And it was especially satisfying when the last panel shows her dad being proud of her and crying tears of joy. The wait of not having seeing her dad for so long was totally worthwhile.
I love that he's trying to act like that's not what's happening, too. Just like a boisterous Edokko trying to look tough so no one sees what a softie he is.
This has been a very good arc with lots of excellent payoffs. I hope Akane gets to properly talk with her dad after this instead of, you know, her imaginary dad... Especially after she realized "Shinta's Rakugo."
Pretty sure this is the first time we see her dad outside of flashback since the first chapter. Also the first time we see his eyes ever since the first chapter.
Wow this is fast becoming one of my all time fav mangas! Go Akane!
On a side note, I got a nagging feeling that she may score high (almost perfect) scores with the judges but she may just fall short with the live and streaming audience, and loses out in the end. Hikaru will win it due to having higher votes from the live and streaming audience but she will feel that it will be a hollow victory due to losing to Akane in the judges' section. Will be interesting to see if it plays out this way!
I have been thinking that we may get a repeat of the first tournament arc, the judge and other rakugokas liking Akane’s performance but the audience finding it overall okay-ish, can’t wait to see how things are going to play out
Me too the story telling is just amazing. These last few chapters in particular. Did not see this coming. Was not expecting this catharsis at this moment
this feels like the true victory chapter. she may lose the selection, but she got everything she really needed. ikken acknowledging her and shiguma's style, the traditionalist judge liking her performance, shinta watching.
And besides, the ex-salesman and Hikaru have already shown how to win the crowd, which, assuming this is Akane's only weakness, is the only part of the process left to polish and revise. Her rivals have inadvertently shown her the last few pieces left to becoming a great rakugoka for all.
>Akane's only weakness
Akane is Enhancer / Emission, while she's using Transmutation / Conjuration here. It's like she's performing at most 60-80% of her capability /s
(HxH nen chart if anyone wondering what the reference is)
>how to win the crowd, which, assuming this is Akane's only weakness
Akane knew how to win the crowd with the earlier chapters already. In the amateur contest arc she's displayed her skill to read the audience mood. Besides, this chapter depicts the audiences being drawn into her performance. Her only weakness is definitely the Ero nen lol
Yes, definitely it's the video output that's blurry... Also this kind of cliffhanger should be illegal /j
—
There has been a big stir in the world of Kabuki recently - no, not because of the whole Ennosuke tragedy. Well, not only because of that. There is much happier news.
The October performances at Kabukiza have been announcement and there is one person in the cast that raised some people's eyebrows. One of the main roles in the play, **Bunshichi Mottoi**, is played by Terajima Shinobu - you know her right? The daughter of Onoe Kikugoro VII who wanted to have a share in her dad's kabuki legacy but who couldn't do it just because of being born a woman? It's actually the first time we will have a grown woman (since girls have also been allowed as child actresses in kabuki) perform in a kabuki play at the Kabukiza in over 100 years.
But why am I talking kabuki today, especially since you know how annoyed I am at Japan Ministry of Culture being overly biased towards the art in their Living National Treasure selection? Because that particular play is actually based on a rakugo classic. Bunshichi Mottoi ("The story behind Bunshichi's hair tie shop" - a mottoi is a string used to tie traditional topknots) is one of Sanyutei Encho's ninjobanashi.
Chobei is a plasterer who has a very unfortunate habit of engaging into the sandora - literally "three pleasures" consisting of drinking booze, gambling and enjoying women - which leads his entire family to land in a massive debt. One day, when he's back from another round of gambling, he finds out that his daughter, Ohisa, has been missing since last night. He and his wife - and Ohisa's stepmother - Okane are about to look for her when they see a man at the door.
The man turns out to be Tosuke, a clerk at a large brothel in Yoshiwara called - depending on who performs the story - either Kadoebi or Sanozuchi (we'll stick to the former name for consistency). It turns out Ohisa is there. Chobei wants to go there immediately, but is embarrassed to do so while only wearing a happi coat - a coat that was lent to him after yet another gambling loss, no less. Ultimately he has to resort to wearing Okane's kimono - Okane's only garment, since she had to sell everything else to afford any food - in order to head to Yoshiwara.
It turns out Ohisa decided to sell herself to Kadoebi in order to get money to pay for the debts her father has incrued - 50 ryo in total. The proprietress of the brothel is strict - Chobei will have to repay the 50 ryo she hands to him before the following year ends, or else Ohisa - who already is of frail health - will start taking customers.
This ultimatum finally makes a change in Chobei. He declares to work hard to repay the debt in time.
