Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

## Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu **Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu** (昭和元禄落語心中) is a 2016 anime television series produced by Deen, adapted from Haruko Kumota's manga. It is widely regarded as one of the finest dramas in all of anime — a deeply literary, elegantly constructed story set across multiple generations of Japanese history, centered on the traditional art of rakugo (solo comedic storytelling performance). The series received near-universal critical acclaim and earned the rare distinction of being considered better than the source material it adapts. A recently released convict who goes by Yotarou falls in love with rakugo performance while in prison. Upon release, he tracks down the eighth-generation Yakumo — one of the greatest living rakugo masters and a man who has deliberately outlived his art — and demands to become his apprentice. Yakumo reluctantly agrees, and as he begins to teach, the series shifts into an extended flashback: the story of the young Yakumo and his best friend Sukeroku, two dramatically different performers who rose together during Japan's Showa era. Their rivalry, their love for the same woman, and the tragedy that defined both their lives unfolds in what amounts to an anime tour de force of character and atmosphere. The series' central performances — including extraordinary voice acting that recreates actual rakugo routines — are unlike anything else in the medium.