Akane Banashi Story 211
I have a possibly-unpopular take that I feel like putting out there regardless: Kaisei isnât putting in a particularly good performance and deserves to lose.
Cut for spoilers.
ïżŒPitchforks down, Issho is still⊠well, Issho. Iâm not saying heâs in the right, or that heâs vindicated in any way. If anything, this performance is an indictment of him as a teacher. Iâm not passing moral judgment on anybody here. Iâm just evaluating how I would judge this performanceâwhich, unfortunately, lines up with what Iâm pretty sure Issho will say.
The Art of the Personal is a tricky thing. By drawing on your own experiences, you are able to add that additional level of depth and realism to your characters, because you understand what itâs like to be in their shoes. And because this is a story you are telling, you can adjust the story to better fit your own experience and understanding. But there is a limit, and Kaisei has soared past it.
What Kaisei is doing is going onstage and blasting out his unresolved personal issues at everyone in a giant blatantly obvious subtweet. Heâs a skilled storyteller, so itâs presented in a way thatâs going to engage the audience, so theyâre still going to be entertained, but the audience doesnât even rate as a consideration to him. He is going up on stage and putting Issho on blast for his personal satisfaction, and as a personal plea. And thatâs just so incredibly uncomfortable. Itâs oversharing! Way back when Akane was a fresh zenza, she did that performance that took a little side swipe at Rien. And it was satisfying and funny, but it was also called out as not being a particularly good idea, from either an artistic or professional perspective. This is a more grandiose version of that.
But letâs set even that basic discomfort and courtesy aside, for a momentâall of that could be excused, if it werenât for the fact that the story is suffering for it.
Kaiseiâs rendition of God of Death has three characters of significance: the child, the master, and the God of Death.
The child is the most well-realized, because, well, heâs Kaisei as a kid. Full credit to Kaisei that heâs selling this well, as indicated by how the art of the manga portrays him so distinctlyâyou can see Pat Kaisei the Performer to see Kaisei the Child, because heâs evoking that so well. Kaisei has put in the time to pull all of these emotions together.
The master doesnât get directly portrayed in a lot of panels, because the manga is using those opportunities to just show Issho directly, but heâs in the usual Rakugo-world style. His face is never actually shown, which dehumanizes him. Kaisei canât really get inside the masterâs head, because he canât get inside Isshoâs head. He can do a fine outward portrayal, because heâs very familiar with Issho, and I think he can even capture some of that intensity of Demon-Mode Issho. But the whole reason that Kaisei is telling this story is *because* he doesnât understand why Issho did what he did, so this character is *inherently* going to be a bit of a cipher.
Also the master is, like Issho, an asshole. Gotta call that out.
Kaiseiâs God of Death is just Kaisei Shaded Differently, because Kaiseiâs God of Death is more of a story device than a character. He shows up, and perfunctorily fulfills the role that he needs to for the story, but thatâs all there really is to him. Heâs not putting any spin on it whatsoever. If you look at the panel without context, thatâs just An Ominous Chracter Portrayed By Kaisei. The God of Death just isnât the part of the story that Kaisei wants to examine.
But the story is literally called God of Death! Thatâs the entire point! This is the character that is the beating heart of it all, the soul of the story! This is like writing a fanfic that actually only focuses on your OCs! At this point, it almost doesnât matter how technically well Kaisei is performing the story, because it isnât really God of Death anymore.
And Iâm not saying that to be prescriptivist, or say tht the story is incompatible with the Art of the Personal. Akaneâs rendition was *intensely* personal! It is fundamentally built on her fatherâs career ending at Isshoâs whim, on Shiguma collapsing from fucking throat cancer while she was with him. Death is capricious and cruel, and has this horrible black humor to it. But because these are things that Akane has been able to process (unlike Kaiseiâs unresolved open wound), sheâs able to actually integrate it into the story smoothlyâher God of Death is a vividly realized character! Her doctor fucking sneezes himself to death in his moment of triumph, which is about as capricious and cruelly humorous as you can get! Itâs incredible!
But Kaisei isnât managing all that! Heâs just sharing his own personal pain, and resonating with the audience because they are feeling sympathy for his ongoing plight⊠but as Issho correctly said, as infuriating as it is, Rakugo is not the art of making your audience feel sorry for you! But when you go this personal with it, thereâs not really another outcome you can get.
Look, Issho is still a bastard and historyâs greatest villain, but when he drops the hammer on this performance (and probably goes Way Too Far in the process), he isnât going to be Factually Incorrect.



















