Handa-kun (はんだくん) is a 12 episode gag comedy series based on the manga of the same name by Yoshino Satsuki. The series, which aired in Japan over the Summer of 2016, is a spin off of the slice of life comedy Barakamon.
The series takes place six years prior to the events of Barakamon and follows calligraphy prodigy Handa Seishu as he precariously navigates his life as a high school student. Handa has only one friend, long time pal Kawafuji, and fears/rejects the attention of anyone else. Something in his mind makes him think that everyone around him hates him, possibly because of his success as in the world of calligraphy. He establishes a strong defense against his peers and tries to hide his friendship with Kawafuji to prevent any residual hatred. He does everything he can to maintain a casual and neutral persona at school, working hard not to stand out. He has no idea just how idolized he is with his classmates and his peers in other schools.
A small band of classmates, known as the Handa Force, work tirelessly to protect and uphold the divinity of their idol, Handa. Each member of the Force strengthens their worship and the mythology of Handa through misinterpreting various run ins with him. Handa finds himself in all manner of situations where he has to confront other students. He always concludes that the people he deals with hate him and his logic turns around how he is supposed to act with them. No one understands how Handa feels about them in reality and interpret the strange interactions as part of his personal mystic and cool, further enhancing his demi-god status. From interpreting love confessions to duels, the Handa Force protecting him from real threats as personal attacks and any sort of attention as negative. Handa leads a miserable life in which his world is surrounded by attempts to destroy him.
I enjoyed Barakamon so was naturally interested in what another series dealing with the curmudgeon Handa would be like, but Handa-kun is a completely different and an all together differently enjoyable series from its predecessor. The series is a slap stick situational weirdness gag comedy that uses the misinterpretations of Handa and everyone around him as the comedic focus. It actually works pretty well for the majority of the series and the writing changed the situations up enough to keep it fresh. Some of the characters and interactions were a little weak in concept and delivery but over all the writing is enjoyable and the comedy is strong through out. In some ways I liked this series over the original but both are worth the time honestly.
The artwork isn't bad, somewhat sub standard compared to other shows, but it stuck to the styling indicative of a gag comedy piece, so it fit rather well. Some of the characters are ridiculous in design and are done so to enhance the comedy. In the end it was pretty good and enjoyable. It wasn't ground breaking, fitting well with in a comfortable limit, but well worth the time.
The series was simulcast on FUNimation. I anticipate a video release by them at some point, banking on fans of Barakamon to bite. The manga is being released in North America by Yen Press and I might just have to start picking it up.
The series takes place six years prior to the events of Barakamon and follows calligraphy prodigy Handa Seishu as he precariously navigates his life as a high school student. Handa has only one friend, long time pal Kawafuji, and fears/rejects the attention of anyone else. Something in his mind makes him think that everyone around him hates him, possibly because of his success as in the world of calligraphy. He establishes a strong defense against his peers and tries to hide his friendship with Kawafuji to prevent any residual hatred. He does everything he can to maintain a casual and neutral persona at school, working hard not to stand out. He has no idea just how idolized he is with his classmates and his peers in other schools.
A small band of classmates, known as the Handa Force, work tirelessly to protect and uphold the divinity of their idol, Handa. Each member of the Force strengthens their worship and the mythology of Handa through misinterpreting various run ins with him. Handa finds himself in all manner of situations where he has to confront other students. He always concludes that the people he deals with hate him and his logic turns around how he is supposed to act with them. No one understands how Handa feels about them in reality and interpret the strange interactions as part of his personal mystic and cool, further enhancing his demi-god status. From interpreting love confessions to duels, the Handa Force protecting him from real threats as personal attacks and any sort of attention as negative. Handa leads a miserable life in which his world is surrounded by attempts to destroy him.
I enjoyed Barakamon so was naturally interested in what another series dealing with the curmudgeon Handa would be like, but Handa-kun is a completely different and an all together differently enjoyable series from its predecessor. The series is a slap stick situational weirdness gag comedy that uses the misinterpretations of Handa and everyone around him as the comedic focus. It actually works pretty well for the majority of the series and the writing changed the situations up enough to keep it fresh. Some of the characters and interactions were a little weak in concept and delivery but over all the writing is enjoyable and the comedy is strong through out. In some ways I liked this series over the original but both are worth the time honestly.
The artwork isn't bad, somewhat sub standard compared to other shows, but it stuck to the styling indicative of a gag comedy piece, so it fit rather well. Some of the characters are ridiculous in design and are done so to enhance the comedy. In the end it was pretty good and enjoyable. It wasn't ground breaking, fitting well with in a comfortable limit, but well worth the time.
The series was simulcast on FUNimation. I anticipate a video release by them at some point, banking on fans of Barakamon to bite. The manga is being released in North America by Yen Press and I might just have to start picking it up.
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