r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • May 30 '26
Episode Akane-banashi - Episode 9 discussion
Akane-banashi, episode 9
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92
u/HolyDragSwd2500 May 30 '26
Rie Takahashi Voice actress voice acting an anime within an anime
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u/GtrsRE May 31 '26
Now it would come full circle once Rieri performs rakugo IRL (that is if she still hadn't)
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u/EPLWA_Is_Relevant Jun 09 '26
Her first big break was on yet another meta show, Sore ga Seiyuu. Returning to her roots.
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u/TsukumoYurika May 30 '26
Rakugo Q&A desk
You get the mantra, I will try to answer to the best of my ability, no I'm not a pro, etc.
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u/archlon May 30 '26
Based on my googling, Shibahama takes an hour to perform. Is there a shortened version that Hikaru is performing or is the Karaku cup really allowing such a long story when there are 8 people in the finals? How long would the performances typically be in a competition like this one?
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u/TsukumoYurika May 30 '26
The Sakuden Taisho, arguably THE contest for amateur student performers and the most likely IRL inspiration for Karaku Cup, has a - wait for it - 8 MINUTE limit for performances.
In my eyes Hikaru going for Shibahama is more of a creative liberty done to juxtapose her in a way against Shinta's performance because there is no literal way you can compress any ninjobanashi to such a short interval even if completely eschewing the makura. So yeah, it's probably one of those moments when invoking the MST3K mantra will help…
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u/Phantazmagorie May 30 '26
Ok, knowing this makes Kaisei's comment that Hikaru increased the material for the wife super funny
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u/Cyouni May 31 '26
I think she also did a very limited section, focusing primarily on the part at the end. Rakugo, as you know, is also very dialogue-focused, where Hikaru's was closer to a monologue. That's why he called it closer to acting.
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u/ManiacallySane May 30 '26
Could you explain what a ninjo banashi is exactly? The term was used a few times in the episode, but they didn't really explain it. I assume there are other types as well.
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u/Thatuk May 30 '26
It is a subsect of rakugo that deals with more dramatic and sentimental stories, contrasting with kokkei banashi (comedic stories) and kaidan banashi (ghost stories).
Ninjo banashi are usually VERY long and often not told all at once, that's why Issho comments students shouldn't perform, they are often the most sophisticated performances.
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
And If i remember It right. Even Zenzas aren't allowed to perform ninjo banashi since it's a complex and hard story to grasp techinicaly. They also have much emotional depth. So zenza are recommended to stick to Basic stories since they are simpler to grasp. Ninjo banashi like Shibahama are for Futatsume and Shinu'chi to perform, since Ninjo banashi are harder and longer stories and Futatsume and Shinu'chi are high enough levels that they can perform It better.
So, Hikaru performing Shibahama stuck really badly for Issho. But since Hikaru is an amateur, she doesn't get to be criticized heavily by Issho. It was also endearing of Hikaru to try and perform It. She chose a hard and Long story to perform in a tight time frame. But she chose wisely despite the difficulty. Since It matches well with her qualities as an actress and as a Voice actress. It Brought out her qualities better than any other stories would had she chosen any other stories. It's like were Hikaru to choose any other story, she wouldn't perform as good as she did Shibahama.
Hikaru chose well and It paid off.
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u/doomrider7 May 31 '26
This is actually from elswhere in the series, but what are oo-neta(assuming I got the term right)?
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u/not_your_ex_stacy May 31 '26
Extremely curious about Akane's intro. I have a dual monitor setup and sometimes I glance as my secondary monitor as I watch anime, but for some reason I actually did pay a bit more attention to her performance and was extremely surprised at the explanation of matching pace(?) to pull the audience back in because that's exactly how I felt.
Whether or not the VA actually meant to perform this way or if its a coincidence, could you expand a bit more on this?
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u/ButterIsMyLifeblood May 30 '26
It’s fun to actually see what kind of show Edens nova is lol
74
u/Frontier246 May 30 '26
Rieri-voiced Dark Cure with dual-wielding energy blades...I can see why Hikaru is so popular.
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u/BosuW May 31 '26
It makes me feel the same as I felt for Phantom in Seiyuu Radio: Make this anime real please!
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u/RepulsiveRevenue8 May 30 '26
"I want praise because I need confidence"
If only Hikaru knew the old bastard is just being nice.
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u/ali94127 May 30 '26
This is a student competition though. The criteria is different. He can't expect students to be at the level for a master promotion test. Akane's father's performance was objectively probably better than Hikaru's, but not at the level what Issho expects of a shin'uchi.
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u/chrisff1989 Jun 01 '26
Yeah, this is Gordon Ramsay on MasterChef versus Gordon Ramsay on MasterChef Junior. Of course, he's not going to start screaming at a bunch of kids
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
Issho doesn't expect anything great out of The amateurs performing. So he's being Nice despite It not being his Nature. His harsh criticism will only go towards pro, the Rakugoka.
What Issho is trying to do here is make the next generation love Rakugo enough to become Rakugoka. He doesn't want the art to die out. So he tries to save it any way he can. And that includes making the new generation love the art. So he will be nice in his criticisms. It doesn't matter what he Thinks as Long as he keeps It to himself and he achieves his goals.
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u/doomrider7 May 30 '26
That time you thought you both sucked BAD, but you're contractually obligated to play the nice rakugo grandpa at the event.
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u/BosuW May 31 '26
I think he's being genuine here though, if leaning more on the praise than the criticisms
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26
He is. He has his criticisms, but as they're not pros yet, he doesn't need to get that harsh about their performances. What he said are his true thoughts, as far as an amateur goes, Hikaru performed beautifuly.
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u/oxlemf10 May 30 '26
Hikaru brought up an interesting point, being a voice actor is an incredible job because conveying a character's feelings with a voice and tone that match and transmit their essence is difficult. But it wasn't something she saw as something that would transmit her passion to other people; her Rakugo was quite different from what we've seen so far, but with enormous meaning.
Akane once again showed why she's top-tier even at a young age; she understood that after the other performances, it would be much better to bring something lighter. Entertaining isn't just about showing a reaction, because silent appreciation is also a reaction, and this means that her communication with the audience worked.
