Anime Hajime Review: Barakamon

Series Synopsis

Seishu Handa (voiced by Daisuke Ono) is a professional calligrapher who has risen to become an up and coming star. He has poured everything into his writing his whole life and given up a lot in the process. However, his latest piece is criticized for being too textbook. Following a very public freak out, which involved the punching of an elderly critic in the face, Seishu is sent away to clear his mind.

The young artist arrives in a small rural community on Goto Island, far and away from the hustle of Tokyo. He hopes to finally find a style that is truly his own and to do that he requires absolute peace and quiet. What he gets is anything but.

Upon his arrival, Seishu meets six-year-old Naru Kotoishi (voiced by Suzuko Hara). This energetic little girl instantly finds the newcomer fascinating and a lot of fun. Much to Seishu annoyance, Naru comes over everyday to play with her new friend. Along with this, the whole town quickly develops an interested in the newest resident.

Although the quiet country life he was expecting turned out to be much more lively, Seishu and his writing are clearly affect. Perhaps he can find the inspiration he has been desperately searching for.

Series Positives

Seishu

Barakamon is fantastic, absolutely fantastic. I don’t think I’ve fallen in love with a series as fast as did with this one. The show managed to do in a few moments what I have seen others fail to do in an entire running. It made something uniquely its own and made it work.

Naru

As of the posting of this review a second series, Hanada-kun, is currently on air. However, I’d be lying if I said I'm not disappointed that it isn't a sequel. To my knowledge, it is a prequel story and therefore the island and its residents will most likely not appear; I mean why would they? Still, I'm happy there's more to do in this universe.

However, before we get excited over what might be, we should take at a look at what we already have and it's pretty great.

The Animation

The animation, artwork, and backgrounds of Barakamon are outstanding.

 

The series wonderfully showcased it’s island setting, perfectly capturing the peaceful and laid back atmosphere of the Japanese countryside. The way the ocean moves, the colors of the sunset, and the vividness of a flawless night sky. It makes you want to pack your things and head out there immediately. But there was also a lot more going on.

Another show with equally breathtaking artwork is Non Non Biyori. Like Barakamon it also portrayed the slow feel of rural town life. Yet there was something Barakamon did which added to its own charm. Unlike Non Non Biyori, Barakamon felt like it was set in a town where people lived. Kind of a strange thing to say, but hear me out.

A major element of Barakamon centered around Seishu getting accustomed to country living and the nuances you wouldn’t find in the big city. Therefore, it helped to put Seishu in such an environment. Goro Island doesn't have the conveniences of Tokyo, but the people who call this place home make it work. Non Non Biyori focused mostly on its main cast having fun with each other and there wasn’t a whole lot of time given to acclamation.

Barakamon and Non Non Biyori had their own styles and they're fantastic in their own ways, so it wouldn’t be right of me to say one is inherently better than the other. If anything, this is what makes these shows stronger.

Among their similarities, there's a lot which make them different and special. I will praise, enjoy, and love both for separate reasons. It is impossible to mistake one for the other. With the sheer amount of anime I've watched, there are many shows that have blended together or I've forgotten about completely. This isn’t going to happen with Barakamon or Non Non Biyori.

The Characters

Everyone in this show was so much fun. Everyone got a laugh, no one was ever unneeded, and each person changed things up with their presence alone. Depending on who was on screen or who was talking to who, the humor changed, the interactions were altered, and the whole atmosphere felt alive.

Whenever Seishu interacted with the different children of the island, his demnour would change based on who he was speaking to. If it was Kentaro (voiced by Seiya Kimura) he was more aggressive and combative. If it was Hina (voiced by Rina Endo), who was unspeakably adorable, Seishu was kinder and more soft spoken. If it was Akihiko (voiced by Megumi Han) he was more relaxed and more often than not it played out as though Seishu was the child talking to the adult.

The children may have been a handful at times, but they rarely compared to the headache that came with Miwa (voiced by Nozomi Furuki), Tamako (voiced by Rumi Okubo), and Hiroshi (voiced by Koki Uchiyama).

The two middle schoolers, Miwa and Tamako, were extremely unpredictable, but whatever they were going to do was for sure going to cause more problems than anything. Miwa was energetic and vulgar, making her more destructive. However Tamako, while considerably more reserved, could be a lot scarier if set off.

Hiroshi, of all the characters, was the most down to Earth. There was a lot going on in his life with him being in his final year of high school and all. Therefore, he often had to be the level headed one of the group. Unfortunately, much like Seishu, it didn’t take much for him to get annoyed and he could be quite bitter and spiteful when pushed over the edge.

Each one of these characters could make a potentially great lead for their own shows, and now having written that it would be something I would like to see very much.

Seishu and Naru

When it comes right down to it though, the thing which made Barakamon so great was the relationship between Seishu and Naru.

Seishu is high strung and Naru is full of positivity. Seishu tries to be structured where Naru has no grasp of what that means. This naturaly leads to some truly funny moments that make this show one of the funniest I have seen.

However, it is the master-apprentice bond these two have. Naru looks up to Seishu and wants to spend as much time with him as possible. For her birthday, the present that got her the most excited was a simple handwritten coupon from Seishu allowing Naru to get one day to do whatever she wanted with him.

There were also plenty of times when it was unclear who was teaching who. Seishu may have begrudgingly accepted the idea that Naru, and the rest of the kids for that matter, made his home their base of operations. Yet before he knew it, he was highly invested into what his little friend was doing. Going back to Naru’s birthday, Seishu put in a lot of time, thought, and painful effort into getting the perfect gift for Naru.

It is this relationship which has me the most concerned about Hanada-kun. This was the main thing which gave Barakamon its entire feel and it simple can’t, and frankly shouldn’t, be in the second series. To create something as meaningful as this again is a large undertaking and I’m curious to see how Hanada-kun responds.

Series Negatives

Do I really have something to say here? No, but let’s see what I can come up with anyway.

Did the humor go overboard on occasion? Maybe once, for like ten seconds. It doesn’t really matter since the rest of the show was extremely funny.

Were all the characters used to their fullest? Sure there are one or two names I don’t remember and were mostly background filler.

Were some of the episodes a little predictable? Yeah I could more or less guess where an episode was going to go and how it was going to get there. But in this situation, so what?.

Yes, the lessons and morals of Barakamon weren't anything new or complex. Many end results were things I've seen done over and over again. However, the point remains, I had a blast with this series. I don’t have a problem arriving at the same destination, as long as getting there was entertaining.

Any show that can keep me up until the early hours of the mourning is doing something right because it means I'm having a lot of fun with it.

Final Thoughts

It might be a little unfair, but Hanada-kun has a lot to live up to.

Barakamon is hilarious and fantastic. The animation is energetic, the visuals are stunning, the characters are memorable, and this is an easy recommendation. From a start which grabbed me immediately to an ending I didn’t want to let go of, there was never moment were I wasn’t having a blast.

Hands down, this is one of the funniest anime I have seen and you can be damn sure I will be using this show as a benchmark in the future.

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