One of the most popular stories in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump is finally getting an anime adaptation. Yuki Suenaga and Takamasa Moue’s Rakugo-themed manga, Akane-banashi is leaping the television screen and is slated for broadcast in 2026 on TV Asahi’s IMAnimation block and BS Asahi.
The news first broke in Shueisha’s Weekly Jump Press video update three days ago, and it would later be accompanied by a teaser trailer, cast, and staff list.
Cast List:
Akane Osaki– Anna Nagase (ZENSHU, Blue Box, Takopi’s Original Sin)
Karashi Neriyama– Takuya Eguchi (Spy x Family, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, Blue Lock)
Hikaru Koragi– Rie Takahashi (Re: Zero – Starting Life in Another World, Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World!, Rent-a-Girlfriend)
Staff List:
- Ayumu Watanabe– Director
- Yu Harima– Assistant Director
- Kii Tanaka– Character Designer/ Chief Animation Director
- Michihiro Tsuchiya– Overseeing Series Scripts
- Akio Izutsu– Music Composer
- Kikuhiko Hayashiya– Rakugo Supervisor
- Zexcs– Animation Production
Here are some fun facts about the manga series it is based on, Akane-banashi ranked 2nd in the Manga Taisho 2023 and 3rd in the 2022 Next Manga Awards (Comics Division). According to Oricon, it has also received praise from the Rakugo community for its authenticity and appeal, including eight professional rakugo performers such as Kikuou Hayashiya and Kyotaro Yanagiya, who appear in a special PV. Organizations like the Japan Rakugo Association and Asakusa Entertainment Hall have also cooperated in the production. Meanwhile, in North America, it has received praise amongst fans and educational professionals alike. The manga made the American Library Association’s (ALA’s) Young Adult Library Services Association’s (YALSA) 2024 list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens, and the New York Public Library also named the manga on its Best Books list for teens in 2023.
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Akane-banashi was written by Yuki Suenaga and illustrated by Takamasa Moue, it was first serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine in February 2022 and is currently an ongoing series. To this day, the chapters have been collected into 17 tankōbon volumes as of June 2025. Viz Media has licensed the series for English release in North America. Akane-banashi’s chapters are available to read on Viz Media’s Shonen Jump app and Shueisha’s Manga Plus app.
Akane takes on the world of rakugo to avenge her father!
Shinta Arakawa wants nothing more than to pass his shin’uchi exam—the test that would make him a top-rank headliner and master storyteller in the traditional Japanese art of rakugo. Akane Osaki, his daughter and biggest fan, spies on him while he practices and learns his routines for herself. When rakugo master Issho Arakawa expels everyone after the exam with no explanation, a fire is lit inside Akane. From that day forth, she has had one goal—to avenge her father and prove his art was worthy of the title of shin’uchi.
Akane unintentionally stirs up a scandal when she’s discovered taking informal lessons from her father’s former teacher, Shiguma Arakawa. And she’s about to make even bigger waves because she is about to begin her first steps in climbing the ranks of a rakugo performer from zenza opening act to shin’uchi headliner is exchanging her secret lessons for formal training. But she’ll still have to finish high school and navigate her relationship with Shiguma’s existing apprentices, all while learning that becoming a stellar rakugoka takes much more than just being good at performing!
Source: Oricon
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