Handa-Kun is a story of Handa-Seishu , a prodigy calligrapher who has a basic problem fitting in with the people around and his treatment with them and so hi-jinx ensues.If you didn't realize by now , this plot is eerily similar to its predecessor "Barakamon" .The difference being that instead of being treated a odd goofball city slicker whose a lot of fun to be with, Here is pretty the perfect student whose good-licking popular level-headed , and just the perfect model student when it reality he's a loner. And pretty much all my problems land with that.
The characterization of Handa is jarringly different from the original in that Barakamon tries to show him as a stick in the mud, who needs to appreciate the carefree nature of life to experience individuality and a sense of freedom. But in this manga portrays him as a saint-figure who just lucks into opportunities, which doesn't help that it gets repeated again and again with each chapter.
Sad part is most of the rest of the manga is genuinely interesting, with a fun group of supporting cast, though not on par with Barakamon still have some moments of enjoy-ability here and there.
And it hurts to see the main issue of this manga to me, is coming of the original, where instead of having a realistic adult view point of a main character going through the tribulations of lifestyles in a countryside ,we have a generic guy who has greatness tossed onto him as gags.Its just not as funny as should be if the character isn't original
I want to give it a 6.5, but Ill give it a 7 because it feels like it can overcome this hurdle but still not amount to something truly special
