Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu Meta Blog

A blog that reblogs all SGRS-related meta. Opinions belong to the OPs of their posts and do not necessarily reflect the feelings of the person running this blog. Tag your meta with "sgrs meta" so we can find it!

[deaddee-anime-brownfanlady]

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo ShinJuu:Descending stories Series Lookover.

So I know I’m kind of super late to the party on this one here. But I’ve just recently watched this anime show not too long ago, which is now one of mine personal top favorites anime series of all times in terms of well-done mature layered compelling storytelling. But I just want to add in while also giving my own thoughts on this who’s is Shinnosuke “Baby Daddy” thing along with my other thoughts regarding the ending.

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[veeraha-archived-deactivated201]

The theater of forever: Some thoughts on SGRS s2 Episode 11

I am always a little confused whether I should call him Yakumo or Kikuhiko and this episode just drove home the point that he was both.

 I was dreading the time where we’ll have to face the consequences of his death. Despite how much he romanticize it, death is ever elegant. I was worried about Konatsu, now that her relationship with her father was newly repaired and thus fragile, I was worried for Yotaro, would he be able to shoulder the immense weight of the expectations of the entire Rakugoka community as he tries to fill the chasm his master left especially when we know he has no intentions to surpass Yakumo.

I had no reason to fear after all.

Usually death scenes in media are almost always from he perspective of the mourners. I expected heartbreak, but what we got instead was perhaps the most beautiful depictions of death in recent times. 

This is a story that treats its characters with respect. The central character is the pillar that had held up the story from the beginning, so of course, in death he is bestowed with the same warmth. It was such a privilege to watch him find his way back home to the people he loves most. There is no wavering, no denial. He accepts death like a home coming. 

I was glad that Miyokichi moved on from condemning herself to be defined by the love of a man who never wanted her. Watching her at peace with her life was soothing, and strangely I never felt sad that they never got to live this out in their lifetime.

 I hope I wasn’t the only one who noticed that Sukeroku somehow seemed more handsome than how we usually saw him. He felt more alive, more real all while he joked about his own death. I guess death doesn’t always have to be about sombre recollections and regrets.

Now I am torn between several choices for my favorite scene in the episode. But I guess there is one recurring theme in all of them.

Reiteration:

Imagine being taught to fear death all your life only to find yourself reunited with every single person (and thing) you’ve lost in your lifetime.

I was hoping this episode will at least be a 9 out of 10.

Not anymore. 

Some things just can’t be quantified.

[obviouslybaka]

I love the comment that Miyokichi was freed from gender in the afterlife. The dialogue in this seried has always had such meticulous and meaningful details.

In a single line, they subverted the “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” trope and flipped all expectations of Miyokichi’s characterization immediately.

It’s such a subtle, yet powerful commentary to show how the concept of gender was so influential to Miyokichi’s character. This season gave so much depth and perspective into her motives; things that could have been read between the lines in season one, but became important focal points in season two, especially in juxtaposition to Konatsu, who takes on the life and opportunities Miyokichi couldn’t have. (Something Yakumo ensued to give her.)

Also, it’s very telling that all this time, it was truly Kikuhiko’s guilty perception of Miyo that made him think she was haunting him. All this time it was truly Kiku who couldn’t let go. And in the samw vain of gender commentary, I think there is perhaps a subtext that can be derived about the way men conceptualize women, even after death, to feed their own egos.

Perhaps, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to rewatch all of season one with the understanding that Miyokichi’s character is being told completely from the perspective of Kikuhiko, a man, and it perhaps it was kiku’s own unconscious bias that Miyo was so desperate for a man’s comfort. Because, as it stands, Miyo was always defined first as a woman, and only second as herself.

It pays to see how she is remembered by others in season two in juxtaposition to Kikuhiko’s description, but even then she is always described my men. Miyokichi lived in a Man’s world, and she had to play by those rules. It wasn’t until death that she was fully allowed to grow as and accept herself. (Perhaps this is what drove Miyokichi to be suicidal, knowing death was her only freedom.) Also, I find it so important that this is the first time we’ve seen Miyokichi on screen representing herself in the story, with her own voice, not simply being remembered to told as a cautionary tale to others.

This concept is so interesting to me, and I think it is delivered so well within the text, with historical authenticity. The level of depth warrants many rewatches.

[veeraha-archived-deactivated201]

SOME ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS: 

Now I ship Shin and Kiku and while thinking about their mostly unspoken relationship in season 1, I have often asked myself the question: What were Shin’s feelings towards Kiku? Now their relationship, as described from Kiku’s perspective in season 1  is both complete and ambiguous at the same time, and yet we NEVER see Shin’s side of the story, to the point that we can guess that all of Kiku’s survivor’s guilt/Admiration/affection for Shin is pretty unrequited. Even in season 2, we see Shin mostly as a specter that almost never speaks. 

