Becoming an official disciple of rakugo is just the beginning. Akane Banashi officially confirms its second season with a scheduled premiere in January 2027 on TV Asahi, accompanied by a new trailer focused on the Apprentice Training Arc featuring several new characters and voices within the world of professional rakugo performers.

The second season picks up right after Akane graduates high school and officially becomes a disciple of Shiguma Arakawa, adopting the professional name Akane Arakawa. From there, she begins rigorous training as a rakugo performer, pursuing her dream of reaching the highest rank in that world: Shinuchi. The path to this goal comes with new challenges and experiences that will test her growth as a storyteller.

Voice Cast

• Hochu Otsuka as Miroku Kashiwaya. (Jiraiya in Naruto and Banjuro Tokieda in Tank Chair).
• Ryotaro Okiayu as Shomei Tsubakiya. (Byakuya Kuchiki in Bleach and Tezuka Kunimitsu in The Prince of Tennis).
• Mutsumi Tamura as Urara Ransaika. (Kobayashi in Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid and Sayaka Kanamori in Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!).
• Shinichiro Miki as Ryuun Kenputei. (Kisuke Urahara in Bleach and Roy Mustang in Fullmetal Alchemist).
• Tomokazu Seki as Chocho Konjakutei. (Kyo Sohma in Fruits Basket and Tobio Kageyama in previous sports drama productions).
• Hiroshi Naka as Enso Sanmeitei.

About Akane Banashi

Akane Banashi is a manga by Yuki Suenaga and Takamasa Moue serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump since February 2022. The story follows Akane, a young girl inspired by her father’s rakugo performances, which seemed almost magical. After a key event in her father’s career, Akane decides to pursue the art of rakugo herself, striving at seventeen to become Shinuchi through dedicated training and overcoming numerous obstacles along the way. The manga won second place in the Manga Taisho 2023 awards and third place in the comics category of the Next Manga Awards 2022, and it has a close collaboration with the real rakugo community, including support from the Japan Rakugo Association and the Asakusa Engei Hall.

Are you more interested in seeing how Akane faces formal training in this second season or were you expecting the story to advance faster toward her goal of becoming Shinuchi?