Barakamon

Barakamon
Cover of the first Japanese volume of Barakamon featuring main character Seishū Handa (top) and Naru Kotoishi (bottom)
ばらかもん
Genre	Comedy, Slice of Life
Manga
Written by	Satsuki Yoshino
Published by	Square Enix
English publisher	^NA Yen Press
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Gangan Online
Original run	February 21, 2009 – present
Volumes	12
Manga
Handa-kun
Written by	Satsuki Yoshino
Published by	Square Enix
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Monthly Shonen Gangan
Original run	October 12, 2013 – present
Volumes	4
Anime television series
Directed by	Masaki Tachibana
Written by	Pierre Sugiura
Music by	Kenji Kawai
Studio	Kinema Citrus
Licensed by	^NA Funimation
Network	NTV, NIB, SUN, HTV, STV, CTV, MMT, FBS, BS Nittele
Original run	July 6, 2014 – September 27, 2014
Episodes	12
Anime television series
Handa-kun
Network	TBS, BS-TBS
Original run	July 2016 – scheduled

Barakamon (ばらかもん) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Satsuki Yoshino. It started serialization in Square Enix's Gangan Online February 2009 issue. The story follows Seishū Handa, a calligrapher who moves to the remote Gotō Islands off the western coast of Kyūshū, and his various interactions with the people of the island.

A spin-off manga Handa-kun (はんだくん) started serialization in the November 2013 issue of Square Enix's Monthly Shonen Gangan magazine.^[1] An anime adaptation was announced^[2] that began airing on July 6, 2014 and ended on September 27, 2014. Funimation has licensed the series for streaming and home video release.^[3] In February 2014, Yen Press announced they have licensed Barakamon for English release in North America.^[4] A television anime adaptation of the spin-off manga Handa-kun will begin airing in July 2016.^[5][6]

Plot

Seishū Handa is a pro calligrapher, despite his young age. When the elderly curator of an exhibition criticizes his calligraphy for being too unoriginal ("like a textbook"), Seishū gets angry and punches the curator. Because of this, his father sends him off for a retreat on Gotō Island, near Kyūshū. There, he meets the colorful villagers, interacts with them, and begins to find his own style.

The title of the series means "easy-going person" in the local dialect, and in the beginning of the series Handa is anything but one.

Characters

Seishū Handa (半田 清舟 Handa Seishū)

Voiced by: Daisuke Ono^[7]

23 years old master calligrapher who dedicates his life to the art. His real name is Sei (清). After punching a gallery curator for calling his calligraphy "unoriginal", he is sent by his father to a village in the Goto Islands to chill out. He's a childish and short-tempered adult. He's also easy to scare. He's affectionately called "Sensei" (先生) by the people of the village.

Naru Kotoishi (琴石 なる Kotoishi Naru)

Voiced by: Suzuko Hara

A 7-year-old (6-year-old in the beginning) girl. Energetic and curious, she likes Seishū and enjoys bug catching. She visits Seishū's house every day to play. She is a first-year student at a local elementary school.

Miwa Yamamura (山村 美和 Yamamura Miwa)

Voiced by: Nozomi Furuki

A 14-year-old middle school student with a bit of a boyish personality who is friends with Tamako and Naru. Naru learned many weird things from emulating her (mainly things she shouldn't know), due to which Seishū scolded her. She created five copies of the key to Seishū's house back when it was the kids' base, one of which she lost in the mountains behind his house.

Tamako Arai (新井 珠子 Arai Tamako)

Voiced by: Rumi Ōkubo

A 14-year-old middle school student. Lover of manga since she was younger and recently began aiming to be a manga artist. She has been struggling with her repressed yaoi interests ever since Handa moved in. She also owns one of the keys to Seishū's house.

Hiroshi Kido (木戸 浩志 Kido Hiroshi)

Voiced by: Kōki Uchiyama

Son of the village chief. He's a high school student who hates how he ends up average in everything from looks, grades, sports, and activities. He delivers meals to Handa's home and sometimes cooks for him. He likes to fish, and aims for the hisanio, or the striped beakfish, when fishing with others. He also owns one of the keys to Seishū's house.

Hina Kubota (久保田 陽菜 Kubota Hina)

Voiced by: Rina Endō

She is a child from the island, and Naru's best friend. She is really shy and quick to cry, especially when dealing with strangers.

