Joshiraku

Joshiraku follows the conversations of five rakugo storyteller girls relating the odd things that happen to them each day. Their comedic and satirical chatting covers all kinds of topics, from pointless observations of everyday life, to politics, manga, and more. Each girl has something new to add to the discussion, and the discourse never ends in the same place it began.

Each of the rakugo girls has their own unique personality, with the energetic but immature Marii Buratei; the seemingly cute Kigurumi Haroukitei; the inherently lucky and carefree Tetora Bouhatei; the calm and violent Gankyou Kuurubiyuutei; and the pessimistic and unstable Kukuru Anrakutei. These girls—and their mysterious friend in a wrestling mask—give their observations to the audience, either backstage at the rakugo theater or in various famous locations around Tokyo.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Joshiraku
Sequel:	Joshiraku OVA

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Characters & Voice Actors

Anrakutei, Kukuru

Main

Gotou, Saori
Japanese

Buratei, Marii

Main

Sakura, Ayane
Japanese

Kuurubiyuutei, Gankyou

Main

Nanjou, Yoshino
Japanese

Haroukitei, Kigurumi

Main

Koiwai, Kotori
Japanese

Bouhatei, Tetora

Main

Yamamoto, Nozomi
Japanese

Mask

Supporting

Yuuki, Aoi
Japanese

Old woman 3

Supporting

Uzatei, Uzannu

Supporting

Shintani, Ryouko
Japanese

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Staff

Matsukura, Yuuji

Producer

Maruyama, Hiroo

Producer

Miyamoto, Junnosuke

Producer

Tateishi, Kensuke

Producer

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Opening Theme

"Oato ga Yoroshikutte... yo! (お後がよろしくって…よ!)" by Tetora Bouhatei (Nozomi Yamamoto), Marii Buratei (Ayane Sakura), Gankyou Kuurubiyuutei (Yoshino Nanjo), Kigurumi Haroukitei (Kotori Koiwai), Kukuru Anrakutei (Saori Gotou)

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Ending Theme

"Nippon Egao Hyakkei (ニッポン笑顔百景)" by Momokurotei Ichimon (桃黒亭一門)

Reviews

Nov 19, 2023

SCLFI

Recommended

Superficially, Joshiraku presents itself as the lesser cousin of Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei, making sure to incorporate many of author Koji Kumeta’s previously established elements into its repertoire: traditional iconography, heavy emphasis on kanji puns and cultural references, and Ionescian dialogue. But while it does includes many aspects already present in Zetsubou-sensei, it also omits plenty of the points that made it especially effective, most critically by replacing its large cast of trait-based characters in favour of the more standard treatment of 5 main characters, all of whom meet the expected archetypes within the standard anime comedy format.

The most notable aspect of Joshiraku is perhaps its formatting, ... which is much closer to that of a 4koma manga, rather than an anime episode with a standard A-plot and B-plot – for that matter, it lacks any real conception of a plot at all. Exhibiting a narrative in any capacity is firmly rejected, as they take a much looser interpretation, which is perhaps exemplified by its first chapter title, "Usual Conversation", which appropriately enough leads to a meta-discussion about what constitutes 'usual', and ends with nothing being resolved. Despite the title of the series, it has very little to do with rakugo, as while its main cast are all performers of the artform, this aspect of their lives is rarely discussed or even acknowledged, and the only time any actual rakugo is seen is at the start of each episode, wherein only the closing moments are shown, and naturally there is little to infer from a story that the viewer is only able to capture one sentence from. This technique may appear comparable to Seinfeld, but it remains distinct, as Seinfeld's use of a narrated monologue to open its episodes carried significance by remaining at least tangibly related to the episode as a whole, and sometimes retained an extra purpose as it was at times used again as a segment to end the episode, to conclusively wrap it all together. Joshiraku de-emphasises its own existence, which is also exhibited in that its rakugo receives very limited applause, which alongside the fact that its characters are all deeply removed from any conception of the Yamato-nadeshiko, may seem to suggest that Joshiraku advances some form of argument about the erosion of Japanese tradition, in culture, in language, and in attitude. Alistair Swale once stated that "There is arguably a point where aesthetic ideals from classical literature, for example mono no aware or wabi and sabi, engender a certain awkwardness; it is something of a struggle to employ such concepts usefully in relation to cinema without drifting into a certain pastiche of cultural references." This is where the core of Joshiraku lies, through the disconnect in attempting to transfer meaning and ideas from one medium to another. Rakugo does not provide much of a recognisable framework in the story it establishes for a modern Tokyoite audience, and while Joshiraku may seem to display elements in its imagery that appear distinctly Japanese, including in sections where the characters make visits to classic landmarks like the Sensoji Temple or Tsukiji fish market for no given reason (in the latter case, going to the fish market, proceeding to talk about fish, and then going to buy ramen instead), it neither contains a cohesive integration of this classical iconography, nor does it accept it wholesale in a nostalgic manner.

