Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū

Episode 10

Five years after Kikuhiko's climactic confrontation with a desolate Sukeroku, Tokyo seems shrouded in a permanently overcast sky. Kikuhiko, more stone-faced than ever, continues to garner acclaim as a shin'uchi. He must be in his 30s now, but he already has to chase wannabe apprentices off his doorstep. He hasn't seen Sukeroku since that fateful day. The only meaningful connection he has left seems to be his master and adoptive father, the senior Yakumo. This becomes a problem when the old man's health begins to fail.

This episode highlights a character that I had previously neglected to write about – Yakumo Sr. It turns out that he has his own complex character to factor into the show's tragedy. Remember Sukeroku's caretaker, the previous person to take the name Sukeroku? He was an apprentice alongside the current Yakumo, but something happened to force him out of the Rakugo Associaton. Well, we finally learn the details here. The current Yakumo – son of the previous one – was initially ambivalent about inheriting his father's name. That all changed when an impassioned new apprentice – the former Sukeroku – arrived. Jealous of his rival's talents, Yakumo Sr. began studying rakugo in earnest. However, it was too late for him to catch up, and Sukeroku Sr. was sure to inherit the Yakumo name. Desperate to remain the favored son, Yakumo Sr. eventually pressured his father into promising him the name publicly. It was obviously unfair, but nobody would outwardly object to the family head passing his legacy on to his biological son. Disgusted, Sukeroku Sr. left the association. But even though he won the fight for his name, Yakumo Sr. remained dissatisfied. So when our own Sukeroku arrived, Yakumo Sr. took him in, but remained unable to hide his resentment of the boy's relationship with Sukeroku Sr. These feelings eventually manifested as a refusal to pass the Yakumo name on to Sukeroku Jr. He chose Kikuhiko as his heir specifically to deny Sukeroku from touching his family's legacy. This is all told over images of tree branches, implying both genealogy and the tragedy's deep roots across the generations. In the end, this entire conflict over the name was the product of a personal grudge as much institutional resilience.

Now terminally ill, Yakumo Sr. is filled with regrets. He considers both Kikuhiko and Sukeroku Jr. his children, and he pushed one of them away with his selfish pride. Finally understanding his master – who he only recently accepted as a father – Kikuhiko comes to terms with him as an individual. He was a deeply flawed person who nonetheless took care of his adopted children. Soon after Kikuhiko and Yakumo Sr. come to terms with one another, the master dies. Kikuhiko is, at last, a fully self-reliant adult by society's standards.

This is all reflected by Yakumo Sr.'s signature performance, concerning an absentee father who returns to his family repentant at a later date. The fact that I don't speak Japanese gives me some trouble interpreting this one. A lot of the meaning seems to be wrapped up in the final wordplay on hammer and clamp, which the English translation does not clarify. Lacking that nuance, I'm not sure whether the father returns to a dysfunctional family out of obligation or an instantly accepting one thanks to the presence of his child. They'd say two different things in light of Yakumo Sr.'s character – the former would make it a story about a person reaping what he has sown (true to Yakumo's situation) and the latter a reassuring story about a family's emotional reparation (a fantasy for Yakumo). Either way, like every rakugo performance in this show, it is an expression of his individuality.

Yakumo Sr.'s wake is the first time that we get to see Shinigami, Kikuhiko's specialty, play out in full. Kikuhiko selects it because he wants to memorialize his father honestly through his own rakugo, making the story a summation of Yakumo Sr.'s life as seen by his adopted son. It's about a man who makes a deal with a god of death in order to become a renowned physician. But when the man attempts to cheat death – going against the rules of their agreement – the Shinigami turns the tables on the man, killing him. As I interpret it, the story is about the folly of a man who thinks that he can cheat one of the essential truths of the world. “Humanity is subject to death, death is not at the service of humanity.” This general message applies throughout the show in a number of ways. Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū is populated by individuals who think that they can deny the reality of their situation without consequences. The Rakugo Association wants to exist unchanging as an institution, despite the fact that television and radio are rapidly eclipsing it as popular entertainment. They live in denial of their own impending obsoletion. Yakumo Sr.'s pettiness made him squander the opportunity to connect with one of his two adopted sons, Sukeroku. As he nursed his own ego over a decades-long feud, the candle of his life burnt down. Now it looks like Kikuhiko will do the same thing, isolating himself in self-pity. He's already declared himself alone after Yakumo Sr.'s death. (Way to diss your manservant Matsuda there, buddy.) He'll continue to deny his desire for human connection (and Sukeroku's company specifically) until it's too late. Only then will he realize that he's wasted his life. In this way, the story represents Kikuhiko burying himself alive. In the end, he admits that he has “finally obtained the solitude that he always sought.” He has declared himself dead while alive and content to stay that way.

If he sticks this out to the end, it'll be the worst possible fate for him. Fortunately, there's still hope. While future Kikuhiko seems like a lonely, bitter dude, he's not actually dead yet, and he seems to be making a gesture towards growth by supporting Yotaro and Konatsu. Speaking of Konatsu, we finally meet her when Kikuhiko does. Following his master's death, Kikuhiko decides to track down Sukeroku and Miyokichi. Following a letter sent to Miyokichi's former place of employment, Kikuhiko manages to suss out their location. But when he arrives there, the first person he encounters with ties to rakugo is a little redheaded girl energetically performing for pocket change. She introduces herself as Konatsu, and Kikuhiko realizes that she must be their child. The episode ends here, as the two size each other up.

In hindsight, we're aware that this is an important moment. We know that Kikuhiko will eventually end up raising Konatsu from an early age. We're also told that her adult self harbors quite a bit of anger towards him for “killing her father.” What really happened? Did Kikuhiko end up becoming a bad dad, or did he learn something from his own father's failures? Will Kikuhiko continue to be “alone” while raising a child? Ten episodes in, and Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū isn't done complicating its emotional web, even as it accelerates towards its conclusion.

Grade: A

Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Gabriella Ekens studies film and literature at a US university. Follow her on twitter.