Also lol at Mastuda-san the immortal. And they even reveal his age. Which doesn't make sense, as he looked like 60 when he was only 40 years old, but whatever.
Konatsu
finally in the Rakugo world as an active participant, yeees.
Damn, the theory of
Yakumo
being the father was real! One last twist in an otherwise 'epilogue' episode.
Things like the traditional clapping scene has given a vibe of authenticity to this series, love it.
I sooo knew it a
ghost was going to appear in Shinigami performance. That's tradition, at this point.
Something else that they cut from the TV series (maybe it'll be back on the DVD / Blu-ray, who knows) is [manga spoiler, I guess? it's getting an English translation, so...]
the possibility that Higuchi is actually Miyokichi's son, i.e. Konatsu's half-brother
Combine every positive attribute of Yotaro and Konatsu and you get perfection.
Very good finale. It had a sense of closure but it was also a new beginning for the next generation of Rakugo. Honestly, I was a bit underwhelmed when S2 began, I found the start a slow burning, but thankfully by the end of it, there were several fantastic scenes that managed to surpass S1. Overall, I enjoyed S2 much more than S1, but really, the whole package is just outstanding.
About Bon's father, I thought it's a bit too much and probably the only thing I didn't like in the finale. The implications for
Yakumo
and Konatsu are rather unfortunate and it definitely feels out of character for both of them. Eeeeh, whatever.
And here we reach the end of our masterpiece. I've got to say that the exposition in the first quarter was too on the nose and I could've inferred most of the necessary information without that but oh well.
I'm a bit confused about the talk concerning Shinnosuke's real father. My initial theory used to be that Yakumo could've fathered a son we didn't know about and Kontasu got in contact with him (potentially that boss character). But, uh, Kontasu and Yakumo himself. Well, now that's something.
In basic terms this was a take on how the great passage of time flows and the cyclical nature of some things like a new generation rising and how Rakugo has evolved via the addition of diversity from various areas, which is quite the statement indeed when I think about it. Not sure how I feel about the revelation of Shin's parentage given it feels so out of character for both parties. At any rate this was a fantastic end to one of the greatest anime programs I have ever seen and is probably going to get my AOTY vote again.
So Narumi has got himself something of an Oedipus Complex, which is why he doesn't seem to care if Akane cheats on him or not. She reminds him of his mom and he just wants her to do whatever makes her happy. On the flipside, this makes Akane start to actually fall in love with him....never thought I'd see a couple come out functional like that.
Wow that was great, fantastically executed and a pure joy to watch. The tomb scene in particular, I know Jack isn't going to die two episodes in but damn, it was done so well I could fell the tension building. Loved every bit, who needs anime?
My stance is that we truly have never seen all their lives, in a 40 year period we have seen barely but a drop in the ocean. Just minutes here and there, and biased at that as in some cases we don't know the internal mindset of some characters.
In between episodes there months and years that we never saw, we can imagine in one of those gaps there was
one crazy night stand initiated by her because of her secret infatuation that after the fact left Yakugo embarrassed and full of shame of what had happened. In fact we can think it was one of the factors that contributed to his guilty feelings.
It isn't like Bunny Drop where both decide to have a serious romantic relationship.
Personally I like the reciprocity in how there is a dark secret that Konatsu doesn't know and they won't tell to her (the true death of her parents) and at the same time she has a dark secret that his husband and son will never know.
My stance is that we truly have never seen all their lives, in a 40 year period we have seen barely but a drop in the ocean. Just minutes here and there, and biased at that as in some cases we don't know the internal mindset of some characters.
In between episodes there months and years that we never saw, we can imagine in one of those gaps there was
one crazy night stand initiated by her because of her secret infatuation that after the fact left Yakugo embarrassed and full of shame of what had happened. In fact we can think it was one of the factors that contributed to his guilty feelings.
It isn't like Bunny Drop where both decide to have a serious romantic relationship.
Personally I like the reciprocity in how there is a dark secret that Konatsu doesn't know and they won't tell to her (the true death of her parents) and at the same time she has a dark secret that his husband and son will never know.
I personally never considered the option because in almost all Season 1 scenes featuring Konatsu and Yakumo she seemed to genuinely antagonize him. I thought her goal was to sort of take revenge on Yakumo by fostering the heir to Sukeruko (and his Rakugo) or by getting involved with a son of Yakumo we didn't know about.
