Akane-banashi

Young girl Akane Osaki falls in love with rakugo comic storytelling through watching her father perform. One day, a shocking event derails his career.

Hearing that Master Shiguma is secretly meeting with a young girl, Futatsume Guriko investigates and finds him teaching Akane at a karaoke parlor.

Akane joins Shiguma's school as an apprentice. The earnest Kyoji Arakawa is tasked with guiding her, but she finds herself stuck doing menial chores.

Akane performs at a nursing home, displaying all she has learned. Kyoji goes next, determined to show her his skill as her elder fellow apprentice.

Akane gets career counseling from her teacher Iwashimizu, known as the Ice Lady, who refuses to acknowledge Akane's dream of becoming a Rakugoka.

After learning that Issho will judge the annual student Rakugo championship, Akane gains Shiguma's permission to compete — but on one condition.

At the Karaku Cup preliminaries, all eyes are on defending champion Karashi and rising voice actor Hikaru Koragi, but Kaisei picks Akane to win.

The Karaku Cup finals are now underway. The chief judge, Issho Arakawa, has taken his place at the venue. Following a stream of performances, it's time for one of the frontrunners, Karashi Nerimaya, to take the stage. Karashi's specialty is "Modernized Rakugo", — modern interpretations of classic Rakugo stories. This bold approach gets him some big laughs from the audience, but what will Issho's verdict be?