Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū Ep 5 recap
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| The fateful goodbye between brothers in Ep 5... |
In which Suke-Miyo migrated to Shikoku, Shisho Yakumo VII died, Kiku went to Shikoku to fetch Suke back to Tokyo... and a heart-stopping presentation of Kikuhiko licking Miyokichi's face for Ep 6 next week...
The year was 1955. Kiku’s rakugo became more famous. One day, when he was performing Shinagawa Shinju, Kiku knew that Suke was visiting his show. Kiku caught Suke and had a talk.
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| Source |
Kiku asked Suke to apologise to Shisho, the latter refused. Suke then told the story of Sukeroku I, his first shisho. Kiku informed Suke about something next month, but the latter couldn’t care less. Suke did give Kiku his “Sukeroku” fan.
Suke then returned back drunk to his shack called ‘home’ and lay on the floor, wasted. Miyo came home as well with sake. She kissed Suke yet she commented how soft Kiku’s lips ("like the lips of a girl!") were when she kissed her former boyfriend way back. I think Suke asked Miyo to forget Kiku. Miyo replied back, asking Suke to forget Rakugo and went back to Shikoku with her. For their unborn child.
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| No comment... cos this shouldn't have happened... |
Suke kissed Miyo and then started to dot dot dot, but the camera clearly showed Kiku’s old walking stick leaning against a table in that room.
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| Apparently, Miyo still kept Kiku's old walking stick despite living with Suke... |
Later, Yakumo VII’s wife died (sad scenes but Kiku did look very cute with the suit!). Hatsuta didn’t come to the wake/funeral despite Kiku’s hope. Shisho VII later told Kiku that he’d give the Yakumo mantle to Kiku. The young shin’iuchi said that he didn’t deserve it, that the mantle should go to Suke instead. Shisho rejected the idea, saying that Suke’s rakugo has no place in the yose.
Later, O-Ei met Kiku at the yose, asking if he knew where Miyo was. When Kiku honestly said no, O-ei said that Miyo stole some money from her shop (in the manga, that day would be the last day O-ei’s establishment as a geisha place. It would be a normal restaurant afterwards). O-Ei's flashback showed her visiting Miyo's place to find the place empty. Miyo even left Kiku's old walking stick there, indicating she did want to leave her past behind.
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| O-Ei found Miyo's place empty but for some old clothes and Kiku's old walking stick |
Perplexed that Miyo would actually steal and that she has left Tokyo, Kiku later walked home. I'm not sure if O-Ei actually told Kiku about Miyo leaving his old walking stick behind... but as Kiku walked home, he did stop for a while to look at his walking stick given by Miyo. As he got home, he found Suke waiting pitifully in the snow.
Suke told Kiku that he’d leave Tokyo. By then, Kiku had hazard a guess that Suke was living with Miyo. Kiku looked disappointed when he learned that Miyo was carrying Suke’s child. However, Kiku was livid when he learned that Suke would cast away his rakugo and the Yakumo mantle. Kiku yelled at Suke for letting go of his rakugo, Suke yelled back at Kiku. Their short-lived fight ended with both in tears. Kiku pondered how he’d always follow Suke’s back, but it was no longer the case this time. In tears, he hugged his surrogate brother and asked him not to forget Rakugo, whatever he chooses to do.
Buhuhuhuuu!!! Tears!!!
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| 何をしてもいいよ。けど。。。落語だけはやめるな。 "It doesn't matter whatever you do... but please don't cast away your Rakugo." |
Outside Kiku’s house, Miyo stood with an umbrella under the snow. Later after Suke left Kiku’s house, Miyo smiled at Suke and gave him her scarf. Suke refused it and gave it back to Miyo. They walked away together, while Kiku recited a rakugo story in his room (to get his mind away from the problem, I suppose).
Whaaaaa!!! More tears! Suke did really love Miyo...
Fast-forward to 1963. Kikuhiko was now famous. He gave more press conferences, but he still couldn't smile, and he became more stern, towards the attitude of Yamada Haruhiko - I mean, the old Yakumo VIII we saw in Ep 1.
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| Kikuhiko, the "No, I cannot smile" rakugo master |
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| If I were the reporter, I wouldn't dare to ask this Shisho any question! |
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| Yep, I'd run away! |
Shisho Yakumo VII was still performing, but Kiku noticed something wrong with Shisho’s last performance, for it ended too soon.
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| Kiku's expression is eerily similar to Yamada Haruhiko's (screen cap credit to Kaori Wangi) |
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| Yep, this is the Shōwa Yamada when he detected something wrong (screen cap by Kaori Wangi) |
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| Something is soooo wroooong... (screen cap by Kaori Wangi) |
After the show, Kiku hurried up to the hospital. Shisho woke up and told his student his regret regarding Suke’s first teacher. Apparently, Shisho knew Sukeroku's first teacher ("Sukeroku I"), for this person used to study with Shisho's father (the 6th Yakumo). Shisho knew that Sukeroku I was a very talented rakugo story teller, but Shisho asked his father (Yakumo VI) to give the Yakumo mantle to himself (as the son). Sukeroku I later left the school and became destitute. When the young Hatsutaro came to Shisho VII and presented the Sukeroku fan, Shisho knew his past had returned to haunt him.
