Barakamon Review

Greetings Ladies and Gents it is I The Shaman of...Wait something's not right here...

There We go...

As I was saying, it is I, The Shaman of Animation with a new review. 2014 has come to a close people (Well it already had in some places, but it's only official now that it has on my end!), and with it, a lot of the anime of this year are going with it. 2014 brought us some interesting titles. Some with dark and haunting tones and themes, some were classics being reborn, and others that were...laughably stupid. And with the end of any year, people want to make lists of some of their favorite series of the year. Well...I'm not gonna do that, mainly because their wasn't many series this last year that I started and actually finished; because I was either too lazy, or the series just didn't keep me interested...

But there was one series that I wanted to review no matter what. One that was my favorite of the summer season, and one that I'd go as far as to say was my favorite of the year. The series I'm taking about today, as you can see in the picture above:

NO! NOT THAT ONE!!

The series I'm talking about today is Barakamon. Let's not waste anymore time and dive in!

Synopsis: Barakamon is about Handa Seishu, a calligrapher who's a little down on his luck to say the least. After punching the ever living hell out of an old guy for insulting his calligraphy, Handa's dad moves him from the big city of Tokyo to a small island and...that's it. It's just a simple show about a city boy (Who WASN'T born and raised in South Detroit) adapting to the country life.

The Good: Something that I really love about this series is the underlying theme of finding your own identity. The continuing arc of the main character Handa was that he was a calligrapher whose work was unoriginal and too rooted towards what he was taught to do. The purpose of him being sent to the island was to essentially break away from the basics of calligraphy and find his own style. Throughout the series, we can see how being on the island and its natives not only change him as a writer, but also as a person. It was fun watching that development and I would throw my vote for Handa Seishu as the best main character of 2014.

Being a Slice of life Comedy, the comedy must be good enough to keep everyone entertained for the whole twelve episodes. Barakamon's humor mainly stems from the concept of Handa, who's been accustomed to the life of the city, going through the wacky shenanigans of the country and country folk. From trying to catch beetles to playing with the kids, the situations that not only Handa, but the rest of the cast are placed in, makes for good laughs all around.

The secondary characters in this series are also just fun to see interact with Handa and their personalities also create some memorable and entertaining moments. But of course, the best character of the show was:

SHE'S SO ADORABLE!!!!

This little bundle of joy is Naru; and no matter what anyone says, this girl is the real star of the show. Every scene she's in, she just steals it with the naivete that only a child could have. What helps aid in her charm is the fact that she's actually voiced by a child, which surprisingly doesn't happen a lot in animated shows, if ever. The kid characters in animated series are usually voiced by grown women (I can only think of two times where kids voiced kids). I tip my hat to the VA of Naru's performance. It makes me really wonder why a lot of animated series don't use kids to voice ki--

....Oh (You children stop staring into my soul!!!!!)

The Bad: To be honest, the only thing "bad" I could find about Barakamon was the art and animation, and even then, it wasn't bad, it perfectly served what the series was about, it was just very basic and no one should expect something spectacular like say...Space Dandy.  

Conclusion: A story like Barakamon's is not one you see too often in anime. It didn't have the big fight scenes, "grand" story, or enormous hype like other series this past year did. Instead what it had was a small, down to Earth, heartwarming story with fun characters that was nothing short of a treat to watch and I'd wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone. In five years time, a series like Akame Ga Kill will be a dime a dozen, while Barakamon, in my opinion at least, will be a gem. Till next time Everyone, I'm the Shaman of Animation saying HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

To Leave you all, here's some manly Naru face!! Take Care...