Obviously it doesn’t serve as a shock of Akane looking at Issho as her nemesis. You really have to credit how great of an antagonist they built Issho to be. Issho cares mostly for the art, and Issho would want nothing more for Akane to prove herself through the art.
Which then correlates to Akane’s assignment to Issho. You can understand from his point of view. He could have said, Perform Rakugo in its purest form and let the classics speak for themselves. But that would be too easy, and who knows how Akane would have approached it and achieved as good of a result? As Rakugo understands, the full picture is a skill in itself.
Essentially I get the sense that in his mind Issho knows Akane is extraordinarily talented and is testing that to see if she can rise to the challenge. Regarding him serving as an antagonist, that is great. But pretty shitty as a mentor. Though Issho would never be a mentor, nor does she need one at this stage of her career. Though, as Shoumei pointed out, Akane’s health, despite winning, is an issue. Issho’s style is definitely mentally taxing, and I just worry who will be there to pull Akane from pushing herself too far.
Kaisei mentioned a story of not being cheap. This is what I am curious about. I guess it is about the differences between being a Zenza & a Futatsume aiming to be Shin’uchi. Zenza, there were numerous chores that were thrust on you. While starting with Futatsume it is about understanding the appearances of what it means to be on the top of the Rakugo world.