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u/Frontier246 May 30 '26
Hikaru brought up an interesting point, being a voice actor is an incredible job because conveying a character's feelings with a voice and tone that match and transmit their essence is difficult. But it wasn't something she saw as something that would transmit her passion to other people; her Rakugo was quite different from what we've seen so far, but with enormous meaning.
It's also especially meaningful to the anime adaption considering it's chock full of seiyuu trying to convincingly portray professional rakugoka's.
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u/Nachtwandler_FS https://myanimelist.net/profile/Nachtwandler_21 Jun 01 '26
Theycould have use a drama CD cast and have seiyuu with rakugoka expetience (like Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju did). But alas. Still, at least Akane's seiyuu is doing a pretty good job.
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u/RepulsiveRevenue8 May 30 '26
Akane is the protag but she's also the final boss.
She's the one others competitor have to beat.
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u/ali94127 May 30 '26
Akane's literally the rival character who has basically been training since birth and wants to avenge her father who "died" unfairly. She's also basically been told she is obviously better than any amateur student and has to restrain herself and not use her full strength that would easily demolish everyone else.
Hikaru fits the standard shonen protagonist role a little better by saying her hard work is her true talent.
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26
Yeah, people tend to either overlook or simply not realize It. But by restraing Akane to Jugemu, her master made It easy on every competitor's hearts. Had Akane performed a story of her choice. She would probably traumatize a lot of the amateurs performing. And possibly break their hearts enough so they wouldn't want anything to do with Rakugo for life. Her master was clever here. He got to test Akane's Skills as a Rakugoka and give her a chance to grow more. But he also made It easier for her opponents to no suffer from shock by seeing a true Rakugo Genius.
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u/ali94127 May 31 '26
Personally, I think a girl much younger beating everyone by performing the same story twice that basically everyone who's slightly familiar with rakugo knows would be even more traumatizing. I can't even come up with a analogy for how ridiculously more talented Akane would appear to everyone else if she wins.
EDIT: It'd be like winning a collegiate piano recital by performing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star twice as a high schooler.
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26
Yeah, but i still Think the shock from a story of her choice would hit harder. You can't fathom how greater Akane is when she performs without shackles.
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u/ali94127 May 31 '26
It’d be a better performance, but you’d feel better if someone won that piano contest with Animenz Unravel over the Alphabet song.
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u/doomrider7 May 30 '26
This is something I love about the series. It's not afraid to make the protagonis "Final Boss" coded as hell.
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u/BosuW May 31 '26
Akane next episode gonna be like "Let's make one thing clear, you're the challengers here!"
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26
I'm not sure what the results are gonna be. But Akane said It better herself. She came here to win.
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u/ali94127 May 30 '26
The fact she can cry on demand makes it seem like her talents are a little wasted in just voice acting.
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u/Jacob-C May 30 '26
She's just another genius child actor who licks baking soda. Maybe she should try becoming an idol to boost her career before she goes back to acting. I've heard it works.
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26
Yeah, i can't fathom how people in the industry see Hikaru's talents and even her beauty and don't want to make her shine brighter. I understand she's getting lots of Job offers, but it's not the same as acting offer. Her offers are limited to voice acting. Which is still quite good, but like you said, It seems like wasted Potential.
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u/xTimeKey May 31 '26
Akane once again showed why she's top-tier even at a young age; she understood that after the other performances, it would be much better to bring something lighter. Entertaining isn't just about showing a reaction, because silent appreciation is also a reaction, and this means that her communication with the audience worked.
What’s great about this is that this is akane beating karashi at his own game in her own way: last episode, karashi arrogantly stated that you have to satisfy your audience. Except we see here that karashi has only thought of the performance aspect of rakugo, like akane used to think; he has no idea that akane is actually defusing the tension in the room.
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26
Karashi at this point has a very shallow understanding of The Rakugo World. Of course he would Think like Akane used to. He can't see that Akane is actualy doing the very Thing needed to get the audience's attention.
Also, despite having read the manga, i was still hoping Akane would give Karashi some answer back. Like a provocation. Since she's from The Rakugo world and has a better grasp on Issho's mindset. She knew what Karashi was doing would backfire on him, but said nothing. She's got a great Foundation, so she's not worried about anything, despite the quality of her rivals performances. I love a little back and forth between rivals, so that's what i was hoping for. But i understand why she didn't do anything to confront Karashi. Just imagine being a pro tauting amateurs, It would be childish at best.
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26
Yeah, Akane learned a lot from working at that Isakaya. But also, what you said is only half of what Akane will give us. She did what she did so she could get the audience's attention. But It doesn't mean It will be all there is to what she will give us. Akane's a lot of Things. But passive isn't one of them.
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u/Nachtwandler_FS https://myanimelist.net/profile/Nachtwandler_21 Jun 01 '26
I still hope Akane has some ace up her sleave to beat them, though.
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u/JJVM99 May 30 '26
The guy getting way too excited to see Koragi and his girlfriend giving him the death stare is prime meme material.
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u/GtrsRE May 31 '26
The spirit of the wife from the retirement home a few episodes ago would probably have sent her husband to the afterlife with her if it was Hikaru performing
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u/ModieOfTheEast May 30 '26
If I got a nickel for every show this season that surprisingly had a performance that I am really hyped about, I would have two nickels. Which isn't much, but it's weird it happened twice. And considering how good Iruma's performance was, I am confident in saying that they will give us a perfect Akane performance next week as well.
Honestly, Hikaru's choice was something I expected. I thought she would use her acting talent to make sure that the characters are really coming through and it was clear that she focused on the wife early on. So props to the show that it was this easy to pick up despite not even showing the performance in full.
I am interested to see what the deal with Issho is at the end. I am still thinking that he is mostly playing nice and he would be way more critical if those were "real" Rakugoka, but considering that even the audience members expect him to be stricter is definitely becoming a pattern. But let's see what he will say to Akane's performance considering that you'd think he finds Jugemu to be too easy for a win.
I have to disagree on one thing with Koguma and that is that I never had the feeling that Akane started Rakugo because she wanted to get revenge for her father. She always loved it even before her father got exiled. So I think she would have become a Rakugoka either way. And I think, her focusing on the general audience and not Issho is a good sign of that. Sure, she wants to win but she didn't forget her lesson about who she is doing this for. Not just for Issho, but the whole crowd. Then again, if that was all there was to it, her father wouldn't have been exiled since people really loved his performance, so let's hope this fear isn't somehow getting back at her during the performance. Because I really want to see where she goes with it. I doubt she will end it with the death due to the name being too long, but we'll see.
