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Main Character
Akane Osaki
Akane Osaki / Akane Arakawa
I'm the only one who's sad about it. Every time someone says "good for him" it feels like they're saying dad's Rakugo was worthless, but it's my favorite... and it hurts so bad... so, I made up my mind!! I decided I'm gonna be a shin'uchi and prove that dad's Rakugo was great!!
A young girl passionate for Rakugo, especially her father's. Following her father leaving the career behind, she decides to take up his dream to prove to everyone that her father's skills were great.
- Breather Episode: In-Universe. Among Akane's skills is that of reading the audience and delivering what is appropriate in a given situation. One of these situations call for delivering something light-hearted and simple whenever she notices that the audience may be tired from laughing or from heavier stories, bringing them down from the high but still entertaining them.
- Color Motif: Red and pink. She has pink irises and her hair tips are colored pink. Her kimono when presenting is also of a reddish-pink color. Her name also contains the Japanese word for "scarlet" ("Aka").
- Crippling Overspecialization: Akane is an extremely talented young Rakugoka but Chapter 36 reveals that she only currently can perform five stories, which creates a problem when her a senior Rakugoka tells her she shouldn't perform a story that includes a similar topic to other performers of the day. This is no longer the case later, when she has ten stories.
- Daddy's Girl: She loves her father and his craft dearly, and defending his honor and skills is a core reason why she kickstarts the plot and attempts to become a Rakugoka.
- Establishing Character Moment: In the Distant Prologue, Akane gets into a fight with her classmate Ozaki after he makes fun of Tohru for practicing Rakugo. When their parents are called in, Akane defends having picked a fight by re-enacting her's and Ozaki's argument—showing both that Akane is someone who cares about defending her dad's honor and is very talented at acting out characters and situations.
- It Runs in the Family: She is challenging her mother's wishes by trying to become a rakugoka. Her mother however, acknowledges that this is probably something she got from her, as she had also challenged her parents to become a beautician, implying she inherited her determination.
- Meaningful Name: Her name matches her Color Motif. "Akane" literally means "Scarlet Sound;" her father named her after the scarlet sunset he saw when she was born.
- Rookie Red Ranger: Zigzagged. She has actually been training since childhood, but has only officially become a pupil as of the very beginning of the manga, when she is about to finish high school (later than what is usual for the field).
- Skilled, but Naive: She has a very good, natural skill when performing, being able to become various character and has an excellent posture on stage and an eye for detail. That said, she doesn't have any formal training and is still naive about the entirety of the field. Much of her earlier arcs end up regarding proper behavior around superiors and the background of the shows, networking with others on the field, how to read an audience and select a story proper for that public, etc.
- So Bad, It's Good: In-Universe. Her means of portraying the Oiran in "Fetching Tea" is purposefully terrible, not meant to emulate Urara's alluring and sexy portrayal, but rather, as the in-universe narrator of the story would be trying to mimic the Oiran speaking, prompting great laughs from the audience.
- Tall Poppy Syndrome: Zigzagged. Word has gotten around among the rakugo community of Akane as a fiery and talented up-and-comer in the scene. It's implied that this is causing some backlash as she is seen as someone who doesn't respect the etiquette and hierarchy of rakugo, but it also has caused people like Rokuro and Urara to become interest in her talent.
Rakugoka
Shiguma Arakawa and his Pupils
Shiguma Arakawa
Shiguma Arakawa
- Bait-and-Switch: Shiguma looks pissed when he walks in on Kyoji dancing in a drunken stupor... only to then berate him for not putting enough effort into his dancing.
- Legacy Character: It is revealed in chapter 93 that he inherited the name Shiguma from the previous holder of the name.
- Mistaken for Pedophile: Having been training Akane in secret, people that knew him started to comment that he was meeting secretly with a young girl. When seeing them, Guriko even thinks he is genuinely up to something illegal by watching them meet quietly in a karaoke. Akane agrees that their training looks awfully shady to an outsider.
- My Greatest Failure: He considers being unable to stop Tohru's expulsion to be his fault, even though there was nothing he could have realistically done. He therefore decides to take Akane under his wing to atone for his previous failure and to rise her up into becoming a true Rakugoka.
