The story is fairly simple, yet also very engaging. Handa-sensei exiles himself to an island after disgracing himself at a calligraphy exhibition. His arrival to the island coincides with the start of summer and he finds himself constantly bothered by the neighbors children as he tries to reinvent his calligraphy style. Episode one covers his arrival to the island and his introduction to many of the nearby residents, including Naru. Many of the following episodes follow Handa's exploits on the island and many of his experiences start to shape his new calligraphy style. The audience is treated to a look into what country living is like in Japan, which is a nice reprieve from the constant Tokyo setting in many other anime. City boy Handa is often out of his element on the island and around his neighbors, but he ends up experiencing many things on the island that he didn't in Tokyo, including summer festivals, the ocean, and Bon festival. Through it all, Naru is a fixture is his life on the island and many of the other kids are impressed by the "Sensei" and follow him/force him to participate in their summer adventures.
The characters, however, are what make this anime amazing. Many of the supporting cast are hilarious and its fun to watch Handa try and navigate his way through their large personalities. Most of them are largely defined by certain personality traits and none of them really change throughout the course of the story. And they shouldn't, because they are there to help Handa change, to help him see there is more to life than calligraphy or grand prizes.
Handa and Naru's relationship is one of the centerpieces of this anime. Naru is interested in this new person and wants to play with him; Handa gets dragged along. At first, he is annoyed with her, he tells her to get out of his house, to stop bothering him. She is persistent, and she slowly worms her way in. She worries about him when he has to be hospitalized and he in turn worries about her at the beach. He wonders about her parents and what happened to them, on her birthday he's scared of disappointing her with a mediocre present. She becomes one of his best friends on the island, no matter how hard he tried at the beginning to make her go away. She helps him change as a person without realizing it, and she gives him inspiration in his calligraphy. In the end, even though he knows staying in Tokyo would be more practical, he chooses to go back to the island for Naru, and for everyone else.
Handa's character change is also important. If he had stayed the same disgruntled, entitled city boy, this wouldn't have been an enjoyable anime. The contrast between his first drive to the village in episode one and his second drive in episode twelve comes to mind. In both, Naru's grandfather drives him from the airport to the village. In episode one, he is unimpressed by the view of the ocean. "It's just the ocean," he says. Whats so special about it. When confronted with the same view in the last episode he looks out and says, "It's gorgeous." Another example is his reaction to his results from the exhibitions he enters throughout the series. When he gets second place early on in the series, he is convinced that he is getting no where with his style. When he gets fifth place at the end of the series, he accepts it because he was proud of the work that he submitted. Seeing Handa struggle with reinventing himself throughout the series is an enjoyable watch, and it is through his friendship Naru and with everyone else that he is inspired to change and to grow and to write beautiful calligraphy.
This is certainly the best slice of life anime I have ever seen. Most of the time I got lost in the episodes and when it was over i was honestly surprised it had been twenty minutes. The opening and ending are spectacular as well and the art is good, but I have seen better. All in all, this is a solid 10/10, I have no complaints. Truly perfect.
(Scores: Story 10/10, Art 8/10, Sound 9/10, Character 10/10, Enjoyment 10/10)
