First, let me explain what rakugo is since we're westerners. You see, the show follows rakugo, which is a theatrical japanese performance told by a performer. Traditionally there's only one person telling a single story on stage while acting out all the characters. It's one of those dying out industries which couldn't adapt to modern day standards of entertainment which are varied and easier to access than before, relying on its traditionalism to carry out its greatness.
So since there's plenty of people who might be like, oh it's about this niche thing in japan, sounds fucking boring, rakugo, the practice, and Rakugo, the anime, put great value in storytelling and the Rakugo, the anime, has the courage to criticize the fact that the practice was unwilling to apparently adapt to modern times. So even if it sounds like something boring, it is aware of how much of a niche thing it is and exactly why people don't look up to it. Which is something very easy to respect for me.
There's one thing that might be damaging to the anime's storytelling performance though, and that is the fact that it starts with an episode in the present day and then afterwards goes on telling 95% of its remaining story before said present day. You see the natural expectations of a viewer here would be that you'd find out what happened in an episode or maybe a few more and then the story would pick up from the current day with the things its presented and with the apparent main character it had tinkered in the first episode. Due to the natural expectations of a story that uses flashbacks, you might have some of your enjoyment killed by thinking the story's is supposed to be in the present day since chronologically that's how we started and that's the relevant part, since why the fuck would you start the story with what's not relevant, but let me explain why the show has chosen to do what it did and why it is relevant.
The reason Rakugo chose to present its first episode with the current day situation rather than follow the events chronologically from the very start is to direct your gaze towards what's important to observe in the actual story. Basically think of what you'd think when you'd ask your grandpa who fought in Nam who lost his arm there, "Grandpa, how'd you lose your arm?". You know what the story is gonna be about, you know what to expect from the story. You will expect a story about what made him how he is and why he is how he is right now. Well, that's the kind of story Rakugo is going to tell. And that's why it's important you see the current day situation. So you can ask your grandpa how he lost his arm in the war.
As far as I'm concerned, Rakugo had the strongest sense of storytelling in anything I've ever watched in animated form. I've doubted it sometimes when some scenes seem pointless or that they only drag out what is happening, but I admit that I was pretty fucking wrong. Pretty much everything that I saw dragging its feet across absolutely payed off in fleshing out the characters and fleshing out the message that I took away from all this. I ultimately felt satisfied because nothing seemed like it went to waste or was unsensical from the story's perspective and it felt very much like a complete story, with a beginning, a middle and an end, arguably told in that order, and it carried out a point and presented real relatable and if not, completely understandable characters from their point of view and that of the time things took place in.
Let me exemplify the compliment I've given the story by talking a bit about its theme which is progression. If you want to take what I said for granted, you can skip this paragraph, since I'm gonna talk a bit about the direction some characters are going to take, which you might want to be in the dark on, however, since from the very first episode Rakugo does exactly that itself, as well as with its title, I promise I'll at least be more reserved than the series itself. As I've said, the story criticizes traditionalism and unwillingness to change, having as a theme progression. This becomes especially prevalent early in the story when the current day master gets taken in by HIS rakugo Master to train him in the arts of rakugo. He used to practice dancing before that and due to the fact his leg got fucked up he could never dance again. How is this following in the theme of progression? You see, a man dancing is frowned upon since it's something done traditionally by women. This set high prejudice on the young master since he can't possibly be part of this tradition and he's forced to progress through life with a practice he has no passion for and his real passion was taken from him. In addition to this he was pretty much abandoned through his apprenticeship assignment to rakugo, so this sets a kid all alone with total strangers, forced to practice for a job he doesn't even like. The young master has to adapt to his current life since this is the bad situation he was thrown in, with which he feels he has no control over. (PS: I'm refering to him as young master due to the fact this character will have many names in the series and the confusion that might be inflicted to you due to this is far less than the possible confusion that might be inflicted if I refered by one random name of his.) Then in contrast to him, there's a stray kid, one who actually wants to do rakugo and is absolutely passionate about it, who has absolutely nothing and came to ask for an apprenticeship from the young master's master. His passion for rakugo is obvious and he's actually quite talented at it. Alike the young master, he also has nothing left and lost pretty much everything he had valuable in his life, but unlike the young master, he still has a passion. They end up growing up as brothers, the series showing how they view each other, how they take for granted what they have and how much they would wish they would have the strengths and life the other person did. The series shows the complex they've developed as a result of getting close to one another as a result of how they adapted. The series makes you understand the circumstances through which their relationship begins, how their relationship has impacted both of them, and what was the end result of their relationship. Everything in the story is like this. Everything in the story has a point. Everything in the story fleshes out who the young master has become.