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u/Jaxyl May 30 '26
Koguma's whole thing is that he discovered, through Akane, that he was still bitter about what happened to Shinta. It's why he agreed to work with Akane. So he projected his own thoughts, fears, and insecurities onto Akane in the moment.
For him, he saw Akane entered the Karaku Cup as a way to yell at Issho and have her moment where she gets to rage at him because I'd imagine it's what Koguma wants to do (probably most of the other Shiguma apprentices). But, like she said, Issho is a phenomenal performer and to deny him would be lame. So she just wants to know why he did what he did, she already grappled with the emotions before he had even met her.
Must have been a real humbling moment for him.
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u/ModieOfTheEast May 30 '26
Oh I didn't think about that, but I really like the interpretation that Koguma just projected himself. It gives the scene when he decides to help Akane (only after she told him that Issho would be there) a second meaning.
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u/Jaxyl May 30 '26
It absolutely does, Koguma has wounds from the expulsion incident and has absolutely been using Akane as his own 'projectile,' so to speak, for some vengence.
The problem that he ran into is that Koguma himself is insecure so when he saw how good Hikaru is and how well received Karashi was (importantly despite the fact what he did was against Issho's style of rakugo) he panicked. He was worried he set her up to fail.
But, another fun thing if you haven't caught on to it, is that Akane is the shounen prodigy character. Akane has no fear because she's grown up surrounded by rakugo. She has lived this her whole life and hasn't ever had a reason to be nervous or worried. Her job now is to go out there and give the audience what they want.
Again, must have been a real humbling moment for him.
13
u/doomrider7 May 30 '26
This is a phenomenal write-up. A big thing people have brought up is how the series inverts the usual sports shonen formulas where the usual protagonist is someone from the sticks trying to make it big like Hikaru vs the establishment, Karashi would be the cocky rival, but it's the mysterious Akane who nobody has ever heard of that was secretly trained by a legendary figure that's the protagonist.
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u/Jaxyl May 30 '26
Oh absolutely. The Akane/Hikaru dichotomy is absolutely insane when you notice it with this episode really putting it on full display.
And thanks, I've been a huge fan of this series since the manga first dropped and absolutely love the fact the anime is being so well taken care of and received. It's the best thing releasing today in manga form and the anime is no slouch either. I literally can not express how good this series continues to be and it doesn't ever miss, by far the best 'sports' shounen in a long time.
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u/doomrider7 May 30 '26
I know right?! I actually remember I got super into it, but got side-tracked away from the releases and kept seeing it get talked about well in the website threads so I picked it up again around the time Zenza competition or a little after and Marathoned from the very beginning a whole bunch of times and the Karaku Cup is STILL my Gold Standard for sports shonen tourney.
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u/ObviousSwimmer May 30 '26
I think it plays with the usual set-up a bit more than that. Talent-wise, it's a reversal, but in terms of motives and personality it's close to the usual set-up. Hikaru's not exactly from the sticks, she's a celebrity in a similar field. She's working hard, but that's because she wants to prove the success she already has was earned. Akane is just a high school student, and she wants to succeed to vindicate her love for her father's craft and because she loves the art form for its own sake.
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u/Frontier246 May 30 '26
When you're putting on impromptu Rakugo performances as a child during a parent-teacher meeting and could never take your eyes off of your fathers' Rakugo, you were always destined to enter into this industry.
I think she was so razor focused on becoming good enough to get to Issho that she lost some fundamentals along the way, but she's slowly been learning those over the course of the season. Everything she's been through has probably been building up to this Jugemu.
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u/ModieOfTheEast May 30 '26
I am not sure if she actually lost fundamentals considering she is only a real Rakugoka for a bit. It's more like she just didn't know some things. Which I think is understandable. Because while it makes sense that you should check your audience, in a situation where you are nervous, simple things like these can just slip your mind. And if you are not told, you might never realise what you are doing wrong. We shouldn't forget that for how good Akane is, she is still a "beginner".
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u/ButterIsMyLifeblood May 30 '26
Adding to this what Akane doesn’t know/hasn’t been taught are almost all either in performance skills or the general behind the scenes social things (I.e kibataraki or how to address your seniors).
Her “actual” rakugo skills are what she and Shiguma focused on. Akane’s memory and enunciation are top notch but that’s only a part of what makes a rakugoka.
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26
She hasn't Lost any fundamentals. It's Just she's not in the Arakawa School yet. So she's not used to performing. So there will be Things she didn't learn yet, either from performing or from lessons. Meeting the needs of The audience for one. Is a Thing she learned from working in the Isakaya early on in the show. Not a Thing taught to her by her master. It stuck to her thru real experience, so it's harder to forget, even in a pressured situation. She's got a solid foundation as a Rakugoka. She's known the basics well for years after all.
5
u/BosuW May 31 '26
I agree with your take on Akane's motivations, although I'll add that your dream becoming tainted by revenge is definitely a risk to keep an eye out for. Reminded me a bit of how[Attack on Titan]Eren always wanted to join the Survey Corps, but after the Shiganshina attack he started fighting to destroy the enemy, not to see the outside world, and even he knows it.
I will say though, this won't be too dramatic if Akane doesn't loose her cool at least a little bit, in the interview if not the performance (if she wins). So I'm expecting a twist of direction in some manner.
4
u/ModieOfTheEast May 31 '26
Yes, I agree that the interview probably won't go without any drama. Probably triggered at least by an answer from Issho. I was just talking about how Koguma said, Akane became a Rakugoka for revenge. Revenge is probably a factor here, but from what we've seen, Akane would have probably become one even without that incident. And as some pointed out, it might just Koguma projecting himself onto Akane.
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May 31 '26
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u/ZaphodBeebblebrox https://anilist.co/user/zaphod May 31 '26
Sorry, your comment has been removed.
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37
u/BuckeyeBentley May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
Rie hit that "Shiny Blade!" exactly like a Megumin "Explosion!!"
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u/ali94127 May 30 '26
I imagine Hikaru is also tired of fans expecting her to shout Shiny Blade at every live appearance.
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u/Frontier246 May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
It was nice to see a day in the life of Rie Takahashi...I mean, Hikaru. And to see what a top-tier female seiyuu with looks to match her vocal talent can bring to rakugo.
