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Akane-banashi

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Akane-banashi
Cover of the first tankōbon volume, featuring Akane and her father.
あかね噺
Manga
Written byYuki Suenaga
Illustrated byTakamasa Moue
Published byShueisha
English publisher
ImprintJump Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Jump
DemographicShōnen
Original runFebruary 14, 2022 – present
Volumes1 (List of volumes)

Akane-banashi (Japanese: あかね噺, "Akane's Discourse") is a Japanese manga series written by Yuki Suenaga and illustrated by Takamasa Moue. It follows teenager Akane Osaki as she aims to reach the highest rank in rakugo, partly to avenge her father, who was expelled from the profession six years earlier. The rakugo in the series is supervised by professional rakugoka Keiki Hayashiya. Akane-banashi has been serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine since February 14, 2022, with the chapters collected into one tankōbon volume as of June 2022. Viz Media has licensed the series for English release in North America.

Plot

Growing up, Akane admired her father and his rakugo; a traditional Japanese form of storytelling where a lone performer, called a rakugoka, depicts a long, complicated, and usually funny story involving multiple characters, who are distinguished by changes in pitch, tone, slight turns of the head, and hand movements, all while sitting in place. But when she was in elementary school, her father and all the other applicants were expelled from the Arakawa School during the promotional test to obtain rakugo's third and highest rank of shin'uchi. Six years later, Akane, who had been secretly receiving lessons from her father's former master, sets out to become a shin'uchi of the Arakawa School to avenge her father and prove rakugo is a legitimate profession.

Characters

Akane Osaki (桜咲朱音)
Voiced by: Akane Yamaguchi
A 17-year-old high school girl with a love of rakugo that she developed while watching her father Tohru (徹), a former rakugoka known as "Shinta Arakawa" (阿良川志ん太). As a child she got angry whenever a classmate or their parents looked down on her father for his chosen career, and hates that he was forced to give up his dream and get a "real job". Akane is set to become a formal rakugoka apprentice, starting at the first rank known as zenza, under Shiguma Arakawa after graduating high school.
Shiguma Arakawa (阿良川志ぐま)
Voiced by: Takuya Saito
The number two master of the Arakawa School who specializes in sentimental tales of the ninjo-banashi style and who taught Akane's father. After Shinta was expelled, Shiguma felt unfit to take on anymore pupils. But he has been secretly teaching Akane rakugo for the last six years, and agrees to formally take her on as a pupil after she graduates high school, which is unusually late.
Guriko Arakawa (阿良川ぐりこ)
Voiced by: Masayuki Suzuki
Master Shiguma's newest pupil who joined shortly before Shinta was expelled and just recently reached rakugo's second rank of futatsume.
Kyoji Arakawa (阿良川享二)
A 28-year-old futatsume in his ninth year of rakugo under Master Shiguma. Ever since Shinta was expelled, Kyoji is the disciplinarian who keeps the other pupils in line. His seriousness makes the back-and-forth banter in his rakugo even funnier. He offers to take Akane under his wing.
Koguma Arakawa (阿良川こぐま)
A 29-year-old futatsume in his 11th year of rakugo under Master Shiguma. He is a Tokyo University graduate and the Shiguma School's best terakoya; master of old literary teachings. He meticulously researches every rakugo story he performs, including the daily customs of the period it came from, and turns into a completely different person onstage as far as his appearance and demeanor.
Maikeru Arakawa (阿良川まいける)
A futatsume under Master Shiguma.
Issho Arakawa (阿良川一生)
Voiced by: Yuki Tamai
The number one master of the Arakawa School, who is considered one of the greatest rakugoka of his generation. Six years ago, he was the chief judge who expelled Akane's father and the other shin'uchi applicants.
Kaisei Arakawa (阿良川魁生)
An obnoxious futatsume under Master Issho. He reached that rank at 19-years-old, after only two years of apprenticeship. He is particularly skilled at portraying seductive characters, which makes his silly ones stand out even more.

Publication

Written by Yuki Suenaga and illustrated by Takamasa Moue, Akane-banashi began serialization in Weekly Shōnen Jump's 11th issue of 2022, which was released on February 14, 2022.[1][2] The rakugo in the series is supervised by professional rakugoka Keiki Hayashiya.[3] Having previously only had a passing interest in rakugo, Moue said he had fun researching it for the manga.[4] Gendai Business columnist Kenichiro Horii wrote that Akane-banashi's Arakawa School is clearly modeled after the real-life Tatekawa School of rakugo, whose master, Danshi Tatekawa, expelled a group of zenza in 2002, after feeling that they were not showing enough effort to reach futatsume.[5] Horii also pointed out that the Rakugo Café seen in the series is modeled after a real café with a similar name in Jinbōchō, Tokyo.[5] Publisher Shueisha is collecting the individual chapters into tankōbon volumes, with the first released on June 3, 2022.[6] Both Shueisha and Viz Media began releasing the series in English the same day it began in Japan, the former on its Manga Plus website and application.[2]

