is a Japanese

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written by

Kōji Kumeta is a Japanese manga artist. His most famous works are '' Go!! Southern Ice Hockey Club'', '' Katteni Kaizō'', '' Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei'', and '' Joshiraku''. The bulk of Kumeta's work was published in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'', until the abru ...

and illustrated by Yasu, telling the everyday lives of five young female

rakugo is a form of Japanese verbal comedy, traditionally performed in '' yose'' theatres. (Bibliographyvolume 38(1)article
T ...

comedians. It was serialised in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

's ''

Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine is a Japanese monthly manga magazine published by Kōdansha. The magazine was started in September 2009 as a spin-off of another Kōdansha magazine, '' Weekly Shōnen Magazine''. Currently running manga series Past series * '' ×××Hol ...

'' from September 2009 to September 2013 and the chapters compiled into six ''

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

'' volumes. An

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series adaptation animated by

J.C.Staff is a Japanese animation studio founded in January 1986 by Tomoyuki Miyata, who previously worked at Tatsunoko Production. The studio's first release was '' Yōtōden'' in 1987. They have produced several well-known anime series, such as '' Aria ...

aired in Japan between July and September 2012, with an

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

episode released in February 2013.

Characters

All of the girls' surnames end with the character , which is often used in stage names for performers. ; : (Anime),

Kana Asumi is a Japanese actress, voice actress, singer and a former member of the girl group Lisp. Career She worked for Voice & Heart until 2007 and has worked for 81 Produce since 2008. She won the Best Lead Actress Award in the 7th Seiyu Awards. Pe ...

(CD) :The substantial protagonist of the manga, who has long red hair. She behaves like

Edokko is a Japanese term referring to a person born and raised in Edo (renamed Tokyo in 1868). The term is believed to have been coined in the late 18th century in Edo. Being an Edokko also implied that the person had certain personality traits differe ...

and speaks in a masculine tone of Edo speech, but she is actually from

Tokushima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 682,439 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,146 Square kilometre, km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture b ...

. Despite her good looks, the way she talks and her flat chest tend to lead the others into suspecting her as a boy

cross-dress Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express onesel ...

ing as a girl. She acts as a ''

tsukkomi The following glossary of words and terms (generally of Japanese language, Japanese origin) are related to ''owarai'' (Japanese comedy). Many of these terms may be used in areas of Japanese culture beyond comedy, including television and radio, ...

'' and often says "". Her name is a pun on ''

Bloody Mary #REDIRECT Bloody Mary {{redirect category shell, {{R ambig{{R from other capitalisation{{R unprintworthy ...

''. ; : (Anime),

Ikumi Hayama , also known as , is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actress and narrator. Biography After working at Beeface Creative and Osawa Office, she joined Vi-Vo. Hayama reported on her blog she was married on March 29, 2014. In December 2014, sh ...

(CD) :A ponytailed girl with brown hair who is a good lucky/happy-go-lucky girl and leads a carefree life. She often leads the stories to other subjects. Kumeta introduces her as the true protagonist of the manga. Her name is a pun on and ''

Tetrapod A tetrapod (; from Ancient Greek :wiktionary:τετρα-#Ancient Greek, τετρα- ''(tetra-)'' 'four' and :wiktionary:πούς#Ancient Greek, πούς ''(poús)'' 'foot') is any four-Limb (anatomy), limbed vertebrate animal of the clade Tetr ...

''. ; : (Anime),

Erena Ono , is a former member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. She was in "Team K" and her talent agency was Ohta Production. She was also part of AKB48 subgroups "Honegumi from AKB48", "AKBIdoling !! " and "ICE from AKB48". Career Ono was born i ...

(CD) :A girl with cream-coloured hair who is the youngest girl in the group. To match her childlike figure, she often pretends to be cute in front of others, but her internal dialogue shows her true thoughts to the audience; cynical and manipulative. Her name is a pun on ''

Hello Kitty , also known by her real name , is a fictional character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as a British anthropomorphized white cat with a red ...

