His master reveals that he knew Sokuroku’s mentor and that by using his blood ties to his father he managed to steal the title of Yakumo from Sokuroku’s which caused him to leave the art in disgust. This does put his uncertainties with his right to the name into perspective as he never truly earned it. Teaching Sokuroku may have been his method of atonement but ultimately his pride could let him give him the name. He even reveals that he doesn’t want Yakumo to take the title either which does make his desires rather petty. His contradiction in manner is interesting in how he feels he is unworthy of his title yet has too much pride to hand it over to another. When a young upstart began begging for Yakumo to take him on as an apprentice in front of his master, his master snided at how the child chose Yakumo over him. As a performer I respect that he hid his poor condition until his act was done. Though it became apparent near the end that he was struggling to finish.
Yakumo’s reaction to his master’s confession was rather surprising in that he admitted that he had seen his faults but still respected him for taking them in. I wonder if Yakumo held any grudge against him for kicking out Sokuroku as his reaction to his death was rather cold. Yakumo has hardly been one with an emotional demeanor but one would think he would be affected somewhat during his master’s funeral. Perhaps his words about being grateful to him were but sophistry as he neared death’s door. His master was a flawed individual, blinded by his own prejudices; however he did treat and refer to Yakumo and Sokuroku as his sons. So is a man forgiven for his failings if he himself recognises them in the end?
So the master dies and everyone is pushing for Yakumo to inherit his name; though there are certainly those who sneer at his success behind his back. His performance after the funeral was quite telling as he thought before he began about how people would thinking he was going to tell a sentimental Rakugo story. Instead Yakumo tells a story which is about a man meeting death, making a deal with him and then dying as he attempts to prolong his life. To me it felt like Yakumo was saying a lot with this piece; perhaps highlighting Rakugo itself and the hesitation to let it grow with the times. Or perhaps to show that his passion was dying out without Sukeroku to be his rival. He does still enjoy Rakugo but he has a clear disdain for the backroom policies of the art form. So much so that he dissuaded a potential pupil from dirtying his hands with it Or perhaps it was an ode to his now deceased master who made his own dirty deals and now has met with death. At the end of the episode we see a return of a character not seen since episode 1, though now in a younger form. This looks to be the beginning of the time which caused Konatsu to refer to Yakumo as her father’s killer. So I wonder, did she mean that metaphorically or literally?
