjiKinamoto
Posts: 15 |
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To anyone that knows the truth, did she love sukeroku at all? i cant figure out if i shud hate or like her. If what went down according to kiku, i shud like her in the end because she actually loved sukeroku too. I doubt that tho..
 [expletive] bitch
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Knoepfchen
 Posts: 698 |
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Somehow, my notifications for this thread stopped working, turns out I missed quite a bit of discussion.
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Thank you! I feel exactly the same. I will miss reading and writing and sharing thoughts about this show. It's been a pleasure, Gabriella, and everyone. Let's meet again after the intermission. I'm confident there will be a lot more truths to be discovered on this stage. Final thoughts: We’ve seen cold and distant Kiku before, but never has he been so lifeless. Akira Ishida manages to infuse Kiku’s detached monotony with a vulnerability that feels closer to real grief than any prolonged sobbing would. His performance has elevated an already intriguing character to unusually realistic levels. But Kiku will cry, for the first time since being forced to admit his abandonment in episode 2. It will be the discussion about the future of rakugo without Sukeroku at his side that will make him lose his composure for the last time before accepting his burden. He is the only one left to shoulder it. But Kiku wasn’t supposed to be the only one. He was supposed to preserve rakugo, while Sukeroku was the one chosen to revive it. Without Sukeroku, what point is there for Kiku to continue preserving what cannot be revived? It was their promise which cursed Kiku to live in the past, the preserver of a dying art form. With the clock on the wall behind him ticking his life and chance at happiness away, Kiku finally resigns himself to becoming the next Yakumo. Keeping his part of the promise and accepting the burden placed on him by the people around him, he surrenders, unable to ever leave Sukeroku or his own name’s shadow behind. And the nail gets hammered down (visually and figuratively, because that’s just how this show rolls). And Konatsu? Nozarashi's crows are crowing under the red sun when Konatsu recites her father's trademark story and threatens to kill Kiku out of revenge. But there’s nothing left of Kiku to kill at this point. The shinigami has caught up with him, and this time, it’s not just Kiku coquetting with the idea of emotional death as a way to escape the pain of human interaction. It has become his only strategy at survival. And so, he walks onto the stage, the only path left for him to stay alive, with everything around him engulfed in darkness. Kiku, as we knew him, has died. This is a painful, but perfect ending to Kiku’s story. It made me sob with sadness and smile with appreciation at how wonderful his story has been constructed and presented. Except that it’s not the ending. As if to defy the crows (and Kiku’s advice not to entertain impossible dreams), little Konatsu screams out Nozarashi, unwilling to let her father’s rakugo die with him. Holding onto his image, it’s almost as if she needs to prove their existence. Nozarashi will remain the key to unlocking Konatsu’s emotions long after Sukeroku’s death. Embracing pain over indifference, Yotaro’s performance of her father’s rakugo makes her cry, but that’s exactly why she asked him to perform for her. She is strong, but she is also selfish. Those final moments at the cemetery were simply glorious. It’s the anniversary of master Yakumo’s death. Time for Kiku to reflect upon the state of the world, rakugo and his life, which are too closely intertwined to reflect upon separately. I want to call Kiku by this name even though he has long since become Yakumo 8th. A name has a lot of power over a person. And I want to believe in Kiku and Bon more than in Yakumo. Death, kneeling in front of a grave, musing about death while smiling a sad, empty smile – there’s not really a lot left to interpretation here. When Sukeroku’s ghost visits him, Kiku isn’t shaken. Being haunted seems to have become a state of normality at this point in his purgatory existence. It’s Sukeroku’s silence that he cannot bear. After all these years, Kiku is still lost without Sukeroku’s judgment. And without his rakugo to complete his own. And then, out of the smoke walks