Barakamon

Looking at its MAL score and the review that had been posted so far, I dove in with full awareness that my review would come off as 'unpopular'. But here it goes: I found Barakamon to be subpar.

Handa Seishu was sort-of banished by his father to a remote island of Goto after an incident in which the misunderstood Handa knocked the teeth out of some poor curator for criticizing his work as a prodigious calligrapher. On the island, he would discover what would be his second family, consisting of precocious children, nosy elders, and typical teenagers. He would learn about the meaning of life and ... hopefully, evolve into a better artist along the way. All right, here goes another syringe injection: the premise of Barakamon was good, the anime was not.

The biggest failure of Barakamon is the underdevelopment of Handa Seishu himself. Without betraying its manga origins, there should have been more subtle insights on the inner workings of an artist-- especially the young ones such as Handa Seishu. In reality, like it or not, true and talented artists are unusual and yes, sometimes they are off-putting but they are still far from being the village freak. The interactions between the hero and the so-called locals always suggest there be something broken about the hero and that a character fixation --and not character growth-- is necessary. His fragility is seen as an illness, his insecurity is seen as nonsensical, and when series finale comes about, the main hero seems to be getting worse both as an artist and as an adult.

Ultimately, coming-of-age stories always split up hairs especially among their hardcore enthusiasts. "Coming-of-age" literally means that the characters manage to get to know the truth in themselves and determine where to go forth from now on. I couldn't help but wonder: has Handa Seishu truly come of age by the end of the series? Or was it all just the after-effects of island breeze?

#felixlovesanime

The concept of slice of life always has their own unique feature it in.The genre can have a lot of elements.It could be a comedy series that make you laugh.It can be a romance series that make you smile.It can even took a more serious tone with dramas that make you entangled with the story,or it could be a more lay back type of show where you just sit down and watch the show,not because it's an interesting type of story to watch.It's because it's relaxing and it cools down your mind.The genre can have an interesting stories and it can have a more lay ... back type of story.

Barakamon is an example of a more simple lay back type of slice of life.Many people praises the show and till this day,people still think this one of the best slice of life ever made.However,I beg to differ.

The show starts of with a unique premise.A failed caligrapher gets sent to an island,where he will learn the ways of life and somehow build him into a better person than before.It's basically an underdog story.As much as the underdog type of story has been used for so many times.It's always satisfying to see our hero starts it journey and developed a long the way becoming the champion that they always wanted to be.It's not the end that we wanted to see,it's always the journey.The beginning of the show makes you thing that you will be witnessing an incredible underdog story that will be a rollercoaster of emotional ride.The opening did make it seems that way.However,it fails to keep that premise halfway through the show.

The show focuses more on the comedy rather than the main plot.Well,it is a comedy show.I don't like how the comedy keeps getting in the way of the main plot.The humour isn't even funny and keep using the same recycled joke idea.I don't understand why the show keep having the need to make a funny moment every second.I get that this is suppose to be a comedy.But,i just don't like how they keep squeezing joke in and out just to furfill the comedy quota.The joke felt relly force as you can tell,that they make jokes not to make people laugh,but to fill the comedy quota because this is a comedy show.

Spoilers:
They also display a joke at the wrong time as well.When the director came to Handa's office to see his work.All of the sudden,Handa fucking cumshot a tea(i forgot what he threw) to his work and the director because he is insecure which is a dumb reason.Ruining his hardwork at the island.They couldn't come up anything better and has to use a shitty joke to progress the story.It actually pisses me of and made me hate the MC for a second because he decided to do a stupid thing again.It kind of ruined the moment as well.It's probably the worst scene in the series.It's not funny,it's annoying,stupid and felt forced.

However,the show also focuses on the slice of life.Because this is a slice of life series,it has some good life lessons that i couldn't help but to like.The life advices also inspire Handa to do his work and shaped him into a better person.It's pretty sweet and wholesome,the show can teach a lot of lessons that make you smile.The show can be poetic sometimes that will give you food for thought.

