On March 28th, the stage event ``Donto Come! Brothers' Association'' of the TV anime ``Akane Banashi'' based on the original work by Hiroki Suenaga and Takamasa Umajo was held on March 28th at AnimeJapan. 2026'', Anna Nagase who played Akane Sakurasaki, Nobunaga Shimazaki who played Maikeru Aragawa, Chiaki Kobayashi who played Koguma Aragawa, Yohei Aragami who played Keiji Aragawa, and Seiichiro Yamashita who played Guriko Aragawa took the stage.
A scene from the ``TV anime ``Akane Banashi'' Donto Come! Brotherhood Meeting''.
From April 4th, ``Akane Banashi'' will be broadcast on the ``IMAnimation'' slot of TV Asahi's 24 network stations nationwide. The story depicts the main character, Akane, who, triggered by a certain event, aims to become a shinuchi, the highest rank of rakugo storyteller, and joins the Shiguma clan led by Shiguma Aragawa. The cast members took to the stage to the tune of the opening theme song ``Hitotarashi'' written by Keisuke Kuwata. Shimazaki, who plays the role of the eldest of Akane's siblings who gathered today, said with deep emotion, ``I get to perform on stage with Keisuke Kuwata's music.It's great to feel the high expectations for this work!''
At the beginning, Nagase facilitated a "sketchbook talk" tailored to the theme. Regarding the first question, ``First impressions of the work ``Akane Banashi'', Kobayashi and Yamashita both answered ``(Weekly Shonen) Jump,'' and Yamashita said, ``It's interesting how Akane properly finds the issues in each story.If anything, it has a passion similar to sports.'' Kobayashi continued by saying, ``It's full of friendship, hard work, and victory.You might think, ``Does 'winning' have anything to do with rakugo?'', but there are also competitions in the work.Does effort lead to victory?...That part is really passionate and interesting.''
Azagami, who answered ``Humanity,'' said, ``Rakugo has many stories about humanity, and there are people who seem to be inheriting the Edo era, which valued humanity.Akane goes through various experiences, and I think they all boil down to ``Humanity.'''' On the other hand, Shimazaki, who answered ``glare'', said, ``The word glaring is sometimes said to be a relic of the Showa or Heisei era, but I think it's important to be glaring.When we work with words, we often find that people who stick to words and pursue their ideas can accomplish amazing things. It's a story, but it's not just modern smartness, it's a kind of guts, or a ``gira.'' I think Akane's response also has a ``gira.'' If you don't have that kind of ``gira,'' you won't be able to advance in the art world. But I think it's a beautiful work. Nagase nodded his head in agreement and said, ``It's true that each of them has a different type of ``mela-mera,'' and that's what makes it such a cool work.''
The next topic of the talk was "Who is the character you would like to have as your sibling?" In response, Shimazaki chose ``Maikeru'', Azagami ``Keiji'', and Kobayashi ``Griko'', all of which were selected from among the siblings who took the stage today. On the other hand, Yamashita chooses ``Miku-chan (Mamoru Mikuyama)'', who is none other than him. When asked by Nagase why he chose Miku-chan, Yamashita replies, ``Akane has connections with various people, and even outside of Rakugo, she receives hints and lights that lead to Rakugo, and one of them is Miku-chan. I like that episode!'' Miku-chan is a person that Akane meets at an izakaya where she takes care of him for some reason. Nagase concluded the topic by saying, ``Please enjoy the broadcast,'' regarding what kind of episode it will be.
In the second half of the event, we will deliver a corner titled ``One seat in the riddle, it looks like it's good to see you later''. Among the questions related to rakugo, each cast member, including Nagase, came up with a great answer, and the audience got excited. At the end, the participants expressed their enthusiasm and the stage ended with excitement.
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