Akane-banashi is a manga written and illustrated by Yuki Suenaga and Takamasa Moue. The manga was released recently on 14th February 2022. So of course, it’s an ongoing manga with only 3 chapters. The manga belongs to the Action, Slice of Life as well, as Shounen genre. It’s one of the rarest works as it’s a Shounen manga with a female lead.
Ever since the manga was released, it took the readers by surprise. As there are several mangas released every day, to stand out, it needs to be exceptional. This piece of work is nothing but filled with these. To write this article, I looked up the manga, and as I started reading, I couldn’t stop. This manga successfully brought an old Japanese tradition back to life, even I was Intrigued to look for Rokuga. In the following article, I’ll explain what Rokuga is along with the plot of Akane-banashi. There are plenty of spoilers, though, read cautiously.
Plot of Akane-banashi: What is Rakugo?
The main plot of the story revolves around Rakugo. It’s is 400-year-old Japanese traditional storytelling. Rakugo features a solo storyteller, dressed in a Kimono, kneeling on a cushion (which is a tradition in Japan). Throughout the storytelling, they can only use a Fan and a hand towel as props. Currently, there are over 700 professional storytellers practicing.
As of now, there are mainly two traditions of Rakugo. One is Rakugo from Tokyo, known as Edo Rakugo, the other is rakugo from Osaka is known as Kamigata Rakugo. If a person wishes to become a rakugoka, he/she has to become an apprentice to a master who is a professional Rakugoka. From their master, they will receive a stage name and can call themselves a Rakugoka.
Akane-banashi’s plot is one of a kind, and it’s captivating, since there are only 3 chapters so far, I decided to describe it properly in this article.
Chapter 1: On that day
Shinta Arakawa is a skilled Rakugoka. He often performs alone in his room, and whenever he does, his daughter Akane takes a peek. Akane is fascinated by the art of expression of her father and aspires to be just like him someday. A normal person seeing Shinta in a room all alone would see a single person, but for Akane, all the people that her father was mimicking were present in the room. However, Being a Rakugaka isn’t an easy job, Shinta had faced only a little success in this field plus his pay was barely enough to buy peanuts. Luckily enough, his Wife, Masaki, always supported him to follow his dream and let her take care of the Money.
Watching her father as a Rakugoka every day, Akane got inspired to do the same. As she secretly watched him mimic the characters and bring them to life, she started to mimic the same characters herself. She’s so proud and excited about Her father that she wishes to pursue the same field in her life. Now Rakugoka has three ranks. First is Zenza the opener, Second is Futatsume, and the most respected is Shin’uchi, the headliner. Being a Shin’uchi would mean more money and more respect in society. To grow up to that rank, Shinta needs to pass a test of Shin’uchi.
On the day of the test, he gets a little nervous as this test will define his future. As soon as he stepped on the stage, he felt everyone’s eyes piercing a hole inside him. His nervousness went out of the charts. Right, when he was messing things up, he heard Akane sneeze. And he remembered how his failure would affect everything Akane believes in. To the thought of Akane being disappointed, he mustered up his courage and started his presentation. He gave his best, and the audience loved his performance. His storytelling brought all of the characters he played to live.
Now’s the time to know the result! The chief judge of this test was Issho Arakawa, known as the best Rakugoka of his generation. He stepped on the stage, and his words had everyone baffled. Instead of announcing a winner, he expelled every single Rakugoka who performed in the event, including Shinta. He considered every contestant to be disqualified for the job. So they were all expelled from their Rakugoka Arakawa Schools. This crushed Shinta’s heart as well as his will to follow his dreams. But now. Akane will step up and Fulfill his dream for him!
Chapter 2: Six years
Move to a time skip of 6 years. Guriko Arakawa is spying on his Rakugoka master Shiguma. In recent days it has been rumored that Master Shiguma has an affair with a young girl. To satisfy his curiosity, Guriko followed him, and to his surprise, he saw him meet up with a young girl. And the girl was none other than Akane. After the incident 6 years ago, Akane requested master Shiguma to make her his student and teach her professional Rakugoka.
Shiguma was also the master of Shinto. Turns out that After being expelled from the Arakawa School, Shinto joined a company that sells concrete. In comparison to the Rakugoka profession, now he earns more money, but this all came at the expense of his dreams. While everyone else was happy that he found a new job, Akane was the only one who felt sad. Because their happiness proved Shinto’s skills as a Rakugoka worthless. Now Akane’s dream is to become the most successful Shin’uchi of the Arakawa School. To prove all the people wrong, especially Issho.
The man is responsible for arrogantly dismissing her father along with other contestants. Even After training her for 6 years, she never once performed for other people as she still doesn’t hold a rank. Master Shiguma had several apprentices, but most of the young ones would give up after graduating high school. But seeing her skills and her excitement, Master Shiguma finally allowed her to perform in front of an audience. How will this go down?
Chapter 3: First performance
Her first performance was arranged at Rakugo cafe run by Ms. Yoshino. This is also a place where Shinto performed. Due to the delay of the original Rakugoka, she had to replace him with someone new. She requested Shiguma to send someone, and he decided to send Akane. As she entered the Cafe, Ms. Yoshino was shocked. She looked like a young girl who couldn’t possibly have much experience being a Rakugoka. However, later on, she agreed to her performing on the stage.
This is the first time she’ll perform in front of so many people, so obviously, she was way too nervous. As soon as she stepped on the stage, she saw everyone staring. However, as soon as she remembered all the things she has been through to prove her father’s skill to be worthy, she began her performance. Rakugoka isn’t an easy art to master, but as she started to get into the characters, it was clear that she was gifted to be a Rakugoka. Her every move was distinct and represented a different person. Ms. Yoshino, shocked at the sight of her performance, suddenly realized that she was mimicking Shinto. Akane was so captivating that within a few minutes, the audience was down laughing.
Akane-banashi Chapter 4 Release date
The first chapter was released on 13th February, followed by the second one on 20th February. Finally, The last update, chapter 3, was released on 27th February 2022. The 4th chapter hasn’t been released yet. If they follow their pattern, Akane-banashi Chapter 4 will be most certainly out by 6th March.
Akane-banashi Chapter 4 Expectations
Even though it’s not out yet. I’m prepared to see some exciting news in the new chapter. After her first performance, she took a breath away from the audience who were judging her at first. Now that she has nailed it in her first performance, Will Akane finally become an official apprentice of Shiguma and a member of Arakawa school? What’s gonna be Shinta’s reaction after finding out what she’s been up to for the past six years? And most importantly, will he support her to follow this profession? As he failed to do so himself, certainly, he wouldn’t want his daughter to meet the same destiny as he did. We’ll get to know you soon!
Where Can I read Akane-banashi?
So far, the manga has 3 chapters, all of them are available on the following link in English. Best of all, it’s free for now. So hurry up and read it on Shueisha’s Mangaplus, Akane-Banashi.
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