The characters are pretty bland and forgettable.A lot of them has their own unique charm,but there's only that.There's not much that they can give you about others.I don't really think it's a problem,since not every character needs a supervillain background story.But, a lot of characters are pretty bland and uninteresting.Like there's this one guy that's introduced as guy who keeps failing at school.Then,one day he went to Handa's house and saw his hardworking.Then,he realized his mistake and starts to workhard for school.I found that to be forgettable.

The only decent character that i like is probably Handa himself.He's a relatable protagonist and has a good character development.Although,sometimes he does thing that pisses me off honestly.But,he is not a horrible character.Naru is also pretty decent,sometimes annoying but i think that's the purpose.

The animation is beatiful and so is the artstyle.The soundtrack is pretty cute as well.

The show ended at the most horrible way possible.I didn't believe that the show just ended like that.It doesn't feel like a proper ending to an ongoing story with likely no season 2.I feel like when the story just getting somewhere,it ended and made you go like "that's it?" and now we go back to square one.

Final thoughts:

I don't find this show to be a the best slice of life ever.It's not a disappointment,but it could be so much better.The premise is actually interesting,they just couldn't find the right way keep up with it.I don't know about the manga since i only view this from the anime.I do stiill enjoy this anime,but i was pretty disappointed to find that the story didn't really go anywhere and just ended at the most bullshit way possible.I do understand why a lot people do like this show,but it just wasn't for me.Overall despite the criticism that i have for this show,still go give it a watch.Maybe you will have a different thought than me.

I watched Barakamon. Here are my thoughts:

The comedy is both unfunny and frequent -- the worst possible combination. There is a lot of comedy in this anime and my distaste for its flavour is probably a significant reason for my lack of enthusiasm for the show.

Fairly generic SoL characters. Character interaction, particularly for the MC with the rest of the cast, is one thing that the anime does an okay job of. Additionally, the antics of the kids in the show are kind of cute I guess. My favourite characters are Tamako, Miwa, and Naru. Otherwise, the rest of the cast is totally forgettable.

In terms ... of direction, the tone of the show is all over the place. I feel like I get whiplash sometimes by the way the mood of the show jumps around. Additionally, as I already said, the comedy is excessive and interferes with a lot of potentially emotional or sentimental moments.

Bland art style and unremarkable animation. The OST is similarly unremarkable although the OP and ED songs are okay.

The VA for the young girl character (Naru) does a good job, aside from this the voice acting is unremarkable. Actually, the MC has a deep and sexy voice but that's probably irrelevant to the anime's artistic value. I find the MC in this strangely attractive.

This anime doesn't really excel at anything and is basically just another mediocre comedy-heavy SoL show. It's watchable but I'm mystified by the praise it so commonly receives.


My overall rating for Barakamon: 5/10
For me, this was basically just a 'filler' show to scratch the SoL itch. I think I would have liked it more if it had less comedy and better characters.

I asked other people what they liked about this anime, and the most common aspects were the characters, the atmosphere, and the personal development of the MC as well as his interaction with the rest of the cast. Unfortunately, none of these things really ever clicked with me. I would say that the thing this anime does best is character interaction, but even in this regard it is still mediocre. If the manga provides richer characterization then I'd imagine it's better than the anime.

I know this show is a favorite for many, but honestly it wasn't for me. When I first started it I enjoyed it. It was very unlike shows I'd watched in the past with a young adult protagonist. And I think the story is really interesting, but about halfway through watching it felt like every episode was the exact same thing over and over again. Like it was just retelling the same story with slight variations every time.
Despite these negativities one thing I really liked about this show was all the different characters. I'm a big sucker for "grown up guy takes in some ... kids reluctantly who he cares for more than life itself" tropes and there is A LOT of this. I just wished the stories had more variety :/