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]

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

Maruyama, Hiroo Producer

Matsukura, Yuuji Producer

Miyamoto, Junnosuke Producer

Tateishi, Kensuke Producer

Reviews

Oct 30, 2012

Win_Zero

Recommended

So, here I go with my first review.

Joshiraku is not the typical moe anime due to the fact that it was created by Kohji Kumeta. For those who are not aware of Kohji Kumeta, he is the person behind Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. This work is different from SZS because the girls of Joshiraku are just cute rakugo girls, unlike the students at SZS, where everyone has a certain disorder, if you can put it in that way.

There is this notion hanging above my head once I watch Joshiraku:
"This anime is full of ordinary dialogue so that the viewers can fully enjoy how cute the ... girls are."
In fact, that sentence can summarize how many people would view the anime, but the hidden genius of the anime lies in the dialogues. A hodge-podge of references, parodies, and comic reliefs have given Joshiraku the atmosphere of watching Lucky Star blended into SZS. Be warned though, many of the puns are Japanese references, so if you're watching a subbed episode, go for gg Fansubs, for they have translation notes (you can just google it).

Story: 8/10
What is the Story? A typical person may ask after taking a glimpse at Joshiraku. As I stated earlier, Joshiraku is about five rakugo girls discussing random topics, which typically drifts away until the original topic is buried. Though, this must not deter you from watching it, for it is hilarious nonetheless.

Art & Sound: 7/10
J.C. Staff has somewhat neglected it, though it should be noted that they're putting a lot of effort in Little Busters! ( three episodes of LB has been released as of the time of writing of this review), but the art used in the anime is quite similar to the manga.
As for the sound, I find it lacking in the way that it needs more than just dialogue and background noise. Overall, I have no major criticism of the Art and Sound.

Characters: 9/10
The standout character for me is Kukuru. Even though the rest have those moments of brilliance, I feel that Kukuru's dark humor and paranoia has twisted the series in a way that it is genuinely enjoyable.
Some characters which appeared only as a part of parody can only be described as awesome. Case in point, in episode five, where there is a parody of Japan's former PM. Also, the way that the characters bash their own producers is brilliant, like how Marii made a pun about J.C. Staff and their rivals (KyoAni).

So, another work of Kohji Kumeta gave me the sense of humor not usually found in many comedy-themed anime. For those who enjoyed Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, don't worry about the overall appearance, for it still has the great humor found in a work of Kohji Kumeta. Also, this is a must-watch for those who are looking for anime which reflects the dark and humorous side of life.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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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. ...

This anime is clever and amusing, but not really laugh-out-loud funny. There is a lot of clever wordplay. It often breaks the 4th wall; it is a very 'self-aware' show. Occasionally it felt boring; some skits can feel a little drawn out, and the pacing of the skits is slightly sluggish at times.

I could tell that some of the jokes were too Japanese even for my weeb ass. There were seemingly obscure references to Japanese culture, history, politics, geography, etc…

In terms of audiovisuals, this anime is unremarkable at best. The visuals are adequate, and provide demonstrations of the jokes when necessary. The voice acting is similarly adequate. The OST is unremarkable and fairly inconsequential due to the dialogue-heavy nature of the show.


My personal overall rating: 6/10
Most episodes got some chuckles out of me, but it was never gut-bustingly hilarious or anything like that — just moderately amusing. I enjoyed how clever a lot of the jokes were.

If you like puns, clever wordplay and Japanese cultural references, then this is the comedy anime for you. It is a very Japanese show in that there are frequent references to Japanese culture in some form — anything from politicians to pop culture to kanji readings to traditional folklore. The cultural references have a lot of breadth. Receptiveness to this will likely vary a lot among viewers. A casual anime viewer probably won't be amused by puns about train station names (or something equally culturally esoteric), but a smaller subset of dedicated japanophiles would probably eat this stuff up.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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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 ... delivery is everything in these types of jokes. The words themselves don't make it funny.

I think this is a type of "going outside simulator". This is appealing to people who are incredibly bored and are not happy with life because they choose to do nothing with it. This is saying a lot because nothing happened; EVER! This may be used as a way to waste time. There was an ever looping joke(?) that was a screenshot to tell us that "This anime is full of ordinary dialogues so the spectator can really enjoy how the girls are cute". There is enough source material to make a second season; do you know why they didn't make one? Because it is poorly constructed and it wasn't well received in Japan because the Japanese didn't even find their own cultural jokes funny.

This show is a 2 because of 3 reasons. Kigu is a palatable character and she made me smile a couple times. I like how she is borderline clinically insane. The dark thoughts and rock jokes got old, but that is par for this show anyways. The music was decent. I like the opening and closing songs quite a bit. I downloaded them and I blast them at the gym. The last reason this isn't rated at a 1 , even though the first word I would use to describe it is "appalling", is because I hate Girls und Panzer and I wish for that to be my only 1 and dropped series. Hooray victory by default!

The floating bare ass in space is symbolic for what this show is.

I recommend this show to people who want to cut themselves, but are aware that cutting is socially unacceptable. Dear contemplating cutters, now you can hurt yourself equally while no one will be none the wiser.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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	Poll: Joshiraku Episode 13 Discussion ( 1 2 ) WildWhiteLynx - Sep 27, 2012	78 replies	by GavrocheN7 »» Oct 12, 9:02 PM
	Poll: Joshiraku Episode 11 Discussion maccha - Sep 14, 2012	39 replies	by GavrocheN7 »» Oct 12, 7:22 PM
	Poll: Joshiraku Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 ) maccha - Sep 7, 2012	54 replies	by GavrocheN7 »» Oct 12, 7:19 PM
	Poll: Joshiraku Episode 9 Discussion ( 1 2 ) nseika - Aug 31, 2012	53 replies	by GavrocheN7 »» Oct 12, 5:33 PM
	Poll: Joshiraku Episode 5 Discussion CapnDavid - Aug 4, 2012	49 replies	by GavrocheN7 »» Oct 11, 9:13 PM

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