Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū Episode 1 recap
The episode started with Yakumo dreaming while he was driven by his driver and butler Matsuda-san to a theatre for a Rakugo performance. The dream was about Sukeroku and Miyokichi; he as a young Kikuhiko was talking to the latter, but someone killed her. Kiku suddenly looked back and saw a child falling down the stairs.
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| The episode started with Yakumo having a dream of his past |
After the show, Yotaro came to see the old man Yakumo. After a begging session, Yota was invited into Yakumo’s car. Matsuda-san was the family driver and butler. Like Alfred Pennyworth.
Yakumo introduced Yotaro to Konatsu who had been busy listening to the performance tape of Hatsutaro (aka Sukeroku, Konatsu's dad) (she turned the tape off before Yakumo arrived). Yotaro listened to the story of fame of Sukeroku from Matsuda-san (Matsuda-san reminded me of Alfred Pennyworth, the loyal driver and butler of Bruce Wayne). That night, elated with his good luck, the young rascal Yotaro slept snoring as Yakumo pensively examined an old fan.
The next morning, Yakumo took Yotaro to Asakusa, made the rascal wear kimono, then Yakumo portrayed the Shinigami story. At night, Yotaro asked Konatsu to portray her father’s Shinigami. She did. Yakumo came in and was about to smoke when Yotaro blabbered about Konatsu’s skills. Yakumo was angry that Konatsu kept performing Rakugo in secret. He again banned Konatsu from Rakugo; the girl got mad and almost jumped to strangle (or at least to hit) Yakumo, but Yota stopped her. I think Konatsu said, "You killed him!" (Omae ga koroshitanda!) - which meant that she accused Yakumo of killing her dad. Or... that Konatsu challenged Yakumo to just kill her.
Yakumo said nothing, just heaving heavy breaths...
The next morning, Yakumo took Yotaro to see Higuchi Eisuke, an old Rakugo writer, n while he did so, he remembered Miyokichi/Yurei. Natsuko flipped over an old album that contained photos of her dad and Yakumo/Kikuhiko.
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| Yakumo took Yotaro to visit Higuchi Eisuke |
Later, Yakumo had dinner with Higuchi’s assistant. Yotaro got drunk during dinner that night, which was funny, but it made Yakumo remember his old friend Sukeroku (I think because Yotaro had Sukeroku's rebellious and carefree traits).
Later, Yakumo reprimanded Yotaro (for losing control?), but then he said something which made Yotaro hugged him. It seems Yakumo allowed Yotaro to do a short performance, thus the hug. Yakumo calmly pushed Yotaro away by saying “Yamenasai.” It was funny; I can easily picture the manga or anime scene here.
For some reasons, Natsuko took an old photo of her dad n Yakumo, then she cut it in two.
The day after, Yotaro started performing a Rakugo actor for 5 min. People fell asleep. Natsuko was on the back seat. She met Higuchi sensei again. She asked if he remembers Sukeroku (her dad).
Later, Konatsu asked Yakumo about Sukeroku. I think she said that she was worried that everything about her father had died. With eyes glinting in determination, Yakumo performed Sukeroku in front of her, just as Sukeroku would, with his expressions too. Konatsu cried. Yakumo later told Konatsu that Sukeroku would always live; through her and through the Rakugo.
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| Yakumo before performing a snippet of Sukeroku's Rakugo |
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| Yakumo after performing Sukeroku's Rakugo for Konatsu (Masaki was sweating here ^_^) |
Later, Konatsu tried to wake Yotaro up n found out he had a tattoo. Dunno what they talked about, but Konatsu was a bit angry (because Yotaro had a tattoo, perhaps). The next morning, Yotaro got a visit from his aniki. Aniki was about to make a verbal mess when Yakumo came out and tackled him verbally. Yakumo even invited the aniki to watch a Takugo today, which would be perfomed by Yota (!). The whole family (which includes Konatsu and Matsuda) came to see Yota performing. Yota performed unexpectedly well, such that Yakumo’s eyes glint in delight. Yota’s aniki was also impressed. In the end, Yota stayed with Yakumo as his apprentice.
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| Yakumo and his god-daughter Konatsu after watching Yota's first show |
Three months later, Yota was immersing himself more in Rakugo. Then suddenly Konatsu told him that he would need to perform a Rakugo in three days. Panic, Yotaro practiced Rakugo for three days non-stop; which drove the family mad because of his incessant practice.
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| Yotaro practicing his Rakugo lines while doing chores (as Yakumo tried to exercise patience) |
On the third night, Yota was scheduled to perform an opening Rakugo before Yakumo (It was an impressive poster Yakumo had, but I didn’t capture it in time). However, during the show, Yota didn’t capture the audience’s attention. The next performance was Higuchi sensei’s assistant, which captured the audience attention.
Dejected, Yota entered Yakumo’s ready room and apologised for his performance to Yakumo, who was making a prayer. “Hanashi koto wa nai! Stop talking!”, warned Yakumo as he readied himself for his performance.
