Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha for providing a review copy.

First and foremost I want to say I love the art here. The character designs and scenery are all really well done. I found this to be what most drew me in as I was reading.

The characters are also interesting, and I liked the relationship as it was developing between Mameda, the tanuki, and Bunko, the Rakugo storyteller. The master and student dynamic wasn't too stiff, and leads to plenty of humorous situations.

Unfortunately I know very little about Rakugo and I was definitely super lost through a lot of the first third to half of the volume. Towards the end of the book it definitely gets a bit easier to understand, but I still found myself wishing I knew more about it.

It took me longer than most manga volumes for me to finish reading, which made me realize I just couldn't fully get in to the material. I think this book will appeal to a niche reader in the west, and I personally don't see myself really continuing on with future volumes.