At the risk of removing the need to read any further: Akane-banashi Episode 1 is a pitch-perfect first episode. Missing out on this premiere– especially given its availability for free on YouTube – would be a gross miscalculation for anime fans. The episode, titled “That Day,” expertly adapts the manga’s also excellent first chapter with style and flourish to stand out in comparison. With the art of Rakugo and the way its performers adapt stories, this anime adaptation too shows how simple tweaks can make a work stand out in a new way.
This is just the prologue.
Akane-banashi Episode 1 is entirely about setting up the stage. This episode defines the relationship between the protagonist, Akane Osaki (Anna Nagase), and her father, apprentice Rakugo artist Shinta (Jun Fukuyama), and how that draws her into the art form. That also includes the story’s inciting incident, which changes Shinta’s life forever and puts Akane on the path she will follow for the rest of the series.
The setup and knocking down of these details make up a performance of its own. Throughout the episode, viewers stay mostly within Shinta’s mind and see his anxieties about his promotion test firsthand. The more shonen anime one watches, the more obvious what the team at Zexys is working to accomplish. Shinta is being set up as a hero overcoming his limits to succeed in the face of an insurmountable wall and every beat of the animation continually reinforces this. And all of this work is in service of making the final moments of his test hit like a truck.
Some characters have to wait their turn.
While Akane-banahsi Episode 1 rightfully maintains its introduction from the manga, there is a downside. Akane herself is more of a passenger despite also being its narrator. Of course, her headstrong nature shines through and, as the story continues, it will go on to show why she’s currently one of Shonen Jump’s best female characters.
But that doesn’t mean anything to a newcomer to the show. Hopefully, the energetic OP that plays at the end of the episode to tie off this prologue is enough to sell her character.
Additionally, none of Akane-banashi’s other characters get much to work with, save for perennial antagonist Issho Arakawa (Akio Otsuka), who becomes Akane’s direct target at the end of the premiere. It’s not surprising to see him suck the oxygen out of the room, given his character must serve as both an ongoing mystery and threat in equal measure. Even establishing what Rakugo properly is takes a back seat to establishing the core relationship of the series, but that, in particular, may be an issue of cultural divides.
Akane-banashi Episode 1 is a demonstration of great adaptation.
Because, despite not having a character look directly at the screen and explain what Rakugo is, Akane-banashi Episode 1 does a stellar job showing why it matters. One of the greatest strengths of the manga’s writer Yuki Suenaga and illustrator Takamasa Moue is their ability to create intense and gorgeous moments simply through characters’ speech and close-ups on facial expressions. Animation directors Hisashi Kagawa and Norie Tanaka (doubling as character designer), along with their teams, step up to meet this energy and go beyond it.
Most of this leveling up is done in subtle ways: extending the moments when Akane and Shinta share screen time, methodically animating each motion of Shinta’s performance, and showing Issho’s gait as he takes the stage to ruin some lives. At the same time, right in the middle is a fantastic first-person perspective of Shinta nervously taking the stage. These moments go to show the value of adaptation, how giving other storytellers the reins can offer a new perspective or refine something familiar. In that way, Akane-banashi Episode 1 shows what rakugo is without having to tell us.
It’s free to watch!
As a day-one reader of the manga, seeing Akane-banashi getting a quality adaptation is a joy. It’s also a challenge. Between dense subject matter – notably, this episode is one of the few moments when the story being performed is not critical to the plot – and a strange distribution method, this anime has an uphill battle ahead. Yet, with a premiere this strong, having a completely legal and sanctioned YouTube link to give to people might be exactly what Akane-banashi needs. Hopefully. that’s the case, because this first episode promises great things if this series succeeds.
Akane-banashi is available now on YouTube and on Netflix beginning in May.
Featured images ©Hiroki Suenaga and Takamasa Umagami/Shueisha, “Akane Banashi” Production Committee
REVIEW RATING
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'Akane-banashi' Episode 1 – "That Day" - 10/10
10/10
Travis Hymas is a freelance writer and self appointed Pokémon historian out of Salt Lake City, Utah. Known to be regularly obessive over pop culture topics, gaming discourse, and trading card games, he is a published critic featured on sites such as Uppercut and The Young Folks.
