Description:

In Fallen Words, Yoshihiro Tatsumi takes up the oral tradition of rakugo and breathes new life into it by shifting the format from spoken word to manga. Each of the eight stories in the collection is lifted from the Edo-era Japanese storytelling form. As Tatsumi notes in the afterword, the world of rakugo, filled with mystery, emotion, revenge, hope, and, of course, love, overlaps perfectly with the world of Gekiga that he has spent the better part of his life developing. These slice-of-life stories resonate with modern readers thanks to their comedic elements and familiarity with human idiosyncrasies. In one, a father finds his son too bookish and arranges for two workers to take the young man to a brothel on the pretext of visiting a new shrine. In another particularly beloved rakugo tale, a married man falls in love with a prostitute. When his wife finds out, she is enraged and sets a curse on the other woman. The prostitute responds by cursing the wife, and the two escalate in a spiral of voodoo doll cursing. Soon both are dead, but even death can’t extinguish their jealousy. Tatsumi’s love of wordplay shines through in the telling of these whimsical stories, and yet he still offers timeless insight into human nature. (Source: Drawn and Quarterly)

Description:

The story of how a Japanese storyteller, or "Hanashika," saved the world using Rakugo. (Source: MU)

Description:

The time is the Taisho Era. Mameda, a tanuki girl who came to Osaka dreaming of becoming a human, meets a popular rakugo artist, Daikokutei Bunko. Mameda, who was impressed by the storyteller's way of storytelling, which is a technique taught by a human being, decided to become a disciple. Rakugo artist training has begun! Source: Kodansha

Description:

The manga centers on Nao and Tsubaki, who met when they were children when their mothers worked at a traditional Japanese confectionery shop. But due to a certain incident, they were separated. 15 years later, Nao and Tsubaki are each working at other Japanese confectionery stores, and are reunited.