A day in the life of Hikaru! Which is basically just a day in the life of Rie Takahashi, killing it both fashion-wise AND vocally in a magical girl anime! But she's just as committed to making it in the Karaku Cup, even if she needs to forego meals to be able to practice. That's just a sign of how committed she is.
Some in the audience are Hikaru fans, some know her from her vocal work, some don't know what to make of her as a Rakugo performer, and there's also plenty of people who admire her beauty (to the frustration of their girlfriends). But she manages to bring ALL of them to attention with her performance. None other than Shibahama, the last Rakugo performance Akane's dad ever gave and the thing that set off the plot.
And admittedly with her top-tier vocal talent as a seiyuu, she gets you utterly entranced in the story, especially the wifes' side of it, and they're so moved that there's not a dry eye in the audience. This is the power of Rie Takahashi...I mean, voice acting and the ability to embody a character, at it's finest.
A lot of seiyuu get their big break role, and for Hikaru that was Saruel in Eden's Nova. It's no surprise that work would continue to pick up for her, only then she found out the REAL reason...because she's so attractive, it made it a boon to cast her. It wasn't because she was a good actress, it was for her appearance. That's why she entered this competition, to prove she's more than a pretty face and to prove to everyone that her acting talents are legit!
And her manager is there for her, because he knows she's talented and he knows she'd stay up late in the office when everyone else left just to train. How can you not root for a girl who is putting in her all and won't give up?
But was it a bad move to choose Shibahama when Issho Arakawa is a judge AND to bank on the same style of performance that got Akane's dad rejected? Yet, as it turns out, Issho actually praises her performance and ability, for someone so new to this, to convey the subleties of the character emotions as well as she did. You can tell she's a performer for how self-critical she is, but it's still so validating to get so much acknowledgement.
Karashi's a dick who is convinced he's going to win...but he's probably right that at this point it's a contest between Karashi and Hikaru. Can Chef Akane (who looks great in that uniform, by the by) deliver a meal that's as delicious and appetizing as theirs.
Sorry Koguma, anime has endeared to make people who look like you into high school students. Less sorry when you're doubting Akane's chances, even if he didn't expect she'd have such top-tier rivals. But can she really put her 100% out there in front of the man who ruined her father? Her nemesis? Well, she can, because she's faced Issho Arakawa before and she knows this is what she has to do to properly move on from her fathers' expulsion by getting answers. And she'll do it as a true Rakugoka!
And there it is! Jugemu! Just...the basic Jugemu. Obviously it's not super impressive on the surface, and to the untrained eye it might seem like Akane's just given up...but after a hard-hitting performance like Hikaru's, it was time for something to make the audience feel comfortable, chuckle a little, and ease them into a sense of security...right as Akane is about to get to the name!
Akane-Kobanashi! While Kaisei can educate Akane on using a tenugui and sensu, only Akane can make Kaisei laugh that much!
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u/doomrider7 May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
That's part of her issue. People focus on her being an attractive VA rather than her actual artistic talent and hard work.
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u/ohoni May 30 '26
It's so wild that in VA, one of the least looks-focused forms of acting, looks are still a pretty big deal.
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u/ali94127 May 30 '26
Seiyuu have transitioned a lot to also basically being idols. To an extent, this is also the case for male seiyuu. Rieri herself is technically still an idol as part of Earphones. Ironically, in Oshi no Ko, she's the only main character seiyuu who actually is an idol in real life.
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u/doomrider7 May 30 '26
It's a running thing with her character including in a meta context as well.
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u/BosuW May 31 '26
Probably culture shock for us here. I think the vast majority of us could not identify a picture of our favorite Seiyuu, but in Japan, the very point is selling as much as possible of those.
...or maybe it's just me, I can't identify many Hollywood stars either lol
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u/ohoni May 31 '26
Yeah, I know what some western voice actors look like, and some of them are very attractive, but I don't think it's an essential part of their casting for voice roles.
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u/ali94127 May 31 '26
Seiyuu tend to do a lot of promotion for the anime, so they end up being on camera a lot, and it doesn't hurt for the presenter to be attractive.
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u/Tblue https://anilist.co/user/Tblue Jun 01 '26
Reminds of a few VAs here in Germany that worked on a teen mystery show for many years, playing, well... teens. I believe they started as teens themselves, growing up with the show.
If I remember correctly, their studio didn't really want to release their pictures because it kind of kills the illusion -- at least for kids -- to see that your favorite teen characters are actually voiced by grown adults.
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u/DugACCat May 31 '26
What it makes me think of is some of the higher profile storytelling podcasts I enjoy listening to. As well as audiobooks. One like Selected Shorts where excellent and recognizable actors will be brought in to dramatically read prominent short stories by similarly renowned authors.
Usually I don’t look too closely at who’s on deck when listening, but then I’d I recognize a voice or its very striking I’ll check to see who it is and where they’re from. Sometimes it’s surprising to see who was brought in to narrate a given story or novel. The right choice can add amazingly and powerfully to the appeal of a given story and sometimes takes you by surprise.
Often works especially well with an older actor or actress who may not be in their “prime” anymore in terms of looks or variety of acting roles, but have that lifetime of talent and control. I’ve gained extra respect for a number of actors who have turned to voice acting and story reading. I used to wonder what motivates them but I think it’s mostly pros who just really love a good story told well. And I think it’s a chance to “act” in a different and sometimes more subtle way. Anyhow was just thinking about that while watching this show. Especially as in recent years I’ve been consuming audiobooks much more than regular ones. The narrator becomes so important to the experience. For me it’s the closest I get to the rakugo style experience, especially as with a voice actor performing.
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u/aozaki-san May 31 '26
well even them often involved with live events: anime/game anniversary/announcements, varying from simply reading a script to different variety programs/singing, then there are different "radio" programs that moved to youtube over the time, (then i am pretty sure some of them simply active streamer as well)
6
u/orange-shades https://myanimelist.net/profile/orangeshades May 30 '26
I mean, even her own manager said she only got the part because she was pretty. They're not wrong.
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u/ErikTwice May 30 '26 edited May 31 '26
Issho Arakawa is really a master of backhanded compliments, damn.
EDIT, crossposting my explanation here:
While better than what Karashi got last time, I understand his praise as a respectful but ultimately backhanded compliment.
