[ANIME] Original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam Anime's "Last Shooting" Retold in Traditional Japanese Rakugo Form

The rivalry between Amuro Ray and Char Aznable in Mobile Suit Gundam came to its climax with the scene known as the “Final Shot” or “The Last Shooting.” The scene has been recreated time and time again, in several anime tributes, as well as custom GunPlas and dioramas, and this time it was retold using a traditional method of Japanese story-telling known as Rakugo.

Master storyteller, Shiraku Tatekawa, considered a legend in the art of Rakugo, was the one chosen to tell the story of the final battle between Char Aznable and his Zeong, and Amuro Ray and his RX-78-2 Gundam. In Tatekawa’s tale, the story of the “Last Shooting” was crossed-over with the traditional Rakugo story, known as the Daikushi Rabe, or the “Carpenter’s Survey,” which follows a feud between a carpenter and his landlord over rent. Amuro is presented as the carpenter, while Char is the landlord, and the story is set in the Edo period.

Those who have watched the comedy anime, Joshiraku, will be familiar with the Japanese art of Rakugo, as this mode of story-telling is central to the anime itself. Rakugo, which literally means “fallen words,” is a form of Japanese verbal entertainment, where a lone storyteller sits on stage on top of a Kouza, or a red cushion. He/she then tells a long and complicated (and often-comical) tale, while using only a paper fan and a small cloth for props. The retelling of the climactic scene of Mobile Suit Gundam by Rakugo is a project by Sunrise, which animates the Gundam anime.

Source: Comic Natalie