Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Esraa_nkb
I genuinely loved this anime.
One of the things I appreciated the most was how effectively it conveyed its emotions through its atmosphere. Whenever the characters were nervous, I found myself feeling nervous alongside them, and whenever they celebrated a victory, I was genuinely happy for them. The sad moments also hit me quite hard, especially incidents like the one at the beginning of the anime.
Honestly, I think I was even more afraid of Arakawa Issho than Akane herself 😂
Before watching this anime, I knew absolutely nothing about rakugo, so it took me some time to get used to the old-fashioned Japanese and the traditional style of storytelling. However, once I got accustomed to it, I started feeling completely immersed in the performances. It genuinely felt like I was watching the…
Read at the sourceBennet3214
There have been many revenge stories, sure. But how many have you seen that take place in an art performance setting? Akane Banashi follows the life and career of the tomboyish high schooler Akane Ousaki, as she steps into the world of Rakugo; learning, making rivals, and wowing her seniors, left and right.
Rakugo is a traditional storytelling artform where the performer sits on stage above a cushion and narrates the story on his own with gestures and voice inflections. Basically, a one man show. And this anime takes it to another level.
Even though it has a female protagonist in a theatrical setting, its no different than any intense battle shonen with male MCs out there. There are organizations, rivalries, techniques, special moves, different strategies to winning, ranks, tournaments,…
Read at the sourceCaptainKenshiro
Note: Light spoilers ahead. In summary, the protagonist, the directing and the messages carry an otherwise typical, simple and unexciting story and a support cast made up of plot devices rather than full on characters.
Akane-banashi was a surprise in various ways, with the biggest one being that it became my third liked anime of the year, something which I did not expect before watching it, but probably should have, as I didn’t dislike any rakugo or kabuki anime I have watched until now.
But beyond that, what surprised me about Akane-banashi was how it felt almost like an anachronistic work of some kind, and the most conservative in nature anime I have watched in years. I will get to that later.
Even though I was aware of Akane-banashi being a Shounen Jump property, it is easy to forget…
Read at the sourcek-0da
Akane-Banashi is not what a lot of modern western weebs would expect from a shounen. With hard-hitters like Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer captivating minds across the world, it may be hard to imagine a show about a young girl becoming a rakugoa in the same magazine as One Piece. However, Akane-Banashi has all the heart, fire, and determination it needs to be a bonafide, tasty shounen story.
The animation, while decent, is not much to write home about. We’re not getting the flashy sakuga some shounen fans have come to expect from the genre. Akane-Banashi’s best parts are its direction. It’s the unique angles and desire to get creative make the show much more interesting to watch. While Akane-Banashi’s art isn’t explosive, it’s certainly not ugly. The OST is OK, the music never bothering…
Read at the sourceImXolotL
Im gonna be very honest its a 7 out of 10 but it makes you have more fun than other 7/10 animes, the story is meh, characters are bad not unique or refined but heres the big part that makes it good; its a sport anime in the end like that cooking anime, chihayafuru or that japanese chess anime and very similar example of same outcome "shigatsu wa kimi no uso"(shigatsu... has much better story and characters i know that) so the thing that makes it diffrent this one is the specific sport it self=rakugo its a art of story telling and turning it into a show performed by a single person and rakugo makes the anime much more fun cause you get curious about the stories yourself while watching it like shigatsu bla bla in shigatsu you love the art of piano and wanna hear more of it in this stories pu…
Read at the sourceAan1m
An incredible new anime that takes the shonen genre in a unique way without that usual standard action and fighting - without a doubt the key standout of this anime is the voice acting and the absolute dedication from each cast member - the rakugo performances were all genuinely gripping and it’s all because of the effort and passion that the voice actors put into it almost as if they were actually performing rakugo - Akane is also one of my favourite protagonists in a very long time - she’s very charming and bright and the way she is portrayed truly makes it feel as if she believes in herself to the utmost - the last protagonist that I genuinely enjoyed as much as Akane was probably maomao and funnily enough they both give me similar vibes - overall can’t wait to see what the future bring…
Read at the sourceRutvik512
Underrated Gem Introducing Rakugo with Stunning Animation.
This anime was my first encounter with Rakugo, and it truly captivated me from start to finish. From episode 1 to 12, the animation quality remains consistently gorgeous, showcasing peak craftsmanship that enhances the storytelling.
The story is well-written with a well-balanced pace, skillfully blending elements of shonen that keep it engaging throughout. What sets this show apart is how it manages to explain the art of Rakugo in an accessible way, making it enjoyable even for viewers unfamiliar with the genre.