'' and '' kigurumi''. ; : (Anime),

Kana Hanazawa is a Japanese actress and singer. A prolific voice performer in anime, she has amassed several film and television credits since her debut in 2003. She won the Seiyu Awards, Seiyu Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2015, and won the Newtype A ...

(CD) :A girl with glasses and green hair who is a smart, cool, level-headed, yet cold-hearted, violent girl. She is a childhood friend of Tetora's. Her name is a pun on ''cool beauty'' and . ; : (Anime/CD) :A girl with straight black hair who is very good at acting, but is a bad unlucky girl and is very emotionally hot-headed, crybaby, and cowardly. Her name is a play on several words, all of which have to do with things that are very negative in nature. The pronunciation of her name refers to and . Her name could also be read alternatively as ''kurakutei kurai'', which is very similar to . ''Anrakutei'' also sounds similar to the word ''unlucky''. Also, the

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

in her name minus the character could be read very literally, as ''falling into darkness'' and ''coming of anguish''. ; : :A girl in a luchador wrestling mask who just happens to be in the scene at certain points. ; : :A girl who has short blonde and pink hair. She wears a strawberry-patterned hakama and a large ribbon on her head. Her only appearance is in the last episode of the anime. True to her name, Uzannu is annoying with her fast-talking, condescending attitude, and mimicry of the other girls. Uzannu purposely tries to upset the character balance of the show with her obnoxiousness and make the show her own, even going so far as singing her own version of the opening theme song with personalized lyrics. Nonetheless, the girls manage to drive her away.

Media

Manga

''Joshiraku'' began as a

series written by

and illustrated by Yasu. It was serialized in

's ''

'' between the October 2009 and October 2013 issues – from September 9, 2009, to September 9, 2013. The chapters were also collected and released into six ''

'' volumes under the Wild KC imprint, from May 17, 2010, to November 8, 2013. A limited edition of the fifth volume was bundled with an anime episode on DVD disc.

Anime

A 13-episode

television series adaptation animated by

aired in Japan between July and September 2012. An

episode was released on DVD with the fifth manga volume on February 8, 2013. The opening theme is by

Ayane Sakura is a Japanese voice actress. She is affiliated with Aoni Production. Her roles included Natsumi Koshigaya in '' Non Non Biyori'', Shiromi Iori in '' Blue Archive'', Secre Swallowtail in '' Black Clover'', Ochaco Uraraka in '' My Hero Academia' ...

Kotori Koiwai is a Japanese voice actress, lyricist, and composer from Kyoto. Biography Koiwai was born in Kyoto on February 15, 1990. She initially took interest in voice acting after hearing the voice of Pikachu in the Pokémon anime. Afterwards, aft ...

Nozomi Yamamoto is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with VIMS. Personal life Yamamoto married in January 2020. In January 2023, Yamamoto announced her pregnancy. Voice acting roles Anime television series ;2011 *''Haganai'' as Yukimura Kusunoki *'' Un-Go' ...

, Yoshino Nanjō and Saori Gotō, and the ending theme is by

Momoiro Clover Z is a Japanese idol girl group, commonly abbreviated as MCZ or . The four members of MCZ are known for energetic performances, incorporating elements of ballet, gymnastics, and action movies. MCZ is notable for being the first female group to ho ...

and

Yoshida Brothers The are Japanese shamisenist musicians who have released several albums on the Domo Records label. The two brothers are performers of the traditional Japanese music style of Tsugaru-jamisen which originated in northern Japan. They debuted in 19 ...

. In 2019,

Maiden Japan ''Maiden Japan'', released as ''Heavy Metal Army'' in Japan, is a live EP by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The title is a pun of Deep Purple's live album '' Made in Japan''. Release There are at least two different versions of ...

licensed the series.

Episode list

References

External links

Anime official website
* {{Animeism 2009 manga 2012 anime television series debuts Animeism Comedy anime and manga Theatre in anime and manga J.C.Staff Kodansha manga Kōji Kumeta Maiden Japan Rakugo Shōnen manga Bloody Mary (folklore)