- Old Friend: In a flashback panel during the Shikisai Festival he is shown to have been close friends with Urara Ransaika, Issho Arakawa, and Miroku Kashiwaya when they all were younger.
Pupils
In General
The pupils studying under Shiguma Arakawa.
- Big Brother Mentor: Shiguma's school is like a family, and the disciples refer to their seniors as older brothers. After Akane becomes Shiguma's official pupil, the other students, especially Kyoji serve as her mentors, showing her the breadth of the world of Rakugo and allowing her to grow as a performer.
- Like Brother and Sister: Akane sees them as brothers, and when she plans to go on a date to learn how to play an oiran better, she deliberately avoids asking any of her seniors because she considers them too much like family.
Guriko
Guriko Arakawa
- Always Second Best: During the festival arc, he has come to grasp with the fact that Akane is just better than him. He has to struggle with this fact as he realizes that he started only a handful of months before Akane's own unofficial training did.
- The Generic Guy: Compared to his more eccentric "older brothers" and even to Akane's go-getter tendencies, Guriko is the most down to earth and subdued member of the pupils. Unlike the others, Koguma also indicates he is still early in his career, so he is still trying to solidify his style compared to others.
Koguma
Koguma Arakawa
- Edutainment: His style of rakugo includes almost no acting and is entirely narration, which delves deep into the historical context of the story and of the society in which that story originated. While he gets no laughs from his presentation, his style is interesting and fully captures the attention of the audience as it absorbs information.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Maikeru calls him "Teddy Bear", due to the similarity between his name and the Japanese word for "Bear Cub".
- Nervous Wreck: He is terrified of the prospect of mentoring Akane as her senior because he fears that if she quits under his guidance he wouldn't be able to handle the shame.
- Not So Above It All: Despite his calm demeanor Koguma admits that he is not as over Tohru's expulsion as he'd like to think he is and decides to help Akane prepare for the Karugo cup specifically because Issho Arakawa will be judging the competition.
- Older Than He Looks: He is actually the oldest among the pupils, despite the youthful appearance and relative short stature. Akane is surprised to learn that he is 29, a year older than Kyoji and has 2 years of seniority in the craft over him, whom she assumed to be the oldest. He's outright mistaken for a High School student when he comes to the Karaku cup.
Maikeru
Maikeru Arakawa
Doesn't every woman have an equal right to fall in love with me?
A flirtatious pupil. He is the "eldest" of Shiguma's current pupils.- The Ace: According to Koguma, Maikeru is the best futatsume currently, surpassing Rokuro and Kaisei.
- The Jailbait Wait: He mentions not to be able to train Akane when she is 17 due to the possibility of her falling for him. When he comes back later, he says he is willing to teach her if she wins a certain competition, since now she is already 18. Subverted in chapter 59 "A Difficult Choice", in which he specifies he actually kept his distance to let her bond with the other members first, since he was the closest to Tohru.
- The Nicknamer: Addresses his fellow disciples with pet names, with or without consent. Koguma is "teddy bear" to him, Kyoji is "Kyo-chin", and Akane is "Akaneru".
- Out of Focus: Receives the least amount of appearances among the rest of the Shiguma's pupils. It's indicate in chapter 54, "Zenza Renseikai", that this is because he is so successful and in-demand that he doesn't have the time to lounge around the house like the other pupils.
- Sadistic Choice: As part of his training towards Akane, he says he will teach her one of three stories, but she will have to choose which one (by extension, having to learn to choose which story to perform for certain results). He offers 1) a headliner story that has a good chance to win her the Zenza Renseikai competition, 2) a story that is less flashy, but matches her style well, and 3) a story, as taught by her father, which Maikeru can't say whether she will perform well or not. The sadism comes from the emotional investment she has in learning her own father's rakugo, since she can't be taught by him in any formal capacity, and the entire point for her to become a rakugoka involved proving the worthiness of her father's style; but that would possibly hinder her own chances of winning an important contest.
Kyoji
Kyoji Arakawa
- Berserk Button: He flips out at Akane when she suggests skipping classes to practice rakugo.
- Big Brother Mentor: He works as a secondary mentor to Shiguma, taking Akane under his wing to teach her about rakugo as soon as she joins the pupils. He teaches her proper etiquette in the backrooms and how to read a room to give a certain audience a good show.
