My apologies for the confusion in regards to Yakumo Yurakutei, but here’s the 7th Generation Yakumo as it’s time for a back-story on this episode.
Anyway, this is the story of two boys: Shin and Bon. While they have different lives, both boys were drawn into rakugo and they became apprentices of the 7th Generation Yakumo.
For Shin, rakugo was his life as he stayed at the theater due to having no relatives waiting form him. For Bon however, it was a last resort as he was abandoned by his parents after giving up dancing.
In any case, both of them learned the ropes from their master as the grew older…
For Bon, he was named Kikuhiko Yurakutei as he made his debut at the theater. Unfortunately, Kikuhiko’s performance is somewhat stiff as if he’s struggling that the audience got bored of it!
It doesn’t help that the background music is getting louder while Kikuhiko’s voice is getting lower during his performance. Still, I have to give credit to Studio DEEN on creating a depressing atmosphere.
In any case, the 7th Generation Yakumo Yurakutei was disappointed at Kikuhiko’s debut. In fact, he’s worried that Kikuhiko’s rakugo future is in doubt!
As for Shin however, he became Hatsutaro and his performance made everyone in awe. In fact, Hatsutaro is a natural when it comes to performing rakugo since he grew up to a theater at a young age.
Anyways, Hatsutaro’s rakugo debut was a success. Of course, it was just a beginning of their rivalry between him and Kikuhiko, which will continue on the next episode!
The Anime Rambler - By Benigmatica 