"It was a year of desperately trying to keep up" — Cast reflects on the rakugo scenes! TV Anime Akane-banashi Episode 1 Advance Screening & Special Talk Show Report

The TV anime Akane-banashi began its broadcast on April 4th across 24 stations nationwide on the TV Asahi network's IMAnimation block and other outlets. Prior to the broadcast, an advance screening of Episode 1 and a special talk show for the TV anime Akane-banashi was held on the evening of the 4th at United Cinemas Toyosu.

The original manga of the same name, currently serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump (Shueisha), is an authentic rakugo story written by Yuki Suenaga and illustrated by Takamasa Moue. The story follows Akane Osaki, a high school girl aiming to reach shin'uchi, the highest rank for a rakugo performer. Appearing at the talk show were Anna Nagase (voice of Akane), Rie Takahashi (voice of Akane’s rival, Hikaru Koragi), and Jun Fukuyama (voice of Akane’s father, Shinta Arakawa, a futatsume-rank performer).

As the talk show took place immediately following the screening of Episode 1, the moderator asked for their honest impressions. Nagase commented, Wow, that was incredible! Dad is just way too cool! It felt like a movie; it was so captivating the whole time and really moved me. Fukuyama, who plays the father, Shinta, saw the rakugo scenes that kick off Akane-banashi and responded, Finally, a weight has been lifted off my shoulders! (lol)

Takahashi, who had been reading the original manga even before her role was decided, shared a fan-perspective impression, saying, The intensity of the emotions was depicted so thoroughly that (the development) is almost painful!

Summarizing Episode 1 as a whole, Fukuyama noted, It has become a fascinating piece of animation. Even since the recording sessions, the visuals and audio have been polished to reach something truly interesting, providing a real sense of immersion. The conversation then shifted to Shinta’s rakugo scenes.

Fukuyama, who was the last among the cast to join the rakugo training, looked back, saying, I was living and breathing rakugo day and night. It was a lot of fun, and I felt extremely fortunate to take on the challenge of rakugo, which I had previously only ever listened to.

Regarding the voice recording process for Akane-banashi, it was mentioned that while standard scenes were recorded as usual dialogues, the rakugo scenes were recorded independently. Performers could choose between sitting on a cushion (zabuton), as in a traditional stage (koza), or standing, as in conventional voice recording, allowing each actor to use the method they found most comfortable.

Nagase, after seeing Fukuyama’s rakugo firsthand, said, There were careful discussions about the expression of rakugo as animation and as the art form itself. Seeing Mr. Fukuyama’s rakugo felt like the engine of Akane-banashi kicked into another gear; I learned so much from him.

When the cast asked the audience if the show was something that could spark interest in people discovering rakugo for the first time, the audience responded with a round of applause.