- He is also this to Guriko, asking him to rely on his elder brothers more often, since he has been putting a lot of weight behind his own back to make up for his lack of experience.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: He gets plastered after drinking a single glass of screwdriver and starts dancing like crazy.
- The Comically Serious: Kyoji's style of rakugo revolves around this. Kyoji is a naturally earnest and straightforward person which, while it makes him reliable, also makes him a bit of a stiff. During his performances he deliberately leans into his serious nature, even when delivering comical lines, which makes his rakugo even funnier. Shiguma in the past even encouraged Kyoji to focus on this way of expressing his rakugo, since he doesn't know how to deliberately make people laugh at jokes.
Shin'uchi
Arakawa School
Shiguma Arakawa
Tohru's former teacher and Akane's current one. He's been training her since childhood.
See his folder above.
Issho Arakawa
Issho Arakawa
- Anti-Villain: Issho Arakawa is the closest thing the story has to a Big Bad, as he's the one who expelled Tohru from the Arakawa School six years ago. While his decision was harsh and arguably excessive, he had solid reasons for doing it. With the modern entertainment industry being as competitive as it is, Issho believes that Rakugo cannot survive unless they hold Rakugoka to high standards. In Issho's view, if an inexperienced Rakugoka such as Tohru is accepted, then they'll hurt the art form's integrity in an era where it needs to be of high quality in order to draw in new blood.
- Bait-and-Switch: Considering how he is introduced in the series, and the few times the manga shows him performing Rakugo, Issho comes across as a rather intimating Grumpy Old Man and an antagonistic force for Akane to overcome. When he finally shows up in the present however he is shown to be quite friendly when being interviewed and, despite his seeming distaste for anything that goes against tradition, he gives good advice to the various potential Rakugoka present, even when he admits to not being a fan of their styles.
- Face of a Thug: Issho has a very intimidating face, with stern features and sharp eyebrows that rise up into points, which makes the times the the series makes him look intimidating very effective. However despite how he is introduced, when he finally shows up in the present to host the Karugo cup, he is shown to be quite personable and can look rather grandfatherly. Issho even lampshades this when being interviewed at the cup noting that, as a Rakugoka, it's his job to make people laugh.
- Famed In-Story: Despite Rakugo being a fairly obscure field, Issho Arakwa is noted to be a pop-culture icon. While the controversial incident in which he publically expelled six Shin'uchi candidates certainly contributed to that, it's noted that his fame ultimately comes from the fact that he's a master at Rakugo.
- Jerkass Has a Point: "Jerkass" might be a stretch, but his decision to expel the six Shin'uchi candidates was undeniably harsh. That said, Issho isn't exactly wrong when he points out that Rakugoka need to be very good at what they do if the art form is to survive into the future.
- Motive Misidentification: Downplayed. While she was never sure, Akane was aware of the possibility that he only expelled her father and other shin'uchi candidates on a whim. In chapter 28 he finally explains his reasoning, which was that he thought none of the candidates, her father included, had what it takes to advance and protect the art form, doubly so in a day and age where they are competing with as many entertainment means as the modern age.
- Nice Guy: Despite his tough exterior and negative introduction, he is shown to have very clear and harsh, but understandable reasons why he expelled Akane's father. Kaisei's backstory also showcases that he once paid from his own pocket to help his mother after years that she let him not pay his tab and served him well; he also takes Kaisei under his wing to give him a way to provide for his mother.
- No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: Invoked. This ended up happening after he infamously expelled all six applicants of the shin'uchi promotion exam. Despite initially being criticized by the public for the action, many people became curious about Issho and went out to buy tickets to his shows. Eventually his sheer talent led to a boom of people watching his shows and many people even began turning on the drop outs of the exam, noting that if someone as talented as Issho fired them, they must have deserved it.
- Situational Sociability: Issho was very harsh and dismissive when judging the six Shin'uchi candidates, but his feedback to the participants of the Karaku Cup is encouraging Constructive Criticism. Justified, since not only would it be unprofessional to hold novices to the same standard as experienced professionals, but he's of the belief that successful Rakugoka need to have faith in their own abilities. A legendary Rakugoka like himself offering praise would have a major positive impact on someone who's just getting into the art form.
