"" "Episode 6" "Misuzu-za" "That was so great!" "The audience really seemed to love it!" "You said it!" "Huh?" "Leaving already?" "Come to the after-party." "Kiku-san told me to go on without him." "On these streets, at night?" "Yeah." "Is Kiku-san still in there?" "He's in grease paint head to toe, y'know?" "Tell him I'll talk to him later." "Hold it." "It's dangerous for you to be out at night." "Come on, I'll walk you home." "Actually, I'll see her to the station." "Oh, that's great." "You're surprisingly kind." "I know, right?" "!" "To the success of the play!" "Cheers!" "Hey, you good-for-nothing." "Letting a woman walk home alone?" "What were you thinking?" "I don't need lectures from a bum like you." "You'd better make it up to her later." "I don't need your meddling, either." "Hey, you." "Listen to what your older brother says!" "You're not my older brother." "I was apprenticed before you were." "I went through the gate first!" "Ah, hell." "We're having such a great time." "Let's not fight." "You're quite drunk, I see." "You must feel pretty great, too, right?" "Getting such a great audience response..." "Well..." "That's right." "Once an audience looks at you that way, you can never quit." "When I was in Manchuria, I came close to death a bunch of times." "I came close to death, but when I was doing rakugo for the soldiers," "I could see the way it filled them with joy." "There was no radio out there, and they were starved for entertainment, so they were so happy to get it." "They looked just like the people today." "I love seeing faces like that." "And that's when I made up my mind..." "I was gonna do rakugo for the people." "What about you?" "He fell asleep..." "Why am I doing this?" "I've never even thought about it..." "Yes, that's right..." "Back then, I was always so frantic..." "It was the only way to find a place I could stay." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "Try to do it right." "Yes, ma'am." "Now, once more." "He can try all he wants, but a boy can't be a geisha." "Doesn't he even realize that?" "That poor boy." "An injured leg?" "They say he can't even dance anymore." "I heard they're going to try to apprentice him out somewhere." "Oh, so he's being gracefully expelled?" "Poor little boy..." "If only he'd been born a woman..." "Come along, Young Master." "Yes, ma'am." "Oil dig, oil dig." "There you go again." "What is it?" "Oiled egg..." "Oh, boiled eggs." "You brought boiled eggs?" "Let me have some later!" "Why are you here?" "Uncle, I came to praise you!" "Well, why didn't you say so?" "Honey, Yotaro came here to praise us!" "Whom is my rakugo for?" "I never had time to think about that." "After all, rakugo was the only thing I could do to survive..." "Garçon!" "Could you refill my water?" "Here you are." "You were so amazing in the play!" "You were beautiful!" "Hey, are you gonna do another?" "Shh!" "I'm just a student, my dear ladies." "Thank you." "Wel..." "Good day to you." "I wanted to stop by early and see you." "Oh, dear..." "Are those girls all fans of yours?" "How should I know?" "It's clear as day." "They keep looking at you." "Kikuhiko-san, your Benten-sama was just wonderful." "I didn't know you were such a great actor." "I did practice quite a lot." "Kiku-san, have you thought about becoming an actor?" "I mean, you said you weren't cut out for rakugo." "It's a joke." "I was just teasing you." "But it's like I said, right?" "You do have charm!" "They couldn't take their eyes off you!" "I've never had a reaction like that from an audience." "If I could do rakugo like that..." "You can, I just know it!" "I'm going to come watch your next performance." "Oh, what am I to do?" "I need a partner for a lovers' suicide, but the poor man I'd choose..." "Oh, I know!" "That bachelor..." "Oh, I know!" "That bachelor Kinzo-san, the bookseller!" "What, practicing again?" "You sure must love it." "And I see you never get tired of rambling around town drinking like an idiot." "Come on, I'm not an idiot." "Oh, Kin-san!" "Thank you so much for coming." "I couldn't be happier." "Hey, sounding good!" "Is that "Shinagawa Shinju"?" "I thought I'd do it at the next study meet." "The audience'll love it!" "The play made it clear, right?" "You're really cut out for that sexy stuff." "It's just like I told you back then." "Anyway, I'll go to bed and get out of your hair." "Night!" "He did tell me that, didn't he..." "It sucks not having a full voice, right?" "So pick a story where you don't need one." "Bawdy stories, erotic stories." "You know, sexy stuff." "Does that mean he figured it all out?" "The thing it took me that performance to realize, he already knew?" "And that's when I made up my mind..." "I was gonna do rakugo for the people." "He's always ahead of me..." "What about you?" "Monthly Futatsume Study Meet" "I'll do my best today." "You're doing "Shinagawa Shinju" today, right?" "Yes, please teach me all you can." "Well, do your best." "Sukeroku" "Here he is!" "Anyway, a mere 100 mon was enough to have your sins forgiven, be it lying, stealing, or killing 10,000 men." "And so, people from all over the world flooded to the Zenko-ji Temple, and every one of them went to Heaven." "Hell was in trouble!" "No new customers!" "They were on the verge of closing up shop!" "Now, enter Ishikawa Goemon." "He was sitting in one of Hell's cooking pots, singing a dodoitsu and relaxing, when he got an invitation from the King of Hell." "As in life, Goemon wore three layers of black kimono over a net undershirt." "Vermilion swords in his belt, straw sandals on his feet, hair unshaven and wild as a thicket, he approached the King with slow, powerful strides." "Ishikawa Goemon humbly presents himself before you!" "You're Goemon, eh?" "I'll cut to the chase." "I need you to steal the Heritage Stamp." "It is the only way." "If you succeed, I'll put you on Hell's executive