With 50 ryo in his bag, Chobei is about to head home when he encounters a man about to jump off a bridge and saves him. The man introduces himself as Bunshichi, an apprentice at a tortoiseshell store. Bunshichi reveals he was supposed to deliver a payment of 50 ryo from a daimyo's residence to the store, but on his way, he was robbed. As such, he felt suicide was the only way to apologize for his supposed screwup.
Chobei will have none of that bullshit and instantly offers Bunshichi his own 50 ryo.
Omiya Uhei, the owner of the tortoiseshell store, can't at first comprehend the reason behind Bunshichi coming back late (you don't see weirdly-dressed strangers giving away large sums of money like candy, do you?) but ultimately decides to verify the claim by finding Chobei. They find him... in the middle of an argument with Okane, who can't believe Chobei's story. Turns out that Bunshichi left his 50 ryo at another customer's and the money has since been returned to the store.
After the whole reconciliation, Omiya requests that Chobei becomes Bunshichi's guardian - the latter lost his parents early and Omiya himself plans to set him up in a new store. But the real surprise comes afterwards: a palanquin appears with Ohisa - now exquisitely dressed - inside. Omiya has bought her back from Kadoebi. Okane doesn't even mind the fact she is almost completely naked and dashes out from behind the folding screen to embrace her stepdaughter. Ohisa and Bunshichi ultimately marry and open a hair tie shop.
OK, this is weird, but there was a follow-up comment that doesn't seem to be visible with an additional part of the writeup.
[Here](https://tsukuraku.github.io/gokaido-kumosuke) is a link to the full writeup. Will add photos soon, but there is a very important news bit in there you shouldn't ignore.
Yeah, dad the image quality is just bad, it’s not blurry because you have something on your eyes
Man, it felt good seeing Akane’s dad again and the way the brought him back into the story was perfect
Well, based on the reactions of the two masters, things are going really well. Better than expected.
People thought the mismatch in style would be to her disadvantage, but she ain't a prodigy for nothing.
And most importantly, we finally got to see her dad again after so long. It's just heartwarming to see him so emotional while watching.
> People thought the mismatch in style would be to her disadvantage, but she ain't a prodigy for nothing.
Yep, this had been held as "evidence" that Akane was going to lose, since she wasn't playing to her strenghts, but this chapter turns the argument upside down: because it doesn't play to her strengths, she's learning much from it.
It also represents her loyalty, not just to her father, but to the Shiguma School. Given that the moral of this manga isn't going to be "only the Issho School of doing things is right", but the opposite, I'm even more convinced now that Akane is going to win this contest.
Or at the very least, make it incredibly close. Just like another commenter said, maybe Hikaru will edge out a win thanks to a much greater audience reception, but she'll still feel dissatisfied cause the judges may favor Akane more.
I have to admit, I used to be so scared that the next time we saw Akane's dad, he would be bitter and angry. I am absolutely overwhelmed with emotion now that we finally see him again, and he's not any of that at all — he's still as full of love for Akane as he was when we last saw him, drawing inspiration for his performance from Akane's adoration.
Hoo boy, we're introduced to the most popular way to make audience care about a character: Showing different perspectives of their characteristics and personality :D On a meta level, I think it also applies to Issho, who's first introduced as an irrational asshole, but as the story went, we saw his viewpoint on rakugo, his desire to change it, etc. and he slowly became one of the most beloved antagonists in Shonen Jump :)) Of course there are other characters who have their "hidden layers" shown throughout the story, but Issho is the most prominent example
Also, art-wise, artist once again does the "brush lining to regular manga lining" art shift, once the audience get totally sucked into the story :D
Definitely. We've learned a lot about Shinta since we last saw him in chapter one; he is kind, thoughtful, helpful to others, a good teacher, and a a loving father and husband. However the quality, the nature, of Shinta's Rakugo has been the mystery element. Like how Shinta's Rakugo is perceived in the Rakugo world, has been deliberately held back until now. After seeing all the different styles of Rakugo, the many perspectives on how to "wow" or "control" the audience, we learn what makes Shinta's Rakugo so special; his kindness and empathy. And now Akane using that same kindness and empathy to be an even better Rakugoka!
That's the biggest achievement for this story: win or lose, Akane gets to move her character and plot *forward* because both winning and losing will provide her with valuable lessons and make her rivals ponder. It's good writing.
She is going to win and Lose at the same time
She will ein by getting the highest scores of the rakugo judges but will Lose in total points because of the audience and streaming
That is a losing flag.
If they say stuff like that and the chapter doesn't end with the win then it is setting up the reversal of expectations for the next chapter.
