This multi-generational epic dives deep into rakugo, a rich form of Japanese storytelling theater. Small-time crook Yotaro has never forgotten the rakugo tale The God of Death, which the master Yurakutei Yakumo performed for Yotaro during his time in prison. After his release, he goes to Yakumo's theater and pleads to be made his apprentice. Yakumo reluctantly accepts, but Yotaro quickly finds the world of rakugo is complex and grapples with a growing bond with Yakumo's ward, Konatsu. Meanwhile, the two young people bring reminders of Yakumo’s own inescapable past. Descending Stories received an anime adaption by Studio DEEN that streamed on Crunchyroll in winter 2016. A surprise fan and critical favorite, it has been renewed for a second season airing in January 2017. The manga ran in Kodansha’s ITAN magazine from 2010-2016 and completed at 10 volumes in June. Localization of Descending Stories is supervised by the Rakugo Kyokai Association, the official guardian of the classic art form.
Yakumo slowly begins to recover after his collapse on stage, but the light inside him has faded, and he shockingly declares that he won’t perform rakugo anymore. Meanwhile, in search of a film taken of the late Sukeroku, Higuchi takes Yotaro and Matsuda to Shikoku, where the two men learn a truth about the two storytellers–and what really happened that fateful night that claimed Sukeroku and Miyokichi’s lives.