- Unusual Eyebrows: His most distinct visual feature is his stylized eyebrows, modelled on traditional Japanese art.
- Villain Respect: Not a villain per se, but Akane's drive to prove that the decision he made six years ago was wrong genuinely makes Issho happy.
Ikken Arakawa
Also known as "Ikken, The Hedonist", another member of the Arakawa Shin'uchi, also known for his work as a TV and movie actor.
Taizen Arakawa
A shin'uchi who was once fellow students with Chocho Konjakutei and Shinta Arakawa.
- Face of a Thug: His intense presence and closed off, serious face and behavior is capable of scaring others, but he is genuinely a nice and kind man, partly still struggling with hit perceived guilt over his friend's career's end.
- Power Trio: Together with Chocho and Shinta, the three were once known as the Three Futatsume Musketeers.
- The Quiet One: Following the Arakawa Expulsion Taizen has become this and largely has maintained being so until he meets Akane, the daughter of his friend and former fellow pupil Tohru.
- Red Baron: an added effect that the Expulsion had on him is that he became known as "The Furious".
Zensho Arakawa
A shin'uchi who bears a one-sided grudge with Shiguma, the cause of which is unknown.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: He wears glasses that often hide his eyes, and is by far the nastiest character in the manga.
- Hate Sink: A selfish and cruel master to Taizen, as well as willing to stretch a one-sided grudge against a fellow Arakawa to his pupils, willing to stall Akane's career out of his personal distaste for Shiguma.
- Pick on Someone Your Own Size: Maikeru calls him out on the current target of his vendetta against Shiguma being Akane, a teenaged zenza compared, and even says he should focus on him, since he is now scheduled for a Shin'uchi examination.
The Predecessor (Spoiler Character)
The Previous Shiguma Arakawa / Kiroku Kashiwaya
The previous holder of the name Shiguma Arakawa and creator of "Shiguma's Art". He was a Myoseki who created the Arakawa school, after parting ways with the Kashiwaya school.
- Legacy Character: The one who held the name Shiguma Arakawa before the current as well as the creator of "Shiguma's Art". It is implied that "Shiguma's Art" may have had a hand in the Arakawa Expulsion incident.
- Walking Spoiler: The existence of a former Shiguma Arakawa somewhat turns the story on its head as it adds complications involving the Arakawa Expulsion and the fallout from such.
Other Schools
Urara Ransaika
"'Women can't do rakugo.' 'Just quit being a rakugoka.' Masters, fellow artists, listeners. So many people told me these exact things in so many different ways, but I asserted myself anyway, which is why I'm here today."
A noted female rakugoka and one of the most celebrated Rakugoka. She was the apprentice of a famous rakugoka who once claimed no women should ever try to become one, and is a master of the tales about brothels.
- Do Wrong, Right: Her opinion on Akane's stunt. There is no problem in Akane wanting to humiliate her superior for his misbehavior, but her method was poorly chosen.
- Enlightened Self-Interest: She admits to Akane that her interest in teaching stories to her is not born out of a desire to do good to her, but rather, that she is planning something and therefore, requires a "many worthy pieces on her side". This is more of a way to check if Akane fills her criteria and if she does, to keep her on her side."Absolutely none of this is intended to help you out of a bad situation. This is an evaluation, not charity."
- Old Friend: At the Shikisai Festival following the Zenza Renseikai, Urara meets with Shiguma to talk and it is revealed they are old friends. In the flashback panel, Shiguma is shown along with a much younger Issho Arakawa and Miroku Kashiwaya, showing the four of them were much closer in the past than they are currently.
- Playing Both Sides: As someone who is recruiting people to work for her goal, she takes to teaching both Akane and Hikaru, possibly knowing the latter sees the former as a rival.
- Red Baron: During her performance, Master Hassho makes mention of the title she has gained due to her skill in kuruwa-banashi(brothel tales): Courtesan from Hell.
- Showing Up Chauvinists: Her ultimate goal. After years of being a woman in a male dominated field that had to hear how unfit it is for a woman to perform rakugo, she intends to leave a mark in history as the first female myoseki (Rakugoka whose names are especially renowned and then used for schools), the highest renown a rakugoka can have."The peak of prestige that every female rakugoka seeks to reach - bearing my name. There can't be a better way to get back at all those fools who said a woman can't do rakugo."
