"Episode 8" "The courtesan Takao was at the height of her powers then." "She had countless hair ornaments, hairpins, and combs, and her hair was as black as crow feathers." "Beneath her widow's peak were crescent moon eyebrows, and below them, dark eyes like glistening bells." "She was truly a matchless beauty." "Finding himself in such a place, Kyu-san could hardly contain himself." "Yurakutei Kikuhiko Yurakutei Yakumo" "Yurakutei Kikuhiko" "He wriggled like an earthworm thrown onto hot concrete." "Sire, dost thou speak true?" "If thou dost, then I ask a favor of thee." "On the 15th of March next year, my time of service will expire." "I ask that thou wouldst visit me then." "Wouldst thou take one so unworthy for your wife?" "I-I wouldst!" "I wouldst!" "Yakumo-chan, there you are!" "Master Bonsai!" "Thanks for comin' all this way." "The family event's been a huge success." "It's wonderful to see." "Thank you very much." "Kikuhiko-kun's got some popularity, even here." "Impressive work for a futatsume." "It's because the radio's carried his name all over the country." "I think he even had me beat, today." "They fawn all over him because he's handsome like you." "It must be nice to be handsome!" "You must forget he's a man from time to time." "He received the breakout newcomer award the other day, too." "Yurakutei Kikuhiko" "I'm very proud of him." "Can I brag about my son, too?" "Look!" "He speaks awfully well." "I'm hoping to gradually turn him into a storyteller." "He's very cute." "You had another one?" "Well, anyway." "Well-received as he is, is there any talk of making him a shin'uchi soon?" "I suppose..." "Now, now." "Why the long face?" "It's complicated." "There's a lot of issues surrounding it." "Tell me about it." "There's talk about reinstating the shin'uchi system here in Kyoto, but it's tough either way." "Speaking of which, how's that other hilarious futatsume of yours doing?" "Now that's a quagmire." "Your face just got even longer." "Um..." "Master." "I am truly sorry." "Oh?" "For what?" "Aren't you mad because I fumbled my rakugo?" "Did you?" "I didn't notice." "I said a character's name wrong." "Oh, I see." "That's fine." "In your eight years as futatsume, what's important is mood." "If they're having fun, the audience will overlook it." "That's the sign of a truly great rakugo performer." "You've improved so much so fast, I barely recognize you." "You're quite the futatsume." "When will I make it there?" "A shin'uchi..." "I want to become one soon." "We'll be discussing that at the board meeting soon." "There's so much I want to do..." "I can finally repay the Rakugo Association, the masters, the theater managers, and the older students to whom I owe so much." "There's more zenza nowadays, even if our generation is small, and there's plenty who can fill in for us." "Once I'm a shin'uchi, I'll be able to do it all." "And right now, I'm really having fun doing rakugo..." "I want to get up on stage more and more." "I see." "That's reassuring to hear." "You won't have a problem, but the other..." "You mean Sukeroku-san?" "I couldn't buy enough favors to make him a shin'uchi." ""His comportment is filthy, he's careless with women, he criticizes the great masters' rakugo, he won't stop performing advanced works, his comportment's filthy, he struts about like he owns the place..."" "Too many of the elders dislike him." "Anyway, it's all a mess." "Enough to give a man a fever." "But, he's the most popular with audiences at the theater." "Well, of course you'd feel differently." "In the summer, burglars take a turn for the petty crime." "They don't steal anything important." "Sandals just inside the door, or a kitchen strainer." "All things people won't notice missing right away." "Some of these guys are real dumb, they steal the strainer, but leave their sandals." "Hey, he's got mosquito incense burning!" "Huh?" "!" "I gotta put it out or he'll be roasted alive!" "Darn you!" "What the hell?" "I'm a burglar, why should I lend you money?" "Fine, then." "I'll go out in the streets and start screaming." "C'mon, just lend me a little!" "Who do you think you are?" "!" "Gonna scream, huh?" "I don't want that..." "Fine, I'll give you the money." "Sheesh." "I can't tell who's the burglar here!" "Yurakutei Sukeroku" "Hey." "Oh, you noticed me?" "I was sitting in the back..." "You were the only one there who wasn't ancient." "Kiku-san didn't perform after all?" "I didn't see his name on the sign, but..." "Oh, he didn't mention it?" "He's off on a trip." "A trip?" "!" "It's been a while, huh?" "He and Master are on a regular royal procession." "Not a single word to me." "Well, I'm so popular here, I couldn't go traveling anyway." "So it's just fine by me." "Hey, don't tell me you're not gonna pay respect to the goddess