Cast members revealed for 6 new characters who appeared in 1st season’s final episode
TV Asahi announced on Saturday that the television anime of writer Yūki Suenaga and illustrator Takamasa Moue’s Akane-banashi manga will get a second season that will debut in January 2027. The first season ended on Saturday with the conclusion of the show’s Karaku Cup Arc.
Image courtesy of TV Asahi
©Yuki Suenaga, Takamasa Moue / SHUEISHA, Akane-banashi Committee
TV Asahi also revealed six new cast members for characters who appeared in the final episode of the first season on Saturday:
The first season’s character designer Kii Tanaka drew a celebratory illustration for the second season.
Image courtesy of TV Asahi
©Yuki Suenaga, Takamasa Moue / SHUEISHA, Akane-banashi Committee
TV Asahi describes the story of the second season (Note: the below summary contains spoilers for the end of the first season):
After graduating from high school and officially becoming an apprentice of Shiguma Arakawa,
Akane begins her journey as a professional Rakugoka under the name Akane Arakawa.
Image courtesy of TV Asahi
Yuki Suenaga, Takamasa Moue / SHUEISHA, Akane-banashi Committee
The first season began airing on TV Asahi’s “IMAnimation” programming block on April 4. The anime also has its own “Akane-banashi Global” YouTube channel, where full episodes stream for free in North America and Latin America, after their television broadcast in Japan. Netflix debuted the English dub for the first two episodes on May 17 and is launching later episodes weekly.
The anime is also streaming on aniverse in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. ADN is streaming it in France, Monaco, Andorra, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Anime Box is streaming it in Spain and Anime Generation is streaming it in Italy. The Ani-One YouTube channel is streaming the anime in the Asia Pacific (excluding Korea and China). Bahamut, ChungHwa Telecom MOD & Hami Video, LiTV & Ofiii, Line TV, My-Video, Catchplay, and friDay are streaming the anime in Taiwan. Bahamut is streaming it in Hong Kong and Macao. Catchplay is streaming it in Indonesia and TrueID is streaming it in Thailand. playmax.mn STAR TV is streaming it in Mongolia. Laftel and Aniplus Channel are streaming it in South Korea.
Ayumu Watanabe (Children of the Sea, Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko) directed the first season at ZEXCS. Yu Harima (episode director for Summer Time Rendering, Tokyo Revengers) was the assistant director, and Kii Tanaka (Cheating Craft, Hinomaru Sumo) was both the character designer and chief animation director. Michihiro Tsuchiya (PriPara, Cross Game) oversaw the series scripts, and Akio Izutsu (Phi-Brain – Puzzle of God, Akuma Kun) composed the music. Kikuhiko Hayashiya was the rakugo supervisor.
TV Asahi describes the story:
“With only your voice and body—master the art.”
Akane Osaki, captivated since childhood by the magical performances of her father, Shinta Arakawa, witnesses a shocking incident during his decisive performance for promotion to shin’uchi master rank). Six years later, now a high school student, she sets her sights on becoming a shin’uchi herself—pushing forward in the highly competitive world of rakugo.
A passionate and authentic rakugo drama begins now!
Suenaga and Moue launched the manga in February 2022. Shueisha published the 21st compiled book volume on April 3. The manga was nominated for the 47th Kodansha Manga Awards and the 16th Manga Taisho awards in 2023. The manga ranked at #4 for the top 20 list of manga for male readers in the 2023 edition of Takarajimasha’s Kono Manga ga Sugoi! (This Manga Is Amazing!) guidebook.
Viz Media’s Shonen Jump service and Shueisha’s MANGA Plus service both publish the manga in English. Viz Media is also publishing the manga in print.
Source: Press release
