Shinta Arakawa wants nothing more than to pass his shin'uchi exam--the test that would make him a top-rank headliner and master storyteller in the traditional Japanese art of rakugo. Akane Osaki, his daughter and biggest fan, spies on him while he practices and learns his routines for herself. When rakugo master Issho Arakawa expels everyone after the exam with no explanation, a fire is lit inside Akane. From that day forth, she has had one goal--to avenge her father and prove his art was worthy of the title of shin'uchi.

After watching Chocho perform, Akane starts to see a path to becoming the kind of rakugoka she wants to be. She eagerly asks him to take her under his wing, but with Chocho everything is a gamble. Meanwhile, one of Chocho's apprentices, Akane's friend Asagao, is ready to be promoted to futatsume. Chocho tasks him with a final test--filling a performance venue with a series of trial performances. Asagao asks Akane and Karashi to help him, and the three of them struggle to find a way to meet Chocho's demands. But then Akane comes up with an idea that may just be crazy enough to work...