Chocho Konjakutei
A shin'uchi from the Konjakutei who was once pupils alongside Taizen Arakawa and Shinta Arakawa.
- Big Brother Mentor: Chocho to some degree functions as this to his student, Asagao Konjakutei, as well as to Karashi Sanmeitei and Akane Arakawa.
- The Gambler: Loves playing gambling games and even uses them as part of his entire presentation and even uses gambling as a way to measure Akane and Karashi.
- Power Trio: Together with Taizen and Shinta they were known as the Three Futatsume Musketeers.
Enso Sanmeitei
A mentor from the Sanmeitei school of Rakugo.
- Embarrassing Nickname: "Little Ant", which he calls Karashi any time he appears in the story.
- Red Baron: in-series he is known as the Guardian of Truth.
Futatsume
Kaisei
Kaisei Arakawa
- Abhorrent Admirer: He is very touchy-feely with Akane, prone to acting like they're the best of friends, but she rebukes his every attempt to get close to her and seems to have a low opinion of him outside of Rakugo as someone that annoys her.
- Agent Peacock: His presentation is very flamboyant and even downright feminine, considering his specialty in portraying sexy female characters. Granted, that is for the purpose of making foils to the characters he does play which are the exact opposite of it.
- A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 51 is a Whole Episode Flashback about his childhood, as well as why and how he became Issho's apprentice.
- Curtains Match the Windows: Kaisei has rose-colored hair and eyes.
- Mood Whiplash: His specialty comes from this. Because he is so good at portraying sensual female characters, when he shifts into a sillier character, it makes said character even funnier and sillier by comparison, allowing him to use his good looks and sex appeal to milk laughter from his jokes.
- No Sense of Personal Space: As soon as he meets Akane and notices her innate skill, he attempts to hug her in the backroom, making her very wary of him.
- Pink Means Feminine: Kaisei has rose-colored hair and eyes, and he's a flamboyant young man who specializes in portraying seductive female characters.
- The Rival: He is set up pretty early as the one that Akane actually must defeat in order to achieve her dream. Both are part of the same generation of pupils, are close in age, train under masters with opposing views in the incident of 6 years prior from a young age and so on.
Rokuro
Rokuro Kashiwaya
"Some people like hammering the nail that sticks out and draws attention to itself, while others are entertained by it, like me."
A futatsume and the only apprentice of Miroku Kashiwaya, the only "National treasure" of Rakugo at the moment. Despite being a gloomy man, he is considered to be the most ascendant among Futatsume.- Blinding Bangs: Downplayed, but his hair is often shown as covering one of his eyes.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Considering his social capital among the Futatsume, he rightfully puts Rien in his place when he chews out Akane due to his habit of mistreating those under him, but he also warns Akane that what she did was not proper and she shouldn't do it again or she would spend the rest of her time in the backrooms burning bridges.
Mayura
Mayura Ransaika
A futatsume and Urara's apprentice.
- Ambiguously Gay: It really does look like she has a crush on her master, as she blushes and looks pleased whenever she gets the slightest hint of praise from her.
Rien
Rien Konjakuan
A futatsume who comes from the Konjakuan School.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Rien is shown to be openly antagonistic toward both Asagao and Akane. He is later admonished for this by Rokuro.
Zenza
Karashi
Karashi Nerimaya / Karashi Sanmeitei
- Blatant Lies: While Karashi tells a fellow contestant that Issho's praise for his talents was a bunch of lip-service, his genuine smile after receiving said praise betrays his actual feelings.
- Embarrassing Nickname: "Little Ant", by his mentor Enso Sanmeitei, who he calls "Old Smokestack".
- Foil: To Hikaru, the other rival of Akane introduced in the Karaku Cup arc. Karashi and Hikaru are equally as aggressive as one another, with the only difference being that Karashi outwardly displays it while Hikaru keeps it hidden under a demure facade. They both practice styles of Rakugo which draw from other forms of performance art—Karashi draws from standup comedy while Hikaru draws from dramatic acting.