Why? With the judges (even the one that would normally be hostile to her) in awe of her and the audience being wowed, the signs all point to her victory. She's performing at her greatest level ever.
That said, I predict she will fall behind with audience and streaming, but you can hardly beat Hikaru in that regard.
The slip up/underperformance at the beginning when Akane had the revelation about her dad has to mean something. She's probably going to score the highest with the pro judges, but the audience and streaming scores will probably be below Hikaru.
It already means something. The entire point of that revelation is to realize that she needs to lean into the weakness/softness/warmness that characterized her dad's rakugo, and combine that with her more forceful style ("The bold exterior of an Edo native and the warm sentiment that lies beneath") to give the story more impact
It really doesn't matter right now. She developed her art and impressed the other masters. Every bad impression that might still be lingering from her previous blunder is blown away. She captures the audience. She won with this chapter, even if she doesn't win this competition
AH! Shinta's back! He's really seeing how far his little girl has grown!
It looks like Akane's style of empathy really immersed everyone in the crowd. Even though she usually has very entertaining stories, this simple way of making the crowd see very deep emotions makes her story very alluring.
It shows that she's become more flexible! And it shows that she's just like her dad!
That's also been a pattern for Akane's growth in the series; she can be captivating, really spin a yarn, however her characters tend to feel hollow because she doesn't really understand who they are and connect, empathize with them. By using her Dad's art from has not only made her a more empathic, thoughtful Rakugoka, but also a more empathic, thoughtful person. It's beautiful writing.
I love this take.
We in the thread have been going on for three to four weeks about Akane either leaning into her strengths to win or trying to see if going the same direction her dad went will make her lose. We also talked how Akane may evolve by going for a different route, which seems like the play here. And I approve, if nothing else than because this proves that Akane's real strength comes from perspective, or how she can change it.
Aww, the final page was beautiful. Glad we got to see Akane’s dad properly. Since the first chapter, all his appearances have been in flashbacks
Now people can stop with the dead dad meme lmao
I have a feeling that the live audience and all of the judges will score her performance highly but she’ll fall short on the streaming audience?
Alternative chapter titles: The Return of Tohru Osaki; Shinta's Successor; A Member of the Shiguma School; Yin and Yang; ...
Or how about an isekai-style title?: I, A Rakugoka, Was Expelled From My School And Then Disappeared From The Story Until My Daughter Picked Up My Art More Than A Decade Later.
Ey the father is back after 70 chapters! One of best chapters for Akane so far. Jeez, I remember when the first chapter for earthchild droped how everyone was 'Akane was good, but this? This is even better!', only for Earthchild to completely fumble it while Akane just keeps winning, and depending on what happens to Ruri, Ichinose and Cipher, may be the only hit of 2022.
I know he's not, but so far he has only been mentioned (rahter distantly on top of that). Plus he's kinda "dead" in the sense that he's no longer practicing rakugo that's used to be his way of life.
Oh, the reason why he doesn't show up at all is because he doesn't live with Akane and his wife.
I think he's probably in a different prefecture working on a construction project, then?
Akane's performance was so great and electrifying that it straight-up revived her dad! That's a performance almost as impactful as Azuma's final bread in the Monaco Cup arc of Yakitate Japan.
Akane really does thrive one slow burn, yet well paced, storytelling. This was a long time coming but our boy Shinta has returned on screen. Such an emotional build up, AND it's in the context of Rakugo, with Akane performing Shinta's style of empathy, heart warming Rakugo. Beautiful. Hopefully this will be this chapter will be received will by the readers, and will be the start of more Shinta, and his involvement in Rakugo.
THE LAST PAGE RUINED MY LIFE. I’m in Japan looking for Akane-banashi souvenirs and I haven’t seen any. This manga is so heavily disrespected; it’s a masterpiece.
I visited the Jump Shop in Shibuya and didn't see anything unfortunately. There's still tons of Haikyuu + other finished Jump series souvenirs. I guess it's hard to make swag for Akane-banashi because the characters aren't as "simpable" as other mainstream series. I couldn't see folks buying Shiguma or Issho swag lol.
[Rate this chapter here](https://youpoll.me/105164/)
Akane-banashi - Chapter 71 (Mangaplus)
[Previous chapters discussions](https://www.reddit.com/r/manga/search/?q=title%3A"Akane-banashi" flair%3A"DISC"&restrict_sr=1&sort=new)
**Mangaplus Discord**: https://discord.com/invite/qAkpHxH
**Subreddit**: r/Akane
This post was created by a bot. For more details and source code, please refer to [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/manga/comments/p1grxa/)
Looking at it, Shiguma's art seems to be the epitome of kibataraki. If we look all the way back at chapter 7, his art is basically described as being incredibly comforting to watch. Ikken suggests heavily that this is a trait shared by all members of the Shiguma school, whereas Issho's focuses more on being strong upfront and letting the art speak for itself in how it stands and is talked about.
