In the 1930s, a geisha takes Bon, her young lame son who can no longer dance, to rakugo master Yurakutei Yakumo to be apprenticed, but is interrupted by Shin who also wants to become Yakumo (八雲) and perform rakugo as well. The master is impressed by Shin's brazen attitude, and takes him I as well as a counter to Bon's stiff manner. The master gives them the names Hatsutaro (Shin) and Kikuhiko (Bon). The two boys are totally different in character, Shin is outgoing and dedicated completely to rakugo while Bon is shy and introverted, and does not think rakugo is for him. After training, at Kikuhiko's first performance, the audience is bored because of his dry recitation while Shin successfully entertains the audience with his animated style.