Who doesn't love some toned abs and belly buttons?

mameda attracted me with that deep belly button

Same here (❤´艸｀❤)

I guess there is a Raijin in each of us xD

Not me lookin at sum nice abs and belly button. (0///0 )

Check out Lotara Sarrin Abs. I am sure you'll enjoy it.

Tanuki bones stay on their place after the transformation... interesting :P

That kinda makes no sense, lmao. xP

like how does it move with those bones in a weird position.

But Tanuki transforming does... ?

oh I meant the joint and stuff, lol

Interesting indeed. I'm surprised she didn't instantly shatter her legs upon dropping (I think?) 10 feet onto a moving boat, in the middle of a storm nonetheless, and that's without taking the wind into account. However it DOES raise something.

Given what we know on transformation, we know while it DOES take practice to practice the arts, we can also assume it requires focus and (likely) energy. That said, I got some questions. How exactly does transformation work?

In Episode 5, she struggled to maintain her shamisen form while Koito was playing (or as Mameda sees it, tickling her). At the end of Episode 2, we've seen her revert back to her tanuki form in her sleep. In that same episode, she knocked her head into a wall, instantly changing into a tanuki while chasing that cat, though I guess you COULD say she changed form to keep up with the cat. And here in this episode, she was struck by Tenjin'chan's lightning AND jumped several feet onto a moving boat. IDK the full extent on transformation, but I'm pretty sure being shocked is bound to make you lose control, and she were paralyzed, likely revert back to her tanuki form. And for the latter, she should've lost a ton of focus upon impact on the boat, and who knows what would've happened had she shattered her legs.

And we've her struggle to maintain her human form in flashbacks. That said, unless she got a crash course from Bunko after her first night in episode 2, there's several instances from then til now where she shouldn't have maintained her form. Either that or she's lucky, AKA plot convenience.

A performance worthy of the Gods.

Way to go Mameda! You nailed this performance! And in front of a god too! :D

NOOO!!!! Your making me heart broken-😭😰

I hope the lightning god stays a recurring character

Lightning god kawaii.

Wait...why the Heck did Mameda think she did badly...??? Hell I bet Shirara didn't get as great a reception as SHE did! I don't get it. 🤔

Well, she was certainly funny and entertaining, but she screwed up with telling the story multiple times. A successful show, but a poor technical performance. She'll definitely be a hit, though. ^_^

Back when I used to play instruments I had a piano recital. On one of my songs, I accidentally repeated a section one too many times. The only ones who knew I screwed up were my instructor, the judges, and myself. The audience didn't care, and everyone seemed to enjoy their time. But I still felt terrible about the performance.

Ahhh, I gotcha now. Thanks for the understanding.

Why she can't resist belly button??

Something about japanese folklore, they tell kids to cover their belly buttons when sleeping or the thunder god will strike it. Raijin, the thunder god ride on some kind of thunderbeast Raiju. Raiju loves belly button and will go sleep in belly button. This makes Raijin mad and will throw thunderbolt

I love rakuda

lol I laughed at the dumb joke at the end

She is so adoreble 😻😻😻

Great idea I heard they taste great together.

Mame-chan saved the day.

damn not bad for her first show

i can't even understand the joke HAAHAH

me neither, but ill just pretend i do :D

That’s one flashy entrance for a Rakugo opener!

and would normally end up with broken legs xD

Good thing those legs are just an illusion. :P

Mameda actually killed it on the deck. Holy shit. Pretty much all of her jokes got a good chuckle out of me, but then again, it was an opening act to warm the audience up, so that's to be expected. Even a stupid gaijin who's never heard Japanese would be able to laugh at them.

Mameda's performance was not 'correctly literate', but her goofy personality and funny attitude makes you curious to say "hahaha, I wonder how she will mess up next'. A character better suited for Rakugou, even more than her master, since Bunko is correct and literate, but her personality is gloomy and boring.

I think the thing to note with comedians is that they tend to be serious, unhappy people. Telling and understanding jokes for a living tends to strip all the fun out of life. Bunko-sama seems to be pretty accurate in that respect.

For her first outing, I gotta say, Mameda did a great job, though it could've been in better circumstances, circumstances as in the storm. However, her rakugo performance represents 2 major problems.

1, I get comedy is subjective, but when it comes to Japanese comedy, especially stuff like manzai (with shows like Teppen, Maesetsu, and Kono Healer covering that topic) and rakugo, it doesn't translate to English all that well. And I'd be lying if I said I find it funny, because I don't. Mameda's explanation of the rakugo performances at the end of each episode doesn't help either, like, yes, I get it. Doesn't make it funny and if I REALLY wanna know, I'll just Google it on my own time. And speaking of Mameda, bringing us to problem #2.
2, Mameda is just MAO (her VA) voicing yet another genki upbeat girl, which is essentially the type of characters she voices. IK she has SOME range, but this is the same person who voiced Iris from Fire Force, Shion from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Fana from Black Clover, Pecorine from Priconne, Hikari from Digimon Adventure, and Hinata from Fantasy Bishoujo.

I'm not familiar with rakugo, but I'm sure if you're gonna do a one man show, you're gonna need a diverse voice and/or range to be able to tell a story, and MAO just doesn't have that. Mameda's performance sounds like I'm listening to a highschool girl cheerfully read the class her history report on the American Revolution in world history, like you KNOW she's getting that A+!
And Bunko's performances ain't much better. She LITERALLY does the same voice in each of her performances, no range or variance whatsoever, but I'm supposed to believe she's one of the best performers? Apparently there's not a lot of competition, let alone female rakugo performers at that. Her tone and her pacing doesn't help, making the stories sound like she's rushing to get it over with rather than carefully tell a story.
The writing doesn't help either of them either. At best, it holds back the rakugo performances and at worst it kinda hurts the talent of both MAO AND Hibiki Yamamura (AKA Bunko's VA).

>I get comedy is subjective
It's objective. It's your sense of humour that's subjective.
>rakugo...doesn't translate to English...well
>And I'd be lying if I said I find it funny, because I don't
Trust me, I'm a fan of Rakugo, and even I don't find it funny.

>I'm not familiar with rakugo
>but...if you're gonna do a one man show, you...need a diverse voice and/or range to be able to tell a story
>MAO just doesn't have that
Well, of course she wouldn't. She's an apprentice to a Rakugoka who just broke into the role of the opening act, she's not going to be a master at it right away. The VA is still playing a role. Her performance may not have been the best, but it hit all the right notes.
>sounds like I'm listening to a highschool girl cheerfully read [blah blah blah]
It's the opening act. It's not terribly sophisticated and it's a training role. For something to warm the audience up, you're taking it very seriously.

>Bunko's performances ain't much better
>She LITERALLY does the same voice in... her performances, no range or variance
Really? Rakugo is all about subtle alterations in the way you speak, inflection and pitch/tone of your voice to portray different characters, among other factors. Bunko-shishou does this masterfully, even if they're for fairly simple stories, and given that Rakugo is all about the audio element, that's what you're supposed to look out for. It helps if you have sensitive ears, but understanding even a bit of Japanese is crucial. Even then, there's a big difference between it being performed by a talented VA and an actual master of the art.
>Her tone and her pacing doesn't help
>sound like she's rushing to get it over with...than...tell a story
Sounds like you haven't got a good sense of rhythm, then.

Thank God Rakuda came by when he did, otherwise not only would the festival have been cancelled, but Mameda wouldn't have gotten to debut!

I appreciate you (=・ω・=)