About the Akane Banashi Manga Volume 18

Akane takes on the world of rakugo to avenge her father!

Shinta Arakawa wants nothing more than to pass his shin’uchi exam—the test that would make him a top-rank headliner and master storyteller in the traditional Japanese art of rakugo. Akane Osaki, his daughter and biggest fan, spies on him while he practices and learns his routines for herself. When rakugo master Issho Arakawa expels everyone after the exam with no explanation, a fire is lit inside Akane. From that day forth, she has had one goal—to avenge her father and prove his art was worthy of the title of shin’uchi.

Three years have passed since the dissolution of the Shiguma School. Shomei Tsubakiya rejects Akane’s pleas to train her in the story “God of Death,” as something about her performance techniques goes against what he calls his principles. Determined to earn his recognition and prove she is worthy, Akane enters a rakugo competition that he is judging. But her new master, Issho Arakawa, places a restriction on her performance—she must win the competition without making anyone laugh. Yuki Suenaga previously published the one-shot “Tatarashido” in 2021 in Weekly Shonen Jump. Akane-banashi is their first serialized title. It began its run in Weekly Shonen Jump in February 2022 and won third place in the print manga category at the eighth Next Manga Awards in 2022.

Takamasa Moue started his manga career in 2015 by participating in Shonen Jump’s Golden Future Cup contest with the one-shot “Galaxy Gangs.” His first serialization, Ole ★ Golazo, ran in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2016. In 2017, he published a short serialization in Jump GIGA called K.K. in the City of Fog, which ran for three chapters. In 2021, he teamed up with Yuki Suenaga to create the one-shot “Tatarashido.” In February 2022, the two worked together to publish what would be his second serialization, Akane-banashi.