A review by tmaluck
Fallen Words by Yoshihiro Tatsumi

4.0

"Rakugo" are an oral tradition in which the characters of a story can change based on the storyteller, but the premise and ending are more or less the same. Tatsumi, who wanted to steer his gekiga legacy toward humor for a change, leads the reader through eight short tales, each of which ends in either slapstick or a massive pun. The effect was groan-worthy the first two times, then I felt a gleeful sort of suspense as each story's progress built up my anticipation for how it would end. What new curveball would land on the last page?