The voice acting is exceptional, especially Akane's VA, who, along with the rest of the cast, delivers powerful performances that bring the characters to life. Despite its quality, the anime didn’t receive much promotion…
Read at the sourcetivey
Just my observations/thoughts rather than a conventional review:
Such an inspiring piece of animation. There's lots to quote from or just remember for yourself.
Makes you appreciate the art of rakugo, while the conceptual conflicts such as modern/traditional execution style, spectator/ skills focus, emotions/story itself etc. are hidden throughout twelve episodes, which makes it very engaging to watch.
However, I would rather recommend to have a twenty minute look at the University of Yale recorded real life performance (here's the link: https://youtu.be/2Mj3QPVj8qc) as it gives you a pretty good introduction to the world of this art. But I certainly came to appreciate it more after watching the anime.
The background music is splendid and it's a shame I couldn't find it online on strea…
Read at the sourcejosephsl
What a great show! It's an approachable introduction to Rakugo for viewers who may not know much about it, while respecting the audience and not dumbing things down. All with fun characters and presentation.
It was fun to see a show with some more subtle acting from the voice actors, even with a lot of the cast being fairly recognizable. I liked how when the characters were supposed to be doing sub-par performances for whatever reason, it wasn't overdone but was believable that they were trying their best. And when they were doing well it stood on its own as impressive. The energy of the show is good too, it gets you excited about the art and the characters who care about it. I was a bit frustrated when the "sports anime" style commentary during the performances sometimes got in the way,…
Read at the sourceAsh_starmy
I actually enjoy Rakugo themed anime quite alot. So I was looking forward to this. While I acknowledge the flashy animation, but the story felt really flat to me.
We have a talented kid who can do anything that others take millions of years to achieve in a few days. A father, who followed the typical father trope and went absent after giving the kid a typical revenge plot to pursue. A master-disciple family who are silly n slowly accepting. A Rakugo organization who for some reason act like they are politicians plotting for war. And a villain, who, in the end wasn't villain at all. And now she will keep doing things to blew the villain away following her father's legacy.
While there's nothing wrong with the storyline, but it still remains average. It doesn't focus on the life of a Raku…
Read at the sourceP_F_V
I heard the manga was amazing, so I had to check out the anime. At first, I was a little worried that the premise wasn’t translating well due to rakugo being so ingrained in Japanese language and customs, but after a couple of episodes of introduction, the writing and presentation really start to communicate things about art and performance that don’t require a full appreciation of the performances to understand. It will definitely be a more powerful experience for Japanese speakers, but it’s a joy to watch Akane and her peers spin their craft. I’m super curious how the English dub ends up bringing these things across.
The animation and voice acting are both appropriately charismatic, and it sets up many characters with pasts to be unraveled and futures to be forged. The way they think an…
Read at the sourceSSJester
"Akane-banashi" is a classic story of a talented person's journey toward their goal, highlighting the traditional Japanese art of Rakugo. Essentially, it is the storytelling of a single person, but with elements of acting. If you are a fan of this type of plot, interested in the cultural nuances of Japanese art, or just like learning something new, then this anime will suit you perfectly. It doesn't contain boring, encyclopedic explanations about Rakugo; instead, the anime shows you full performance scenes. For me, it was a warm story where the main character, Akane, moves toward her goal step by step. I will gladly look forward to the next season.
Read at the sourceGT3_gamer
Want a refresh take on anime? You are in the right place!
Akane-banashi is a show about Japanese culture that you might want to learn if you like Japanese in general.
The name of that culture is Rakugo. It's like a theater, but performed by one person in the seiza position.
To understand Rakugo further, you can watch this show or find it online.
This is a review, so I'm not going to talk about rakugo too much. I want to talk about how this show is perfect if you want to dive into Japanese culture, Rakugo.
How did I find this?
I read it on MangaPlus. I hear that it was getting an anime adaptation, so I stopped reading it. I want to experience it in animation style first before I get into the manga.
Appealing (Why did I get into the anime?)