Volume list

No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 June 3, 2022[7]978-4-08-883150-3——
  • Story 1: "On That Day" (あの日)
  • Story 2: "Six Years" (6年)
  • Story 3: "First Performance" (初高座)
  • Story 4: "Who Is That?" (何者)
  • Story 5: "Proper Channels" (通すべき筋)
  • Story 6: "Senior Pupils" (兄弟子達)
  • Story 7: "Kibataraki" (気働き)
2 August 4, 2022[8]978-4-08-883193-0——

Chapters not yet in tankōbon format

These chapters have yet to be published in a tankōbon volume. They were serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump.

  1. "In Order to Entertain" (喜んで貰う為に)
  2. "After the Delight" (喜びの先)
  3. "Model" (背中)
  4. "Myopic" (短絡的)
  5. "The Dreamer" (夢見るあの子)
  6. "Goal and Condition" (目的と条件)
  7. "The Type to Hold a Grudge" (根に持つタイプ)
  8. "Koguma's Rakugo" (こぐまの落語)
  9. "The Karaku Cup Begins" (可楽杯開幕)
  10. "The Karaku Cup Prelims" (可楽杯予選)
  11. "Shut It" (せからしか)

Other media

Akane-banashi is receiving a motion comic adaptation, where voice actors, music and sound effects are heard as the manga images appear on screen. The episodes are uploaded to Jump Comics' official YouTube channel, with the first part of chapter one uploaded on June 4, 2022.[6][9] Akane and her father are voiced by Akane and Kappei Yamaguchi. In addition to being actual daughter and father, the Yamaguchis are also both rakugoka.[6]

Reception

Steven Blackburn of Screen Rant praised the first chapter of Akane-banashi. He wrote that the sudden shift in protagonists from Shinta, "a stereotypical hero who embodies everything that makes a successful shonen [manga]", to Akane, an unconventional hero who is essentially a wunderkind, already makes the latter character compelling. "That's a difficult dynamic to achieve, but Akane-banashi has somehow succeeded before it's even begun."[10] In a review for Multiversity Comics, Zach Wilkerson gave the "immensely charming and well crafted" first chapter an 8.5 rating, with particular praise for Moue's art.[11] In May 2022, Kota Mukaihara of Real Sound wrote that although Akane's progress in rakugo seems to be going unusually fast and smooth, with her not yet being confronted by a tough challenge or failing at something, this allows readers to watch her growth without unnecessary stress. He speculated that, while this could simply be because the manga is still new and needs to develop quickly in order to gain momentum, it emphasizes Akane's cleverness and the depth of her determination and is a testament to the charm of the characters and the skill with which the story is written. Mukaihara also wrote that while Akane's outgoing personality and unprecedented skill make her seem like a maverick, her positivity and down-to-earth nature make her a likable character.[12]

The series is nominated for the 2022 Next Manga Award in the print manga category.[13]

References

  1. ^ ""極小かつ究極のエンタメ"落語を題材に描く新連載がジャンプで始動". Natalie (in Japanese). 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  2. ^ a b "Viz Media, Manga Plus Publish Akane-banashi Manga in English". Anime News Network. 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  3. ^ "ジャンプ落語漫画『あかね噺』1巻発売記念 山口勝平&茜親子の父娘共演ボイスコミック公開". Oricon (in Japanese). 2022-06-03. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  4. ^ "Mangaka Musings 2/27/2022". Viz Media. 2022-02-27. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  5. ^ a b "ジャンプで始まった落語漫画『あかね噺』、そのスゴさと作品背景を「徹底分析」する…！". Gendai Business (in Japanese). 2022-03-05. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  6. ^ a b c "尾田栄一郎も推薦「あかね噺」1巻発売、山口勝平・茜親子が出演するボイスコミックも". Natalie (in Japanese). 2022-06-03. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  7. ^ あかね噺 1 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  8. ^ あかね噺 2 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  9. ^ 【ジャンプ漫画】（cv:山口勝平・山口茜）噺家たちが鎬を削る落語成長譚、ここに開幕!!『あかね噺』1話 前編【ボイスコミック】 (video) (in Japanese). YouTube. 2022-06-04. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  10. ^ "Shonen Jump Heroes Finally Get the Refresh They Need in New Manga". Screen Rant. 2022-02-16. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  11. ^ "This Week in Shonen Jump: Week of 2/13/22". Multiversity Comics. 2022-02-16. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  12. ^ "少年ジャンプの落語漫画『あかね噺』はなぜ面白い？ スピーディな展開から読み解く"考える主人公"の強み". Real Sound (in Japanese). 2022-05-11. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  13. ^ Morrissy, Kim (June 23, 2022). "Voting Opens for Next Manga Awards 2022". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
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