Now we finally get Shin, speaking his heart out loud by thanking Kiku for everything he’s done for him. He says that thanks to Kiku for keeping his beloved Rakugo alive, for taking care of Konatsu and for taking care of himself and not letting go even when things got bad. He got to see Kiku smile again, he got to see Kiku finally open up to all the love around him and now  he can finally move on to the afterlife. He had been waiting this long for Kiku all along, his final act being to help his old friend cross over to the afterlife. 

We get this beautiful exchange, possibly the most heartfelt lines we’ve had from him since season 1 when he bid Kiku goodbye after handing Sukeroku’s fan to him. 

Kiku reciprocates, like he always has.  But this time perhaps the way he utters Shin’s name with tearful eyes has more love and meaning than it ever has.

The other thing that really got me was the way Shin clings on to Kiku, not wanting to let go. This mirrors what we’d heard from Kiku’s side of the story in season 1 where he mentions looking up to Shin for inspiration and never wanting to let go of him.

Also, while looking for some information regarding the bittersweet ‘pinky swear’ scene: 

I found this on Wikipedia :

Are you crying yet?

Have this screenshot of our ot3 being the happiest they’ve ever been to soothe your crying soul:

[west-francia-deactivated2020081]

The Importance of Names and SGRS

The importance of a name is a central theme to SGRS. Yotaro receives his name from Yakumo in the first chapter and first episode. He’s the fool of a rakugo story, the main character who doesn’t drive the action but is instead the conduit action moves through. He takes Sukeroku’s name to fill the hole inside of Yakumo and Konatsu that the previous Sukeroku left. And, finally, he takes the name of Yakumo to carry on his predecessor’s legacy.

The names “Sukeroku” and “Yakumo” represent less a concrete identity and more of an overarching theme. Both are bound under the name of “Yurakutei”. Yakumo is the stage name, the name of the primary rakugoka. Sukeroku is the name for someone who rises to prominence early but is ultimately prevented from ever reaching their peak. This is the case of the first Sukeroku, whom was originally favoured but pushed out by the Seventh Generation Yakumo. The second Sukeroku was expelled by the Seventh Generation Yakumo, which sets off the tragic path of the series. 

Effectively, the Seventh Generation is responsible for all of the tragedy in the series. This post focuses on the names “Sukeroku” and “Yakumo”, the need for balance between these names, and why Yotaro, as the fool, is essential to restoring that balance.

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[ikemen-in-suits-deactivated2017]

Meta post on Shin and Miyokichi’s relationship nobody asked for! Inspired by my realisation that Shinbon isn’t as one sided as you might think, if you move away from Bon’s perspective.

Also before anyone asks all the screenshots are from S1 E9.

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[eidolon-azii]

So, I just saw a post about how we’re all upset about the reveal of Shinnouske’s biological father because it’s touched a Western taboo and our feeble Western morality can’t handle it. 

And yes, guys, it’s canon. I don’t think that’s up for debate after episode 12. 

I want to add my two cents here, for whatever it’s worth…

(Spoilers under the cut)

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[eidolon-azii]

It sad though to let sukeroku being the victim between miyokichi amd kiku while konatsu take all the impact. At the end all of them become the victim

So, I know Matsuda-san said that they were all victims. And to some extent I agree. But even within the rubric of victimhood, people have agency. That is to say, some of them are more to blame for how things happened than others.

Now, as I said before, I don’t hate Miyokichi because she’s ruining my gay ship. I actually don’t hate her. But I don’t know that I agree she’s blameless here. I mean, she stabbed Sukeroku. And I get that the events leading up to that fateful encounter were all precipitated by the harsh societal conditions women had to face. Miyokichi didn’t have many options. She was a sex worker and dependent upon the men in her life to support her. Sukeroku was terrible at supporting her, even though he knew that she absolutely needed that security and stability to stay around. So, I understand her frustrations with him. I do. I would be angry too.

But there were plenty of places in her story where she made decisions that I find morally questionable. One of the most uncomfortable scenes in S1 happens when she leans in to kiss Kikuhiko. You can see that he’s only sort of into it, if at all. It was clear all along that he didn’t reciprocate her feelings, not with the same intensity. It’s okay to love someone with ferocity. It’s not okay to foist your feelings upon them and then get angry at them for not feeling the same way. People don’t owe you love just because you love them. That sense of entitlement to Kiku’s sentiment and his person runs throughout the entire story, such that what happened that night was a manifestation of said entitlement. She felt like Kiku belonged to her and so she sought to get rid of the person who stood between them (in her mind).

Kiku, too, isn’t blameless. I think he did lead her on, and that’s not right either. But when he broke up with her, he did so with clarity. There were no equivocations. 