I am quite interested in rakugo. I mean, this is…
Read at the sourceemberreviews
Akane-banashi is an incredibly strong adaptation of one of the best series currently running in Weekly Shounen Jump. The exceptional attention to detail in the character acting animation and the engrossing cinematography makes this an immensely eye-appealing series, expounding on the source material visually to heighten the tone of any given scene. With this being a series about rakugo, it’s also no surprise that the voice acting performances are phenomenal as well, whether it’s Anna Nagase’s bold, but complex take on Akane and the many difference emotions that bubble up from both her storytelling and her narrative journey, Rie Takahashi’s alluring portrayal of a voice actress turned rakugoka, or the iconic Akio Ootsuka delivering a bone-chilling performance as the anime’s central antagoni…
Read at the sourceWielbiciel-Zoro
Regarding my final opinion on the anime "Akane-banashi", it's an interesting series, especially considering the rakugo theme, which is the main driving force behind this anime. The story of the titular protagonist, Akane (who somewhat reminds me of Momo from Dandadan), tries to avenge her father, who practiced rakugo, but after failing the shin'uchi exam, his rakugo career ended. It's clear that Akane herself has made some progress in terms of performing rakugo in front of audiences after these 12 episodes, but she still has a long way to go to finally achieve her goal.
As for the visuals, I think it's one of the most beautiful anime I've seen this season, and the music is also top-notch.
So I give Akana-banashi a 9/10 rating, all that remains is to wait for the second season, which is c…
Read at the sourcebossunhimeswitch
This is one of my favorite manga and the anime adaptation did not disappoint. The ability to hear Japanese word choices, the style of rakugo, and other factors really elevated the experience and gave more context to so many of my favorite scenes. The voice actors really captured the essence of the characters and really illustrated some of the plot points in ways that can't come across as well in the manga. Akane si so green but also so easy to root for. The animation direction was also lovely and conveyed the beauty of the manga as best that the anime medium can. I had a lot of fun revisiting the start of the story.
If you enjoy samurai stories or theater stories, you'll likely enjoy this story, which might sound weird but this is very much a samurai story but with words not swords. If y…
Read at the sourceFlowMAL
Akane Banashi stands out because it takes a subject that anime barely explores and makes it feel competitive, emotional, and easy to get invested in: rakugo.
For anyone unfamiliar, rakugo is a traditional form of Japanese storytelling where a performer sits alone on stage, using only their voice, gestures, timing, and expression to play multiple characters and bring an entire story to life. There are no flashy props or big movements to rely on. It’s an art form built almost entirely on performance, and becoming recognised at the highest level takes years of discipline.
On paper, that might not sound like the easiest thing to turn into an engaging anime, but Akane Banashi makes it work. The rakugo world has its own rules, hierarchy, rivalries, and standards, and Akane’s goal gives the sto…
Read at the sourceTheYellowBeanie
Akane Banashi is a really unique title in Weekly Shonen Jump by nature of not being about superpowered heroes, villains, demigods, assassins, spies, demons, or other outlandish things, and rather is purely about normal people. It also continuously gets better and better with each successive arc, culminating into a battle-of-skill, tournament style story not dissimilar to a sports manga, in that the same competitors go head to head in organized competitions; only instead of kicking around a ball, they’re performing Rakugo, a traditional Japanese form of storytelling involving exactly one orator on a stage, relaying an entire narrative to an audience while taking on the words and mannerisms of said narrative's cast of characters. However, there’s a lot more to Akane Banashi than just being a…
Read at the sourceShonerSul
Summary: Another renewal of Japanese traditional culture after Chihayafuru.
I always envy the diversity of subject matter in Japanese manga, especially on their traditional culture in a modern way. I don't count Hikaru no Go(1999) since Go is shared with Korea and China, but Chihayafuru(2008) had beautifully drawn Karuta in comics and animated. March comes in like a lion(2007) on Shogi, Mashiro no Oto(2010) on Shamisen, Hanayamata(2011) on Yosakoi, and Kono Oto Tomare!(2012) on Koto were all impressive, even though I cannot fully sympathize.
Rakugo is one of the hardest thing for foreigners to understand, and I had no interest in Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu(2010). However, Akane-banashi makes difference by starting the story in Shounen way - conflict, and slowly teaches you rakugo in S…
Read at the sourceMarinate1016
Akane-Banashi’s been on my radar for a while now, I nearly read it back in 2023 because Akane’s design is so beautiful, but I saw the manga had low scores on MAL and I was reading a ton of other stuff so I ended up passing on it and tbh, I’m glad I did because it allowed me to go into the anime blind and be blown away by the masterclass in direction and voice acting that this series is. Hats off to Takahashi Rie for what’ll definitely go down as one of her best and most challenging roles, and all the other staff involved in bringing this love letter to traditional Japanese culture to life.
I might be a Japanese comparative politics PhD student, but I’m not well versed in all areas of Japanese culture and Rakugo is one of those areas. It’s always cool when you can watch an anime and get ed…
Read at the source