The plot of Rakugo Musume

Xiangsumi (played by Mimura) is a rare female rakugo teacher in the rakugo world. Although she is only a fledgling teacher at the moment, her love for rakugo is no less than anyone else. Work hard to reach a higher level. Kasumi is always the first to arrive backstage, busy here and there without a moment's rest, and sometimes has to do odd jobs for the seniors. However, the traditional entertainment industry belongs to men. Usually, comments like this float into her ears: "Women still perform rakugo...", but when she got to the stage, she had to face the cold eyes of the old audience.

The biggest headache for Kasumi is the master Sansantei Heisa (played by Masahiko Tsugawa). The master was once known as the "New Worker Heisa" and was a high-profile rakugo master, but his unruly style caused a lot of trouble. These days, Pinzo rarely performs on stage. He is obsessed with having fun and does not rehearse with Kasumi at all. Because he previously satirized current political figures on TV shows, the media has also stayed away from him. Recently, even creditors have come to visit him.

Xiangsumi decided to become a rakugo master when she was twelve years old. At that time, she learned to perform the famous rakugo piece "Kingqing" in front of the hospital bed of her uncle (played by Ri Shigegang), which made her uncle, who was suffering from an incurable disease, very happy. From then on, Kasumi fell in love with rakugo. "Kingqing" is the best joke of his uncle's favorite rakugo master, the young leader of the rakugo world, Mishimatsuya Kakini (played by Masuoka Tetsu). From high school to college, Kasumi has been studying at the Rakugo Research Society. After graduating from college, she visited Kasumi and confidently performed a piece of "Kagekiyo" in front of him. However, Shihong, who adheres to tradition, mercilessly refuses to accept her as a disciple because of her gender. "It's just an old prejudice that rakugo can only be played by men!" The unconventional Hirasa took Kasumi, who had nowhere to go, under his tutelage.

One day, his classmate Shimizu (played by Ryoji Morimoto), who is now a sports reporter, came to see Kasumi. He heard that Hirasa was going to star in the long-awaited rakugo "Horizono Nagaya". "The Scarlet Fan Nagaya" is a work created by the famous Meiji era artist Shibakawa Shuntaro. It tells the strange story of a young man who set fire to a longhouse for love, and ended up burning his sweetheart to death by mistake. The author died mysteriously after finishing writing it, and the rakugo masters who later performed this piece also died suddenly one after another, so this rakugo became a taboo that no one dared to perform. The mastermind behind planning this incident is the female TV producer Gu Xian (played by Kazue Ito). In order to create high ratings, she approached Hiraso, who was in financial distress, and asked him to challenge the taboo. Despite Kasumi's strong objections, Hirasa accepted Gu Xian's proposal.

Kasumi and Heisa went to a small village in the mountains of Kansai to visit Toshiko (played by Ezawa Moeko). Her husband had performed this joke 40 years ago and then died mysteriously. The two encountered supernatural events in the village, which seemed to indicate that touching taboos would lead to disaster.

This incident caused an uproar in the rakugo world. Kakiko, who has always hated this kind of attention-grabbing method, is ready to expel Heisa from the Rakugo Association. Kasumi begged the master not to appear, but Heisa wouldn't listen. Kasumi suddenly made an appointment with Kasumi, and he asked Kasumi to leave Hirasa, join his disciples, and embark on the right path of rakugo.

Finally, can the cursed rakugo be staged? And what choice did rakugo girl Kasumi make?