Akamedaka SP (J-Drama) (2015)

Based on famous Rakugo storyteller Tatekawa Danshun’s true-story novel, “Akamedaka,” this SP revolves around 17 year-old Nobuyuki Sasaki (Ninomiya) encountering famed Rakugo-ka Tatekawa Danshi (Beat Takeshi) at a culture festival. There he completely falls in love with the world of Rakugo and decides to quit high school in order to apprentice himself to Danshi. However, the world of the Tatekawa Ryu school isn’t anything like he imagined it would be. Danshun (as he’s now called) finds himself struggling to understand his master’s methods in teaching and winds up in trouble more often than not. Luckily, with the help of the senior apprentices, a particularly trying lesson from the Master, and the appearance of an unbelievable rival, Danshun starts moving closer to his goal of becoming a pro Rakugo-ka.