The upcoming winter 2016 anime series Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju has now brought out a pretty solid piece of promotion with a two-minute video that highlights the characters, quality of animation and the style that it’s going to take, which should draw in some fans that are starting to look beyond the current fall season. After giving us a quickie thirty-second tease in early October, King Records has definitely staked out a claim for January. Additionally, the preview also reveals the premiere date for the series with a January 8th, 2016 bow in Japan. The TV series is going to cover the second to fifth volumes of the manga series as the OADs cover the main arc from the first and second volume.
The adaptation will be the same production team as the OAD releases as it will be directed by Mamoru Hatakeyama based on the series composition and scripts by Jun Kumagai. Character designs are being handled by Mieko Hosoi with the series being animated at Studio Deen. We learned in October that the opening song, which has not yet been titled, will be performed by Megumi Hayashibara.
Plot concept: When a certain man is released from prison, he knows exactly where he’s heading first. After falling in love with a traditional comic storyteller’s rendition of the story called “Shinigami,” he is determined to become his apprentice. The performer, Yakumo, has never taken an apprentice before, but to everyone’s surprise, he accepts the eager ex-prisoner, nicknaming him “Yotaro.”
As Yotaro happily begins his new life, he meets others in Yakumo’s life, including Yakumo’s ward Konatsu. Konatsu was the daughter of a famous storyteller, and Yakumo took her in after her father’s tragic death. Konatsu loved her father’s storytelling, and would love to become a performer in her own right–but that path is not available for women.
