So with that said, I will judge this show based on its merit as a comedy.
This show sucks.
(Good) Comedic shows usually come in two forms. One is the dynamic/sophisticated comedy. It's a comedy at heart, but it's given an interesting dynamic (ex. interesting characters) that help flesh out a theme or aspect of the show (GTO, One-Punch Man). The other is just a pure comedy that simply exists to tell jokes, often referred to as gag anime/manga (Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, Tanaka-kun is Listless).
Handa-kun falls under the latter category. The cast of characters simply aren't very interesting, nor does the story attempt to tackle any wider picture. It is very obviously a simple comedy, and it doesn't attempt to have any level of depth. However, Handa-kun generally fails to even accomplish a basic comedy. It tells the same joke by using the same premise, the same process, with the same punchline. It's redundant and formulaic.
Now I'll be the first to admit that having a formulaic comedy isn't always the end-all-be-all of a show. Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun basically uses the same premise and punchline for 90% of its strips. However, the joke is either creative or told well enough where the joke still retains its humor. Sakamoto desu-ga is very formulaic and an average show at best, but it still is known for many humorous, endearing scenes due to how creative it can be. Handa-kun is not among the list of exceptions, however.
There are two huge problems with Handa-kun that emphasize it's formulaic flaw. The first is that the overarching joke and premise simply isn't funny. The set-up of the joke is always based off the artificial drama that is Handa's misunderstanding of everyone's perception of him. The process generally involves an uninspired "solution" that draws from various generic anime tropes. The punchline is that Handa continues his misunderstandings through some freak accident. I won't go into huge detail dissecting every aspect of the joke, just that it simply isn't funny (if you're curious, watch episodes 2 and later. Episode 1 is the only one told differently but it's terrible for a completely different reason). The second problem is that the formula behind Handa-kun is given no room for flexibility. It's so specific to the point where Handa-kun can't help but tell the same joke in the same way over and over again. That's basically what Handa-kun is: a bad joke told 12 times. (To give credit where credit is due, there are one or two episodes that have decent gags in it, but it isn't worth the 12 episodes)
Handa-kun isn't a bad show because it's not as good as Barakamon, Handa-kun is a bad show because it's a basic, uninspired, formulaic comedy. This anime isn't worth your time, and it definitely isn't worth it if you're looking for Barakamon Season 0.