I think Kiku may not distinguish between types of love, only intensity. That is, I think he doesn’t compartmentalize between romantic or platonic or familial love. For him, it seems like there are people he loves, more or less. So, yes, I think he loved her, but probably not in the romantic and/or sexual way. In fact, he may be on the aro/ace spectrum. I think he loved Sukeroku, too, and he loved him more than Miyokichi. And perhaps it’s this latter revelation that drives Miyokichi to such extreme measures. I mean, she loses it when he says he wants the three of them to live together. For him, that’s not a problem. For her, it is, because she’s claimed ownership over Kiku and can’t bear to share him. 

I think Sukeroku wasn’t blameless as well. After Miyokichi and Kiku broke up, he responds to her advances. He knows that Kiku loves her, that she is using him to hurt Kiku, and he still gives her the time of day. That is problematic on a number of levels.

For me, I disagree with Matsuda-san in that everyone was to blame and everyone was also a victim. You don’t have to be one or the other.

The only person I thought was relatively blameless in the whole situation was Konatsu. She was a child. She thought her beloved father had died. She didn’t know Miyokichi would fall off the balcony.

But, it’s funny. I called Kiku selfish in an earlier meta I wrote because I thought he wasn’t able to give Konatsu the warmth and kindness she needed immediately after her parents died. I thought he was wrapped up in his own grief. I still think he was wrapped up in his own grief, but I think part of their relationship is fraught with the fact that the only two people he’d ever loved were taken away by the actions of this little girl that had no idea of the gravity of what she’d done. I don’t think he’d ever blame her intentionally, but I do think we tend to levy blame subconsciously in those situations. I mean, think about how you’d feel if a child precipitated the death of the most important person in your life. Logically, you’d know that the child wasn’t to blame (if it was an accident), but there’s a part of you that would be a bit angry, I’m sure. 

And thinking about the layers of meaning this adds to the fact that Konatsu has been telling Kiku that she’s going to kill him for years. Oh God, the irony there. Sure, she didn’t intentionally kill them; but she killed them all the same. 

God, this show is so good. It’s just so, so, so good. So many resonances with just a few words. 

Finally, Matsuda-san *still* needs a raise. 

[l00nyarchive]

if you hate miyokichi, you don’t understand this show.

(to be upfront about certain things: i don’t think ‘she didn’t do anything wrong’. nor do i think she and sukeroku, or she and kiku, were ever actually in love so. lets start with that.)

in the context of the show, there are three overlapping factors affecting the lives of our main trio here: homophobia, gender, and class. if kiku is affected by homophobic and sexist gender norms (’a boy can’t be a geisha!’) and sukeroku is affected by homophobic and classist norms, miyokichi is affected by sexist and classist norms, and the specificities of her situation end up making her far more vulnerable in her life than either sukeroku or kiku is.

she has been forced into sex work for the entirety of her life. first she attempts to have kiku marry her, because he is of an elevated class and will literally bring her out of poverty and free her from needing sex work and bring stability to her life. it’s not a love match, it’s literally survival for miyokichi. if kiku understands any of this–and i think he does–he ultimately chooses not to care. left with little other options, miyokichi turns to sukeroku. both of them clearly are thinking of kiku when they’re with each other, but they both know that–miyo obviously recognizes the homoerotic nature of sukeroku and kiku’s relationship (how many times has she tried to force her way between them/claimed sukeroku ‘steals’ kiku from her? it’s not even subtle, folks). but again, it’s something. if she can get sukeroku out of the city, she thinks, away from rakugo, he will get a job and support her and maybe she can escape sex work and poverty with him.

is it likely? no. does miyo manipulate sukeroku with her pregnancy? absolutely. is miyokich the only one at fault here? absolutely not. sgrs is a dramatic tragedy…all of the characters have faults and make serious, painful mistakes. that’s the show.

anyway, sukeroku turns out to be a complete fucking bum and does nothing but drink all day, and miyokichi is forced back into sex work again. she abandons him and her daughter and while in many ways that is a reprehensible choice, is it also an understandable one? yes, in my opinion.

rather than hate miyokichi, it is far more interesting to try and understand her, to recognize that her situation was stacked against her in every single way and that she did what she thought she had to do to survive. no, she is not perfect. but kiku has spent the entire time he has raised konatsu denying her the one thing she wants because she is a girl, deliberately making her miserable, making her suffer, because he wants someone to suffer the way that he suffered, to be unhappy as he is unhappy. yet kiku is the fandom’s beloved fave despite this.

why can’t miyokichi ever get the same understanding?

