じょしらく

JOSHIRAKU

ANIME

STATUS
COMPLETE
EPISODES
13
RELEASE
September 28, 2012
LENGTH
24 min

DESCRIPTION

Marii, Kigurumi, Tetora, Gankyou, and Kukuru deserve a round of applause for keeping the art of Rakugo alive! What’s their secret? Witty, absurd banter of course! These five friends always have something to talk about, no matter how silly the topic.

(Source: VRV)

CAST

Kukuru Anrakutei
Saori Gotou
Marii Buratei
Ayane Sakura
Kigurumi Haroukitei
Kotori Koiwai
Gankyou Kuurubiyuutei
Yoshino Nanjou
Tetora Bouhatei
Nozomi Yamamoto
Uzannu Uzatei
Ryouko Shintani
Mask
Aoi Yuuki

EPISODES

Dubbed

| | |

Not available on crunchyroll

RELATED TO JOSHIRAKU

OVA ComedyJoshiraku OVA

MANGA ComedyJoshiraku

REVIEWS

ABPAEAE
90/100
A highly comedic anime that never failed to make me laugh.
For some reason, I have very good luck discovering gems like this through screencapped memes. I'm surprised I've never heard of this anime until very recently.

Joshiraku is the pinnacle of anime comedy. I wouldn't be surprised if non-anime fans could find this show very enjoyable as well. Throughout every episode, comedic momentum is maintained quite well. There are no dull moments, and the contents of the show don't pander to any particular viewerbase. Instead, Joshiraku is overflowing past the brim with destruction of the fourth wall, and pokes fun at many stereotypical anime cliches spanning every genre. Joshiraku somehow manages to be something incredibly unique to the anime scene, while not doing anything much more complex than making fun of every other genre.

The one and only negative thing I can say about the show is that many jokes rely on the intricacies of kanji, and only native Japanese speakers or someone very fluent in the language would understand them. Just beginning to study the language, I can understand the gist of some of these jokes, but definitely not enough to fully appreciate them. But again, while there are many occurrences of these jokes, the majority of the comedy would be appreciated by anyone, Japanese speaking or not.

Digging deeper, the story is nonexistent. Period. This isn't a bad thing; Joshiraku doesn't need to rely on a story to be interesting. There's not much else to say about this.

The art is clean, smooth, and palatable for a lack of a better word. There's no girls with neon pink hair and breasts the size of pumpkins to deter normies or attract hentai fans. Backdrops are well-made and cozy as well.

The music is simply fantastic. I can confidently say this is the only anime I've never skipped an OP/ED on. They're catchy as hell, absolute bangers. 10/10

The characters feel unique and have good synergy with each other. Obviously they need to have the most effort put into making them out of anything else in the anime, as it's a comedy that does not rely on any story whatsoever. In short, the writers did good.

Overall, this was an extremely enjoyable anime. Would love a second season, but as it is said in the ending, all things inevitably end, and media such as shows or anime are often better ended sooner than later.
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AprilDruid
75/100
It's a show about nothing!, starring cute girls.
Joshiraku is an anime from 2013, which follows the lives of five young female rakugo comedians. If you've watched or read Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei or Kakushigoto, you'll be instantly familiar with the original creator, Kōji Kumeta, His stories tend to be fairly comedic, with a lot of references to anime, japanese culture, and whatever else he can find. Fairly recently the ending theme to the series got popular out of nowhere, which led me to sit down and watch through it myself.

What Joshiraku boils down is that it's a show about nothing essentially. What do I mean by this? The only consistent thing about it aside from the characters, is that they start each episode performing part of their story, which ends with them thanking the audience and entering the dressing room, which leads to the plot for the first segment.

For instance, in episode 1 the girls get an invitation to a casual dress party, and begin questioning what exactly "casual dress" means. Which in turn leads to them wondering if everyone prefers cats or dogs. A lot of jokes will go over your head, simply because they're not meant for you or I. This is simply an anime that is about Japanese Culture. This isn't to say there aren't a few Western references thrown in however, as they do reference Dirty Harry in episode 1, they even have a picture of KISS on screen at one point. But overall, it's really just Japanese-centric humor that your average fan won't get, because they don't live in Japan.
- Should You Watch Joshiraku?
No. This isn't to say "it's trash" or anything, far from it in fact. But unless you want to pause after every joke to look up "what the hell is Suehirotei?", you're going to be lost. There are some grade A references to anime you might catch, even a Space Sheriff Gavan reference, but overall you'll spend more time wondering what they're talking about, then you will be laughing at some of the comedy that isn't references. Joshiraku is a one of a kind series in this result, it's not bad, far from it, but it'll go over your head, because of everything it winds up referencing. The ED is a banger, which got popular, but you'll just walk away more confused about this, than you did when you began it.

The fourth wall breaking jokes are hilarious, the animation is great and the voice work is top notch. But that can't save it from just not being what myself or many others will actually get. Even "simple things" like the occasional jokes at one of Japan's former Prime Minster's is confusing, because you're left wondering "Who is that?", which leads to figuring out why he's a joke.
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flavortown
90/100
As cute and clever as ordinary gets.
"This anime is full of ordinary dialogue so that viewers can fully enjoy how cute the girls are."

Ordinary Dialogue

Joshiraku has no overarching plot to speak of. Each episode is split into three skits that either take place in the dressing room of a rakugo theatre or on the streets of Tokyo. No matter where they are, the five main characters deliver their punchlines with straight faces and impeccable timing.

In general, the jokes stand on their own and land spectacularly. The visuals do a lot to support the "ordinary dialogue" - from dream sequences that take you out of the dressing room to complete shifts in the animation style - and the banter between the characters is complemented by recurring gags that always managed to make me smile. It's hard to say more without giving away the punchlines; it just works, even when it doesn't.

A good chunk of the humour relies on Japanese puns that don't translate well, but the jokes get sold anyway by the voice acting and physical reactions and the dialogue flows easily from one punchline to the next. Other jokes draw from the current events in Japan at the time, but end up having a timeless quality about them like their skit on flu vaccines. Others still lead in from surprisingly informative dialogue about the landmarks around Tokyo.

Joshiraku is no stranger to breaking the fourth wall and poking fun at their own publishers or their existence as an anime/manga adaptation, and references to Japanese and Western media abound complete with pixelated copyright-dodging imagery.

How Cute the Girls Are

My favourite thing about Joshiraku isn't the great humour, it's that the cast's casual outfits and hairstyles change every episode. It does a lot for making their world feel all the more ordinary, and it's one more visual treat to look forward to during their trips to the city. This isn't something unique to the show by any means, but it certainly makes the show stand out after all the high school comedies I've seen.

The art style is always detailed enough as it needs to be to get the visual gags across, and the backdrops of the city are a joy to look at.

In short, the girls are very cute.

Joshiraku is a show I can't wait to rewatch when I've forgotten all the punchlines. It's a show about nothing, but it's as cute and clever as nothing gets. What else could I ask for? (Nothing.)
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