Story (8.00/10): Barakamon is a very simple story. Our main protagonist Seishuruu Handa (I'll be calling him sensei for this review) is a calligrapher, an artist that does calligraphy for a living as his art style to show the world his passion. On one specific calligraphy exhibition, Handa (in simple terms) gets upset and smacked the calligraphy director over the head with his own cane. (It's as funny as it sounds.) As a result of his outburst, Handa is sent to a remote island off of Japan so that he may reflect on his own behaviors and improve on his calligraphy which was deemed "plain".
From the setting, it's clear that the story is based on the classic island setting where an outsider that has no idea about rural life, and is suddenly thrown into a entire smorgasbord of antics and situations that he might not have encountered himself beforehand. Barakamon follows this time-tested method, but certainly adds a nice twist to it. From episode to episode, the structure of the anime is relatively the same, with Sensei being dragged along to participate (unwillingly I might add) in various games and events that he learns about after being a resident of the island, with the end result being a few minutes of brief character thinking that makes the character development for Sensei. What this series benefits from this is the fact that it is a very easy to follow story, and a relaxing one as well. There are no points in the series that are actually any real downer moments and as an audience, we get to learn about the island and its customs right alongside with Sensei himself, making the show a very good watching experience.
In addition, Barakamon hosts its own unique brand of comedy. While island humor itself isn't new due to many fish out of water stories about new people coping on a to them, foreign island have been many times before, Barakamon does provide a nice group of comedic moments that make it unique only because of Sensei's...unique personality. There are some memorable moments, but sadly, many aren't really that memorable. They're funny, don't get me wrong, but I personally don't find them as anime moments that I would remember when doing something and start laughing. (Nothing beats Yurippe's launching desks from Angel Beats.)
Overall, Barakamon had very high marks all around. The comedy while not as memorable as other shows, did have its own unique and individual flair to it that made it appealing, separating it from the herd of other slice of life's. The pacing was decent enough so that you could get both a blend of story progression and plot (even though the whole series is basically about a 20-something year old playing around with little kids on an island) and overall, the show did have a nice and very heartwarming feeling to it.
Overview:
+ Decent pacing
+ Good mix between comedy and story progression
+ Unique comedy
Characters (8.41/10): Like most slice of life's, Barakamon is a very heavily character-based show. The cast of Barakamon is not only interesting, but they're also very memorable personalities as well.
Up first is Seishuu Handa, or "Sensei" as he's called by basically everyone. As a calligrapher, Sensei is similar to any other artist, aspiring to become the best in his field and showcase what his own style and flair is so that he can become a top calligrapher like the years before that were his prime. The only problem is well...he's a bit immature. Sensei is a character that doesn't think things through and is quite unaccustomed to his new island life, hence the reason why basically all of the comedic moments revolve around him and his attempts to try and show off his prowess as an adult, which does, if not always, ends in hilarious, hilarious catastrophes. But what really makes him unique is how he grows. You can very clearly see the artist struggle in him fade away as he as the story goes along, finds himself. And it's this journey of self change that really makes the show great. Not only that, but the relationship that he and Naru share.
Then there is Naru, the lovable seven year old girl that is known as the ''Town scamp''. Naru is a very interesting character as she's shown to be not only to be one of the best tomboys ever known to anime history, but also as a personal friend and guide to Sensei himself. Naru provides that other half that counteracts Sensei's personality because of how outgoing and loud Naru is, compared to the always reserved and quiet personality of Sensei. But what really makes disappointed about the series is how we don't truly get to know who Naru is. We see her personality, we as the audience know what she's like, but compared to Sensei, of whom we know everything about from his from childhood to now, we don't really get to know who Naru is since there is no backstory for her. We get a theory from Sensei in one episode that perhaps we would get some semblance of what kind of life she has outside of being around Sensei, but we don't get much more than that, which is a shame considering that having two main characters get an absurd amount of character depth would've been very beneficial to the series if done right.
The rest of the cast of Barakamon adds plenty to the table that makes the show interesting with a good number of them being usually one note than anything else. But the supporting cast is good nonetheless as you can see a good deal of them grow up beside Sensei himself as they accept him more and more a a resident of the island. Overall, the characters of Barakamon are definitely the show's high point as you get to see character development in more than just one character, making the viewing experience as a whole more enjoyable since there are quite a few memorable characters to be had in this series, making them more like real life people rather than being just animated troupes.
Overview:
+ Great main characters
+ Memorable supporting cast
+ Fantastic character development
Art and Sound (6.99/10 and 7.01/10): Admittedly, the art in this series is not the best. (Kinda like Sensei's calligraphy.) The series is rather meh in the grand scheme of things but definitely serves its purpose. The series has no real outstanding qualities to its art style that make it more than just a standard anime look. It still looks good, don't get me wrong, but really, it's not particularly the best.
In addition, the show hosts the all-time favorite exaggerated expressions for characters, and it uses this a lot. (Especially with Sensei.) It's the show's own way of describing its comedy moments and it uses them very often as Sensei tries and fails to do things on the island. It's a good style and fits well with the kind of story this is, but like its standard art style, the show doesn't really have anything fantastic in terms of visuals.
As for song tracks, the show hosts an OP and ED which admittedly, sound rather similar. They both have the loud electric guitar riffs accompanied by drums and a male singer that is singing loudly into his mic. They don't really sound that different aside from maybe rhythm and a couple chords. That being said, the songs do reflect on the show's very free feeling of expression as the tracks honestly do match up to the feeling in Barakamon. They are good, listenable tracks, don't get me wrong, they just sound similar and don't really feel very memorable.
Overview:
+ Music that works in conjunction with the show
+/- Meh art (serves its purpose from a visual standpoint)
- Both the OP and ED sound quite similar
Personal Enjoyment (8.88/10): Now, Barakamon. When I first saw this in the Summer 2014 list, I thought of this show to be an expected gem since no show that I know of has even touched on the idea of calligraphy and it seemed like there would be a show similar to Usagi drop with the relationship between the man and the little girl on the front cover. I was interested in watching it, but then I sorted of put it on the back burner because SOMEHOW, Glasslip and Blade dance became more important shows to watch. (I sincerely apologize, Barakamon. I shouldn't have put those two messes before you.)
Did I like the show?
YES. Very much so. Barakamon is a very nicely made, and very relaxing story that weaved in comedy, character development, and plot all in a nice and simply made show. It's a very easy to follow storyline that, if the show suits your fancy, will be a good afternoon watch. Good, quality character development is rather hard to find these days, so I'm happy to see something in recent years be something that is so enjoyable and well-crafted.
What didn't I like about this show?
The aesthetics are a bit of a problem for me, but really, they don't hinder the show all that much. Even if the art isn't fantastic, it's good enough so that it doesn't make any cringing moments that would make you want to turn off your computer scree. But what really grinds my gears is how little they actually used Naru. Throughout the whole show, Naru was really but an influence for Sensei. She didn't really have a story that was hers and hers alone, which really made me a bit sad because I wanted to know more about this seven year old that made such a big impact on one of the most pathetic anime characters I've seen in a long time.
Would I recommend this show?
Well, if you haven't already, what are you doing, you fools? Go! GO! No, but in all seriousness, this is one that I would very highly recommended to watch. Not only does it make good use of its timeframe by making comedy, plot, and character development blend together in a very good and successful way, but it gives a good feeling to the audience that definitely gives a heartwarming feeling inside. It's a show that teaches what it means to be yourself, to be the kind of person that only you can become. Everyone has their own way of doing things and that's truly what makes us who we are.
Overall Score: 8.36/10