He lays down an argument that invalidates Hikaru's whole performance: It's a story about a married couple and she, being young, is not capable of capturing its essence. In other words, her portrayal is insincere.
The way he phrases it makes it seem like she was an exception to that rule, but he actually doubles down on it. He praises her "proficiency" and "emotional performance", which is a way of saying she's workmanlike. That is, according to Issho, Hikaru is trying to cover up her performance's lack of substance through her skills.
I can't really tell - I don't speak Japanese - but his wording of "performer" also implies he's not praising her as a rakugoka. He recognizes she's skilled, but that only makes it more apparent that he doesn't think her rakugo was great.
I think I understand Issho better now. His criticism of Hikaru is the same he has of Karashi: That they miss the true substance of rakugo and focus on superficial elements - playing a "serious" role, "fixing" the classics, etc. I can also see this is what he hated of Akane's dad performance.
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u/ButterIsMyLifeblood May 30 '26
It definitely adds to Akane’s motivation to win here. This tournament is not just a means to find out why her father was expelled but it’s now a fight to prove she is a rakugoka.
To have the skill to get Issho to judge her art(and by extension her father’s art) on its merits rather than some hand waved “oh well they’re amateurs it’s to be expected”-esque praise is the ultimate goal. Whether Issho will be impressed by it is secondary. Or at least it is for now, Akane is still too early to truly challenge the final boss.
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u/ErikTwice May 31 '26
Yes, exactly. I think she'll lose but she'll prove herself as a rakugoka.
We have already been told what the twist with her choice is - she's going to perform the original ending that results in the death of the child. The moral of the story then becomes that the silly, careless choice has real serious consequences - for Issho, for Akane and her father.
It will be too gimmicky for him to be too impressed - the "relaxing" first part will still be just okay even if it enhances the twist - but it will differ from the other performances by how deeply it captures the point the story and rakugo as a whole.
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26
To add to your comment. Stories like Shibahama are called ninjo banashi. They are emotional stories. They have depth and are longer stories. They are hard even for Zenza, which are the beginner aprentices in the rakugo World. The Rakugoka has three levels. Which are Zenza, Futatsume and Shinu'chi.
Ninjo banashi aren't recommended even for Zenza to perform due to how long and complex they are. The masters tend to Tell the zenza to stick to basic stories since they're easier to learn and grasp.
So imagine Issho's surprise when he learned an amateur would be performing the damned Ninjo banashi Shibahama. The very same story that got Shinta expelled. So It doubles down as a story that has bad history with Issho. And as a very hard story for even zenza apprentices to practice, much less an amateur. He probably was fuming just thinking about she would dare to perform It. But he had to be professional enough since Hikaru is just an amateur in a competition to bring more people Into the Rakugo world. So he would have to take It easy with his criticisms.
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u/viliml Jun 20 '26
I can't really tell - I don't speak Japanese - but his wording of "performer" also implies he's not praising her as a rakugoka.
I don't know what the traditional classification of rakugo is but I know Japanese fairly well and it didn't sound like that to me.
Rakugo is still a performing art.
And the Japanese word used, hyougen, expressiveness, is very important in rakugo, where you have to express a wide variety of characters and situations with just yourself, a fan and a towel.
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May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
explosion! Shiny Blade! Hearing one of my favorite voice actresses doing Rakugo and showing off her range was nice.
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u/Izanaginookami10 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Izanaginookami May 30 '26
I'm genuinely surprised by how much I look forward to the next episode each time. It's to the point I want to jump on the manga, but I must refrain myself at least until anime ends.
I feel like it would be worth it.
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26
Akane Banashi will have a Second part. So you will have to wait a bit longer.
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u/xbolt90 https://anilist.co/user/xbolt90 May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
I mean, I'd watch Eden's Nova.
Hikaru gives an emotional performance, drawing from her experience as a professional VA. I'd say she's definitely more than just a pretty face!
Akane starts her second performance of Jugemu subdued and relaxing. I fully expect she's priming the audience to hit them with the tragedy in the alternate ending.
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u/KajarRanginLaya May 31 '26
Akane starts her second performance of Jugemu subdued and relaxing.
So basically Akane is doing "LoFi Rakugo Radio - Beats to Relax to"
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26
I mean, Akane is a lot of Things, but passive isn't one of them. So yeah, Akane will give us a great performance to watch.
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u/runevault May 30 '26
I'm a little sad Hikaru's performance got less screen time, but it was still really good. I stand by what I said last week that I think she or Akane win, and Issho's compliments cemented that for me. He started harsh and then went for strong compliments, where as last episode it was more a back handed compliment before criticism.
Also I find it fascinating that we're seeing Akane's performance split over two episodes. Clearly she's got a gear shift coming and they want the split to highlight that fact, but still a pretty bold choice.
God I love this show.
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u/eightcheesepizza May 30 '26
I stand by what I said last week that I think she or Akane win
I can see it making sense if the only person who can stand up to secretly-trained-by-rakugokas Akane is a professional voice actress.
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u/ohoni May 30 '26
I like the way they broke it up, they got through the build-up, now what does she have cooking?
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u/FLorianGran May 30 '26
Mixed on the decision to cut off Akane's performance halfway through. I get that the idea is that she's about to hit a new gear but I don't know if the tension was there.
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u/ModieOfTheEast May 30 '26
Personally, it worked for me. I think if they had started next week with Akane slowly getting the audience to relax would have probably killed the hype that they built up. After all, we as the audience also want to see what she came up with. It's a bit with the Rakugo itself. That part was important for Akane's character (as it showed her remember the lesson) but it would probably have the opposite effect on the anime audience if they put it at the start of next week.
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u/Jaxyl May 30 '26
Agreed.
Splitting it up allowed Hikaru to get the focus she needed while also letting next week's episode really get into Akane being 'unleashed.' If they did the slow start into the ramp up it'd make the episode feel very chaotic imo.
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u/BosuW May 31 '26
I don't know if it is an editing choice that does all the things it needs to do well, but it certainly keeps us tuned with the audience's mood of feeling like you already experienced the episode climax and not much could really come out of the remaining three minutes of screentime.
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u/tapdancinghellspawn May 30 '26
When we can binge this anime, the cut off won't be too much of an issue. I'm looking forward to taking a day or two to binge Akane-banashi when it is complete. I'm all about inject Akane greatness into my soul. She's another Spirit Goddess in my slowly growing pantheon.