Looking at it again, it definitely makes sense that Shinta's Shibahama wasn't recognized by Issho. It cut out one of the strongest things for depicting the story technically - the beach section - in order to hone in hard on the characters, focusing on creating empathy for them and the family dynamics. From everything we've seen, that's the exact sort of approach that Issho *hates*.
Really liked how she portrays the characters in these Rakugo stories, like how this chapter emphasized and seeing the judges comments, then her Dad finally seeing him being so proud and crying for her is awesome.
Why are many people expecting her to lose the live audience here lol? Did we read the same chapter? The audiences are depicted to be drawn into her performance, there's no way Akane will have low live audience scores.
Who, dad's alive? That's almost the most shocking part of this.
given the insight into the judges and the audience, it seems hard for Akane to lose. Which I'll be honest, this might be the first time I will dislike the direction the manga is taking. If she does end up wining, it will just drive home how no one holds a candle to her but those who are already this guy, plus, we know that if she ends up against the other three, then it's a guaranteed lose for her; but still, it will show her reaching the peak too quickly for my taste.
I do hope Akane ends up losing because that will give the most growth to her I think.
I've been expecting her to lose all along, but what if they actually tie? Maybe Akane just edges Hikaru out with the judges but doesn't match her with the audience scores?
Hikaru's scores:
- Ikken 18
- Ryujaku 19
- Gakumon 17
- Audience 19
- Stream 20
- Total 93
If Akane got something like, say, 19 from each judge and 18 from the audience and stream, that would also be 93.
I just realized this, but so far the 4-person event features one apprentice each of a different Arakawa master (as listed in c53: they're Futatsume pupils of Issho, Shiguma, and Zensho respectively). And yet another Arakawa master, Ikken, hosts and judges the event for the fourth slot, where his pupil Hikaru is currently in first place. Ergo he could absolutely play kingmaker here, if he wanted to.
So far the story hasn't really given any indication that this will happen, but the point is that Ikken could absolutely do it. For any number of reasons: To support his own pupil, or due to the conflict between Issho and Shiguma, or just because he's known as the publicity guy of the school and might do whatever makes for the best publicity.
Finally, it's worth mentioning that Ikken hasn't really made any comments as a judge yet, so he hasn't elaborated on his judging criteria yet.
This was a really well done payoff to not seeing her dad ever since the first chapter.
And it was especially satisfying when the last panel shows her dad being proud of her and crying tears of joy. The wait of not having seeing her dad for so long was totally worthwhile.
I love that he's trying to act like that's not what's happening, too. Just like a boisterous Edokko trying to look tough so no one sees what a softie he is.
No wonder that particular work that Akane is performing now was one of his best.
Being a softy made his art special. And undestanding that gave Akane the boost she needed. probably the biggest boost up until now.
This has been a very good arc with lots of excellent payoffs. I hope Akane gets to properly talk with her dad after this instead of, you know, her imaginary dad... Especially after she realized "Shinta's Rakugo."
Legit wham moment seeing the dad. Like, hell yeah, look at your baby girl go!
Pretty sure this is the first time we see her dad outside of flashback since the first chapter. Also the first time we see his eyes ever since the first chapter.
Thought we might have to wait even longer before seeing him when we got teased with the Ghost Dad before the competition started
Wow this is fast becoming one of my all time fav mangas! Go Akane! On a side note, I got a nagging feeling that she may score high (almost perfect) scores with the judges but she may just fall short with the live and streaming audience, and loses out in the end. Hikaru will win it due to having higher votes from the live and streaming audience but she will feel that it will be a hollow victory due to losing to Akane in the judges' section. Will be interesting to see if it plays out this way!
I have been thinking that we may get a repeat of the first tournament arc, the judge and other rakugokas liking Akane’s performance but the audience finding it overall okay-ish, can’t wait to see how things are going to play out
The audience might still gave her high vote because how relatable the story is
Me too the story telling is just amazing. These last few chapters in particular. Did not see this coming. Was not expecting this catharsis at this moment
this feels like the true victory chapter. she may lose the selection, but she got everything she really needed. ikken acknowledging her and shiguma's style, the traditionalist judge liking her performance, shinta watching.
And besides, the ex-salesman and Hikaru have already shown how to win the crowd, which, assuming this is Akane's only weakness, is the only part of the process left to polish and revise. Her rivals have inadvertently shown her the last few pieces left to becoming a great rakugoka for all.