With this in mind, Joshiraku does manage to operate effectively as a firm consolidation of all the conventions and ideas that have come to be expected from a modern comedy anime. Particularly, it avoids the rakugo notion of developing a singular, long story with a simplistic punchline. Instead, its dialogue is equal parts manzai, Irvine Welsh, and Eugene Ionesco, allowing it to retain the same sort of tenacity and idiosyncratic particularities exhibited in Zetsubou-sensei. Of the above influences, Ionesco holds a specific connection, due to the fact that The Bald Soprano was originally planned to end via the audience being shot by a firing squad. The confusion from the Ionescian dialogue becomes familiar, and thereby in a sense it grows comforting, before it creates a violent upheaval which destroys this established idea, and resets it again. This is a point that Joshiraku makes use of, by establishing situations that are entirely Ionescian, creating a semblance of understanding with the points of discussion, and likewise, a similarly violent upheaval, which also evokes a similar tradition seen within manzai, as this sudden change is used for comedic effect, rather than to punctuate a philosophic or linguistic idea as Ionesco chose to. In this area, it is undeniably effective, the sound design and animation keep these moments impactful, providing a sense of weight and power with these movements. Even so, one detriment that Joshiraku holds is that even with the strengths of its dialogue acknowledged, its main characters do not appear to have the same level of thought put into their creation, being a largely standard array of genre archetypes, without offering much new insight into the prevalence of these archetypes: the glasses-wearing otaku, the quiet one, and the comparatively normal one who barely even has any lines. There aren’t any other recurring characters, meaning this main cast is all the viewer has to engage with, and so to have produced more original, or at least evocative characters would have done a lot to elevate the series.

Although it may present some interesting points, Joshiraku is undeniably an entry into the comedy anime genre – as idiosyncratic as its dialogue may be, it is not a series that is immune to simplistic labelling or categorisation. R.G. Collingwood once suggested that requiring artists to create work that is able to be sold and enjoyed to a mass audience contradicts the fundamental nature of what art is, and with this in mind, perhaps if Joshiraku were developed for the purpose of providing some further exploration of the historic and aesthetic ideas it presents, it may have been a much more interesting work. But nonetheless, it is able to be easily categorised, and as with any comedy, part of this categorisation lies on the inevitable and fundamental question, "is it funny?" It manages to be funny enough, Zetsubou-sensei, Ionesco, manzai, and Seinfeld have all had much greater comedic moments than Joshiraku, but it is consistently funny across its runtime, which by any metric makes it a successful work.

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Sep 17, 2023

RESOLVING_POWER

Mixed Feelings

I watched Joshiraku (including the OVA). Here are my thoughts:

Having somewhat recently completed Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu, I thought it would be interesting to watch Joshiraku with the memory of it fresh in my mind. However, I quickly realized that the two shows are completely different. Joshiraku is a comedy and consists of short skits. The main characters are rakugo performers, although rakugo itself is not a major aspect of the anime. The rakugo theater (usually backstage) is only a setting for the various comedic skits (which are usually unrelated to rakugo). So, don't be like me and expect this to be a rakugo-themed show. ...

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Mar 18, 2016

Midg3tLuv

Not Recommended

Man always strives for a challenge. Climbing Mt. Everest, landing on the Moon, and finishing Joshiraku are some of the arduous accomplishments ever achieved.

The show is mislabeled as a "comedy". If puns and cultural jokes are all you have to lean on; hire a writer. Don't be so proud that you can't dismiss your own faults. The only thing more revolting than the jokes are the dorks that pretend this is funny because they want to be weeb level 1 million. I understood a couple of the puns in Japanese and they weren't good. I pretty much have a PhD in Dad Humor. Timing and ...

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