(NEWEST EP SPOILERS///) yes, she killed sukeroku. that is the tragedy that this entire show is built upon. maybe not everyone is willing to try and understand miyokichi in this moment. but that tragedy stems from her own tragedy, the one that she has struggled with her entire life, the one where no one wanted to empathize with her or reach out to her and understand her and maybe help her instead of manipulating and using her.

[and-one-the-stars]

I feel like there’s another thing to add here about Miyokichi’s past. She started out as a geisha, but turned to sex work during the war. Two things I want to outline are: 1. Connections with the 7th generation Yakumo was how she first got her job at the brothel 2. Historically, geishas who became prostitutes were shunned by other geishas Kiku had Sukeroku and Sukeroku had Kiku. They also had the 7th generation, Matsuda, and their rakugo career. Miyokichi on the other hand, was never depicted with having any friends. Possibly because she never had any, possibly because she lost them when she took desperate measures during the war. We’re so used to the lack of female representation in media that it’s hard to see how this is done on purpose in this show. She wasn’t only a poor woman in a male society but she was completely, utterly, alone.

[leavesofmaple]

The ShinBon Bomb

On Friday the final episode of Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu aired. After the previous week’s episode, where Kikuhiko (Yakumo) passed on into the afterlife with a smile on his face, viewers expected the beloved series to wrap up peacefully. But Shouwa did not go quietly into that dark night without first dropping a massive bombshell on us: that Kikuhiko may be Shinnosuke’s real father.

The following is this fan’s thought process on the implications of this twist.

On a Moral Level-

Does anyone out there remember the manga/anime Bunny Drop? Do you remember WHY it received the backlash it did? It’s because it’s the story of a man who raised his grandfather’s newly discovered toddler only to TURN AROUND AND MARRY HER WHEN SHE GREW UP. The series tried to make the argument that, because it was later revealed that Rin wasn’t actually Daikichi’s grandfather’s daughter, the two aren’t related by blood and therefore it isn’t actually incest. But incest isn’t the problem: child grooming is. Child grooming is when an adult raises a child in such a way to condition them to be open to sexual advances from said adult. It’s a real thing, and it’s disgusting.

The thought of Kikuhiko sleeping with Konatsu is horrifying: not because they are related by blood (they aren’t), and not because of the age difference, but because Kiku was a father figure to her through much of her life, including most of her childhood. He took her in after the death of her parents and raised her. She is the closest thing he has to a daughter. To turn around and sleep with her when she comes of age breaks any sort of familial trust that was established between them, and is an incredibly dishonorable thing to do to the child of your two closest friends.

On a Thematic Level-

Shinnosuke as the physical manifestation of the three original mains (Kikuhiko, Sukeroku, and Miyokichi) is an absolute stroke of brilliance. These three characters, who loved and were loved and never found peace with their situations, are finally tied together in a very real and tangible way. It is especially satisfying as you realize through his presentation and appearance that Shin-chan is the lovechild that Kikuhiko and Sukeroku would have had if their relationship had been pursued (and if there weren’t obvious physical limitations). It brings a level of closure to the relationship between these two men who, despite being very close, were always at odds with each other and the world.

My Personal Thoughts-

I don’t think Kikuhiko slept with Konatsu. It doesn’t make a lot of sense for a man who, despite being super far in the closet, never let Miyokichi (the woman he was the closest to) touch him, to turn around and sleep with her daughter. And do you think, even for one moment, that Sukeroku would have welcomed Kikuhiko into the afterlife with open arms if Kiku had been fucking his daughter?

One thing that is important to remember is that it is Higuchi who puts this theory forward. Higuchi, as a writer, is always looking for connections in things, and has put more than one false accusation forward in the past. Remember when he accused Kikuhiko of killing Miyokichi? We know from Matsuda’s account that Kiku was blameless in what happened to Konatsu’s parents. We also know that, as interested in Kiku as Higuchi is, he also held a vendetta against him for a long time: for both rejecting him as an apprentice and getting involved with a woman the young writer had feelings for.

Do I think it was actually the mob boss? No. Oddly enough, I always thought Mangetsu was Shinnosuke’s father. Why? Some of it was the child’s appearance. He had the black hair, the gray eyes, and the same sly smile as the rich medical student. But what really made me consider the possibility was a scene from episode 6, when Konatsu formally thanks him for helping bring Kikuhiko to the hospital, and Mangestu replies “You finally looked my way, eh?” Konatsu looks up quickly, taken aback. At the time I read this as Mangestu quietly commenting on the fact that Konatsu refuses to acknowledge the father of her child. It’s not a lot to go on, but I do think it makes a lot more sense than the mob boss or the mob boss’s son.

