English Dub Review: Akane-banashi “Graduation”
OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)
Akane’s friends and seniors celebrate her big win at the Karaku Cup, though Akane is still mulling over her talk with Issho. But there’s no time for that, as her teacher Shiguma officially accepts her as his student and puts forth that she must now pick a new name.
OUR TAKE
We’ve reached the first season finale for Akane-banashi, but while the last few episodes were relatively exciting for a show about people learning how to do what is essentially competitive joke storytelling, this finale is a bit more on the relaxed side. We’re basking in Akane’s victory and her finally being recognized as an apprentice, but also in the more messy emotions from the talk with Issho and later with Shiguma. Akane still believes in her father’s ability despite him having decisively chosen to leave Rakugo behind, but she’s now also proven herself to be a force to be reckoned with among her peers, and may very well surpass her father at his height if she keeps at it. However, as someone in this field, she is facing the same challenges as any Rakugoka, and part of that is working as a community to find ways to keep the artform alive in the public consciousness. That’s not like a duty she has to commit to actively, but as a young person who is quickly showing herself to be a prodigy in it, she’ll probably be influencing the future of Rakugo inadvertently if she keeps going at this rate, which will be interesting to see.
But as she’s now officially an apprentice, she now must pick her Rakugo stage name. I’ve been calling her dad by his name, Tohru, but his stage name was Shinta, and apparently part of how a name like this is picked is by mixing a part of their master’s name, in this case being Shiguma. Well, Akane decides that she’ll put off having a name right now and keep going by Akane, which is oddly fitting after she just performed a story about taking pride in one’s name. Aside from that, this episode is pretty much just cool down and setting up for the next arc and next season. Akane reflects on what she’s gotten through in terms of Rakugo training but also about how she’ll be graduating high school soon, which is probably a more meaningful milestone for her than becoming a Rakugo apprentice, partly because it means she’ll be going her separate ways with her friends who have their own dreams. Also, apparently Akane has friends! Ones besides that one fat kid who later became not fat! Well, she definitely has more friends now among her new senior Rakugo family, which is another solid indicator of how much her situation has changed for the better since the season started. And as a first season finale, having a slow and breezy wrap up episode that reaffirms Akane’s path and self identity is a fine way to draw the curtains until the next season.