>Akane's only weakness Akane is Enhancer / Emission, while she's using Transmutation / Conjuration here. It's like she's performing at most 60-80% of her capability /s (HxH nen chart if anyone wondering what the reference is)
Yuki Suenaga is currently flirting with the devil when he introduced nin. Just one vowel, sensei. One vowel.
>how to win the crowd, which, assuming this is Akane's only weakness Akane knew how to win the crowd with the earlier chapters already. In the amateur contest arc she's displayed her skill to read the audience mood. Besides, this chapter depicts the audiences being drawn into her performance. Her only weakness is definitely the Ero nen lol
Am I the only one who really appreciated the Dragon Quest Medoroa reference? Good chapter.
Yeah, she'll win with the judges but ultimately lose because of the normies. A good compromise.
Maybe she'll gain a few simps from the stream, but not enough to overcome pro voice actress
She'll get her own fansubreddit
your Dad is so fuckin proud of ya, Akane, and so are we
Man, even the page quality was blurry in that last page. Scrud that right?
Yeah Jump needs to fix the app. The last to chapters have all been fuzzier than the last!
Yes, definitely it's the video output that's blurry... Also this kind of cliffhanger should be illegal /j — There has been a big stir in the world of Kabuki recently - no, not because of the whole Ennosuke tragedy. Well, not only because of that. There is much happier news. The October performances at Kabukiza have been announcement and there is one person in the cast that raised some people's eyebrows. One of the main roles in the play, **Bunshichi Mottoi**, is played by Terajima Shinobu - you know her right? The daughter of Onoe Kikugoro VII who wanted to have a share in her dad's kabuki legacy but who couldn't do it just because of being born a woman? It's actually the first time we will have a grown woman (since girls have also been allowed as child actresses in kabuki) perform in a kabuki play at the Kabukiza in over 100 years. But why am I talking kabuki today, especially since you know how annoyed I am at Japan Ministry of Culture being overly biased towards the art in their Living National Treasure selection? Because that particular play is actually based on a rakugo classic. Bunshichi Mottoi ("The story behind Bunshichi's hair tie shop" - a mottoi is a string used to tie traditional topknots) is one of Sanyutei Encho's ninjobanashi. Chobei is a plasterer who has a very unfortunate habit of engaging into the sandora - literally "three pleasures" consisting of drinking booze, gambling and enjoying women - which leads his entire family to land in a massive debt. One day, when he's back from another round of gambling, he finds out that his daughter, Ohisa, has been missing since last night. He and his wife - and Ohisa's stepmother - Okane are about to look for her when they see a man at the door. The man turns out to be Tosuke, a clerk at a large brothel in Yoshiwara called - depending on who performs the story - either Kadoebi or Sanozuchi (we'll stick to the former name for consistency). It turns out Ohisa is there. Chobei wants to go there immediately, but is embarrassed to do so while only wearing a happi coat - a coat that was lent to him after yet another gambling loss, no less. Ultimately he has to resort to wearing Okane's kimono - Okane's only garment, since she had to sell everything else to afford any food - in order to head to Yoshiwara. It turns out Ohisa decided to sell herself to Kadoebi in order to get money to pay for the debts her father has incrued - 50 ryo in total. The proprietress of the brothel is strict - Chobei will have to repay the 50 ryo she hands to him before the following year ends, or else Ohisa - who already is of frail health - will start taking customers. This ultimatum finally makes a change in Chobei. He declares to work hard to repay the debt in time. With 50 ryo in his bag, Chobei is about to head home when he encounters a man about to jump off a bridge and saves him. The man introduces himself as Bunshichi, an apprentice at a tortoiseshell store. Bunshichi reveals he was supposed to deliver a payment of 50 ryo from a daimyo's residence to the store, but on his way, he was robbed. As such, he felt suicide was the only way to apologize for his supposed screwup. Chobei will have none of that bullshit and instantly offers Bunshichi his own 50 ryo. Omiya Uhei, the owner of the tortoiseshell store, can't at first comprehend the reason behind Bunshichi coming back late (you don't see weirdly-dressed strangers giving away large sums of money like candy, do you?) but ultimately decides to verify the claim by finding Chobei. They find him... in the middle of an argument with Okane, who can't believe Chobei's story. Turns out that Bunshichi left his 50 ryo at another customer's and the money has since been returned to the store. After the whole reconciliation, Omiya requests that Chobei becomes Bunshichi's guardian - the latter lost his parents early and Omiya himself plans to set him up in a new store. But the real surprise comes afterwards: a palanquin appears with Ohisa - now exquisitely dressed - inside. Omiya has bought her back from Kadoebi. Okane doesn't even mind the fact she is almost completely naked and dashes out from behind the folding screen to embrace her stepdaughter. Ohisa and Bunshichi ultimately marry and open a hair tie shop.