Yotaro. Their exchange manages to be graceful while ensuring everything that has to hits home – without punching the audience on their noses so hard that they would fall over and not recover. Rakugo was a show about people struggling against the restrictions forced upon them by the society they live in. Internalizing other people’s expectations as their own, they learned to adapt by denying part of who they are – or failed and burned in the face of their inability to change. But it wasn’t just society’s pressure which broke them. Not getting what they thought they wanted, they became unable to find happiness anywhere it might have presented itself instead. Bearing a name he never wanted in a life he never enjoyed, Kiku has forgotten who he once was. And what made him fall in love with the art he vowed to preserve. By shouldering the burden of being the preserver, unchanging by default, he became unable to see the possibility of happiness, because he became unable to change in any way. On stage, he was the shinigami. Off stage, he was just dead. For Kiku, this is just how the world works after Sukeroku left him behind. Yotaro, his sweet, simple, innocent apprentice, shares his sentiment of the importance of a name, but has a much healthier perspective than both Kiku and Sukeroku ever had. He doesn’t feel cursed or burdened by the “fool” he has been named after. He chooses to feel honored and embrace it. "Being human means changing whatever way it takes to suit your name." Yotaro believes in the possibility of change even after being designated the fool. And once he has outgrown the fool, he no longer aims to follow his master’s path of inheriting the Yakumo name and preserving the art of rakugo. Once he’s found his own rakugo, he wants to be the reformer. But Yotaro, in his innocent foolishness, is a lot more mature than Kiku and Konatsu's Sukeroku ever was. He believes in the possibility of growth beyond what has been carved out for you by others – without having to deny it as a consequence. The reformed as the reformer. This show truly loves its circles. Kiku’s shinigami managed to inspire Kyoji to become Yotaro and Yotaro to aspire to the dream of Sukeroku. Opening the door to the past, he brought back the spark of renewal and reform where there was only misery and loneliness. It’s a living, breathing spark, opposed to all that unhealthy worship of the dead both Kiku and Konatsu are defined by. The memory of the dead, no matter if idealized or haunted by, cannot bring about the change so desperately needed here. With Sukeroku’s death, Kiku’s rakugo has become an unchanging, tragic existence destined to die with him. Reviving rakugo has been synonymous with reawakening Kiku’s soul and enabling him to move on. But it isn’t Sukeroku’s Nozarashi which has the potential to release Kiku from the grip of the shinigami. Nozarashi itself has become just as unchanging and destructive as Shinigami. Yotaro still has to find his own rakugo. And when he does, maybe, just maybe, Kiku will be able to fulfill his promise. We will have to wait and see. Thank you, Rakugo, for three thrilling and deeply moving months. Final verdict: 9.5/10, simply because it hasn’t ended yet edit: Whoops, that got a bit long. 
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Dop.L
Posts: 725 Location: London |
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I've absolutely loved this show, and not only do I see it as my top anime of the winter season, I find it hard to believe anything will best it as anime of the year - especially if the second season (Hurrah!) comes out before the end of the year.
So Bon/Kikuhiko finally accepts the title of eighth generation Yakumo, and as the only master of his generation ends up with the poison chalice of being the one to carry the flame of Rakugo for future generations, neither of which he wanted. Then we return to "present day" a little while after the events of the first episode, with some revelations, and one BIG CLIFFHANGER which would have been a real WTF moment had I not already seen the news about the second season. On that, I feared this was a show which wouldn't get a second season, and I'm glad it has, because it needs one. We all need one. We all need more anime of this quality to carry the torch and show what the medium is capable of. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11601 |
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Not by a long shot. That was excellent! 