Some people are going to disagree with me. And that’s okay. I agree that there is a lot of evidence sprinkled throughout the series pointing to Shinnosuke as Kikuhiko’s son. Whether that evidence is canon fact or thematic conjecture is going to be up to the interpretation of the viewer. Haruko Kumota intentionally brings up the idea because she wants to introduce the implications on a metaphorical level, but she also intentionally leaves the situation ambiguous, because Shinnosuke’s real father does not ultimately change the larger story of Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu, which is one of love, loss, and the eternal power of rakugo.

[west-francia-deactivated2020081]

Heresy and SGRS

This scene is my favourite interaction between Yotaro and Yakumo, which occurs at the end of SGRS Season 2, Episode 1. The entire scene is a hugely important to their relationship and the path of the story, but I’ll concentrate on this particular exchange because it sets off the rest of the scene and the tone of the rest of the series.

The idea of writing new rakugo stories, presented and argued to Yota by Eisuke in the previous scene, is declared 邪道 (jado). This can be translated as in the CR subs as “heresy” or as “an evil course/road”. No one, Yota or the audience, is surprised that this is Yakumo’s reaction. That’s the comedy of the scene.

What is important, however, is that 邪道 is not immediately what leaves Yakumo’s mouth. Instead, following the question, Yakumo opens his eyes:

He is not angry by the suggestion. He doesn’t pull away from Yota; the massage continues. He thinks about the question, considering Yota, before coming up with his response. This tell us three things. 

One, Yakumo is lying. He does not think new rakugo stories are inherently heresy. 

Two, he is playing his role as Yota’s master. Yota is the type of student who needs to have a course plotted for him. Not so he can follow it to the letter but to give him something to fight against. This is the parallel that Yota has to Sukeroku, who was always fighting the established way. Yota, on the other hand, isn’t about to pull away just because he’s denied something. Instead, he tries to find a way to achieve his goal that balances his and other’s wants and needs.

Three, Yakumo is deliberately decides to draw a line between himself and Yota. He indicates that there is an evil course to rakugo, and, because such a course exists, there must also be a right way. He implies that he knows what the evil path is, and, if Yota was anyone else, this would successfully push him away. 

Instead, this completely backfires. As Yota spends the rest of the scene formally requesting to live under the same roof as Yakumo, start a family with Yakumo and Konatsu and by extension Shinbo, and change the Sukeroku that lives inside of them. He throws the promises that he had to make to stay Yakumo’s apprentice–don’t die before Yakumo, learn both Yakumo and Sukeroku’s rakugo, and extend the lifespan of rakugo–back in Yakumo’s face and foreshadows that, rather than an evil course, Yakumo has laid out the right course by entrusting his stories to his apprentice.

And that is the great comedy of the scene: it pits Yakumo and Yotaro as Sukeroku against each other but, at the same time, makes them work to achieve the same goal: living and dying for the sake of rakugo.

[sgrs-archives]

Ｓｈｏｗａ   Ｇｅｎｒｏｋｕ  Ｒａｋｕｇｏ   Ｓｈｉｎｊｕ  ｗｅｅｋ：  Ｒｕｌｅｓ

❃ We accept fan fic (of any length and in any language), fan art (digital or traditional), edits/gifsets, videos, cosplay, music playlists and any other form of fan work you wish to submit.

❃ Post your work on your blog and tag it with “SGRSWEEK” and we’ll reblog it. Alternatively you can submit your work using the submit option. 

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❃ For fan fics, you can either submit a link to your work posted on external sites or submit the entire work. In case of the latter, please ensure your submission has the following information:

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[sgrs-meta]

If you post any meta, please let me know! Tag #sgrs meta in the first five tags of your post or tag me in it!

[yotarohen]

Honestly for the longest time I hated miyokichi (and I still have my reservations about her since even though she didn't mean to stab sukeroku, she was still emotionally abusive and manipulative) but I'm kinda glad and happy for them all that she's changed and seems to have reflected on her actions and the biggest part of that for me was seeing her let sukeroku do rakugo, which in life she berated and forbade him for and from doing so I'm glad they're all doing okay now

You know at first I felt the same way but I love Miyokichi, she’s a really fascinating character and her whole story arc breaks my heart.

Miyokichi is a deeply misunderstood character, I find. At her core she’s a good person but she’s someone who’s been through a lot and life really changed her. She also definitely has a lot of unchecked mental health problems, which did not help the situation at all (but really couldn’t be avoided considering the time period and the social climate in Japan with MI to begin with)

But yeah I won’t argue she was abusive and manipulative. (’cool story, still murder’ type of deal u feel)

When we first meet her in the series, and when she first starts dating Kiku, she’s actually quite happy (or at least appears to be on the outside). I find Kiku was a catalyst to her downfall as well, which was no one’s fault in the end (there were too many things at play to be able to point fingers). She became obsessed with him, but couldn’t get what she thought she wanted from him (open love and affection, his attention) they were never made to last, and Kiku’s lack of interest in taking their relationship seriously and him becoming absorbed with his rakugo training eventually made Miyokichi….like, jealous of rakugo itself. 