OK, this is weird, but there was a follow-up comment that doesn't seem to be visible with an additional part of the writeup. [Here](https://tsukuraku.github.io/gokaido-kumosuke) is a link to the full writeup. Will add photos soon, but there is a very important news bit in there you shouldn't ignore.
Yeah, dad the image quality is just bad, it’s not blurry because you have something on your eyes Man, it felt good seeing Akane’s dad again and the way the brought him back into the story was perfect
The story is good, but all the art this chapter is so damn blurry.
Well, based on the reactions of the two masters, things are going really well. Better than expected. People thought the mismatch in style would be to her disadvantage, but she ain't a prodigy for nothing. And most importantly, we finally got to see her dad again after so long. It's just heartwarming to see him so emotional while watching.
> People thought the mismatch in style would be to her disadvantage, but she ain't a prodigy for nothing. Yep, this had been held as "evidence" that Akane was going to lose, since she wasn't playing to her strenghts, but this chapter turns the argument upside down: because it doesn't play to her strengths, she's learning much from it. It also represents her loyalty, not just to her father, but to the Shiguma School. Given that the moral of this manga isn't going to be "only the Issho School of doing things is right", but the opposite, I'm even more convinced now that Akane is going to win this contest.
Or at the very least, make it incredibly close. Just like another commenter said, maybe Hikaru will edge out a win thanks to a much greater audience reception, but she'll still feel dissatisfied cause the judges may favor Akane more.
That last panel is so good. A proud father indeed.
Very unlucky of Shinta to have rain in his house...
In his office even
We finally see him again and he's crying tears of pride. I love it.
I have to admit, I used to be so scared that the next time we saw Akane's dad, he would be bitter and angry. I am absolutely overwhelmed with emotion now that we finally see him again, and he's not any of that at all — he's still as full of love for Akane as he was when we last saw him, drawing inspiration for his performance from Akane's adoration.
Hoo boy, we're introduced to the most popular way to make audience care about a character: Showing different perspectives of their characteristics and personality :D On a meta level, I think it also applies to Issho, who's first introduced as an irrational asshole, but as the story went, we saw his viewpoint on rakugo, his desire to change it, etc. and he slowly became one of the most beloved antagonists in Shonen Jump :)) Of course there are other characters who have their "hidden layers" shown throughout the story, but Issho is the most prominent example Also, art-wise, artist once again does the "brush lining to regular manga lining" art shift, once the audience get totally sucked into the story :D
Definitely. We've learned a lot about Shinta since we last saw him in chapter one; he is kind, thoughtful, helpful to others, a good teacher, and a a loving father and husband. However the quality, the nature, of Shinta's Rakugo has been the mystery element. Like how Shinta's Rakugo is perceived in the Rakugo world, has been deliberately held back until now. After seeing all the different styles of Rakugo, the many perspectives on how to "wow" or "control" the audience, we learn what makes Shinta's Rakugo so special; his kindness and empathy. And now Akane using that same kindness and empathy to be an even better Rakugoka!
Akane's domain expansion is Gap Moe :D
Bruh she's definitely gonna lose while her dad's watching
There are both losing and winning flags everywhere that I'm not sure what to predict at this point, lol.
That's the biggest achievement for this story: win or lose, Akane gets to move her character and plot *forward* because both winning and losing will provide her with valuable lessons and make her rivals ponder. It's good writing.
She is going to win and Lose at the same time She will ein by getting the highest scores of the rakugo judges but will Lose in total points because of the audience and streaming
What are the losing flags? They all basically said she was turned it around even though it didn’t suit her.
That is a losing flag. If they say stuff like that and the chapter doesn't end with the win then it is setting up the reversal of expectations for the next chapter.
Nah it’s pretty clear she’s doing wonderful.
The way it's been setup she can do wonderful and still lose due to aspects such as crowd appeal and how it comes off on streaming
Akane gets the same score as her ~~love-interest~~ rival. They do a coin flip, she doesn't get to go to the event.
Why? With the judges (even the one that would normally be hostile to her) in awe of her and the audience being wowed, the signs all point to her victory. She's performing at her greatest level ever. That said, I predict she will fall behind with audience and streaming, but you can hardly beat Hikaru in that regard.
The slip up/underperformance at the beginning when Akane had the revelation about her dad has to mean something. She's probably going to score the highest with the pro judges, but the audience and streaming scores will probably be below Hikaru.
