Joshiraku

Overview

Joshiraku is literally about five young female rakugo (hence, "Joshi" and "raku") performers who talk about random topics and make jokes with tons of Japanese puns involved. There is practically no continuous story.

Production

Joshiraku is an anime series produced by J.C. Staff based off of a manga series of the same written name by Kouji Kumeta and illustrated by Yasu. The series is directed by Tsutomu Mizushima with series composition by Michiko Yokote, both of whom previously worked together on the Squid Girl anime series. Character designs handled by Masayoshi Tanaka, Yoshikazu Iwanami is in charge of sound direction, and Starchild Records is taking care of music production.

Official Website

Characters

One notable thing about all the named characters is that their names form some sort of pun or reference in a mixture of Engrish and plain Japanese. The pun reflects their character and personality throughout the series.

• Marri Buratei (Voiced by Ayane Sakura) - "Bloody Mary," outspoken redhead who speaks in a casual tone with more emotion than the others.
  
• Kigurumi Harokitei (Voiced by Kotori Koiwai) - "Hello Kitty Stuffed Animal," the cheerful blonde ditz who secretly hates her role within the story but plays into it anyways.
  
• Tetora Bohatei (Voiced by Nozomi Yamato) - "Breakwater Tetrapod," Ordinary purple-haired girl who seems to have incredible luck as most calamities that befall her friends end up missing her for one reason or another.
  
• Kukuru Anrakutei (Voiced by Saori Goto) - "Dark and Gloomy," the girl who has bad luck and appears sad or depressed most of the time because of that.
  
• Gankyo Kurubiyutei (Voiced by Yoshino Nanjou) - "Cool Beauty Glasses," the character mostly defined by her glasses, and therefore her ability to analyze things without showing too much emotion.
  
• Joshiraku in a luchador mask. Currently no one knows who she is or why she wears a mask, but she appears at unexpected times with the other girls, with little or no dialog.
  

Theme Songs

Opening:
Oato ga Yoroshikutte. . . yo! by Gotou Saori, Koiwai Kotori and Nanjou Yoshino

Ending:  
Nippon Egao Hyakukei by Momokurotei Ichimon