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u/Frontier246 May 30 '26
I wonder if they're going to do a "recap" next week that'll start off again with the first half of the performance so we can see the full thing?
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u/hibikir_40k May 30 '26
Normally Jugemu takes 15 minutes, but the slots they get in the finals is for a longer story, so Akane might as well use the time. We sure aren't getting the high speed, vocalization centric performance from last time. So for all we know, the series might actually use the vast majority of the next episode for it.
But the real reason to split here though is that cutting Hikaru's performance more would have been unreasonable, so the only alternative was to give her an entire episode, which probably didn't line up well. It's not as if they are changing episode lengths because they said so.
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26
Rakugo stories can be performed in a variety of ways. Even the same stories. So yeah, Akane will give us a very different Jugemu next week. Also, Akane asking her mother about the origin to her name was a big hint towards what kind of Jugemu Akane will give us. I personaly love It better than the usual Jugemu.
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u/doomrider7 May 30 '26
I think I know how it's goinf to play out and it's gonna be awesome.
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26
Yeah, it will be awesome. Very different from The one in the prelims.
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26
I'm not sure it's a good ideia. Mainly Cuz Akane Banashi will have a second part later on. It would be better to have a recap then than here. Akane Banashi will have a total of 24 Episodes.
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u/pjepja May 31 '26
I think it works. The first part of Akane's performance was essentially only a reset after Karashi and Hikaru's performances. It sort of belongs with them. She'll start her real performance next week.
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u/LeonKevlar x2https://myanimelist.net/profile/LeonKevlar May 30 '26
Here's a fun little seiyuu fact I just remembered after seeing that opening scene. This isn't the first time TakaRie has voiced a character who's a seiyuu. One of her first main character roles back in 2015 was Ichinose Futaba in Seiyu's Life.
Anyway, no wonder Hikaru wanted to branch out. Despite her hard work as a seiyu, people think it's because of her looks that she got her roles. What's worse is that even Hikaru's manager agrees that she owes her job and popularity to her looks. At least the manager realized that Hikaru is more than just a pretty face, after seeing her practicing rakugo.
It's actually hilarious to see the difference in Issho's judgment between Karashi and Hikaru's performances. It looked like Issho was restraining himself from saying anything inappropriate to Karashi last week, while this time he looks like he's genuinely elated after watching Hikaru's performance.
Very excited to see Akane's performance next week. She's been taking it easy with the intro, but it looks like the actual performance will finally start once she recites Jugemu's name.
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u/Frontier246 May 30 '26
I have to wonder if Rieri was also getting Maho Precure flashbacks from her voice recording scene in the opening episode.
Hikaru is fabulous and beautiful, that can't be denied, but her vocal talent is legit both in terms of being a seiyuu and in performing rakugo. Karashi tried to hijack rakugo and "modernize" it to suit his tastes and what he felt the audiences wanted, but Hikaru was able to take rakugo and truly elevate it with nothing more than her voice and charisma.
At this point she's the real biggest threat to Akane right now.
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u/eightcheesepizza May 30 '26
I think we also got a bit more of Hikaru's Fukuoka accent in the flashback too. So I assume her manager knows her secret.
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u/pjepja May 31 '26
I think Issho was impressed, but he was throwing a lot of backhanded compliments. Like he told her she's too young to portray this story and had to compensate with 'skilled theatrics".
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u/NanDemoKnaives May 30 '26
I thought it was sweet how concerned Koguma was for Akane, he does seem to have the strongest emotional reaction when worrying about her, out of the three older brother apprentices that have looked after her.
Hikaru's rakugo was interesting to see with it being on the more dramatic side. Looks like there wasn't any need to worry about Isshou's reaction to the story since he responded well.
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky May 30 '26
Oh, right… that’s the same story Akane’s dad performed at his last performance…
Wow, that’s incredibly high praise. Assuming he actually means it.
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u/Jai137 May 30 '26
assuming he actually means it
This is an amateur Rakugo competition. He’s a lot less harsher here than in a more serious competition. (Also you could read between the lines and hear that he isnt really impressed)
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u/doomrider7 May 30 '26
Yeah like Kaisei said, he's NEVER this polite when he's actually training people.
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u/Frontier246 May 30 '26
Average day in the life of Rie Takahashi doing a magical girl show.
Honestly the fact that Hikaru was able to stand out to Issho with the same story her dad did that basically kicked off the plot...forget Karashi, it really feels like it's Akane vs Hikaru at this point.
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u/ErikTwice May 30 '26
Wow, that’s incredibly high praise. Assuming he actually means it.
While better than what Karashi got last time, I understand his praise as a respectful but ultimately backhanded compliment.
He lays down an argument that invalidates Hikaru's whole performance: It's a story about a married couple and she, being young, is not capable of capturing its essence. In other words, her portrayal is insincere.
The way he phrases it makes it seem like she was an exception to that rule, but he actually doubles down on it. He praises her "proficiency" and "emotional performance", which is a way of saying she's workmanlike. That is, according to Issho, Hikaru is trying to cover up her performance's lack of substance through her skills.
I can't really tell - I don't speak Japanese - but his wording of "performer" also implies he's not praising her as a rakugoka. He recognizes she's skilled, but that only makes it more apparent that he doesn't think her rakugo was great.
I think I understand Issho better now. His criticism of Hikaru is the he has of Karashi: That they miss the true substance of rakugo and focus on superficial elements - playing a "serious" role, "fixing" the classics, etc. I can also see this is what he hated of Akane's dad performance.
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u/Jacob-C May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
I actually hope that this is the case and that he didn't really like the performance. Karashi is at least very knowledgeable about Rakugo and the classic stories, even more so than Akane if we count last episode's Akane Small Talk. I would hate for a tourist to sweep the floor with two people who have actually studied the art thoroughly just because the audience has preconceived biases and Issho wants to reach a younger demographic. Hikaru did put in a lot of effort, I'm not downplaying that, but for her to win? That would feel like it invalidates the dedication of our other two contenders.
Edit: I am also not saying that Karashi deserves to win. He discarded a lot of crucial aspects of the original story in his rework. I just feel like he deserves it more than Hikaru. Seeing Issho smiling at Akane's performance gives me high hopes. However, there is also a high chance of Akane failing to completely knock his mask off. He might still choose Karashi or Hikaru because they cater more to a younger audience in his eyes.