I've been thinking about the Shinigami story and how it resonates throughout the series. It seems to be speaking to the deaths in the series and guilt and mortality, but there's yet another component. According to the Shinigami, if you transfer your flame to another's candle you live on. A good portion of this whole story is about that: the first Sukeroku passed his flame onto Shin who in turn transferred it to Konatsu (who will likely pass it on to her child), and Kiku, who received Yakumo 7th's flame, needs to pass it on in one form or another to Yotaro and Konatsu before his own flame (and rakugo with it) goes out. You’d better hurry, or it’ll go out. If it goes out, you’re dead. Better hurry. See? It went out. The specter of failing to pass the flame before it dies out haunts the entire series. A lot of people have complained that the story didn't even need the first episode, but if the story just starts in the past, the metaphor is practically lost before you can even notice it. I'm so glad this is getting a second season. I found it odd that we never got to see Yotaro and Konatsu's reaction to Yakumo's story (not to mention why the police waited until after cremation to question Kiku!), but with more of the story coming, hopefully that will get filled in. I can't wait. Someone please license this!!! |
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5507 Location: Iscandar |
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The earlier announcement of the second season eliminated my anxieties with episode 13, but I still enjoyed it. I was close to rating these 13 episodes Excellent, but the lack of a more complete resolution kept it at Very good. I hope that the second season starts airing soon.
And to make things more perfect someone just needs to license SGRS for a disc release.
I feel the same way. |
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Knoepfchen
Posts: 698 |
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^I'm right there with Gabriella, hoping that Konatsu will become the next (and a better, happier) Yakumo. They both deserve some reconciliation.
I think this episode would have been a perfect ending, despite leaving so many questions unanswered. I'm simply glad and grateful there will be more. I want to see Konatsu being a good mom, even if her perspective is so unhealthy and possibly destructive. I want to see Yotaro grow, not just because Tomo Seki is awesome and needs his opportunity to shine. And I want to see Kiku being able to let go. He doesn't deserve what he has resigned himself to. |
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mandisaw
 Posts: 140 |
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I held off on watching ep12 so I could watch the final two episodes back-to-back. I'm glad I did, because geez if ep13 isn't so much more tragic/gut-punching in its way than 12.
Back a ways before all the meta-commentary about the reviews, I feel like this gets to the heart of what I find so fascinating about this series and its characters. For all that actual hardship imposed itself on their lives (besides the interpersonal stuff, let's not forget the war/post-war period!), they were completely obsessed/seduced by the idea of a happy-ending life to the point of taking utterly for granted the happiness they already had. I always feel like the best stories speak to you at the right time, and this one has really gotten to me. I will say though, that it leaves me very out-of-sorts on the matter of S2. At some level, I can see it's important to have a "redemption" arc to take these characters (or rather, their successors) to the happiness that they deserve, but I fear that it undermines the previous-generation's sacrifice. But who knows, it may prove cathartic - this is fiction/theater, after all. ---------------- Normally, I'm all for understanding stories in their original context and all, but I'd be very interested to rewatch this one with an English dub. Certainly it would be a translation & acting/direction challenge, but a good writer/production staff could (hopefully) knock out those remaining barriers to understanding. This was a ridiculously layered and rich series, and I'm 95% sure that there are nuances to the performances that we've failed to grasp (not just the puns/scripts & cultural/historical context). |
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VoidWitch
Posts: 157 |
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Thank you for the review Gabriella! And thank you for your input everyone! I'm so excited for the second season. It's going to be rough, but awesome at the same time.
I pretty much just sobbed through the whole episode and then burst into ugly crying closer to the end. Seeing Kiku and Konatsu this way is just... And the Sukeroku moment... (ops I think i'm gonna cry again) I'm an emotional mess so I don't think i'm in the state right now to write anything coherent or useful. I will definitely need some time if not a lot of time to process all of this... All i can say for sure is that it was a one fu*king wild ride, but in a good way. I'm excited to see more of Yotaro and Konatsu. And i don't know if i want to see what's going to happen to Kiku, but i know i need to. I hope he will be able to feel alive again. I hope he will finally find peace and more or less happy conclusion to his personal story. Maybe i will write something less depressing after drying my face off. But for now, that's all i can squeeze out of myself. |
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whiskeyii
 Posts: 2269 |
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Phew, what a ride. Not much more good stuff to add than what Gabriella, Knoepfchen and others have already contributed.