She desperately clung to the one thing she was invested in, Kiku fascinated her but also frustrated her immensely. When he finally dumps her she clings to the next thing that shows her affection, Sukeroku. And him being freshly banned from rakugo was PERFECT for her, she could have love and didn’t need to see that horrible thing that took Kiku away from her. (Sukeroku in general is a character filled with too much love, he fell to being manipulated by her because he just had so much love to give but even then that wasn’t enough for her. She was still hung up on Kiku).

In the end she pushed a lot of her repressed frustrations onto Sukeroku (and inevitably Konatsu too), having a child with him for revenge, forcing him to stop rakugo, abusing him (apparently yelling/berating him a lot with A KNIFE yikes girl?)

It shows later that Kiku does feel responsible for what happened to her (like MENTALLY what happened to her not just her death, [i.e her ghost haunting him, wanting to apologize etc.]) Where she did originally blame Kiku, she admits that no one was truly to blame. She had forgiven him and also herself for putting him in an unfair position (wanting him to be her sole emotional support, something he couldn’t give her)

But yeah death really…freed her? I guess that how you could put it, she’s no longer weighed down by the societal pressures of being a woman and she had time to reflect on everything that happened, she can’t be mad at Kiku anymore. She misses her daughter, she wished she treated her better and she gets along with Sukeroku finally (they still fight but not nearly in a terrifying/abusive way as before. Definitely more of a normal “I live with this person” sort of way)

Basically I love Miyokichi, she’s a deeply flawed character who deserved better in life but was given the freedom she needed in death.

[pickyperkypenguin]

okay so what absolutely breaks me is the second opening sequence (the first one’s a thing too, but abt that maybe another time)

1) the fact, that everyone, literally everyone is reaching out to yakumo, and yet he is not reaching anywhere, completely defeated

2) worse, he’s giving up on even yotaro’s hand, when he’s drowning and having the chance to save himself

3) he always gives up, because he knows nothing sticks with him

4) and the moment when i instantly want to sob is when shin is the one who’s just not waiting for any permission and embraces him

5) that itself would be painful enough but why not make it even more heart wrenching by making sukeroku kiku’s personal shinigami

6) why are they each other’s greatest love and most hurtful death

7) the moment when shin bares yakumo and it shows he’s got nothing but skeleton inside him, and when the shot focuses on the left part where heart should be, there is just emptiness

8) is just too. much. i’ll be crying quietly in a corner

[l00nyarchive]

if you hate miyokichi, you don’t understand this show.

(to be upfront about certain things: i don’t think ‘she didn’t do anything wrong’. nor do i think she and sukeroku, or she and kiku, were ever actually in love so. lets start with that.)

in the context of the show, there are three overlapping factors affecting the lives of our main trio here: homophobia, gender, and class. if kiku is affected by homophobic and sexist gender norms (’a boy can’t be a geisha!’) and sukeroku is affected by homophobic and classist norms, miyokichi is affected by sexist and classist norms, and the specificities of her situation end up making her far more vulnerable in her life than either sukeroku or kiku is.

she has been forced into sex work for the entirety of her life. first she attempts to have kiku marry her, because he is of an elevated class and will literally bring her out of poverty and free her from needing sex work and bring stability to her life. it’s not a love match, it’s literally survival for miyokichi. if kiku understands any of this–and i think he does–he ultimately chooses not to care. left with little other options, miyokichi turns to sukeroku. both of them clearly are thinking of kiku when they’re with each other, but they both know that–miyo obviously recognizes the homoerotic nature of sukeroku and kiku’s relationship (how many times has she tried to force her way between them/claimed sukeroku ‘steals’ kiku from her? it’s not even subtle, folks). but again, it’s something. if she can get sukeroku out of the city, she thinks, away from rakugo, he will get a job and support her and maybe she can escape sex work and poverty with him.

is it likely? no. does miyo manipulate sukeroku with her pregnancy? absolutely. is miyokich the only one at fault here? absolutely not. sgrs is a dramatic tragedy…all of the characters have faults and make serious, painful mistakes. that’s the show.

anyway, sukeroku turns out to be a complete fucking bum and does nothing but drink all day, and miyokichi is forced back into sex work again. she abandons him and her daughter and while in many ways that is a reprehensible choice, is it also an understandable one? yes, in my opinion.

rather than hate miyokichi, it is far more interesting to try and understand her, to recognize that her situation was stacked against her in every single way and that she did what she thought she had to do to survive. no, she is not perfect. but kiku has spent the entire time he has raised konatsu denying her the one thing she wants because she is a girl, deliberately making her miserable, making her suffer, because he wants someone to suffer the way that he suffered, to be unhappy as he is unhappy. yet kiku is the fandom’s beloved fave despite this.

why can’t miyokichi ever get the same understanding?