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| Kiku stunned when learning about his shisho's past (Source) (btw, OMG how gorgeous was Okada Masaki here?!) |
Later, Shisho died, leaving Kiku alone. Kiku kept doing rakugo and he’s still well received despite Shisho’s recent passing. Yet, in a very potent Shinigami performance, Kiku realised that, although he had arrived at that emptiness that was familiar and comforting for him, he still needed Suke's Rakugo to define him (many thanks to Kaori Wangi for noticing this line!).
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| 怖い。誰もいないような気がする。やっとつかんだはずの居場所なのに。 "Scary. It feels that no one is here. This is the state that one should grasp at last." |
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| 「助六に会いたい。もう一度助六の落語を取り戻さなくてはならない。」 "I want to see Sukeroku again. Once again, I need to have his Rakugo back." |
Thus, when the Head of Association persuaded Kiku to receive the Yakumo mantle, Kiku realised he had to get Suke back. When Kiku visited O-Ei for some clue, the former geisha establishment owner gave Kiku a postcard from Miyo, sent from a village in Shikoku. Miyokichi practically begged to be found...
Thus Kiku set for Shikoku (wearing a jacket suit two sizes too big for him. Where was his black wake suit? It was tailor-suited for his lean figure better! Oh, better, borrow Yamada Haruhiko's suits instead!). In the village where Miyo sent the postcard from, Kiku asked around for a place where people can attend a rakugo show; he was shown to an udon restaurant. Kiku went there and found a little girl performing a rakugo that had 100% Sukeroku prints on it.
The girl was Konatsu.
Konatsu originally didn’t want to interact with Kiku, but after the shopkeeper realised who Kiku was (the famous rakugo master from Tokyo), Konatsu flipped and started chatting. Kiku asked where the girl’s parents were; she said dad was at home but she didn’t know where mum was. Kiku later followed the girl home. He found a house that could’ve looked pretty, but at the moment looked un-kept.
Fuming, Kiku shouted at Sukeroku, telling him to get out of the house and do his job as a dad, for Konatsu shouldn’t be doing what she was doing; working for a living in lieu of his dad.
(this scene looked very much like in the manga, with Masaki's Kiku shouted out loud with a thundering belly-voice)
The shoji opened abruptly to reveal the dishevelled Suke. Flummoxed, Suke stumbled out and ran towards Kiku to hug him. However, Kiku slapped Suke with his bag instead before he eventually returned the latter’s embrace with his own (but not before saying how smelly Suke was). All the while, Konatsu wondered what the heck was happening.
And then there’s next week’s trailer!
OMG OMG OMG! Have you seen Okada Masaki LICKING the face of a woman??? I had never seen it until I saw Ep 6 trailer, and for a moment my heart stopped beating.
Masaki – I mean Kiku – licked Miyo’s face just like in the manga, and then he French-kissed her!
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| Like, seriously, Kiku LICKS Miyo's face in the Ep 6 trailer! |
But before I recovered from such a hot shock, I was given the scene where Kiku tried to rescue Miyo and Suke and failed...
【#昭和元禄落語心中】— ＮＨＫドラマ (@nhk_dramas) November 9, 2018
✿ 再放送 と 次回予告 ✿
激動の＜第５話＞の再放送は、
14日(水) 午前1時30分 (火曜深夜)です。
そして、第6話の予告編も
早速公開！お楽しみにっ✿https://t.co/422MNboW5A pic.twitter.com/OTttiKrA0i
I guess it will be a turbulent episode next week…
Comments:
Cannot give comments now. Still giggling from the scene where Kiku hit Suke with his bag… and also recovering from the Kiku-licking-Miyo scene…
When Okada Masaki is finally doing his long-awaited M++ movie, I am not sure I can actually handle his hotness…
More comments:
Okay, now that I've sort of overcome my shock re: the licking scene (but I still think the scene is worth-waiting and worth repeating), I think this episode is another beautiful SGRS episode. I'm thankful for the discussion with Kaori Wangi who noticed that in the famous post-Yakumo VII's death's Shinigami, Kiku actually thought of how he needed to see Sukeroku again, that he needed to get the latter's Rakugo back. In the manga and anime, Kiku didn't think of this line after delivering that Shinigami performance. In the manga, Kiku told Suke later in Shikoku, but not after the former performed Shinigami.
The appearance of Konatsu definitely made the last act more important. The fact that Miyo still kept Kiku's old walking stick at the beginning of the episode was something I truly appreciate, for that stick (and Kiku's new stick) wasn't even mentioned in the manga. It's also interesting that Miyo left that old walking stick behind, for it meant that she really wanted to start anew with Suke.
