Kitabaraki strikes again. That principle of attentiveness really gives every performance a certain dimension. Akane's Shinigami was intense and serious. In order to re-prime the audience, Kaisei had to bring a more relaxing atmosphere. The first thing he did was changing the main character, which draws your attention, but the incorporation of a child's innocence is what is bringing the whole story together.

I liked that once Kaisei changed his face, the whole audience's faces changed to match 😆 They were all waiting to see what kind of story he would tell, and the switch up felt so sudden it took everyone off guard. Slowly, but surely, Kaisei brought them all in.

Haru-kun was such a sweet child 🥺💜 His mom is his only family member, and he did what he could to make sure she was ok, and let her know that he is fine. He had to grow up fast, so seeing the more childish side of Kaisei on stage feels melancholic.

He knows how to cheer people up, but knowing that he acts cheerful for the sake of others instead of being a genuine emotion he feels himself makes me really sad for him. It makes me wonder how much of the Kaisei we have seen is actually him, and how much is a mask he wears.

I feel like Kaichi embodies what most of the readers are feeling. This "Duel Duet" isn't really a competition of Akane vs. Kaisei, it's more like what they need to face in themselves. Akane wanting to move closer torward Shiguma's Art, and Kaisei facing his failed promotion exam and Issho's expectations, and finding out what Kaisei wants for himself. The most important part is that neither of them feel like they failed.

Akane's father inspired her to become a rakugoka and introduced her to rakugo, but his influence was so strong that, at one point, she wanted to become just like him, even at the cost of her own individuality.

On the other hand, Hikaru's mother never truly believed in her daughter. She didn't support Hikaru's dream of becoming a voice actress, just as she hadn't supported her acting career before that. As a result, Hikaru was driven more by anger and the desire to prove herself than by a genuine love for performing.

Karashi's dad taught him from a young age to always think strategically and make sure whatever he did would pay off. Because of that, Karashi tends to play it safe and avoid taking risks. The problem is that by always staying in his comfort zone, he struggles to grow and evolve, even when taking a chance and failing might help him improve .

And now we can see Issho's influence as a father figure. By placing him at the top of the new generation of rakugo performers and constantly pushing him toward that role, he ends up taking away some of his individuality. In a way, it's similar to Akane, who spent so long chasing her father's shadow that she started losing sight of herself.

But then there's his mother. She's the one who's always been by his side, looking after him. Her poem has a completely different kind of influence on him. Instead of telling him who he should be, she encourages him to follow his own path and reminds him that, no matter how difficult or winding that path may be, he'll eventually reach his destination.

THIS MANGA IS SO GOOD. FUCK.

because the other side of that is that kaisei existed before rakugo.

I have many things I want to say. And we're only getting started with Kaisei's Shinigami 😭 Takamasa-sensei's writing is so detailed and well-done.

First of all, Kaisei's choice to change the main character from a middle-aged man in debt to his son who gets criticized for the same things is very fitting. I don't recall seeing Kaisei being compared to his father, but he probably does that to himself. He doesn't want to become someone like his dad, but part of it might feel inevitable. Even when he's distanced himself from his dad, he's still carrying Issho's baggage.

That also got me thinking, how much of Kaisei's rakugo career were achievements he wanted to accomplish himself versus expectations Issho put on him. Kaisei used rakugo to escape from his dad's shadow, but that just put him in another layer of generational trauma. Now I think he's trying to use this iteration of shinigami to find himself and get away from Issho's business. Is he trying to get away though? Maybe not... I really want to see how different this shinigami is from his promotion test... Sensei please 🙏 show me to meeee

ALSO, his NAME!!! What a pleasure it is to see beautiful precious child Kaisei, or should I say HARU!!! I had to see the kanji and I was absolutely blown away. His surname 青梅 (Oume) means "young (green) plum blossom", I'm not making this up. I was going crazy when I saw that plum blossom was in his given name. And Haru is such a cute name, the kanji means "spring". The intention of him having resilience is so important because mom knew he was going to have a rough life, but she's doing her best, they're all doing their best 😭

The anime just had an episode about how Akane got her name, and now we're learning how Kaisei got his name 🥹 The timing is so perfect, they know exactly what they're doing I swear.