- Genre Refugee: Karashi's style of Rakugo is noted to be more akin to modern-day sketch comedy than traditional Rakugo.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Definitely leans more towards the "jerk" side on the surface, but he really isn't a bad person when you get down to it, showing himself to be genuinely helpful at points.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: With his victories and being praised by Issho Arakawa, he thought he has the Karaku Cup won and openly criticizes & comments on Hikaru's & Akane's performances. It is not until the latter half of Akane's performance where he started to realize his ignorance.
- Nom De Plume: Starting in chapter 32, he has become an official apprentice, taking on the name of the school he is working under, presenting himself as Karashi Sanmeitei to Akane.
- The Rival: He is set up as being one of Akane's two rivals for the "Karaku Cup" along with Hikaru, with the three noted as being the favorites to win the cup.
- Setting Update: Karashi's style of Rakugo centers around taking classic Rakugo stories, but updating their setting and situation to be more relatable to modern-day audiences. In the Karaku Cup finals, for instance, he takes the basic structure of Tenshiki but changes it to be about a graduate student trying to figure out what "BM" stands for.
- Smug Super: He is quite cocky about his skills, but he is a two-time winner and his method of updating old stories in modern settings manages to get ahold of audiences that may not be so into Rakugo.
Hikaru
Hikaru Koragi / Hikaru Arakawa
She returns during the Zenza Renseika, now officially an apprentice of Ikken Arakawa and under a pen name.
- The Bus Came Back: After the Karaku Cup Arc, she returns, now with the pen name of Hikaru Arakawa, and stating her desire to face off against Akane again.
- Country Mouse: Is originally from Fukuoka and has a dialect that she's trying to tone down to pass as a city girl.
- Curtains Match the Windows: Has light-blue hair and light-blue eyes.
- Foil: To Karashi, the other rival of Akane introduced in the Karaku Cup arc. Karashi and Hikaru are equally as aggressive as one another, with the only difference being that Hikaru keeps it hidden under a demure facade while Karashi outwardly displays it. They both practice styles of Rakugo which draw from other forms of performance art—Hikaru draws from dramatic acting while Karashi draws from standup comedy.
- Genre Refugee: Hikaru's style of Rakugo is noted to be more akin to dramatic theater than traditional Rakugo.
- Master Actor: She is a talented actor, and is afraid of becoming known as one-note, seeing her popularity as coming from her looks and being attached to a popular IP, rather than being recognized by her own skill and talent. Proving herself as a worthy actor is what makes her take up rakugo so she can be publicly recognized as one by a big name in the industry like Issho Arakawa.
- Pyrrhic Victory: She wins the competition against Akane, however, the only category in which she won was with the livestreaming audience, whereas Akane scored higher than her with all three judges and the audience in the room; making her lose for only a single point. While Hikaru is happy she won, she does consider it a flawed victory and is eager to face off again.
- The Resenter: Towards Akane in the Karaku Cup, when she realize that Akane is not technically an amateur in the competition.
- The Rival: She is set up as being one of Akane's two rivals for the "Karaku Cup" along with Karashi, with the three noted as being the favorites to win the cup.
- Shy Blue-Haired Girl: Subverted. Hikaru puts on a front of being demure and soft-spoken, but she's far more aggressive than she lets on. When she makes small talk with Akane during the Karaku Cup, she does so to gauge what her competition will be like. After the qualifiers when she discovers that Akane trained under Shiguma Arakawa, Hikaru outright resents her.
- When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Her background as an actress during the Karaku Cup is her main crutch during the competition. The story she elects to tell allows her to make a theatric and melodramatic monologue, which ends up feeling more like she is doing stage acting than rakugo. When she returns, having learned for a year under Ikken, she can make more of a proper Rakugo performance.
Kaichi
Kaichi Arakawa
A 30+ year-old former salesman and a fellow participant in the Zenza Renseika event. Despite being almost twice Akane's age, Kaichi is a brand-new zenza who only joined the school two months prior to the event, and is technically Akane's junior. He's Issho's apprentice.- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Since he's much older than his fellow zenza and seems very laidback and unambitious, he's not seen as a strong contender to winning the rensenkai event at first. But the fact that he's Issho's apprentice means that he's a lot more skilled than he lets on, and his performance received an uproarious reaction from the audience.
- Nice Guy: He's friendly, helpful, and humble. During his introduction, he helpfully tells Akane where the right entrance to the hall is, and spends the waiting period serving tea to his fellow contestants. He also praises Tama and Akane for being accepted as Ikken and Shiguma's apprentices, respectively, without bothering to mention that he's Issho's apprentice.