(NEWEST EP SPOILERS///) yes, she killed sukeroku. that is the tragedy that this entire show is built upon. maybe not everyone is willing to try and understand miyokichi in this moment. but that tragedy stems from her own tragedy, the one that she has struggled with her entire life, the one where no one wanted to empathize with her or reach out to her and understand her and maybe help her instead of manipulating and using her.

[eidolon-azii]

Gotta to talk about sgrs. Konatsu child is soo cute, I think im gonna die. He reminded me of child innocent ciel though, and the part kiku embrace him is soo sweet

I both love and hate how much this little kid has Kiku wrapped around his finger. Like, he calls him ‘grandpa.’ And then, when Higuchi wanted to talk to Kiku and Kiku hesitated, he only gave in because Shinousuke said, “Grandpa, he picked me up the whole time.” I love that he fell asleep against Kiku too. 

This kid is completely unafraid of Kiku. He has no problem approaching him or touching him or talking to him. In this way, he’s the only person apart from Konatsu (at times), who doesn’t give a goddamn about Kiku being the great Yakumo. 

I love that we see so many of Kiku’s softer aspects when Shin-chan is around, too. But I hate that he was so unable to be this mindful, warm(er) (because he’s never completely warm) person to Konatsu, who needed him to be that so badly. I hate that his grief was so overwhelming that he neglected to be the guardian that she needed at the time. So, it hurts me that he’s able to be indulgent and kind, but that he wasn’t when the situation required it of him. But that’s Kiku. He’s a bit selfish, as we know. And the fact that we don’t all hate him unequivocally is a testament to the author’s ability to create complicated, fascinating, and oh so human characters. 

Also, Matsuda-san needs a fucking raise. That man is a saint. 

[katrani]

it’s been over a week and i’m still not sure how i feel about konatsu saying that she can’t intrude on the masculine “integrity” of rakugo

like, on the one hand, i hate it so much c’mon writers stop sidelining such an amazing woman, let her at least try, even if it’s only in off-side performances like for schools or something where yakumo wouldn’t catch her.

on the other, i can see that line being very much in-character, considering yakumo is the one that raised her and the only other significant female present in the story being miyokichi. like, even if konatsu barely remembers her mother, and even if yakumo softened some of the details of what happened in telling his flashbacks, there’s going to be a lot of bitterness there. i’m half surprised konatsu isn’t more self-hating because of her gender.

but she obviously enjoyed performing so much i just want to scream at the show to let her have something of her dream become real.

[bbtree]

this is what i’ve been thinking about tho like… konatsu is shown as a fighter in many ways.

while kiku is a stuck-up patriarchal dick to her, there’s two other characters whose presence actually add to the means for exploring an s2 (orrr later?? is the manga officiallyy over? god the last few pages were a blur when i flipped thru) arc where she follows her dream?? im talking about yota, who’s an outsider and not ashamed of it, and he’s so supportive of her. i’m also talking about higuchi, who has a creative/ philosophical clash with kiku that was just underlined last week.

like….. can u just imagine?? higuchi writes sth prickly and arresting and brand new, and konatsu gives it a shot and works with him, maybe it’s not even Rakugo ™ but sth inspired by the form. and ofc the aftermath is terrible bc kiku is furious, and yota’s caught in the middle, and Moar Drama ensues. obvsly this is a very basic idea off the top of my head but….. that was an angle worth exploring and would have drawn out /all/ the existing themes in the show already. passion for one’s art. family/legacy. inspiration. transgression.

and konatsu havin a baby so she can carry on sukeroku’s legacy….. what if the baby had been a girl? the baby could’ve been a girl, no? it just looks like a plot device and no better.

like………. i feel like the author (and here i mean the originary text, the manga, tbh!) could have just taken this somewhere even more brilliant that actuall y acknowledged konatsu more fully lol

[katrani]

yeah!!! Exactly!!!!!

And like, okay, maybe Konasu can’t “actually” perform, like in a theater or something, because of sexism on the part of bookers or maybe she feels she’s too old to do all the apprenticeship stuff properly a this point, fine.

But maybe have her ride that enthusiasm from the kids. Have her start teaching intro classes or run a club or something- something that could maybe feed some kids into apprenticeships. Have her inspire a bunch of girls that are young enough to go through it all, and yeah, have Yotaro/Sukeroku supporting her!!! He’s so excited for ehr to get chances like this, and can you just imagine the two of them practicing together?