Rakugo 2-12
Now that's how you end a series. Consistently great through its 2 seasons, perfect way to end with the future of Rakugo like that. Really great overall, part of the trio that really made this season so strong.
Ok this series is fucking savage. If Shirobako is the anime about the trial and tribulations of following your passion, Girlish Number is all "Fuck that shit, let's make a Cash Grab."
Shinnosuke's father is... wait what. UHHH this can't be okay right?
That aside man, what an ending. This whole series was simply fantastic and I doubt we will get anything of this calibre with this amount of love poured into it in a long time. This is a an easy 10/10 and probably the AOTY.
Oh, I thought we were over this, good fuck yourself with this garbage. Way to ruin a genuinely great series because the author couldn't resist making Shin literally Bon and Sukeroku's Rakugo lovechild.
Now episode 10 scene looks like some next level creepy shit. It doesn't even add anything, now it's just creepy.
??????????
I love Rakugo, this series is my lifeblood, but some things here at the end of the line felt way closer to my soapy classic shoujo/josei works that I'm not sure how to feel here (especially the parent reveal...). This has been half catharsis, half frustration. I'm going to have to mull over this one for a while, but at least there's one thing I can unequivocally regard happily:
Shinnosuke, Sukeroku's real name, nicknamed Bon, Yakumo's nickname from the previous Sukeroku, is in some ways the biological child of both. Kumota actually made the gay happen intergenerationally. This is a commitment to BL I have never seen, she really is the queen of fujo. Even if this makes the relationship between Konatsu and Yakumo 100x weirder, it's worth for this fact alone. I have never seen a love triangle resolve with this much mixed blood and I doubt I ever will again.
But I wasn't defending it? Was supposed to be more along the line of "someone that thinks in stupid fujo-logic would probably come up with this shit."
I'm currently starting to feel less and less enthusiastic about this anime because of this dumb fujo pandering. I mean, it'll still be a master piece by all accounts but man couldn't they have decided to remove this stupid reveal from the anime adaptation? Like, fuck, why must the epilogue bring up this crap.
But I wasn't defending it? Was supposed to be more along the line of "someone that thinks in stupid fujo-logic would probably come up with this shit."
I'm currently starting to feel less and less enthusiastic about this anime because of this dumb fujo pandering. I mean, it'll still be a master piece by all accounts but man couldn't they have decided to remove this stupid reveal from the anime adaptation? Like, fuck, why must the epilogue bring up this crap.
Lol. At the end of the day it's true it's feels unrealistic, and more to the realm of fiction because *melodrama*. And yeah, this is a josei so some melodrama with conflicting love is par the course.
Rakugo S2 - 12
Ah, thank you for the reminder that fujo are scum. These kinds of endings that sort of waddle over the finish line usually feel perfunctory but it's kind of rare to see them so actively work against what a series has otherwise accomplished. I feel very uncertain about the back half of this series. On one hand it really did a great deal to build out Bon/Yakumo with a perspective on his later years, but this next generation stuff never really clicked for me. There is a very real and lacking drama or intensity to the relationships and events of this second season outside of Bon's conflict with mortality. As a result certain characters here just feel like weird excess to me, and the ideas they present are never delivered on because the only real important thing here is Bon. The stuff with writing new rakugo stories and the nosy nature of Higuchi just kind of fizzles into being with nothing said on how that really changes the landscape of rakugo. There is a better story here that can probably be delivered in half as many episodes. Instead the show tries to stretch into something more all encompassing and it just feels like it's not fully cooked and when it hits in the finale like this it's all sort of boring and cheesy to me.
Dunno. Generally positive on a lot of stuff but the land mine in this episode does irreparable damage to earlier parts of the series and sort of just has me reflecting on how mundane the second half could be at times.
I don't think you can even call this "fujo pandering" (Which Rakugo has in every scene with Bon and Sukeroku), I can see the fujo-logic with Shin looking like Bon and Sukeroku's lovechild, but based what I know about fujos (And I do know about fujos...), I think most of them would have not preferred for Yakumo to bang his adopted daughter.
It feels like straight-up character assassination that honestly makes me retroactively dislike a lot of S2's scenes.
At least these people are frank about their incest fantasies, unlike these damn Josei writers in which you never know what you are getting into until you do.