Tama
Kendama Arakawa
A fellow participant in the rensekai event who joined the school around the same time as Akane. He's Ikken's apprentice.- Nervous Wreck: He's very easily flustered, and tends to trip over his words when he gets too excited.
Asagao
Asagao Konjakutei
A pupil from the Konjakutei school and Chocho's student.- Japanese Delinquents: Asagao is shown in flashback to have run his own gang when he was younger. Several of his old gang members show up later on to support him when he performs "The Backward Rickshaw".
Osaki Household
Tohru Osaki / Shinta Arakawa
Tohru Osaki / Shinta Arakawa
Click here to see him now
Akane's father. Although a talented Rakugoka, he had never found success in the field, and was famously expelled from the Arakawa school in an incident where the director expelled all 6 people trying to become shin'uchi. Following that incident, he now works as a salesman in a concrete business.
"The image quality is so bad... everything looks blurry to me."- Big Brother Mentor:
- As the oldest of Shiguma's pupils Tohru served this role to his fellow students. Koguma in particular looked up to Tohru and is still bitter years later about his expulsion.
- Chapter 59 expands this by showing that he was really close to Maikeru, being not only the one who taught him things related to the trade but even taught him how to drink.
- Decoy Protagonist: The series' first chapter is framed around Tohru with his struggle to rise in his career and provide for his family being the focal point. Even his performance of "Shibuhama" at the shin'uchi promotion exam is framed like a classic shonen moment of the hero drawing on all of his experiences and struggles to finally achieve his dreams. Then the rug is pulled out from under him when Issho Arakawa expelled him at which point he leaves the world of Rakugoka behind and the story skips ahead six years in order to follow Akane, the true protagonist of the series.
- The Ghost: After being expelled from the Arakawa school, he never shows up on-screen, but only appears in flashbacks, framed in shadow or heard briefly at some points. It helps to frame the ambiguous nature of his character after his expulsion, especially how he feels about Akane pursuing his old career.
- Good Parents: Tohru and Akane are shown to have a very good relationship, and Tohru genuinely wants to make her proud by becoming a Shin'uchi.
- Happily Married: Tohru and Masaki are shown to have a supportive and healthy relationship. Part of why Tohru feels pressured to become a Shin'uchi is so that Masaki wouldn't be as pressured to provide for the family.
- Househusband: When Akane was younger, Tohru's failing career as a Rakugoka left most of the burden of the family's income on Masaki. By extension, he used to be more adept at household chores and was the one to cook for the family. Defied after his expulsion from the Arakawa school, he becomes a concrete salesman, according to Akane he has more money to take his family out to eat more often, and by the time Akane begins her Rakugo carrier he's too busy to watch her performance at the Karaku's Cup.
- Like a Son to Me: Inverted. He looks up to Shiguma Arakawa as a father, and after Issho expelled him, he gives up on Rakugo entirely, even though Shiguma himself said that he could have joined another school and continued pursuing his dreams. Apparently, he'd rather not be a Rakugoka at all than be one under someone else's tutelage.Shinta: The relationship of master and apprentice is akin to parent and child. Before being a Rakugoka, I wished to be the apprentice of Shiguma Arakawa.
- Out of Focus: Deliberately played with. Tohru is obviously important to the story as the Inciting Incident was his expulsion from the Arakawa School by Issho. That said, he never appears outside of flashbacks. Likewise, whenever there are scenes of Akane at home, she's always shown interacting with Masaki while presumably interacting with Tohru offscreen. Effectively, Tohru's feelings on Akane trying to defend his own honor are left entirely ambiguous.
- Power Trio: In his days as a rakugoka, Tohru was known as one of the Three Futatsume Musketeers, along with Taizen Arakawa and Chocho Konjakutei.
- Stealth Mentor: He gives some much needed nudge during Akane's presentation, as she starts losing track of time during a presentation, which would damage the scheduling of the show, he pretends to sneeze to get her out of her own head and speed the story along.
- Unseen No More: His current self finally shows up in Chapter 71, "Resolution", where he is seen watching Akane's presentation and crying with a smile on his face.