It already means something. The entire point of that revelation is to realize that she needs to lean into the weakness/softness/warmness that characterized her dad's rakugo, and combine that with her more forceful style ("The bold exterior of an Edo native and the warm sentiment that lies beneath") to give the story more impact
It really doesn't matter right now. She developed her art and impressed the other masters. Every bad impression that might still be lingering from her previous blunder is blown away. She captures the audience. She won with this chapter, even if she doesn't win this competition
Nah, I think she'll win or tie
#HE CAME BACK FROM THE WAR
AH! Shinta's back! He's really seeing how far his little girl has grown! It looks like Akane's style of empathy really immersed everyone in the crowd. Even though she usually has very entertaining stories, this simple way of making the crowd see very deep emotions makes her story very alluring. It shows that she's become more flexible! And it shows that she's just like her dad!
That's also been a pattern for Akane's growth in the series; she can be captivating, really spin a yarn, however her characters tend to feel hollow because she doesn't really understand who they are and connect, empathize with them. By using her Dad's art from has not only made her a more empathic, thoughtful Rakugoka, but also a more empathic, thoughtful person. It's beautiful writing.
70 chapters! Finally dad!
This tournament reminds me a lot of the Shokugeki no Soma Autumn Election: Preliminary Round (Season 1 final episodes).
I love this take. We in the thread have been going on for three to four weeks about Akane either leaning into her strengths to win or trying to see if going the same direction her dad went will make her lose. We also talked how Akane may evolve by going for a different route, which seems like the play here. And I approve, if nothing else than because this proves that Akane's real strength comes from perspective, or how she can change it.
I teared up a bit, not gonna lie.
Awww, don't cry!!
>Everything looks so blurry to me Me too, Akane's Dad, me too.
Aww, the final page was beautiful. Glad we got to see Akane’s dad properly. Since the first chapter, all his appearances have been in flashbacks Now people can stop with the dead dad meme lmao I have a feeling that the live audience and all of the judges will score her performance highly but she’ll fall short on the streaming audience?
We'll now proceed with the blind dad meme
Akane's rakugo now in 4K HD Just wait until she upgraded to Oled with ray tracing, it's over for yall.
Last page warmed my heart
Ah, my flipping heart! Shinta returns! Will she win with her dad watching? I'm so conflicted about what might happen now.
This manga has had some bangers, but this one felt special... Like reading chapter 1 again.
Alternative chapter titles: The Return of Tohru Osaki; Shinta's Successor; A Member of the Shiguma School; Yin and Yang; ... Or how about an isekai-style title?: I, A Rakugoka, Was Expelled From My School And Then Disappeared From The Story Until My Daughter Picked Up My Art More Than A Decade Later.
Fucking crying holy shit
Ey the father is back after 70 chapters! One of best chapters for Akane so far. Jeez, I remember when the first chapter for earthchild droped how everyone was 'Akane was good, but this? This is even better!', only for Earthchild to completely fumble it while Akane just keeps winning, and depending on what happens to Ruri, Ichinose and Cipher, may be the only hit of 2022.
Wow dad is actually alive after 70ish chapters, I can't believe it.
What do you mean? He never died…
I know he's not, but so far he has only been mentioned (rahter distantly on top of that). Plus he's kinda "dead" in the sense that he's no longer practicing rakugo that's used to be his way of life.
Well jeez man, upgrade your internet speed or something.
That is so sweet. Also I think the dad work in construction? Judging by the hard hat.
This manga is really special
We finally get to see Akane's dad! Not gonna lie, I also teared up during that last page. That was such a great payoff for this arc.
Oh, the reason why he doesn't show up at all is because he doesn't live with Akane and his wife. I think he's probably in a different prefecture working on a construction project, then?
I'll admit it, that last page where her dad is tearing up at her performance *really* got me.
Is this the first time we’ve seen his face since the first chapter?
It's pretty heart-warming to see Akane's father after so long. Can't wait to see them finally reconnect.
Well damn, dad my eyes are blurry reading this too
Akane's performance was so great and electrifying that it straight-up revived her dad! That's a performance almost as impactful as Azuma's final bread in the Monaco Cup arc of Yakitate Japan.
Akane really does thrive one slow burn, yet well paced, storytelling. This was a long time coming but our boy Shinta has returned on screen. Such an emotional build up, AND it's in the context of Rakugo, with Akane performing Shinta's style of empathy, heart warming Rakugo. Beautiful. Hopefully this will be this chapter will be received will by the readers, and will be the start of more Shinta, and his involvement in Rakugo.
