#shomei

First: all three of them say the intro using the same wording:

"It's long been true that things go in and out of fashion. And not just in human affairs, but also with gods. Not all gods are beloved. Some are feared or despised. Gods of pestilence, poverty, and smallpox. Even gods of... death. These gods are unwelcome among mortal men."

But once they get into the story proper, they all have their own spin on it.

In chapter 123, we first see Shiguma's version:

"How did I get stuck with you? You come wandering back home without even the tiniest bit of money to show for it. Sigh... Nobody but my husband would be so incompetent. Fool. Dunce. Simpleton. You know what you deserve? To hit your head on a block of tofu and die!! Boy, my wife doesn't hold back, does she...? Go home, and she screams my ear off about not having money. But go elsewhere and ask for some, and no one'll lend me any. Tch! Man... I'm simply tired of it all... Maybe I should just die... But how do I do it? I don't want to jump. Too painful, too violent. Oooh... This tree has nice big branches... I bet I can hang myself here. And hey, that's free. But I don't know how to tie the knot... Shall I teach you? Well...? You want to die, don't you? I can show you how. Wh... wh... who are you?! Who am I? I am... a god of death."

It's gloomy, morose, sad. The husband doesn't talk back to his wife but just leaves after she insults him. The emphasis on the money continues thru, as the man looks at the tree and points out that at least hanging himself is free (evoking Shiguma's past poverty and struggles in earning enough money for himself growing up).

Then in chapter 189, we get Shomei's beginning:

"You must be joking. All that, without even the tiniest bit of money to show for it? I don't even want to look at you! Get out of this house!! Go off and die in a gutter somewhere!! You're telling your own husband to wander off and die? I ain't some kind of alley-cat. I don't care!! Just get out of here!! Go wander off and die!! Well, damn it all... what's that woman's problem? Hmph! Nah, that ain't a woman. She's more like a woodworking plane, shaving off her husband's life. Tells me to go and die? Who talks like that? Ugh. Honestly... I'm kinda sick of it all. Maybe I really should die. Now there's a handy tree with nice thick branches. I can hang myself from it. I bet she'll be shocked when she sees me!! 'Oh no, honey, I didn't really mean it...' Yeah, that'll show her!! Too late to regret it now, sucker!! Won't you feel bad!! Here's the problem, though. I've never hung myself, so I don't know how to do it... Shall I teach you? Who's that? Is someone there?! Fee-hee! Who? It's me. I am... a god of death."

Much more humorous and lighthearted. Shomei also has more of a back & forth between the man and his wife, with the man's wish to show up his wife and make her feel bad driving him to kill himself (evoking Shomei's father who brought unexpected humor to his rakugo, and taught the same to Shomei). Then, in chapter 201, we get Akane's story (with bolding/coloring from me):

"Ugh, how did I get stuck with you? What's your plan now?! You owe money all over town at this point! We can't even afford... to feed our children anymore. Sigh... You worthless man. There's no point in keeping you around here anymore!! Get lost! And while you're at it... hit your head on a block of tofu and die. Yap, yap, yap, I'm sick of hearin' about it. Always in my ear, screamin' about one thing or the other. Heh! Well, all right, then. If that's what you want... I'll show you a death to remember!! But how should I die? How do I die? Drowning seems so painful. Oooh. Now that's a tree with some magnificent branches... I know! I'll hang myself from there! If only... I knew how to tie the knot... Want me to show you? Ah! Wha--? Who's there?! Who am I? I am.. a god of death."

Akane's version takes a lot from Shomei -- for ex, the dark humor of the man complaining about his wife yapping on and giving her a death to remember, similar to Shomei's comedic twist in his of the man saying, yeah, maybe I should just kill myself lol. Akane's version also has the visual detail of Shiguma's, esp once her god of death shows up.

What Akane adds is her emphasis on children.

We get the wife mentioning they can't afford to feed their kids, which is unique to her telling. While Shiguma mentions jumping, and Shomei just talk about hanging, Akane brings in the man talking about drowning, calling back both to chapter 175 & Akane's telling of "Shiwai-ya" with its first story of the cheap father & son -- the father falls into the water, the son tries to get help, the man he talks to haggles with him over price, and then his father tells his son "Five ryo... too much!! Glub! Blub! Talk him down to three!" -- and also way way back when to chapter 14, where Akane asks Koguma for help learning "Jugemu" and he reveals that in the original ending, Jugemu drowns after falling into the river. (I don't think Akane's god of death is literally going to be an alternative-verse Jugemu who did die, but the association is there. A less literal and more lightly referential "rakugo-verse" for Akane, sort of!) I love the detail that Akane's shinigami doesn't ask if they can "teach" the man how to tie a knot, like Shiguma's and Shomei's version, but if they can "show" him how to do so. Both effective as establishing Akane's god as different & child-like, and in an eerie way almost friendly -- or at least more approachable, as compared to the authority evoke in asking if they can "teach" someone something vs. if they can "show" them how to tie a knot. And so all of this leads neatly into the reveal of the god of death as a child (or at least child-like / child-looking).

As of chapter 162, Akane is really struggling with her challenge of winning the Zuinun Prize without making the audience laugh. There's so much emphasis on winning: Akane wants to win to prove her growth to Issho, Karashi, and Hikaru; Taison is impressed by her performance and wonders if maybe his sempai can actually pull of the win; Karashi and Hikaru want to win against her and each other (although up against an Akane who doesn't have a metaphorical hand tied behind her back); and Kimihisa loves Akane's rakugo he wants to see her make a winning comeback. Winning, winning, winning; more, more, more.

AKANE: So... what do I change? What more can I even do?

However. Akane isn't just trying to master the art of entertaining the audience without making them laugh; she's trying to master "Shiguma's Art."

In the past in chapter 137, we see Kiroku lay out his rakugo philosophy: it's about the humanity within his art. Kiroku's humanity is the one thing he can't give up, even for rakugo's sake—because to give up his humanity would mean killing his art in the process.

KIROKU: "Your art is your humanity." If I betray myself, then my art is dead, and everything with it. It's the one thing I can't go back on.

Kiroku's speech comes just before Issho goes on stage to perform "Soba Time." This story is about a man who's shortchanging a soba cook, or: someone who could be described as a cheapskate. And, in fact, Akane begins her story in chapter 160 with a makura about what it means to be a... cheapskate.

All of this has me wondering if Akane's makura will provide the key not only for her performance in the final round of the Zuinun Prize, but also another step on her path towards "Shiguma's Art." My prediction is that Akane will not get 1st in the Zuinun Prize... and will earn Shomei's approval and agreement to teach her "God of Death."

I think this idea worked better in my head, but at least I managed to get the general idea drawn out.