I read the firsts 9 chapters and thought it was incredibly boring. Maybe it's because I just came from reading Show-ha Shouten, an incredibly dull "comedy manga", and I'm bringing vibes from there to here. Akane-banashi feels to me exactly like Show-ha Shouten. The main difference is that instead of being a comedy duo it's a solo comedian. The "comedy" however is terrible. Just like I said in my Show-ha Shouten review, I understand there are cultural and language barriers that may prevent us westerners from understanding many of the subtleties in the rakugo performances, but I can't help to feel bored when every performer in 9 chapters manages to make the audience laugh out loud while I'm looking at my computer's screen with a poker face, unable to understand why those characters, or any international reader for that matter, is so entertained.
I feel like the main objective of Akane-banashi is going to be like this going forward: try to make the readers laugh at the rakugo performances while you shove in small character growth for Akane in the meantime. This makes me believe that nothing will change from the 10th chapter onwards that will make me want to keep reading this manga.
I do want to reinforce that I don't think Akane-banashi is bad. Perhaps it's not even mediocre, but I don't like it at all, I think it's boring. It's just not for me.
