Synopsis

Rakugo is a traditional storytelling art that takes years of dedication to master—aspiring performers must climb through the ranks to reach shinuchi, the highest position. Akane Ousaki has been obsessed with it since childhood, when she'd peek through sliding doors to watch her father Tooru perform, mesmerized by every detail. Tooru's only obstacle to becoming shinuchi is passing a promotion test before an audience and senior master Issho Arakawa. But despite giving a passionate performance, he fails the exam and gets expelled from the school entirely. Rather than try again, he quits rakugo for good and takes a normal job—crushing Akane's dreams along with his own. Years later, Akane is driven by rage and grief. She wants revenge on Issho for not recognizing her father's talent, and she becomes determined to succeed where he failed. She seeks out Shiguma Arakawa, Tooru's former teacher, and begs him to take her as his apprentice. Shiguma is hesitant though—he still carries guilt over what happened to Tooru six years ago and doesn't feel right training another student. To test whether Akane has the spine for this world, he challenges her to perform in front of a real audience first.

Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.

Genres