Kentarō Ōhama (大浜 謙太郎 Ōhama Kentarō)

Voiced by: Seiya Kimura

A bald boy and friend of Naru. He is just like Naru: a really energetic kid. He loves to hunt for beetles and other insects. The first time he meets Seishū, he gives him a butt jab.

Akihiko Arai (新井 明彦 Arai Akihiko)

Voiced by: Megumi Han

He is Tamako's brother. He loves gaming, and frequently watches his grandmother's store for her.

Yūjirō Kido (木戸 裕次郎 (郷長) Kido Yūjirō (Gōchō))

Voiced by: Tanuki Sugino

The village chief and Hiroshi's father. He is laid back and brings Seishū medicine and food.

Ikkō Sakamoto (坂本 一行 Sakamoto Ikkō)

Voiced by: Fumihiko Tachiki

The vice-principal of Naru's school, who Seishū says doesn't look like one. He has a habit of smoking and enjoys fishing in the village's pond.

Takao Kawafuji (川藤 鷹生 Kawafuji Takao)

Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe

Seishū's only friend since high school and art dealer. He arranges Handa's calligraphy work and other needs. He says that he prioritizes Handa for his skills as a money maker, but actually cares deeply for him.

Kōsuke Kanzaki (神崎 康介 Kanzaki Kōsuke)

Voiced by: Yūki Kaji

A high school calligrapher. He idolizes Seishū and started calligraphy professionally after seeing an exhibition of his. He got the first prize in a calligraphy competition in which Handa entered. He is generally polite and hates bugs.

Kōsaku Kotoishi (琴石 耕作 Kotoishi Kōsaku)

Voiced by: Hiroshi Ito

Naru's grandfather. He gives Seishū a ride on his tractor both times Seishū came to the island. He is very kind to Seishū and is frequently asking him favors.

Iwao Yamamura (山村 巌 Yamamura Iwao)

Voiced by: Atsushi Ono

Miwa's father. He is an eccentric and scary man, who Seishū calls a Yakuza.

Seimei Handa (半田 清明 Handa Seimei)

Voiced by: Kōsuke Meguro

Seishū's father. He is a man of few words and a little awkward. He was the one to send Seishū to the island, and also lived there when he was around his age.

Emi Handa (半田 えみ Handa Emi)

Voiced by: Yoshino Takamori

Seishū's mother. She was against him going to the island, and tried to convince him not to go back, believing his time in the island turned him into a strange person. Despite appearances, she is actually rather outspoken and short tempered.

Media

Manga

Barakamon began serialization in Square Enix's Gangan Online February 2009 issue. The first tankōbon volume was released on July 22, 2009;^[8] twelve volumes have been released as of September 22, 2014.^[9] The series was licensed by Yen Press in February 2014, who released the first volume on October 28, 2014.^[10][11]

A spin-off manga, titled Handa-Kun, written and illustrated also by Satsuki Yoshino, started serialization in Square Enix's Monthly Shonen Gangan in the November 2013 issue.^[1] It focuses on Seishū's life as a high school student, six years prior to Barakamon. The first tankōbon volume was released June 21, 2014; four volumes have been released as of August 12, 2015.^[12]

Anime

An anime adaptation by Kinema Citrus began airing on July 5, 2014. Funimation has licensed the series for streaming and home video release.^[3] The opening theme song is "Rashisa" (らしさ) performed by Super Beaver, and the ending theme is "Innocence" by NoisyCell.

A television anime adaptation of the Handa-kun spin-off manga was announced on Square Enix's Gangan Online website on February 1, 2016.^[5] It will begin airing in July 2016 on TBS and BS-TBS.^[6]

