So we reach the finale of the first season of Rakugo and against all odds we have a second season to look forward to. The last episode of this season capped off the end of Yakumo’s tale and returns to our characters from the first episode. Through it now some time after Yakumo told them his story and Yotarou from the first episode has just become a shinichi. Konatsu asks Yotarou to do the same story her father did for her long ago and we have a moment were we the audience know just how much meaning this story has for her yet Yotarou is completely clueless. Yotarou has very much become a new incarnation of Sokeroku and while his performance isn’t as good as Sokeroku’s, it is certainly reminiscent of it. How Konatsu has changed is something I find quite interesting. Her mother was very much stuck in the past and dependent on men to survive. Yet Konatsu has gotten pregnant and is determined to raise the child as a single mother. Konatsu is very strong a self sufficient which was likely birthed by her desire to support her father as a child and her standoffish relationship with Yakumo. On why she got pregnant, Yakumo insinuated that part of this was out of spite for him however Konastu makes it clear that she will not stand for her father’s line dying out. However I wonder why she is so adamant to not name the father. COuld it be this was the result of a drunken night with Yotarou perhaps? Maybe that’s why she was so surprised by his marriage proposal out of the blue. However that is quite unlikely.
Then this episode lets out the words that was being hinted front the start. Yotarou has decided to inherent Sukeroku name. The scene with Yakumo at the grave of Sokeroku venting his frustrations with a mirage of Sokeroku was excellent. Even after all these years his death still eats away at him. He feels that he failed him and that he couldn’t keep Rakugo alive as he wished. And in his ventings the mirage slips into the fog and Yotarou replaces it. We know what Sokeroku wished, a rakugo that never changes and a rakugo that changes with the times. Yakumo has kept one side alive and now I believe Yotarou is the key to being the second side Yakumo needs. Even Matsuda mentioned this fact to Sokeroku himself in the last episode. The crowds need both the styles of Yakumo and him, without one it felt as though something was missing. But Yakumo also mentions how he failed in raising Konatsu which I think he really shouldn’t blame himself for that. Konatsu and him had a standoffish relationship even before Sokerokus death so regardless to how he tried I doubt he could have raised her better. Well maybe he should have let her do Rakugo but admittedly in this time she wouldn’t have much hope in a profession such as that. So we end this season on a bit of a cliffhanger as now as Sokeroku has acted as a guiding light for Yakumo, he too must act to transform the rough Yotarou into the new Sokeroku all the while dealing with the issue of Konatsu’s baby and the mystery as to who is the father. The next season should prove to be quite interesting.
I think it’s pretty obvious why Konatsu is not revealing the father of her baby. The fact that no one else around her has even an inkling who the father could be tells a lot. She has not introduced him to any of her family, nor have the family ever even seen his face or heard his name. I don’t know if Konatsu’s baby daddy was a serious thing or not, but most likely she’s feeling shame over being put in such a position. If she revealed the name of the father, they would be pressured to marry, to cohabit. lalala. It doesn’t look like she wants much else to do with her baby daddy.
In relation to her desire to have a baby being somehow related to her dad. Her baby daddy is probably not someone who her dad would want for her, and not worthy of being associated with her dad in her mind. Shame is a very powerful thing.