Its funny when you look at anichart's line up and see that show that you know will be great. When I first came across Barakamon I automatically knew that I would love this show and I wasn’t disappointed.
Barakamon is an anime released in the summer of 2014. The anime was directed by Masaki Tachibana who did work on two shows that I’ve yet to watch ‘Ghost in the shell’ and ‘Noir’ and the show was written by Pierre Sugiura who is pretty much unknown. Both of who had the task or creating this show which may have made the job easier by using source material from the manga.
Story:
The story is about building Seishū’s character and making him see life in a more relaxed manor. There is no overlaying story as it’s more focussed on character development and the relationships between main and side characters. The majority of the time it feels like a vacation and soon it feels like home. Seishū’s relationship with Naru is the main point of the series as Naru brings out the fun and maternal instincts in him which would have been hard to believe from episode one. To sum up the story is simply a sweet tale about development as an individual and becoming better then Seishū thought he could ever be.
Characters:
Seishu is our main protagonist and pro calligrapher. He is a very uptight man who can’t except criticism of his work and is very childish when it comes to loosing in calligraphy contests. From the get go he appeared to be a very boring individual. After he moves to Gotō Island he realizes how poor the living conditions are in comparison to technologically advanced Tokyo. He finds it hard to adjust at first and being persistently bothered by our secondary main six year old Naru doesn’t help. By the end of episode one he eventually understands the criticism given to him of his work and that’s when he begins to develop himself as a calligraphist and as an adult. The time he spends on the island helps him to realize that there is more to life than just his work and although he values calligraphy dearly he learns that time away from work and time with people who make you happy can have a positive impact on his life.
Naru is our second main character. She is a bubbly an energetic six year-old that enjoys spending time with others and loves doing strange activities like catching bugs. Naru brings out the maternal side in Seishu which is very sweet. The two had a rocky relationship at first but they eventually developed a strong friendship. Naru is also more intelligent and more grown up than she appears at times but still retains her childish attributes. As for the rest of the cast they are very strong and each gets a relative amount of screen time.
Art:
The artwork is very good the characters have there own individual designs. (Though Naru does have the big Moe eyes) The animation is very solid done by studio Kinema Citrus who are relatively unknown and haven’t done much. Black bullet is one other of there works that I’ve watched. The scenery in the anime is beautiful, such as the sunsets that Seishu gazes at.
Sound:
The music score was done by Kenji Kawai who is notable for his work in Death note, Ghost in the shell and Higurashi. It has a very soothing and childish sound which matches the tone of the series. The opening SUPER BEAVER performed by Rashisa was excellent and the ending theme Innocence by Noisycell was spectacular and was the song of the summer for me and may be song of the year potentially.
Negatives:
There’s few and far between problems with this show. I think the only problem this show is that despite its nice and calming nature, not many people will get into this series. This could mainly because most of the people I hang around who like anime want action, demons and or harems and would not take interest in beautiful shows like Barakamon. Shows like Usagi drop are a good example of nice and calming shows that won’t be as popular as others mainly because it doesn’t have any hard hitting action or storyline and this saddens me. Other than that the comedy can be hit or miss but it doesn’t take away from the overall score of the show.
Final verdict:
Barakamon is a very sweet and beautifully done anime that I definitely hold dear in my heart. It may not be an astounding anime but its well worth the watch. Anyone expecting action packed demon/harems should stay clear and those looking for more beautiful and peaceful things to watch then give this a try. Overall 7.8 out of 10
Similar anime to watch are the aforementioned Usagi drop.
Thanks for reading guys, Have a nice day!
