5 Reasons You Should Read Akane-Banashi

1. Female-led Comedy/Drama: This series focuses on the journey of Akane as she hopes to become a professional Rakugoka(storyteller), and confront the man who cut her father's dreams and aspirations short. Akane is a confident, quirky protagonist who is not afraid to let people know what she really thinks about them. During her first steps down her journey, she decides to enroll in the same school her father did and learn from his master. The school is full of eccentric personalities like the stern rakugo Kyoji, the party boy Maikeru, the lover of classics Koguma, and her closest in age senior Guriko. All of these youths follow their caring and devoted master Shiguma Arakawa and fall under the Shiguma School.
2.  Not your typical Shonen: It might surprise you that Akane-Banashi is not your typical "power of friendship", battle manga Shonen Jump has been familiarized with over the years. No, as the plot and the spectacular first chapter demonstrate, this is a series about how to tell stories with your own voice while respecting the tradition of the art of rakugo.
3. What the hell is rakugo? "Rakugo is a 400-year-old tradition of comic storytelling in Japan. A minimalistic performance art, Rakugo features a lone storyteller dressed in kimono, kneeling on a cushion, who, using only a fan and a hand towel for props, entertains the audience with a comic monologue followed by a traditional story..." (Embassy of Japan). Essentially it's a one-person show where they differentiate the characters by tilting their head left and right, changing intonation in their voice, slight mannerisms and even body language. It's truly a spectacle that has lived on through the centuries. This manga is even supervised by rakugo professionals to make sure that the interpretation is respecting the source material. 
4. Who needs battles when the story is that good?!: With most Shonen manga you expect fights, a MC who eats a lot, and just wants to be the best there ever was in their universe. With Akane-Banashi, you get a colorful cast of characters with enough depth to their intricacies that makes you forget at times who the main character should be! I shit you not when I say I have changed my vote on favorite character 10 times so far (as of this writing it stands to be Koguma). You know how sometimes there are training arcs, and tournament arcs? What if I told you that most of the "downtime" in this series is the training arc? Let me explain, Akane is very confident in her skill as a rakugo in the first couple of chapters, but all that is blown out of the water when she admits to only knowing 5 stories...out of a possible more than 1,000! Not just that, but she gathers real life experience to better portray the characters in her story. There's one point where she has to learn to act more feminine and seductive while telling a story, but lacks in that department. So she trains with a renowned rakugoka who teaches her the art of building suspense with body movement and tempo while telling her stories. Another story is based off how a tipsy/drunk person would act and sound like, of course with akane being a minor she never had that experience, so she does the next best thing and studies her parents and fellow pupils. To the point that she starts to ask her mother what is the feeling of being tipsy in good company and starts to recall a memory of her father being drunk not from alcohol but from excitement! Leading to genuine happy tones and body language for her rakugo.
5. Do it for the tea!: Akane-Banashi though a comedy at heart, has genuine moments of heartbreak and anger throughout its plot. The main goal of Akane is to confront the Rakugo master who expelled her father and destroyed his lifelong dream of being a master rakugoka! Every step, connection, event, life lesson, tear, laughter and rakugo brings her one step closer to confronting that man and learning the truth! All the while she and the other up and coming talent must come to terms with the truths in their heart about what it means to be a rakugoka to them. 

In closing, Akane-Banashi is a manga about pursuing one's dreams, but acknowledging the reality of both it and oneself. The story of people who want nothing more than to prove themselves to their masters as bonafide beasts in the art of rakugo. The series is still going strong over on Shonen Jump and has been heralded as one of the key players in the new generation of Jump heavyhitters. If you ever wish to dip your toes in this incredible story, I hope this post has made you at least a little bit interested. For now, take care and have a great day!