Kannon on the day of a festival." "You could treat me to a drink there." "One drink for 30 minutes of venting." "Sound good?" "It's so loud, no one'll hear you badmouthing that fox." "I need a pick-me-up, too." "How about it?" "The 46,000 days, at the peak of the summer's heat..." "Come on, more rakugo?" "Please stop." "Yeah, yeah." "You don't like rakugo, huh?" "Yeah." "I'd much rather watch a movie." "That stuff's for old people." "It figures." "A woman wouldn't get it." "I go to see it because I love watching Kiku-san speak." "A man wouldn't get that." "That's what it means to be in love." "I'll endure anything for Kiku-san." "Even so... he's gone for so long, and not a single word to us?" "What's that little miscreant thinking?" "Not only does he not tell you the important stuff, he lies about the critical stuff..." "Yeah..." "And if you yell at him for it, he digs in his heels." "You're right." "He sinks into a bad mood at the drop of a hat." "I hear you..." "It's okay." "I'm used to being neglected." "That's the nature of men." "They never tell you anything important." "I'm stupid, so I like that." "It's easier." "It's nice guys like you I can't stand." "I only like the cold ones." "That's an awful thing to say." "I went to Manchuria because a man tricked me." "He tricked me and dumped me, so I had to sell my body to survive." "I lost my family in the war." "I had no one to turn to." "That's when I met Yakumo-sensei, and my new life began..." "I never want to be alone again." "I don't need money." "I don't need a job I can devote my life to, either, unlike you." "I just want to stay by the side of the man I love and support him, as a woman." "That's something only a woman can do." "I guess I can't do that with Master Yakumo or with Kiku-san, though." "I got dumped again." "Hey... that's not true." "See?" "You try to console me, because you're nice." "You dummy." "I can tell when someone wants to break up with me." "How many times do you think I've been through it?" "That's my thirty minutes, I guess." "Let's do this again." "What?" "Hey!" "What are you doing?" "I don't know." "No!" "Stop it, let me go!" "I was watching quietly, and what do I see?" "Kiku-san!" "I didn't want to interrupt, so I waited." "The rope on my home altar is broken." "I thought I'd buy one on the way home." "No, you've got it wrong!" "Nothing happened!" "Please, believe me!" "I'm sorry that I interrupted." "Stop it!" "Why are you apologizing?" "You should be angry!" "Why?" "I'd need to have a reason to be angry, but I don't really see one here." "What, you want to hit me?" "Put more resolve into it." "Idiot!" "Hey, idiot!" "Call out to her!" "Go after her!" "No." "You go." "Are you nuts?" "Come on, be a man for once!" "I am!" "This is the greatest lie of my life." "I love her, but I'm planning to break up with her." "It would be cruel to go after her now." "I'll steel my nerves and have a proper talk with her later." "I'm in no place to scold you, I guess." "Sorry." "Let's have another drink." "The master told me while we were away..." "I need to break it off with her and start a family with a real lady." "What the hell?" "That old slimebag..." "He actually said that?" "It's fine to play around when you're refining your art, but it's different when you're forming a household." "So, you're just breaking up with her because he said so?" "No." "I know it's wrong." "But if I disobey, I could be expelled." "Then I couldn't do rakugo anymore..." "I don't want to be with her that badly." "I see." "Well, what matters is how you feel, I guess..." "Yes." "I don't want to regret it." "But, I don't want to marry anyone, either." "I really want to be alone." "I'm more cut out for that life." "Don't want me around, either, huh?" "That's right." "When I'm with you, I have so much fun." "I see new things, I want to share everything with you..." "I'd like to stay with you forever, listening to your rakugo." "It would be easy." "But, I can't compete with your rakugo that way." "Don't blame me for what you can't do." "You can't do rakugo without other people around." "I'm not like you!" "You're always walking ahead, so you never see..." "Just how much I suffer when I'm with you..." "I..." "I r-really..." "Is that how you were feeling?" "There, there, little boy!" "If you're okay by yourself, then I don't mind." "There's no reason we have to be together." "Let's call this our breakup." "I'm worried about you." "Why?" ""His comportment's filthy, he's careless with women, he won't stop performing advanced works, his comportment's filthy, he struts around like he owns the place..."" "Why'd he say the filthy part twice?" "That slimy old dog..." "He says he's talking to the board of directors about our shin'uchi promotion." "You really should listen to him