Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju Episode Rating Graph

The Uchikutei caught fire after the performance, and Yakumo, who was alone there, was badly burned. Though he has managed to survive, his comeback will be more difficult now. And that isn't the only disaster: Tokyo's last remaining rakugo theater has burned down. A dark cloud hangs over rakugo's future, but rakugo can continue as long as the people still exist. Yotaro believes this, and begins to work on behalf of the future of rakugo. And a big change comes over Konatsu, as well…

A week after his collapse on stage, Yakumo finally awakens. But the light inside him has faded, and when he speaks next, he declares that he won't do rakugo anymore. He also quits as president of the Rakugo Association, and gives Matsuda more free time. Why would Yakumo, whose life is bound to rakugo, want to stop doing it? Meanwhile, in search of a film taken of the previous Sukeroku, Higuchi takes Yotarou and Matsuda to Shikoku. There, they learn a truth about the two old storytellers...

Hearing Yakumo's "Inokori" blasts the doubt from Yotarou's mind, and spurs his sudden rise to fame. Now, he himself is to perform that story in two months' time at a family show with Yakumo. Yakumo claims that he sees none of Yotarou himself in his rakugo, and that the character of Saheiji will be the key to unlocking his own "ego." Will Saheiji finally allow Yotarou to find his own rakugo?

A small rakugo performance takes place at an inn in a hot springs town. As he performs, Sukeroku feels the warmth of the audience's love for rakugo, and remembers what it means to be a storyteller. Kikuhiko brings and insists Sukeroku wear the 7th Generation Yakumo's montsuki, and he performs the story "Shibahama." Time, which had stopped for Sukeroku and Kikuhiko, begins to move again... As it does for Miyokichi, as well.

As eras change, one thing remains rock solid. To Yotaro, that's Yakumo. After being inspired by the "Shinigami" he heard from him in prison, he decided he'd follow him anywhere. Those straightforward words lead Yakumo to talk about rakugo and his own death. Yotaro insists that if he wants to die in the theater, he needs to do rakugo again, and invites him to perform at the prison with him. Though Yakumo hesitates at first, he eventually decides to try doing rakugo for the sake of others. less

After a performance, Sukeroku comes home drunk with girls on both arm. Work or play, he navigates all areas of life smoothly. Kikuhiko is annoyed with him, but he's also jealous of how easy he has things, while Kikuhiko himself struggles with practice for their play. Is he really cut out for rakugo? As he asks himself that question, Kikuhiko happens to run into Miyokichi, who leads him off with a mischievous grin...

After finding his own rakugo, Kikuhiko has become quite popular. Even when he's out with Miyokichi, rakugo is all he can think about. Meanwhile, Sukeroku is buoyed into arrogance by his own popularity. He takes on stories beyond his station, he picks fights with the masters... Sukeroku is dragging Kikuhiko around, complaining about the lectures he's receiving, when Miyokichi arrives to interrupt...

A magazine has exposed Yotarou's past as a former convict and member of the yakuza, plunging the rakugo world into scandal and sullying Yotarou's name. Although he continues performing as if nothing has happened, his growing desperation is coming out in his performance. He loses TV appearances, and the customers in the theaters have begun to turn on him, as well. But Yotarou's insecurities seem to come from more than just the scandal...

Kikuhiko is feeling better about himself after the success of the play, with the audience hanging on his every word and gesture. Sukeroku tells him that he had a similar experience during the war, and that ever since then, he decided that he would do rakugo for the people. He asks Kikuhiko what he's doing rakugo for, but Kikuhiko, who has always done rakugo to secure a place to live, has never even considered the question.

After their first performance, Kikuhiko sharply feels the difference in skill between himself and Hatsutaro. Hatsutaro recommends he try erotic stories, but Kikuhiko is struggling so hard just to memorize the beginner stories, he can't even begin to consider anything else. The fact that he has to go to school in the mornings causes the gap between him and Hatsutaro, who can spend the day learning rakugo, to grow wider. Even so, he gradually comes to love rakugo more and more, and to develop something of a normal life. But the shadow of the war approaches, tearing rakugo, love, and friendship apart...