- "Well Done, Dad!" Guy: As encouraged by his wife. Because Akane looks up so much to her father, Tohru also feels the need to live up to her expectations of him, and show how skilled and cool he can be.
Masaki Osaki
Masaki Osaki
- Good Parents: Despite her personal reservations, Masaki recognizes that Akane has a passion for Rakugo and, understanding that there is no changing her daughter's mind, supports Akane's decision.
- Happily Married: With Tohru. Although she's not as into Rakugo as her husband and daughter, she wholeheartedly supports Tohru's decision to be a Rakugoka, not caring if that means she needs to be the one providing for the family. Tellingly, Tohru based his performance of the wife in Shibahama off of Masaki.
- High-Powered Career Woman: In the Distant Prologue, Masaki is the family's breadwinner, allowing Tohru to pursue an economically tough career path as a Rakugoka. Although while Tohru's expulsion makes him drop Rakugo in favor of working at a cement company, Masaki still pursues a career as a beautician.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Subverted. She has always known that Akane was training in Rakugo, despite her teacher thinking it was a secret.
Other
Mamoru
Mamoru Mikuriya
- Ambiguously Gay: He has quite a few effeminate mannerisms, and also goes by Miku-chan, which would be a very feminine way to refer to someone.
- Those Two Guys: Mamoru and Hiiragi are usually in scenes together when Mamoru's restaurant is involved in the story. This extends to the Shikisai Festival when the pair help out Kyoji with grilling chicken skewers.
Hiiragi
An employee at Mamoru Mikuriya's restaurant. The pair are often seen together.
- Those Two Guys: When scenes or chapters take place at Mamoru's restaurant, her and Mamoru are not far apart from one another.
Ozaki
Ozaki
A former bully of Akane, and now one of her friends.
- Bully Turned Buddy: When he's a kid, he makes fun of Akane for having a Rakugoka as a father. Six years later, he's become good friends with Akane and openly supports her dream of following in her father's footsteps. When Iwashimizu refuses to sign off on Akane's survey, Ozaki persistently advocates for his friend's decision until he convinces Iwashimizu to come to one of Akane's performances.
- Everyone Has Standards: As a kid, he makes fun of Tohru for being a Rakugoka, calling him a deadbeat who refuses to get an actual job. However, Ozaki later notes that even he got angry when Tohru got expelled from the Arakawa school for seemingly arbitrary reasons.
- Formerly Fat: Was quite chubby as a kid, but is visibly athletic later on. Lampshaded by Akane as she says that getting into judo did him good.
- Just Friends: When Akane asks him out on a date (with the intention to test out whether she can seduce a man using an Oiran persona), she totally fails to allure him in any way. Albeit they continue the date for her to see her attempt through, she points out that their date was really one of their usual hangouts anyway.
Machiko Iwashimizu
Machiko Iwashimizu
- Cool Teacher: She's a teacher who genuinely wants to see her students succeed.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Downplayed. Iwashimizu initially refuses to sign Akane's survey when she decides to become a Rakugoka, but only because she's reasonably worried about Akane missing out on future opportunities by not going to college. When Ozaki convinces her to come to one of Akane's Rakugo performances, Iwashimizu finds that Akane is far more talented than she assumed and admits to herself that she may have been narrowminded by dismissing unconventional career paths. After confirming with Akane if she's confident about her decision, Iwashimizu agrees to her survey and even becomes a closet fan of Akane's work.
- Locked Out of the Loop: She doesn't follow Rakugo, and so she had no idea that Tohru Osaki was one of the six futatsumes controversially expelled by Issho Arakawa. She's the one who recommends her to enter the Karaku Cup, not realizing that being judged by Issho Arakawa would have a lot of emotional baggage for Akane.
- My Greatest Failure: One of her students decided not to college so that he instead could pursue his dream of becoming a comedian, which Iwashimizu signed off on. She saw him years later on a TV interview, having failed in his career goals and visibly living an unhappy life. In her eyes, she failed him by not pushing him to go into a more economically-viable career.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Her concerns about Akane becoming a rakugoka are entirely reasonable, as rakugo is a very niche industry which can be very hard to succeed in.
- Tsundere: A mild one. She quickly becomes a big fan of Akane's rakugo, but makes an active effort to downplay her enthusiasm when speaking with her.
