Rakugo Tennyo Oyui actually came out in the Winter anime season, but LIME anime finally decided to sub it. I can’t honestly say that I was waiting to watch this one, but hey, it’s out, so check out my first impressions!
Tsukishima Yui is a high school girl who is obsessed with rakugo. Back in the past, it seems there’s a bunch of maidens who use the power of rakugo to fight evil. This hasn’t happened yet, but my guess is that Yui is going to be summoned to the past (because she really really likes rakugo) to join the fighting force.
From my understanding, rakugo is a really old form of Japanese stand-up comedy (except they’re sitting down). It seems a bit odd to me that old fashioned comedy troupes would form the basis of a super sentai group. The American equivalent would probably be something like the “Vaudville Rangers.”
In the first episode, we’re quickly introduced to the stuff happening in the past and present Japan. The rakugo squad of the past gets their butts kicked by a two-headed monster (or is it two one-headed monsters?). In the present, Yui is trying to become the apprentice of some master of rakugo. She actually succeeds (it probably had to do with the subliminal tempura)!
Back in past Japan, the rakugo balls go flying into the future to kidnap a lab girl and her 12 year old genius pal. Does anyone else think this anime is totally random!? I’m guessing that in the next episode, more girls will be kidnapped to past Japan.
The character designs are really not bad at all. Yui reminds me of Excel, since she’s all hyper and has a fang. She’s also really cute and goes deformed quite a bit. All the other girls + tanooki kid are cute too, but the token loli seems kinda generic… The character designs seem to be this anime’s strong point.
I originally thought this anime was being done by m.o.e., but after seeing pretty much zero fanservice, I’m sure someone else is doing it. The animation looks really good. Maybe it’s because the sub I watched was a DVD rip…
The OP is nice, but a little too kiddie sounding for me. I can’t really take it seriously. The ED, on the other hand, is enka! There’s definitely a stark contrast between the OP and ED. I don’t necessarily like enka, but the ED isn’t bad; it sounds epic!
Download the OP: “Sakura Saku” by Little Non
Download the ED: “Hana Fubuki.Koi Fubuki” by Hiromi Kashima
So yeah, this anime is really weird. First of all, who makes a sentai show about rakugo artists? I can see why this show wasn’t subbed for a while; interest in rakugo isn’t really that high right now (as far as I know). Still, Yui is an interesting character, and I want to see what happens next, so hopefully LIME will sub some more of this anime. Maybe I can learn more about traditional Japanese stuff along the way…
One reply on “Rakugo Tennyo Oyui – Anime First Impressions”
I also liked ep. 1 of Rakugo Tennyo Ouyi. It seems better than others in the rakugo genre…
But more importantly, about the poll. You left out Zegapain, which actually has the best OP of 2006. Or maybe it ties with Utawarerumono.