Yakumo’s performance was as usual stellar. However, this time Yakumo had a background noise because Yotaro, who was apparently very tired, fell asleep at the backstage and snored! Yakumo improvised. He (as the character) wondered out loud what the noise was about and made a covert message to Matsuda-san to check on Yota. At the end of the show, Yakumo bowed and said something with “yokatta”, which I think this time alluded to the fact that he was able to end the show safely despite the background noise.
This bad conduct of course put Yota on the spot. Yakumo told Yota to basically just pack his bag and leave.
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| Yakumo entering his car after telling Yota to pack and leave |
Konatsu took pity and took Yota home. At the Yakumo residence, Yota begged and begged such that Yakumo remembered that child who fell from the stairs… It was the young Yakumo before he even became Kikuhiko, before he became the student of the Seventh Generation Yakumo. The child fell from the stairs and had to beg to either continue dancing, or that he was accepted as a Rakugo student (not sure which one).
Thus, Yakumo accepted Yota’s apology, with some stern warnings a la Yakumo. I think Yakumo said that Yota knew nothing about Rakugo. Yakumo also said that he had seen two of Yota’s performances. The first one was when Yota’s aniki came; it was very good. The second one that night was very disappointing. I think Yakumo gave Yota the third chance to prove that he could do the job.
[Update 27 Oct 2018: I've purchased the English ver of the manga. I think the three promises were not what I said above. I think (without subtitles), the three promises should be the same as the one in Ch 2 manga: 1) that Yakumo will teach Yotaro his and Sukeroku's rakugo and then Yota needs to find his own rakugo; 2) Yotaro needs to rescue Rakugo in general so that the art does not vanish; 3) Yotaro (and Konatsu) must not die before Yakumo.
Then Yakumo proceeded by telling a story about his and Sukeroku's lives...]
The story ended with Yuzu’s soundtrack. I love that song. Dang, it’s not on YouTube anymore…
Okada Masaki was performing admirably here. I was impressed how he channelled a mix of Yamada Haruhiko + Nijimura Keichō vibe here, added with some layers of sorrows that only a man in his winter time knows. Masaki’s Yakumo was more… stern, if that's the word, compared to the manga version. In the manga, I have the impression that Yakumo there was still rather comical. Slightly, not too much, but still rather comical. Here in the live-action, Yakumo had an introvert, silent personality, and it was clear that he had his regrets in his past. I’m very interested to know how Masaki would revert back to the younger Yakumo in Episode 2. I think we will see Sukeroku (Yamazaki Ikusaburo) and Miyokichi (Ōmasa Aya) next week.
If you want to watch Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū streaming from NHK G, Google “NHK streaming”. It’s the fifth site on first page; it has 3-4 minutes’ time lag. I don’t want to put the link here so that the link isn’t taken down by NHK. We still have 10 weeks to go before the end of the show… it would be a disaster for me (and many overseas fans) if we cannot see the episodes in almost real-time…
Update Monday 15 October 2018:
Most viewers (if not all) who commented about Okada Masaki's performance praised him for his stellar performance. After downloading and re-watching Ep 1 last night (link is here), I reaffirm that Masaki was amazing, totally amazing as the old Yakumo. He was scaaaary... but also very frail in his regrets. His stern gaze would freeze hell. I'm not sure who will win the scary-staring contest between Yakumo, Keichō and Yamada Haruhiko. I think Yakumo will win due to his age.
Below is just a sample of a Twitter who praised Masaki's performance.
#昭和元禄落語心中 岡田将生の老け役に注目。竜星涼とのガチ演技力勝負になり凄いことに！不慣れな老け役&落語を必死に頑張っている岡田将生を見てたら、最後は愛しさ感じました。次回は山崎育三郎にも期待大！— フララ🍎ありがとう高橋優🏨🏬🏩🏪 (@sora_x11) October 14, 2018
Okadamasaki no fukeyaku ni chūmoku. Ryūseiryō to no gachi engi-ryoku shōbu ni nari sugoi koto ni! Funarena fukeyaku& rakugo o hisshi ni ganbatte iru okadamasaki o mi tetara, saigo wa aishi-sa kanjimashita. Jikai wa yamasakiikusaburō ni mo kitai dai!
"I focused my attention to Okada Masaki's old-age role. The performance became a game of power-act with Ryūsei Ryō and it was amazing! At last, upon watching Okada Masaki desperately striving for the unfamiliar old-age role and Rakugo, I felt love. I'm looking forward to Yamasaki Ikusaburō as well next time!"
Aaaaand....since Yakumo's old self is actually rather sexy, these are some funny comments from Indonesian fans who are mesmerised with Masaki's sexy old Yakumo...
Bosen liat dia muda karena pasti ganteng ternyata tuanya juga ganteng halah— merry (@kalengjelek) October 12, 2018
"I'm bored watching him (Masaki? Yakumo?) in the younger version cos he must be cute, but his old version is apparently also cute, OMG!"
And some more...
@zurayam: "WHY ARE YOU CUTE WHEN YOU'RE OLD WHEREAS YOU'RE ACTUALLY ZURA"
@whalientvxq: "crazy, whether young or old, he's eternally gorgeously handsome"
(the original Tweets sound funnier than the translation)
Until this Friday 19 Oct!
