Review ~ Akane-banashi

 

Akane-banashi, story by Yuki Suenaga, art by Takamasa Moue

For this review 190 Chapters were read. 

Use of * refers to ‘at the time of writing’ 

• Publication: 14/02/2022 - present*
• Volumes: 20* (14 in Eng.)*
• Chapters: 191*
• Demographic: Shonen
• Genre: Drama
• Adaptation: 2026 Anime

 

Nature of the Beast

I am inherently an over thinker. I second-guess myself all the time, It’s an awful habit. I find that nothing good ever comes out of falling into a cycle of doubt.

It has made me make choices I regret. Things I wish I never did. 

It’s not a surprise at this point, but this blog, Jebby’s Manga Corner, which I started back in 2024, has had plenty of moments where I stagnated and abandoned it. 

To be completely frank, there have been times where I wondered if my whole interest in manga and the wider sequential storytelling (comics, if you’re not annoying) was all just a passing interest. A phase. Something that came and went. It is an abhorrent feeling. It makes you question if your time, money and energy is being used up on something that ultimately doesn’t matter. 

But I am also reminded, sometimes, of why I fawn over these interests. Times when my heart and soul jumpstart again, and remember that I read, research and review for moments like this. For a story like Akane-banashi.  

 

I love the art, I love the story-telling, I love panels and creativity through imagery. I love the illusion of movement and the smoke and mirrors of how a comic teaches you to imagine. For me, manga and comics represent the most unfiltered look into an author’s imagination. Their world is realised, shaped and moulded by their hands and minds, only to then be picked up by the reader and translated. Not through just words of course, but through imagination. The reader is given the blueprint to moving imagery, and like a cinder in chaff, it brings with it a fire of storytelling through visual interaction. 

If comics are cinders in chaff. Akane-banashi is a firestorm.

 

Against All Odds 

Akane-banashi is a manga series from Weekly Shonen Jump, the most prestigious manga magazine, and a ruthless one at that. It is well known for the plethora of hit series that it has run over its almost 60 year existence. Series that have shaped not just manga, but culture as a whole, such as One Piece, Dragon Ball, Hunter x Hunter, Jujutsu Kaisen, just to name a few of the most well known. It cannot be stated how much legacy WSJ holds, and it maintains this by not being afraid to cut weeds in its line-up. If any series doesn’t maintain popularity or show promise, then the axe comes down, the series is promptly ended, and another takes its place.

This is where the question rises. How on earth did a story about a centuries old traditional performance art not only make it into the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, but become one of its most popular current series? 

The answer is painfully simple. It is just that good.

 

 

I will save you time by not going into too much depth on what Rakugo is and how it works. I cannot provide a sufficient explanation for you to truly understand it, but what you need to know is that Rakugo is a Japanese performance art. It is very traditional and very unique to its country of origin. A single performer goes onstage and kneels upon a platform where they then thoroughly depict a story, usually comedic, to an audience using slight shifts in mannerisms, tone, pitch and fairly limited movements.

What you also need to know is that Akane-banashi uses Rakugo as its stage, it is the setting where it presents itself. However it does not use Rakugo as the main driving appeal and power of its story. Everything surrounding Akane-banashi is storytelling at a brilliant level. It just so happens that Yuki Suenaga chose this to be how the story is told.

If you are familiar with other Shonen series, then Akane-banashi will not be all that unfamiliar, surprisingly. There are still special moves, training periods, a powerful group the hero must overcome and teammates who have their own trials and tribulations. The trappings of Shonen manga are ever-present in this series, but it differentiates itself with such an off-kilter premise. One would expect the format of Shonen Manga and a deeply traditional art form to clash in every way but somehow. Somehow. It does the opposite.

It flourishes.

Akane-banashi turns into a highly concentrated Shonen manga, dressed with the tapestry of Rakugo, something which many readers will be mostly unfamiliar with, and with it comes a story rich with incredible characters, moving moments and spine-chilling art.

 

 

Lineage

It is immediately apparent, as soon as chapter 1 begins, that this series is different. Not only does it have one of the strongest and most well-plotted first chapters in any manga series I’ve read, but it provides the exact right amount of context needed to intrigue you without feeling overwhelming, and it does this without even focusing on the main character.

The first chapter of Akane-banasshi focuses instead on Shinta Arakawa, Akane’s father. Shinta is a familiar face. We have all been him in one way or another. He practices Rakugo, alone in his office, mastering his craft and preparing himself for an examination which would make him a Shin’Uchi, a master of Rakugo. Shinta loves Rakugo, it gives him meaning and purpose and in an otherwise reserved and worried person, provides an outlet to express and be himself. He cannot mess this exam up. Shinta is a husband, and a father. Anything besides a Shin’Uchi doesn’t make enough money for this to be a feasible career. Yet while he practices, he kneels in his office and fights his anxiety. Young Akane, his daughter, watches intently, she sees the other people in the room, his acting creates a world within the 4 walls and Akane is enveloped by her father’s performance. To Akane, her father is the world, and his art is the air that gives life to it. So then.

Why is he expelled after his performance? Why was everybody who performed that day expelled by the greatest Rakugoka of his generation? Akane’s father finds a job in the concreting business. Money’s not so much a problem anymore, and they even get to go to nicer restaurants more often. Shinuchi never speaks about Rakugo ever again.