and the great masters more often." "I guess so..." "It's just..." "I love rakugo." "That's the only reason I do it." "That's all there is." "We might go about it differently, but we both chose rakugo because we love it." "We're both the same, deep down." "Look." "Japan's totally changed since the war, but rakugo hasn't changed a bit." "Popularity has made them complacent, and even more afraid to change." "That's okay for now." "But, if we want it to stay entertainment for the masses, things have to change." "Look how happy they all are." "Rakugo's not the only entertainment out there." "In a world overflowing with entertainment," "I want to create a path for rakugo to survive properly." "Rakugo will survive." "For now, I want to do stories the people will like." "In any age." "To do that, I always have to change to suit their tastes." "That's bizarre." "If you do that, it won't be rakugo anymore." "That's true." "We need a rakugo that never changes, too." "That's the essence of rakugo." "That's your job." "My job is to make rakugo that changes to suit the people." "Don't forget, okay?" "Let's promise that much." "Okay." "By the way..." "If I could ask you a favor..." "You want money?" "Bingo!" "That's my boy." "Money is the only thing you ever ask me for." "Well, you asked me to move out so suddenly..." "Without you here to get mad at me, I did nothing but drink, and never went to the baths." "This is the last time." "I have an important meeting tomorrow, so clear out immediately." "Then, for my parting gift..." "do I even have anything?" "I'll give you this!" "I don't want it." "Hey!" "That's so rude!" "You big jerk..." "Didn't you bring that with you when you were first apprenticed?" "Yeah." "You protect that dirty thing with your life." "Just what is it?" "It's my lucky charm!" "That fan?" "Yeah!" "It's the name of the old man who cared for me at the theater." "Sukeroku" "He showed up when this amateur, Tenguren, was throwing his weight around, and told us his stage name was Sukeroku." "Sukeroku" "We all called him that, but no one knows his real name." "Well, that makes me the 2nd generation Sukeroku." "Sukeroku-san apprenticed with the last Yakumo, the one before our master, but that all fell apart." "He ended up on the streets, made his way to the theater, took me on, and raised me." "Master must have met him before." "He probably doesn't remember him, though..." "One was a great master." "One died penniless in a theater." "I was afraid... that I might end up that way some day, too..." "That's why I came to Yakumo, swearing I'd inherit his name..." "Wouldn't that be funny?" "For the dead Sukeroku to become a Yakumo..." "I'll be changing my name, so I don't need this anymore." "I don't need it, either!" "Take care of it like you would me!" "Maybe I'll call myself the 3rd generation, then." "But going by skill and accomplishment, you'll inherit the Yakumo name in due time." "I think so, too." "Let's do our best." "Yeah." "But it's still so hard to say goodbye!" "You stink!" "Take a bath!" "Goodness, what an exhausting day." "Yurakutei Family Record" "Going to meetings every day in this heat really takes it out of you." "But, a job well done." "That's the end of the shin'uchi meetings." "Oh?" "So they finally decided?" "Yes." "It was hard getting the apprentices we raised accepted..." "I think it was the hardest I've ever worked for someone in my life." "Then, they both will?" "Yes, although many were against it." "But they have been progressing well, and most importantly, they're popular." "That argument got through to them." "That's wonderful." "We should celebrate!" "Go on, drink." "Just don't tell the wife!" "Thank you..." "Yurakutei Family Record" "What's that?" "It's the Yurakutei family record." "The great masters of each generation are all here." "I usually keep it in the altar, but when something good happens, I like to let them know." "Since the turn of the 19th century, they've all been great masters who even carried on the name." "My father, the 6th generation." "6th Generation Yakumo" "Here's where our name gained even more prestige." "I've put myself through so much to carry on his legacy." "To fully bear the weight of House Yurakutei, you need to be accomplished." "In the end, I couldn't hold it up." "That's not true!" "You've carried it through the 7th generation brilliantly!" "Have I?" "I'm glad if it looks that way, but I often think I live in the shadow of my name..." "I've carried that around my whole life." "Even though someone else will inherit it someday..." "You'd better hurry, or it'll go out." "If it goes out, you're dead." "Better hurry." "See?" "It went out." "Sukeroku" "Next time, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju Episode 9." "We appreciate your continued support."