And yes, get Higuchi involved as well! If Yakumo isn’t even going to look at his new scripts, bring it to Konatsu, someone as born into this art as anyone can be, so she can evaluate it, maybe even perform it and give him feedback.

LET KONATSU IMPROVE AND REVITALIZE THE ART HER DADS HAVE ALMOST KILLED- hell, that could parallel nicely with Shinnosuke, having her actual son getting to be brought up in the cycle of rakugo that Konatsu helped make, have the art itself be a sibling to him, in a way.

[bbtree]

@katrani

yes! those are awesome ideas and some of them would def work without straining seriously at the historical plausibility, tbh?? i love the one abt her inspiring younger girls omg, and yota supporting her and practising together.

@polandspringz

hope it’s ok if i respond to yr reply here! regarding the timeframe… did you mean the early 20th century rather than the early 2000s?

there are two things i wanna mention! first thing is, take a look at this piece of technology featured in ep 5. apart from the obvs change they had to make so not to put product/brand placement on the show, which must be a legal issue, this looks /exactly/ like a classic portable music player. if you run a google images search for “sony tps-l2 walkman” you’ll see what i mean. when was this piece of tech first marketed? july 1979. historical film and drama can give us many clues like this w/o shoving calendar or newspaper or character-spoken infodumps at us. so at this point in the story we’re already almost in the 1980s.

the second thing is….. no female rakugoka was promoted to the rank of master (so, shin'uchi) until the early 1990s. that’s a mere decade away. there’s room for overlap. also female rakugoka /did/ exist before that milestone. though very small in number, they /did/ learn the art and perform. in the hypothetical arc or season where konatsu did more rakugo, there’s no need for a historically inaccurate development like her reaching that highest rank.

women have always done shit. when they’ve not been allowed to, they’ve still tried and fought for a place. it’s rly interesting to see how narratives work with this truth, or not, where they choose to push deeper, and where they don’t.

[l00nyarchive]

i love this moment. it’s a glimpse, i think, of the real sukeroku … or sukeroku as not seen solely through kiku’s eyes. idk! there’s just such a weight on him, a heaviness that doesn’t get any significant place in the narrative because kiku didn’t know about it, and everything we know about sukeroku in the show is as told by kiku (or konatsu), both of whom idealize him in different ways. he doesn’t know what to do. and essentially, after this point, sukeroku gives up. this gets glossed over in the telling–whether because kiku is preserving konatsu’s feelings, or his own, or he just doesn’t know–and even when sukeroku makes one last attempt later to perform rakugo again, there’s something missing. just a little bit. both of them know kiku didn’t deserve to inherit yakumo’s name. but knowing that doesn’t matter. doesn’t change anything, except how you feel about it.

[katrani]

it’s been over a week and i’m still not sure how i feel about konatsu saying that she can’t intrude on the masculine “integrity” of rakugo

like, on the one hand, i hate it so much c’mon writers stop sidelining such an amazing woman, let her at least try, even if it’s only in off-side performances like for schools or something where yakumo wouldn’t catch her.

on the other, i can see that line being very much in-character, considering yakumo is the one that raised her and the only other significant female present in the story being miyokichi. like, even if konatsu barely remembers her mother, and even if yakumo softened some of the details of what happened in telling his flashbacks, there’s going to be a lot of bitterness there. i’m half surprised konatsu isn’t more self-hating because of her gender.

but she obviously enjoyed performing so much i just want to scream at the show to let her have something of her dream become real.

[bbtree]

this is what i’ve been thinking about tho like… konatsu is shown as a fighter in many ways.

while kiku is a stuck-up patriarchal dick to her, there’s two other characters whose presence actually add to the means for exploring an s2 (orrr later?? is the manga officiallyy over? god the last few pages were a blur when i flipped thru) arc where she follows her dream?? im talking about yota, who’s an outsider and not ashamed of it, and he’s so supportive of her. i’m also talking about higuchi, who has a creative/ philosophical clash with kiku that was just underlined last week.

like….. can u just imagine?? higuchi writes sth prickly and arresting and brand new, and konatsu gives it a shot and works with him, maybe it’s not even Rakugo ™ but sth inspired by the form. and ofc the aftermath is terrible bc kiku is furious, and yota’s caught in the middle, and Moar Drama ensues. obvsly this is a very basic idea off the top of my head but….. that was an angle worth exploring and would have drawn out /all/ the existing themes in the show already. passion for one’s art. family/legacy. inspiration. transgression.

and konatsu havin a baby so she can carry on sukeroku’s legacy….. what if the baby had been a girl? the baby could’ve been a girl, no? it just looks like a plot device and no better.

like………. i feel like the author (and here i mean the originary text, the manga, tbh!) could have just taken this somewhere even more brilliant that actuall y acknowledged konatsu more fully lol