However, I don't want to be overwhelmingly positive, since that always makes me skeptical of the person presenting me the show. So I'll also say what you might dislike about it. My first worry while watching Rakugo was that I might not like the theatrical performances since something that is intended to be traditionally japanese doesn't really follow my interests. However I was positively impressed with the first few rakugo shows in the series, and not as interested with the others. The series somehow picked out the best performances to attract me into its audience, with some comical performances and a more serious story in the mix which made me understand how this can be enjoyable and made me respect it. It would've been very difficult for me to enjoy Rakugo anywhere as much as it is, or maybe even at all, if this wouldn't have had happened. If you don't like theatrical performances by default, I don't expect you to find enough respect for the series to admire it. So I'd say it is dependent on your first impression as an audience, so it's not impossible that you might be unimpressed by the performances themselves. The later performances don't get worse, they're entertaining, but they serve a purpose more than they are meant to be entertaining, showcasing where the characters are at. Another thing you might dislike is the pace, especially if you expect the series to get to present time at any point in time. The series might seem like it drags on since you might not be invested in the present situation or thinking too much of it. And it's not something you can help since it is more rewarding later and seemingly pointless at times since it's build up. Another possible thing that might make you dislike Rakugo is the aforementioned preset expectation of "if this story takes place in present time, everything important must happen in the present time" but hopefully I cleared that off right off the bat so it wouldn't have much of an effect on you. Other than these things, there's not a lot of things that could completely kill your enjoyment, except if you don't like what the story fundamentally has to offer, which is a drama and an insight into the fall from grace of an industry with less and less attendants or its setting of Japan after WW2 after the invasion of Manchuria due to their mentality back then or anything of the sort, but even then I'd say the modernization of the world is an enemy to their day old mentality, so I can't say I see the setting as a specific obstacle.
Well, it could also be that you might find the artstyle a bit monotone, the show isn't really in your face about anything and it chooses to take a more realistic and mellow approach to things, reflected in its musical choices with jazzy and traditionally sounding japanese mostly comprising the soundtrack. It fits the chilled out nature of a theatric show visually and the sound also creates the right atmosphere for that too . I'd say it is even ambitious at times with some shots given from a perspective that is clearly harder to animate than just drawing the characters talking from a close-up perspective or anything of the sort, with also taking its time to animate the audience, the spectators, the different facial expressions expressed in the flash of a moment of a character at the performances and so on and so forth, even if it would be easier to just focus on the performance itself. It puts a great deal of detail into what it does. Just like you'd expect. Otherwise, there's nothing I can think of complaining about, the voice acting department does a great job, artistically it does a pretty good job and everything else you've had an insight of how much I've enjoyed.
Ultimately I thought Rakugo was a great story about the progression of an industry represented through a good dramatic story about how the constantly shifting times have affected these people and how they had to adapt to their circumstances. If you're looking for anything like this, Rakugo will not dissapoint, it has a tragic story that might feel a bit ridiculous if you don't know what the title does translate to, the build up to it is great, the insight and parallels to drive into the industry are plentiful and the characters are respectable and understandable. I was very satisfied with the story, and if you think you'd like anything of the sort of what I've just described, you should give it a try. But again, don't feel compelled to do so just because I've enjoyed it a lot. Take in what I've said, I might be blind to some of its flaws due to how much I've liked it, case in which I'd like to find out what are said flaws. I've been dissapointed by shows before due to how positive of an opinion people had of various series and I'd hate it if I would fit in that category in your case. I thought it was a great story, but will it interest you? Think about that question before following through on my suggestion. If you think the answer is yes, then I wholeheartedly recommend it then.
