A new short PV for the upcoming season has been released.
The hit new anime “Akane-banashi” concluded its first season with the 12th and final episode. Right after, the official accounts of the series released a new PV, confirming the release of season 2 in January 2027. Which means, after less than six months, the breakout rakugo anime will be back with a brand new story arc! The first season is available to stream globally on Netflix.
Akane-banashi Season 2
Premiere window: January 2027
Animation studio: Zexcs
Streaming service: Netflix
What do we know about Akane-banashi Season 2 so far?
The anime will return with its second season in January 2026. The final episode of Season 1 concluded the Karaku Cup arc of the manga. This means, the second season will begin with the Zenza Training Arc, where Akane will formally become an apprentice of Shiguma Arakawa after graduating high school. She will start training as a Zenza, which is the inaugural rank of every rakugo trainee.
A commemorative illustration by the anime’s character designer Kii Tanaka to celebrate the production of Akane-banashi Season 2 has been released.
Moreover, in the final episode of the first season, six new characters and their voice actors were revealed, who will return again in the second season. They are:
- Hōchū Ōtsuka as Miroku Kashiwaya
- Ryōtarō Okiayu as Shomei Tsubakiya
- Hiroshi Naka as Enso Sanmeitei
- Mutsumi Tamura as Urara Ransaika
- Shinichirō Miki as Ryu'un Kenputei
- Tomokazu Seki as Chocho Konjakutei
The main cast of the anime includes:
- Anna Nagase as Akane Osaki
- Takuya Eguchi as Karashi Nerimaya
- Rie Takahashi as Hikaru Koragi
- Jun Fukuyama as Shinta Arakawa (Tohru Osaki)
- Nobunaga Shimazaki as Maikeru Arakawa
- Chiaki Kobayashi as Koguma Arakawa
- Yohei Azakami as Kyoji Arakawa
- Seiichiro Yamashita as Guriko Arakawa
- Masaki Terasoma as Shiguma Arakawa
- Akio Otsuka as Issho Arakawa
Ayumu Watanabe directed the first season at Zexcs, with Yū Harima as assistant director. Michihiro Tsuchiya handled series composition while Kii Tanaka was the character designer and chief animation director. Akio Izutsu (Akuma Kun) composed the music with Kikuhiko Hayashiya as the Rakugo supervisor.
What is Akane-banashi about?
The anime is based on the popular manga of the same name written by Yuki Suenaga and illustrated by Takamasa Moue. The series began publishing in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine in February 2022, with 20 tankōbon volumes out so far.
Viz Media publishes the manga in English and describes the story as:
Akane unintentionally stirs up a scandal when she’s discovered taking informal lessons from her father’s former teacher, Shiguma Arakawa. And she’s about to make even bigger waves because she is about to begin her first steps in climbing the ranks of a rakugo performer from zenza opening act to shin’uchi headliner is exchanging her secret lessons for formal training. But she’ll still have to finish high school and navigate her relationship with Shiguma’s existing apprentices, all while learning that becoming a stellar rakugoka takes much more than just being good at performing!