This is a cute manga with a unique style. Translating rakugo must have been quite the chore, and I'm impressed by the effort put into localizing this volume. While the concepts might not resonate with my school library patrons, I think this is a good title for adult patrons looking to learn more about Japanese folk lore.

This is an interesting spin on tanuki mangas. The main character takes some time adjusting to since I'm not usually a fan of the air-headed oblivious mc's, but the supporting characters really help the plot along. I hope the next following books matures the main character to some level.

This charming and unique manga provides a great view into the world of the traditional Japanese art of Rakugo. This series is great for fans of acting, theater, and Japanese culture!

When Mameda (a tanuki) travels to the big city, they find that people don't fall for the typical tanuki tricks any more. Discouraged but determined to not return to their village, Mameda latches onto a new goal: become a rakugo! This is a fun, light-hearted manga that incorporates Japanese traditions and culture.

Mameda is a tanuki that wants to trick humans but every attempt is useless because she's always caught.
One day Mameda meet Bunko, a rakugo master that can trick humans just by telling stories. She wants to become like her and after attempt became her apprentice.


First advice: you need to know what a Rakugo is before to start reading this manga.
I didn't know what a Rakugo was so at first I was a little bit confused, I did some research and then it was all more clear.
I learned something new about japanese culture and I like learning always something new.
I liked the story and Mameda is so cute.
I give three stars because of the confusion that I felt on the first part of the manga.

I'm curious about the next volumes because I think that we'll know something more about the past of Mameda.

A tenuko leaves home to play some tricks on humans. In the process she becomes fascinated by rakugo, a way of story telling, and tries to get the most famous rakugo to become her master and her the apprentice. There's a lot of educational information about the art and structure of rakugo which wasn't necessarily interesting. The end was really fun because it showed why the tenuko picked the best rakugo to be her teacher.

This is a very solid first volume, with great art and a solid story too. It wasn't quite my thing, but I know plenty of people will adore this at times whimsical and at times very informative take on Japanese storytelling (and also tanuki stories).

First and foremost I want to say I love the art here. The character designs and scenery are all really well done. I found this to be what most drew me in as I was reading.

The characters are also interesting, and I liked the relationship as it was developing between Mameda, the tanuki, and Bunko, the Rakugo storyteller. The master and student dynamic wasn't too stiff, and leads to plenty of humorous situations.

Unfortunately I know very little about Rakugo and I was definitely super lost through a lot of the first third to half of the volume. Towards the end of the book it definitely gets a bit easier to understand, but I still found myself wishing I knew more about it.

It took me longer than most manga volumes for me to finish reading, which made me realize I just couldn't fully get in to the material. I think this book will appeal to a niche reader in the west, and I personally don't see myself really continuing on with future volumes.

This manga was created for the sole purpose of being sweet, probably. The story is aimed more at younger audiences, it is non-engaging and does not shine with anything innovative. But it is sweet, as I already mentioned.
It relies on the story of an unfortunate tanuki who was born at the wrong time - he wants to do the things that tanuki have as their right and obligation (in other words - to do people's tricks), but ... People no longer get caught of such stupid things.
Maybe a young rakugo performer can still find a new purpose in life for this tanuki. But tanuki are not known for their patience and seriousness in general ...

The original opinion is in Bulgarian, I apologize for the translation errors.

Mameda and Bunko are trying to adapt to changing times, and what follows is a what feels like a confusing manga trying to first make you laugh, then hopes to be taken seriously. The cute art feels at odds sometimes with what they are discussing, but there is potential; I just didn't find myself looking forward to volume 2.

I was not familiar with Rakugo before this manga and in case you are like me, this is what google tells us: “Rakugo is a form of Japanese verbal entertainment of yose. The lone storyteller sits on a raised platform, a kōza. Using only a paper fan and a small cloth as props, and without standing up from the seiza sitting position, the rakugo artist depicts a long and complicated comical story.”

Now I read another review that talks about the struggle of translating this art to a manga and I can see what they mean. Without little experience or understanding of a rakugo performance I felt a somewhat outside of the story.

I am thrilled to have learned something new and the art and characters are nice, but I feel like I could have enjoyed this even more if I had a better understanding of Rakugo. I do want to read the second volume to see how this progresses.

Rating: 3 🌟
First and foremost, I'd like to express my gratitude to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for providing me with an e-ARC of this manga.
I was somewhat confused by the manga plot in the first half because I wasn't familiar with the phrases used, but the second half was really good and managed to make up for my thoughts in the first half. This manga has taught me a lot of Japanese vocabulary, and I'm glad I've learned something new.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kodansha for the arc.

I found this to be a really pleasant read. Enjoyed it more than I thought it would. And apparently it's getting an anime adapation which is nice! Overall this was a nice light read. There's 5 other volumes out to my knowledge right now and I'd be interested in continuing. I like our main character and her master Bunko. Honestly wouldn't mind if it went in a kinda Shoujo Ai route a little. The manga focuses on Mameda wanting to learn storytelling Rakugo. Which I never knew about and reading the manga made me wanna learn more about it.

A good start to the story of a Tanuki wanting to trick humans. As the Tanuki is finding out that tricking humans isn't an easy feat she discovers the world of rakugo storytelling.

Thank you netgalley for the chance to review!
My master has no tail vol 1 is a story anout a tanuki who wants to be a rakugoka or story teller. I enjoyed this manga. I thought it was very cute. The art work in my opinion was great! Would recommend to a friend who enjoys manga.

ARC Copy...I found to have misadventure stories with a Tanuki and the crazed humans he befriends. It felt like the Tanuki is the sane "person" compared to the humans interesting and the art style seems to bit more wacky and surreal in comparison to the "standard" manga style.

I really love the art style, and I feel like I learned a lot more about Japanese culture. I also loved the tanukis and found them to be cute but mischievous.

A cute manga that incorporates the Japanese art of rakugo storytelling and yokai. A tanuki wants nothing more than life to trick humans, but finds it difficult in a more modern world than she's used to. After witnessing the rakugo master named Bunko perform, though, she's determined to learn all that she can from her. It's a pleasant fantasy story full of explanations on how rakugo storytelling is done.

Absolutely adorable with the faintest hint of XXXholic/The Helpful Fox Senko-san.
That being said I think this is one of those manga that will be hard to find a place for. It's not action packed or silly enough for kids and it's a little too whimsical for most adults (not me, that's how I know it's true lol).
Our library won't be picking this one up most likely, but I may collect them after I read another volume or 2.

Thanks to Net Galley for providing an ecopy to review.

I picked this up because the cover looked cute, and the style inside matches, so if you like the cover style, you'll like the interior artwork. A young Tanuki goes to a modern Japanese city, intent on tricking the people there, and finds a whole different world of trickery she wishes to learn. With the help of a reluctant master, can the tanuki become a master storyteller?

I thought the story was okay. I hadn't heard of the particular Japanese form of storytelling which the book is centered around, so at times it was a little hard to follow. There were little explanations after most chapters which did provide some clarifications. I'm still confused on what actually the master storyteller is, but that wasn't too distracting.

Overall, I don't have strong feelings about this manga. I like the artwork, but I wasn't very drawn to the story. The characters were average. There's nothing offensive about it (as far as I know -- I don't have enough Japanese knowledge to know if the art form the story is centered around is portrayed horribly or not) and I don't regret reading it. I just probably won't care enough to pick up another volume.