Yakumo Yuurakutei
A legendary rakugo performer who is haunted by his past. He refused to take in any apprentices until he met Yotarou.
As a child, Bon had originally trained as a dancer until damage to his leg left him unable to dance. Bon’s mother, a geisha, sent him to train as a rakugo performer under the Seventh Generation Yakumo Yuurakutei alongside Shin, a boy who shows up unexpectedly and is accepted on a whim. While he proved to be adept at the basics of rakugo, and possessed impressive potential to memorize stories, his performances were stiff and lacked emotion and passion. Shin, with his impressive love for rakugo, quickly overtook him. As an apprentice, he was given the name “Kikuhiko.” In an attempt to find his own style, Kikuhiko began performing ‘bawdy and erotic’ stories and discovered his strong ability to personify feminine characters.
Kikuhiko pursued a romantic relationship with a geisha named Miyokichi, but broke things off in order to more seriously pursue rakugo as a career, leaving her angry and heartbroken. Desperate to have her revenge, she fell pregnant with Sukeroku’s child, and the two eloped. After the Seventh Generation Yakumo died, and the crushing loneliness became too much to bear, Kikuhiko sought out Sukeroku at the countryside town where he had taken up residence.
After bearing witness to the tragic deaths of Sukeroku and Miyokichi, for which he blamed himself, Kikuhiko took it upon himself to raise their daughter, Konatsu, Shortly after, he took up the title of the Eighth Generation Yakumo Yuurakutei.
Yakumo passes away peacefully in his sleep, moments after finally reconciling with Konatsu and agreeing to take her in as his second apprentice.