I will say, I am intrigued that Konatsu is going to have a child. Given how her mother seemed to take it (it felt to me like an almost last-ditch effort at having that familial stability she was seeking) and that Konatsu herself also wanted a child (purely?) to further her father's bloodline (though it's hard to say right now whether she had sex with that goal in mind, or if it was just an accident), and that both Miyokichi and her daughter had/are having children in order to further very specific goals (as opposed to say, just having kids because you want them), well. It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. Thanks for the write ups Gabriella, and thanks for the great discussions, everyone else! Looking forward to season 2!
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RestLessone
 Posts: 1426 Location: New York |
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I really enjoyed reading your reviews Gabriella! Hope to see them return with season two~
This show was the star of (my) winter season. Not counting shows that began in fall or are long-running, this was the only one I really looked forward to after Erased steadily declined. It's nice to get a show that's a to-the-bone prestige piece. I love that Kiku is allowed to be a sympathetic main character while still a very, very faulted person. Kiku's treatment of Konatsu was painful. She's mourning the loss of her parents, has been suddenly foisted into the care of a man she doesn't *really* know, and is shipped off to Tokyo from her hometown. Konatsu didn't receive much parental support before, but it was better than Kiku's callousness. Imagine how'd she'd have turned out without Matsuda there. I've also been thinking about Yotaro's actions in that first episode. He's certainly like Sukeroku personality-wise. However, one of Sukeroku's major flaws was his poor relationship with the rakugo association and refusal to apologize. In his quest to modernize rakugo, he only pushed people away and made enemies. Yotaro has the energy and drive, but he's willing to work within society's constraints. A big show is made out of him apologizing to Yakumo. I'm excited to see where these characters wind up. Konatsu and Yakumo have a lot of healing to do, not only to repair their own relationship, but to become at peace with themselves. |
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Wingbeats
 Posts: 272 Location: Boise, Idaho |
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Thank you Gabriella for the truly excellent reviews, and also thank you everyone in the comment section for the additional phenomenal input!
I am but a biologist (ask me about birds, not media review), so many folks here are expressing my feelings much more adequately than I could manage in writing. I've been cheerfully lurking the comment section ever week, and it's been fun. Looking forward to the next season now <3 |
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Alexis.Anagram
 Posts: 278 Location: Mishopshno |
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Nice review! I was similarly blown away by this show and having read some of the brilliant commentary here in the forums I'm convinced I only managed to see about half of each episode's full worth, but that'll just make repeat viewings all the more worthwhile.
I think my favorite theme in the show, and one which came to the forefront of the finale, was the passage of time and how things do, indeed, change, whether we like it or not. This feels like pretty upfront social commentary for an anime, and I'll be interested to see where the second season takes these characters in light of that, particularly Konatsu and Kikuhiko (both as individuals and in their relationship). I can't say I'm thrilled at the idea of Yotaro and Konatsu becoming an item. In the first place, I'd like to see Konatsu's decision to raise her child in her own way, on her own terms, respected, and Yotaro becoming a surrogate father just seems like a convenient way to "fix" a "problem" right after the show made a point of arguing for a woman's right to manage her own life (like honestly does anime ever do this?). In the second place, I always yearn to see on screen friendships between straight men and women depicted without it devolving into romantic tension, which I find to be the most boring kind of tension. As Gabriella stated, this show always opts for the "subtler, more emotionally complex narrative choice" and I'd like to see that continue. I'd really like to learn more about Miyokichi as well. I'm entertaining the theory that a lot of the extended flashback we saw was Kikuhiko's subjective recall of events, which would justify some of the theatrics surrounding her character. I'd like to know how a less biased impression of her personality stands, if we're ever given one. Last edited by Alexis.Anagram on Sun Apr 03, 2016 10:43 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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