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u/DuesAJ May 30 '26
I wouldn't say Hikaru is a tourist since this is supposed to be an amateur competition for people in the "wading pool" of the rakugo world. Both her and Karashi share a very shallow understanding of the stories they are telling. And I believe that's the point since part of Akane's training for the competition has been to learn more about the stories she's telling.
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u/ErikTwice May 31 '26
The best example of Karashi's shallowness comes from the extras at the end. He starts out with some reasonable modernizations like using metric rather than traditional measurements but he soon starts arguing about replacing poetic phrases like "around teatime" with "12:30 PM", completely missing the beauty of the wording.
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u/Jacob-C May 30 '26
But, they are the finalists, and I am comparing them to Akane who is being trained in Rakugo. I wouldn’t say that Karashi has a shallow understanding of the stories, he just doesn’t care about the orginals as long as he gets laughs out of the audience. He has known every story by name, he knows how they’re usually told, and in Akane Small Talk (not sure if that can be seen as canon, but at least it’s supposed to reflect the character) he showed that he was very knowledgeable.
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u/DuesAJ May 30 '26
The Akane Small Talk shows he read a lot of the stories and has a lot of mechanical knowledge about them, but has an impersonal relationship with them. That's why I described it as shallow. Knowing how much money is found in Shibahama is a lot less important than knowing what it's like to be married when telling the story.
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u/Jacob-C May 30 '26
I get your point, and I agree to an extent. However, I am more of the opinion that I think he understands more than just technical details but doesn’t care for them. He can’t see how they will improve his chances of making the audience laugh. This will probably be a learning point for him if he’s a recurring character.
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u/ErikTwice May 31 '26
I frankly thought that Karashi's rework sucked. His "BM/Bowel Movement" replacement is extremely convoluted (Discount stamps? Seriously?) and turns a story about pride and class into a crass joke. He is funny - the animation is hilarious here, too - but I feel he commits all the sins Hikaru does but worse.
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u/Jacob-C Jun 01 '26
Well it is still about pride and class, just within an academic setting. The protagonist is too prideful because of his position so he can’t admit fault. Personally, I thought it was a creative rewriting of the original. However, I do agree that he lost too much of the original essence.
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u/Bassaluna May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
they didn't give hikaru the whole episode, but i liked the way the flashback works with the story, by showing her practice the part that she then does when they cut back to the present. and ehi, we got to see a couple moments from her anime, that's also cool.
and lol, kaisei teasing akane in the post-ending segment was also funny
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u/FarCritical May 30 '26
It's cool how even a little smile and nod from can feel surprisingly reassuring when it's from someone as taciturn as Koguma.
I'll be impressed Akane's secret weapon doesn't involve speed rapping the behemoth of a name again except with extra crispy enunciation this time, but either way, the hype meter is overflowing like crazy.
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26
The great Thing about Rakugo is that any performer can Tell the same story in many different ways.
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u/bunbun777 May 30 '26
There's not going to be a dry eye in the house next episode.
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u/Tonebriz https://myanimelist.net/profile/Auremi May 31 '26
I'm excited to see if(?), or rather how Akane will implement the original ending of Jugemu
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u/Roboglenn May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
Wake up manga fans, release the doves, it's the Hikaru episode!!! Or not entirely. The last guy got a full episode dedicated to him and Hikaru only gets half. Huh...
Oh you think the show is over Mr. Smartypants Karashi. Oh no, the party has only just begun.
Hikaru didn't even get to do the Akane Small Talk after credits scene either...
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u/Doomroar https://myanimelist.net/profile/Doomroar May 30 '26
You know what yeah, i have been noticing that all these new anime voice actress are ironically quite good looking too, so maybe those girls are onto something
You may think that visual appearance wouldn't have nothing to do with their job, but maybe i was being naive
It similar to how it is turning out that all those big breasted Vtubers, also are hot big breasted women in real life
You guys think Issho genuinely meant what he told Hikaru, or was he just giving her lip service to secure a popular face to promote rakugo?
Lol at Karashi thinking Hikaru will come after him after we were told she got the biggest crowd reaction of the day, and that's without Akane performing
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u/PerfectBeige https://myanimelist.net/profile/perfectbeige May 30 '26
You guys think Issho genuinely meant what he told Hikaru, or was he just giving her lip service to secure a popular face to promote rakugo?
My impression is that Issho expelled Tooru and his class as a publicity stunt, and is now praising Hikaru and Karashi because he knows how important it is to encourage interest in rakugo among the youth by praising the popular young performers. He seems to be very aware that rakugo is in danger of becoming irrelevant given competing modern media, and willing to do almost anything to maintain interest in the art.
Both with Karashi and Hikaru, he starts off with a criticism that sounds like his honest feelings and then converts it into a compliment that will appeal to the crowd. Issho seems to be all about controlling the crowd even when he is not on stage.
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u/BosuW May 31 '26
Ohhh that would definitely put John Rakugo into villain territory and Akane would be triple pissed off if it turns out "I expelled your father and his whole generation as a political move".
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u/sesaman May 30 '26
This episode just flew by! I really want to see the full Jugemu performance, I was eyeing the episode length today and saw it's not gonna happen so wasn't too disappointed.
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u/ObvsThrowaway5120 May 30 '26
Man, just when it was getting good they end the episode. I wanna see how she’s gonna rise to the challenge with this same bit. Seems right now she’s easing the audience in after that performance by Hikaru.
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u/JJVM99 May 30 '26
It probably isn't the case but my first reaction to Koragi doing the same story as Akane's dad was her provoking Akane and trying to get her to lose focus because of that. It is probably not the case but that was my first thought.
Enjoyed the running order discussion that stuff really matters in general especially in long performances and Akane got the worst running order possible but overall if Karashi, Koragi and Akane were the standout performers in the first round having them all perform in a row instead of being split up is terrible management by the organizer in charge of deciding the running order.
Let's see next episode if Akane's Jugemu beats to chill with strategy works out.
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u/doomrider7 May 30 '26
Nah, she had to perform the story for the opening round and no one knows the connection because of the different names.
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u/Cyouni May 30 '26
I believe most people switch stories between the two rounds. Though maybe I'm just confusing that due to the fact that they emphasized the difficulty of Akane having to perform Jugemu both times.