board!" "Yes, sir!" "Yurakutei Sukeroku" "As you ask, it shall be done!" "Well, Goemon, I'm counting on you!" "Rakugo for the audience?" "The audience's joy gives Shin-san more and more momentum..." "These are the parts of rakugo I hate the most." "So, for the first time in an age, Goemon was back in the mortal world." "He realized the Zenko-ji would be crowded during the day, so he waited until night to appear." "Like the great burglar he was, he used techniques of the Iga Ninja..." "It's not a kind of rakugo that I can do." "The more I hear, the more uncomfortable I get." "And before him, he saw a finely made box!" "As he looked inside, he found an ink pot and the Heritage Stamp." "Thank you, oh, thank you!" "But..." "I have successfully infiltrated the inner recesses of the Zenko-ji, and stolen the Heritage Stamp!" "With this, my great wish is achieved!" "How grateful I am!" "How unworthy I am!" "But, as Goemon pressed the Heritage Stamp against his forehead, he went straight up to Heaven on the spot." "Whom is my rakugo for?" "That's a little bit of comedy we call "Okechimyaku."" "Never mind it." "I have my own rakugo." "Kikuhiko" "Yurakutei Kikuhiko" "Thank you." "I'm grateful to you all for coming out here today." "In Shinjuku in Shinagawa, there was a geisha house called the Shiroki-ya." "There lived a courtesan of the highest rank named Osome." "Yurakutei Kikuhiko" "This woman, Osome, could not hold back the tide of aging." "Men would no longer gift her with new kimono to wear..." "Rather than suffer ongoing humiliation, she decided to commit a lovers' suicide." "Yurakutei Kikuhiko" "Oh, what am I to do?" "I need a partner for a lovers' suicide, but I would feel awful doing that to any of the men I know..." "Oh, I know!" "That bachelor Kinzo, the bookseller!" "The reaction's changed..." "Hey, what is it?" "Oh, Kin-san, thank you for coming!" "Yurakutei Kikuhiko" "There's this little favor I wanted to ask you..." "Well, of course!" "I'd do anything for you!" "Really?" "I'm so happy!" "You're the only one who treats me that way." "The audience's faces look totally different..." "The truth is..." "I've decided to kill myself." "I understand now!" "My rakugo wasn't for anyone else." "I've been doing it for myself." "Yurakutei Kikuhiko" "Thank you." "What a good man you are." "If I die, please light a stick of incense for me." "To make a place for myself." "All right... then I'll die with you." "So that I'd feel comfortable staying here..." "Really?" "Would you die with me tonight, then?" "Tonight?" "Th-That's a bit sudden..." "But, I would so like to be with you in the next world..." "And so they made their decision to die together the next evening." "Because she could not afford to have Kinzo run out on her," "Osome gave him the reception of a lifetime." "Because of that, Kinzo was unsteady on his feet the next day" "Yurakutei Kikuhiko as he bought funeral clothing and cheap daggers for both of them, then went to pay his final respects to a local mob boss who was a regular at his shop." "But, what do I say?" "I can't just tell him I've decided to kill myself with a woman..." "The nervous Kinzo rambled on until the boss began to realize that something was fishy." "Kinzo left in a hurry, even leaving the all-important daggers behind." "He went straight to Osome's place, and knowing that he needn't worry about the bill, he ate and drank his fill, and fell into a drunken stupor." "Excuse me..." "Kin-san!" "Do wake up, Kin-san!" "Oh, he's fast asleep." "He's even blowing a snot bubble..." "How slovenly he looks when he sleeps..." "And I'm pathetic for choosing to die with such a man..." "Well, I don't have a choice, do I?" "It's not as if I can do any better..." "Hey, Kin-san!" "Kin-san!" "Wake up!" "Did you forget your promise to me?" "Weren't you going to die with me?" "H-Huh?" "What?" "Yurakutei Kikuhiko" "Die?" "Wait, was I gonna die with you?" "Yes, you were!" "Did you forget?" "Osome finally got him awake." "They tried to cut their throats with a razor, but the timid Kinzo began trembling at the crucial moment, and couldn't go through with it." "Were you lying when you said you would die with me?" "Oh, n-no!" "No way!" "Of course not!" "Yurakutei Kikuhiko" "Then, shall we jump into the sea out back?" "N-No way!" "I can't swim!" "Oh, but that's just perfect!" "What?" "Someone wants to pay for me?" "Oh..." "I wish I had stopped him earlier, then." "Excuse me!" "Kin-san, you jumped too soon!" "That's what you get for jumping in so suddenly..." "You startled me so..." "Someone's paying for me now!" "So I'm sorry, but go on ahead of me!" "Yurakutei Kikuhiko" "Yes, goodbye!" "The sea by Shinagawa was shallow, so Kinzo survived, but hearing the talk between the young man and Osome from under the Sanbashi bridge, he became angry." "Damn it!" "That bitch!" "I'll get her for this!" "Yurakutei Kikuhiko" "He managed to crawl out of the water and head to the mob boss's house." "Fearing the baying of stray dogs, he raised a fist, and..." "Bam, bam, bam!" "Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam!" "He pounded on the front door." "Meanwhile, the boss was hosting a gambling session in his house." "At the fierce pounding at the door, the men, thinking it was a police raid, panicked." "When they opened the door, it was not the police, but Kinzo, standing there, covered in barnacles, bleeding, his hair a mess." "Yurakutei Kikuhiko" "Boss..." "Good evening..." "Wait, you're Kinzo, aren't you?" "There was only one man among them hadn't batted an eye." "My, you are one cool customer!" "No, I was actually just paralyzed with fear..." "Yurakutei Kikuhiko" "So that I could be myself..." "Kiku-san." "What happened?" "You were incredible today!" "Did something change?" "Not telling." "Next time, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju Episode 7." "We appreciate your continued support."