Descending Stories: Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu - Recommendations

• TV (12 eps)
• 2017

Unlike other kids his age, freshman Kurogo Kurusu finds his true passion in kabuki, a form of classical Japanese dance theatre. When he finds out his school doesn’t have a club dedicated to it, he enlists the help of his best friend Tonbo to make one. They'll need at least five members to get things started, however, and together they'll have to win over an unlikely roster that includes stage actors, martial artists, and band members who aren't into kabuki at all.

• TV (22 eps)
• 2017 - 2018

Rei continues to work hard at improving his shogi skills, determined to win competitions. When he learns that one of the Kawamoto sisters is facing a crisis, he wants to do everything he can to help, including finding a way to use his shogi winnings to pay them back for all they've done to save him from his pain and loneliness. Meanwhile, Rei's self-appointed rival Nikaidou faces a crisis of his own when his poor health takes a turn for the worse. 

• TV (22 eps)
• 2016 - 2017

Rei Kiriyama is a 17-year-old professional shogi player who suffers from anxiety, depression, and loneliness. Unwanted by his relatives after he loses his family in an accident, and resented by his adopted family's children, Rei moves into his own apartment in Tokyo to avoid inconveniencing others. He uses his talent at shogi to earn a living, but doesn't take care of himself, and is reluctant to ask others for help. Soon after his arrival, the boy meets the Kawamoto family: a trio of sisters and their grandfather who run a traditional Japanese pastry shop. They too have dealt with pain and loss, but their warmth and loving-kindness are balm for Rei's anguished spirit.

• TV (13 eps)
• 2012

Marii, Kigurumi, Tetora, Gankyou and Kukuru are five young women with completely different interests and personalities, but there's one thing that they all share: performing Rakugo, a unique form of Japanese comic theatre in which a single artist sits in front of an audience and tells an entire story, portraying multiple characters solely through changes of voice and minimal movements. It's a challenging art but all five of our leading ladies are determined to become the best they can… and in the meantime, they find themselves hanging out together, both at the Rakugo theater and around town. And they also have a shared acquaintance, a mysterious stranger who's always wearing a wrestling mask! What's that about?

• Movie (1 ep)
• 2016

The Rakugo story of PARROT is told by a Rakugo-ka, or a lone storyteller formed of Japanese characters.

• OVA (1 ep)
• 2013

• Movie (1 ep)
• 2012

The film is based on Ukiyodoko, a rakugo storytelling piece. Hanzo, the hero, brags to his friends to make a party go. Human nature remains unchanged once and now, as the time goes. We love meaningless conversations among boon companions. Different communication methods are visually tangled in different times, Edo and today. The theme is an “interchange between the transient and the immutable.”

• OVA (1 ep)
• 2003

• TV (13 eps)
• 2022

The time is the Taisho Era. Mameda, a tanuki girl who came to Osaka dreaming of becoming a human, meets a popular rakugo artist, Daikokutei Bunko. Mameda, who was impressed by the storyteller's way of storytelling, which is a technique taught by a human being, decided to become a disciple. Rakugo artist training has begun!

• TV (13 eps)
• 2012

Utakoi is a historical romance story based on Ogura Hyakunin Isshu's interpretation of a collection of 100 romance poems that are used in traditional Japanese karuta card/memory game Utakoi takes life based of the very liberal interpretation of the Hyakunin Isshu anthology of poems featuring 100 romantic poems from 100 different poets such as The Tale of Genji's Murasaki Shikibu. However this romantic – both in story and artistic design – series starts its focus with some twists and turns centered around the love between Fujiwara and her romantic interest Ariwara…