Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu is very highly rated by almost everyone who’s watched it, so I can’t really call it underrated, but it’s certainly extremely underwatched.

When Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu originally came out, it got swept under the radar by hugely popular shows like Konosuba and Erased. It starts a bit slow, taking time to develop characters in a way that makes their growth meaningful, and doesn’t truly show its greatest strengths until our third main character shows up around episode four. That, paired with its unique way of storytelling and focus on a niche part of Japanese culture, may make it feel like something too weird to watch, which is super unfortunate. It’s one of my favorite shows of all time, and one of the shows I’d place near the top of my list for any friends interested in trying out anime (although that goes for anyone searching for recommendations, regardless of how many shows they’ve seen). Although unusual for the modern anime scene, a lack of conventional anime tropes and clichés allow Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu’s story to soar, free from a desire to appeal to fans and sell merchandise – it’s a show that exists to tell a beautiful story with perfectly flawed characters, and it certainly does.

“Rakugo” is a Japanese storytelling art, essentially the art of creating a “one man show” and acting out an entire story by oneself. The stories are generally Japanese folk tales, so there might be punchlines and themes that don’t translate the best culturally or linguistically (many attempts at subtitling puns fall woefully flat) but everyone enjoys Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu’s rakugo to varying extents.

Rakugo is one of the greatest strengths of the show, tying characters and plot points together and holding a huge amount of emotion and significance, but it’s also one of its greatest pitfalls early on. Take season one, episode one, for example – not only is it a double episode (and essentially a prologue for season one at that), it’s a double episode with a large amount of time dedicated to rakugo. Without the emotional weight rakugo earns later in the series, anyone who isn’t the biggest fan of the art may be easily bored (and I’ll admit, the rakugo displayed in the first episode is some of my least favorite in the series). However, that doesn’t change the fact that the rakugo is phenomenal overall. I can’t fathom the amount of skill it took for the voice actors to convey it so perfectly; it’s as if they’re masters of rakugo themselves (in fact, some of them actually are). Besides that, Studio DEEN does a fantastic job playing with imagery and dynamic camera angles to keep later performances visually engaging and captivating.

As the show progresses, you realize that rakugo isn’t the primary focus of the show at all – it’s the complex, realistic, and flawed characters and their relationships. Rakugo begins to symbolize the lives of the characters that make the show grow ever more enthralling. No matter whether you originally watched Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu for the superb rakugo or not, the main draw makes a clear shift to the pure storytelling in the show. The depth of the characters is steeped in spoilers, however, so I can’t quite attempt to convince you on that.

“All the good, all the bad… your rakugo has given me every emotion imaginable.”

It’s honestly difficult to describe Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu in a way that truly does it justice. The OST, the animation, the meticulous detail – everything about the show culminates into a masterpiece of writing that keeps me hooked every time I rewatch it. Watching hours of video essays and reading hundreds of reviews and reddit threads only cemented my adoration for the show’s narrative, convincing me to rewatch it multiple times in an attempt to gain the full picture. The subtleties in storytelling and incredibly human characters never fail to astound me, and the amount of analysis done on the show proves how deep the character relationships are. They’re perfectly imperfect and multifaceted to the point of allowing a breadth of interpretations of their motivations, and season two does a fantastic job building upon the characters from season one.

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu is one of the most rewarding anime I’ve ever watched, with an unparalleled storytelling journey and wonderfully cathartic ending. It’s a genuine story of the past and the present with hope for the future. Every time I rewatch SGRS, it feels like I’m watching a film packed with detail that I can’t look away from. I cannot stress how much I believe that every person who watches the series to its conclusion, with full attention, will walk away from it positively. No other anime has made me want to rerate every single show I’ve ever watched. It’s the first thing I’d show to anyone who said anime is just for kids, and remains one of the most profound and moving experiences I’ve ever had watching one.

From the start, the title tells you some key parts of the narrative: it roughly translates into “Flourishing mid-Shouwa period rakugo lover’s suicide” representing the setting, the device binding the characters together, and the end of season one. It doesn’t tell you about the character drama, realistic flaws, and mature themes in the show, but I hope I was able to convince you at least a little bit on that front in this review.

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Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu delivers an unmatched, layered narrative experience that few other anime I’ve watched have even come close to reaching. It might not be your thing if you need waifus and action, but if you’re looking for a fantastic story and can dedicate yourself to watching it all the way through, I couldn’t imagine recommending anything else.