Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu deserves a review beginning with this quote from "Farewell, my Concubine", as I see they have a lot in common. This quote represents Kikuhiko, the man who lies to the spectator.
In the first season, the flow of the story is so intense that we forgot one point: the story is being told by a character. I got very disappointed when I'd watched (here it comes a little spoiler) Sukeroku and Miyokichi's death. I didn't find it plausible, credible; it was a fantasy, a tacky and very stupid way to kill a main character. But season two made everything clear: the narrator, Kikuhiko, was telling a lie, the lie he's been telling Konatsu since she was a child. Only when Matsuda tells the story, one season later, we know the truth. An absolutely outstanding use of the narrator that leads to the greatest plot twist I've ever seen in an anime.
Also, we have here a delicious mix of drama and tragedy with some lapses of happiness. The characters are deep, intense and ambiguous. If now we know that the narrator fooled us once, we can't be sure about the rest of the story he'd told us. We cannot even believe him when he is not telling a story. Kikuhiko doesn't impersonate the rakugo characters, he IS the rakugo characters, and he brings the drama from his rakugos to his life, and we clearly see how fantastic, almost implausible, was his life (and death). The rakugo is happening right before our eyes. If you want to watch a rakugo performance, you first have to see Kikuhiko's life, which is the incarnation of every rakugo story we watch during the anime. As Maupassant said about Flaubert, I think we can say about Kikuhiko: "this man saw everything, understood everything, felt everything, suffered everything, in a exaggerated, painful and delicious way". This anime shows what a true artist is.
The cinematography and the art are beautiful as well. The framework and light, specially when there are candles and fire, can make us feel hot and cold, darkness and joy. The characters are beautifully drawn and their moves and colours are a theatrical way to express their personalities, pretty much as we see in kabuki. They can express sensuality and sadness, fun or angry extremely well without any words.
This season is the finale we needed, and gives the anime the finale it deserves. As a rakugo performance, it ends with a subtle sigh, because everything seems deliciously complete. Even the paternity mystery is not something that makes we unsatisfied. On the contrary, we need no more. Every piece is at its place, and there is nothing more to say.
The anime, however, is slow-paced, what may not bring a lot of excitement or "hype" to spectators who look for something quicker. It will be boring sometimes, even. But, for the correct public, it will be a perfect anime for those who want to cry, to smile, and to see a real drama, which is really hard to see on animes nowadays.