 

 

That is the moment when Akane gives her life to the art of Rakugo. 

What happens hereon is Akane’s journey. She joins the Arakawa school where she trains under her master Shiguma. Meets other apprentices, witnesses new performances, learns new techniques and marches onward, developing skills and deepening her understanding of art to one day make Issho Arakawa, the man who expelled her father, see her fathers art for what it truly was. 

This is the story of Akane-banashi, perhaps it seems unassuming at first, but this manga is anything but unassuming.

 

Mastery of Storytelling

Yuki Suenaga, the writer of this manga, makes the average manga look like it was written by an amateur. The author plots out the sequences and big moments of the series precisely, balancing characters, themes, dialogue, rakugo, plot beats and defining moments with such expertise. It is a juggling act, where all these elements float in the air at once, only to briefly come back down to be thrown back in the air with a new twist, a new flair, and it once again becomes exciting. 

Even the most inconspicuous character interactions pour into rich histories between Rakugo masters, their apprentices, the rivalries between the different schools and each individual's reasoning for performing the art in the first place. None of it is contrived, none of it is ill-thought out, all of it is executed wonderfully and it doesn’t get old. In the 190 Chapters I have read, Akane-banashi did not falter. My engagement remained high and the investment I had in this world snowballed with each volume that I finished. 

 

 

When you think you have seen everything, your perception of this art is spun around completely. Akane’s stellar performance is overshadowed by a more skilled rival or a master rakugoka, who then proceeds to weave a tale with their unique flavour of performance, showing another side to the art form you never imagined could exist. I did not imagine to even think for a moment that I could become so invested in so many characters, and each have their own wonderful personality.

Akane herself is easily one of the most electrifying and fun main characters I’ve ever seen. Where most main characters become overshadowed by more unique figures, Akane is lightning in a bottle. Her expressions are cheery and her demeanor motivated. It all seems so simple at first glance, but the way that Rakugo shapes her, and in turn she shapes Rakugo, has you cheering for her victory in each performance. Other characters are no exception. Akane’s teacher, Shiguma, is wise and kind-hearted, with a hearty laugh and the discipline of a true master, the moment you see him perform in full force gives me chills. Issho Arakawa, the ‘Antagonist’ if you can call him that, looms across the series, watching Akane’s journey and demanding attention with each word. The other students of Shiguma, who each maintain their own unique style of performing Rakugo as they improve alongside Akane, help her as she climbs the ranks. Of course, Karashi and Hikaru who act as Akane’s rivals, their presence, pushing Akane to challenge their own ambitions as they each aim for the top in the tense Rakugo competitions. Each character who is introduced into this story is utilised in deepening the turbulent world of this art form, and its many people, who each have a love of performing and a driving force pushing them along. An unforgettable cast.

 

 

An Unseen World

I would consider Akane-banashi’s art to be great, it is a wonderful looking manga. Do I think it is at the level of some of manga’s greatest artists? Perhaps not, but Takamasa Moue, the artist of Akane-banashi, depicts every element of this story in unison. Blending its rich characters with its cultural storytelling, and the tension of competition with the fervor of the audience. When a performer elicits a reaction from the crowd Moue brings them to life with a roar, and if the performer creates a vividness in their story so captivating, Moue will bring out the very essence of that emotion into ink on paper, and it results in art that surpasses the boundaries of the medium. Every faucet of life is a breath that emanates from the artwork. It all comes to life like a miracle before your eyes. Humour, Anger, Tragedy, Fear, Seduction, Tranquility. This manga reverberates them through the Rakugo and the result is a delivery that always manages to hit you like a tidal wave. I could not count how many times I would turn the page, only to get goosebumps. 

 

I cannot stress how much I appreciate this series for being able to do so many things at once. Its growth has been reflected with Akane’s own personal growth in the story and some of those moments of clarity are a sight to behold. One particular moment I cannot stop thinking about is when Akane’s master, Shiguma, performs a story called The God of Death. It is not only one of the most fantastically drawn sequences in the entire series up to this point, but each word keeps you on the edge of your seat as Shiguma delivers a powerful story of omens, foolishness and demise. It is a sequence that downright freezes you up, and whats even more impressive is how this performance and the story it is based on, is tied to other characters and their backstory, and then goes on to be a foreshadowing of a later event. No detail left unchecked and every opportunity used to its fullest. 

 

 

Then there is Akane’s performance in the Futatsume Debut Event. A moment where Akane becomes so focused on the Rakugo, so absorbed by the art. It provides her with this moment in time and she realises a world of possibility. The doors of Rakugo open even further and from within, a whirlwind of possibilities. It is here where we see one of the most exciting sequences of art and story at once. Akane has honed her skill and created her own style, a free-form movement incorporating a vast amount of Rakugo knowledge, the result is pure creativity. 

I could perhaps go on forever, talking about Akane-banashi and why I think it is so incredible. Even as I write the review now I feel as though I did not quite do it justice. 

I feel so much about this series, it is a challenge to settle myself and be more concise. What I hope I can make people understand is that Akane-banashi is a piece of art about art and done so in a way that makes me feel like it ought to be revered. 

But the fact is that its message is far more simple than I am leading on. An artform like Rakugo is about spinning up some story, something, with nothing at all. A voice from one and some laughter from many. In that room is everything that has ever existed. 

 

Thank you so much for reading!

 

Score ~ 10/10