Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju – Episode 4

Shh—don’t tell anyone, but I may have dropped another 1500 words on the rakugo anime. Again.

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If the past two episodes were about building the bonds and demonstrating the importance of Kikuhiko’s makeshift rakugo family, then this one is about showing how those bonds could one day unravel. Yakumo’s story has always carried a strong undercurrent of longing and melancholy, but this is the first time we’ve really felt a creeping sense of dread, that we’re on the roller coaster ramp climbing to an inevitable fall. We’ve known it was coming since we got in line, but that’s not gonna make the drop any easier.

Click here for the oh-so-full post on Anime Evo!

Rule of Three Review: Winter 2016 Anime Digest

I’m not as cold about this winter season as I worried I’d be, but…

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You may have noticed the distinct lack of “Rule of Three” posts over the last week, and there’s an odd reason for that. While I’m still watching way too many shows, and still enjoying them for the most part, there’s surprisingly little to actually say about them. With a few exceptions, this is a fluffy (or maybe “trashy”) kind of season, more entertaining than expected but difficult to review because a lot of it boils down to “it’s fun and I kinda like it.”

So rather than force myself to find 2-4 paragraphs worth of things to say about 10 new series (sequels don’t get Rule of Three Reviews), I figured I’d just write 1-2 about each of them. Digest post, go!

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Rule of Three Review(ish): Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju

And here we have an announcement that will surprise absolutely no one.

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Despite extra work hours and winter illnesses and basketball games and frankly not having the time to cover another series this season, especially one as dense and historically grounded as Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju… I am, in fact, doing exactly that! Because I love this show and I want to talk about it. So screw sleep. I can sleep in the spring.

I’m covering this one over at Anime Evo, so click here for the full post, where I lay out the overarching story for any newcomers and then dig into the narrative and cinematographic choices of the third episode. Come along, friends. We’re gonna have ourselves a grand old bleary-eyed time.

Panning the Stream: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, Active Raid, Norn9

Excuse me while I flail a bit.

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I said during my Erased meet ‘n’ greet that there were two new shows that pinged on my radar this season, and we just found the second one, and it did not disappoint. There’s other stuff, too, and some of it was pretty okay and some of it was pretty bland, but really, I’m mostly here to talk about historical fiction and performance art. Hit the jump for words so glowing you could warm your hands on them.

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