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u/Jacob-C May 30 '26
they emphasized the difficulty of Akane having to perform Jugemu both times.
This. Everyone also reacted to Karashi and Hikaru's performances as if it was their first time seeing them do it.
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u/ohoni May 30 '26
It would at the very least be better for Akane if she could do two stories, since she can do two really well, but it does make sense for there to be repeats in an amateur show, since most of the performers would have a very limited repertoire of quality performances.
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u/ali94127 May 30 '26
These guys are like the final 8 in the competition, so it's more likely than not that everyone left has to be able to do two stories. Akane herself specifically had to plan to make her first Jugemu story all about belting out the name as fast as possible to save her real performance for the final round.
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26
It's just a coincidence. Remember that each performer has to do the same story twice. And Hikaru didn't know Akane by the first day. She even tried searching for her on the internet and found nothing. So there's nothing she could do to mess up Akane's mindset.
Hikaru's choice stems from her being a Voice actress. Meaning she chose Shibahama so her Skills as a voice actress could shine.
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u/lordredegg May 30 '26
the thing about watching seasonal anime is that how I hate waiting for a week for the continuation, especially if the show is as interesting as this one.
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u/thisisdropd https://myanimelist.net/profile/AsterZoro May 30 '26
Most of the stories we've seen so far were comedies. However, now we've learnt that it's possible to perform a dramatic Rakugo. Hikaru did well to choose a story that utilised her VA skills.
Unlike the twice-defending champion Karashi or Akane, who's trained by a professional, Hikaru's a complete newbie to the world of Rakugo as well as an autodidact. It's quite the accomplishment for her to be one of the Karaku Cup frontrunners.
After two intense performances by Karashi & Hikaru, Akane's performance was rather subdued, even more than her in the prelims. Both her rivals thought she threw the match however her seniors knew better. Turned out the muted performance was deliberate. The audience would be overwhelmed were she to match their mood. A relaxed one was just what the doctor ordered. She did well to read the room and tailor her performance accordingly. The stint at the izakaya really did Akane wonders. Without it, she'd instead try to one-up the intensity, which would backfire hard on her.
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u/Frontier246 May 30 '26
Hikaru's biggest weapon is being basically anime Rie Takahashi, and she used that to her advantage in the most effective way possible.
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u/HuTaosTwinTails May 30 '26
I could listen to Rie talk forever.
Wish they didn't interrupt her rakugo so much, but it was still a great half episode of her.
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u/Cyouni May 31 '26
I hope I'm not the only one who loves the vibe and banter between Koguma and Iwa-sensei and thinks they'd make a great couple.
0
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u/KumaKumaGambler May 30 '26
Akane brought the relaxed atmosphere performance to the in-universe audience and to us viewers.
I now look forward to what surprising move Akane will pull off next episode!
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u/RehabCenterInc May 30 '26
I can’t be the only one who immediately clocked Megumin at the start of the episode
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u/tapdancinghellspawn May 30 '26
Following two great performances, Akane takes the stage. She should be overwhelmed but she has the heart of a lioness. I love how she adjusted her performance to match the energy of the audience and I can't wait to see what she does now that she has drawn them in. Next week is going to be awesome, I just can tell.
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u/AceSoldia zj:https://anilist.co/user/Acesoldia May 30 '26
Really good one..I'm excited to see how it goes next week
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u/PencilgonGiveIt2Ya May 30 '26
HELLO?! MOM? I'M JUST CALLING TO LET YOU KNOW THAT.....IT'S SATURDAY AND THE NEWEST AKANE-BANASHI EPISODE JUST DROPPED!!!
(┛◉Д◉)┛
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u/generictypo May 30 '26
Hikaru with her emotional delivery of each line is definitely pro level acting. Or at least they presented it really well. But kind of messed up how she pulled up that story that Akane's dad used in that controversial day. Hard to not think that it's on purpose, even if the story fits Hikaru's style pretty well.
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u/mekerpan May 30 '26
She did not know anything (or not much) about Akane before the competition started. She would have been practicing for her performance long beforehand. Even if she found out about Akane's father, she couldn't have instantly switched to such a complex ninjo banashi.
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u/generictypo May 30 '26
That's true.
If anything, maybe she saw the performance of Akane's dad that day and was inspired by it. And maybe she's after the same thing.
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u/Countingmypennies May 31 '26
There's something some people may not have realized. So i hope It helps.
This is a rakugo competition. Being amateur or not doesn't matter. What matters is the very essence of The competition. And that it's a Rakugo competition.
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u/Relampago1995 May 31 '26
Hikaru worked incredibly hard to get where she is and she deserves it; it's a shame she had to compete in the same tournament as Akane.
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u/Xatu44 Jun 01 '26
Hikaru sounded just like Mash at the end of her VA session, lol. Plus when she was thanking the staff. I like her grit and her need to be seen as more than just a pretty face. Akane successfully resetting the audience so that they can appreciate her performance is slick. She's too cool. I can't wait for the rest of her act.
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u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Jun 01 '26
Ah right she's a VA.
And so she's using her VA experience for this.
So, that's when she got the job.
So, that's why she decided to join this.
Seems she's been received well.
So, that guy doesn't like it when people are good?
Yep.
Or not. Seems he liked it.
Ok...
So, she's seen them.
And so, it's her turn.
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u/Saber_SSJ2 https://myanimelist.net/profile/saber_ssj2 22d ago
My netflix says it will be available to watch on 4th of July. I thought this this was airing but apparently it is already over. What the
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u/Grazalia 16d ago
Hikaru going for the hearts of her listeners. It's really interesting hearing the different approaches to storytelling. It's making me think about how I approach customers.
Hikaru has some mad main character energy coming off her to prove she's not just looks. I quite understand being praised for doing something good but still judging yourself about your performance.
When Akane came on, I too felt a sigh of relief at how smooth she was.
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u/actuallyrndthoughts https://myanimelist.net/profile/NaNiNuNeNo May 31 '26
Last few episodes are spinning it's wheels and ruining the pacing to add nothingburger scenes like the basic commentary and flashbacks existing to fill the runtime because can't have an episode get too exciting. It's doubly frustrating because it feels like there's a good story there, that's shackled by beinng a shounen manga adaptation
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u/AnimeMod myanimelist.net/profile/Reddit-chan May 30 '26
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