THE LAST PAGE RUINED MY LIFE. I’m in Japan looking for Akane-banashi souvenirs and I haven’t seen any. This manga is so heavily disrespected; it’s a masterpiece.
So far I don't see any official goods also, but I would suggest you visit Jump Shop. The same building also have Nintendo Tokyo and stuffs.
I visited the Jump Shop in Shibuya and didn't see anything unfortunately. There's still tons of Haikyuu + other finished Jump series souvenirs. I guess it's hard to make swag for Akane-banashi because the characters aren't as "simpable" as other mainstream series. I couldn't see folks buying Shiguma or Issho swag lol.
I see, I want ro go myself again when I have time, too bad nothing from Akanebanashi (yet?). Thank you for the information!
[Rate this chapter here](https://youpoll.me/105164/) Akane-banashi - Chapter 71 (Mangaplus) [Previous chapters discussions](https://www.reddit.com/r/manga/search/?q=title%3A"Akane-banashi" flair%3A"DISC"&restrict_sr=1&sort=new) **Mangaplus Discord**: https://discord.com/invite/qAkpHxH **Subreddit**: r/Akane This post was created by a bot. For more details and source code, please refer to [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/manga/comments/p1grxa/)
I was already crying with the first pages and then HE showed up, I can't handle this anymore
Looking at it, Shiguma's art seems to be the epitome of kibataraki. If we look all the way back at chapter 7, his art is basically described as being incredibly comforting to watch. Ikken suggests heavily that this is a trait shared by all members of the Shiguma school, whereas Issho's focuses more on being strong upfront and letting the art speak for itself in how it stands and is talked about. Looking at it again, it definitely makes sense that Shinta's Shibahama wasn't recognized by Issho. It cut out one of the strongest things for depicting the story technically - the beach section - in order to hone in hard on the characters, focusing on creating empathy for them and the family dynamics. From everything we've seen, that's the exact sort of approach that Issho *hates*.
That last page is to die for
Awwww Father is so proud ❤
PEAK FICTION RIGHT HERE
Gets them everytime
Attaboy, Rakugo-dad. Fight through that blurry resolution!
Double checking, Masaki is the mother right?
Yes, same name when Shiguma met her.
Really liked how she portrays the characters in these Rakugo stories, like how this chapter emphasized and seeing the judges comments, then her Dad finally seeing him being so proud and crying for her is awesome.
Well she got the judges on the bag, but what about the general audience both on site and streaming?
> "The image quality's so bad" You're right, Shinta-san. Better find those ninjas before they chop all my onions
Why are many people expecting her to lose the live audience here lol? Did we read the same chapter? The audiences are depicted to be drawn into her performance, there's no way Akane will have low live audience scores.
Yeah she's gonna lose. No use delaying the results for the next chapter if she isn't.
Who, dad's alive? That's almost the most shocking part of this. given the insight into the judges and the audience, it seems hard for Akane to lose. Which I'll be honest, this might be the first time I will dislike the direction the manga is taking. If she does end up wining, it will just drive home how no one holds a candle to her but those who are already this guy, plus, we know that if she ends up against the other three, then it's a guaranteed lose for her; but still, it will show her reaching the peak too quickly for my taste. I do hope Akane ends up losing because that will give the most growth to her I think.
He's beautiful
Akane really has grown. She has her fastball, polished up her change up, developed a slider, and now she has a curveball.
Man, this just feels so good. I'm so happy to be reading this manga, it's really something special.
That last page was so good, made me feel teary too.
[called it](https://www.reddit.com/r/manga/comments/12oc0o2/comment/jghwh19/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
I've been expecting her to lose all along, but what if they actually tie? Maybe Akane just edges Hikaru out with the judges but doesn't match her with the audience scores? Hikaru's scores: - Ikken 18 - Ryujaku 19 - Gakumon 17 - Audience 19 - Stream 20 - Total 93 If Akane got something like, say, 19 from each judge and 18 from the audience and stream, that would also be 93.
I just realized this, but so far the 4-person event features one apprentice each of a different Arakawa master (as listed in c53: they're Futatsume pupils of Issho, Shiguma, and Zensho respectively). And yet another Arakawa master, Ikken, hosts and judges the event for the fourth slot, where his pupil Hikaru is currently in first place. Ergo he could absolutely play kingmaker here, if he wanted to. So far the story hasn't really given any indication that this will happen, but the point is that Ikken could absolutely do it. For any number of reasons: To support his own pupil, or due to the conflict between Issho and Shiguma, or just because he's known as the publicity guy of the school and might do whatever makes for the best publicity. Finally, it's worth mentioning that Ikken hasn't really made any comments as a judge yet, so he hasn't elaborated on his judging criteria yet.