Anime Limited has picked up the rights to another series for release sometime next year that doesn’t have any licensing elsewhere yet with Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju. Possibly a sign of things to come, they’ve grabbed the first season that aired int he winter 2016 season ahead of the second season that’s coming next year. No details are available at the moment with their plans for it or if the pickup includes the OAD releases.
The TV series covers the second to fifth volumes of the manga series as the OADs cover the main arc from the first and second volume.
The adaptation uses the same production team as the OAD releases as it was directed by Mamoru Hatakeyama based on the series composition and scripts by Jun Kumagai. Character designs were handled by Mieko Hosoi with the series being animated at Studio Deen. The opening song was 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.