Episode list

No.	Title	Original airdate
1	"Cheerful Kid" "Barakakodon /Genkina Kodomo" (ばらかこどん /元気な子供)	July 6, 2014
After punching an elderly man (the curator of the exhibition) in the face for insulting his calligraphy, Seishu Handa is unofficially exiled to a small village on an island near Kyushu where he plans to improve his craft. Seishu has trouble dealing with the culture shock of the village compared to his Tokyo upbringing: the people speak with strange accents, the house arranged for him has technology from decades ago, and a small girl considers the home to be her "base". Despite Seishu's attempts to kick her out, the little girl (Naru) keeps finding ways inside and pestering Seishu, even using his calligraphy brush and paper. After arguing with Naru for a bit, he suddenly realizes what the curator meant when he said his calligraphy was too textbook-like. Later that day, Seishu is briefly introduced to several of the villagers as they gather to help him move in the rest of his belongings from Tokyo.
2	"Annoying" "Yakamashika /Urusai" (やかましか /うるさい)	July 13, 2014
The episode opens with the wife of the village chief asking her son to carry some food to Seishu, as no one else in the family bothers to eat her cooking. Meanwhile, two of Naru's friends come with Naru to revisit their "base" in Seishu's new house, but Seishu gets angry and kicks them all out. Later, the son of the village chief, Hiroshi, delivers his mom's cooking but finds that Seishu has worked himself near death. Naru arrives in time to save Hiroshi and the food, and shows Hiroshi the effort that Seishu puts into his work. The next day, Naru arrives to find Seishu collapsed from exhaustion, and he is rushed to the hospital where he is jokingly warned not to make any moves on the nurse because she's already married. After a brief scare with a near-empty IV bag, Naru holds the nurse call button tight and pledges to protect Seishu from a ghost. Seishu sees Naru and her friends off and gets some advice from an elderly patient in the hospital, but when he is discharged the next day, Seishu is told that he was the only patient there.
3	"Mochi Thrown in Celebration" "Hitonmochi /Oiwai de nagerareru Mochi" (ひとんもち /お祝いで投げられる餅)	July 20, 2014
Naru believes she's become more "adult" as she is better able to read kana. Seishu goes to get some more ink from the village's general store and finds that Naru's friend Tamako also wants the ink as she plans to use it for a manga she wants to submit to a shounen magazine. Seishu offers to read her draft copy, only to find that the story is very inappropriate, but Tamako is convinced it will be unique and bestselling. That night, Tamako decides to go tell Seishu an excuse before he thinks she's a "fujoshi", but ends up witnessing what she sees as a yaoi-inspired scene between Seishu and Hiroshi and forgets all about her original mission. The next day, Seishu receives word that his calligraphy contest entry only received second place compared to another entrant five years younger than him. In an attempt to cheer him up, Naru and her friends drag her to a mochi-catching contest in honor of a new boat that was built by Kenta's father. Seishu has trouble seeing the point when everyone else outmuscles him for the mochi, when one old woman advises him to wait for the opportunities in front of him instead of fighting the others. Later, he returns home to find that one of the top mochi-catchers made a mochi-based soup for him and the other villagers.
4	"Island Dads" "Shiman ontsandon /Shima no Oyajitachi" (しまんおんつぁんどん /島の親父たち)	July 27, 2014
Seishu finds that both his computer and cellphone have stopped working, so he decides to go to the village's general store to make a call. Along the way, he stops at a house where stray cats gather to lift his spirits. The man of the house hands Seishu a stray cat to hold, which then scratches him. Seishu discovers that he's allergic to cats, and then continues walking to the store where Naru, Hina, and Tamako's brother Akki are hanging out. Seishu asks to borrow the phone only to discover that it is an old rotary phone and Akki has to help him use it. After calling his agent, Seishu is so busy thinking about the next contest he plans to enter that he knocks over a basket of seaweed belonging to Miwa's father. He uses the incident to persuade Seishu to write a long phrase in kanji as the name of his new boat. Seishu panics at having to write without his usual tools or flat surface, but after Naru and her friends stick handprints to the hull, Seishu has no choice but to write over them. Miwa's father is impressed and gives him the seaweed as payment, only to grow angry again when he discovers that Seishu practiced writing on wooden boards he was going to use.
5	"Going Swimming at the Beach" "Un ni oegii /Umi ni oyogi ni iku" (うんにおえぎいっ　/海に泳ぎに行く)	August 3, 2014
While Seishu is pondering what to write for an upcoming contest, Naru's grandfather visits with a large bag of konomon as a gift. Seishu instantly gets hooked on the snack and suddenly can't think of anything else. When Naru, Miwa, and Tamako come over and ask for help with their writing homework, Seishu tries to impress upon them his own calligraphy training routine, but the girls aren't as interested. Later, the village chief invites Seishu to watch the children as they go down to the beach. Miwa, Tamako, and even Hiroshi decide to tag along. To Seishu's dismay, the "beach" is actually a rocky shore with no sand in sight, but the children immediately run down and jump in the ocean. Seishu tries to follow them but slips on a slick rock and hits his head repeatedly, knocking himself out. Seishu walks back home, muttering to the group that he was actually caring about their safety. The village children, sans Hiroshi, decide to embrace him. After resting at his home, Seishu misses a call from his agent, who is at the nearby airport along with a younger calligrapher in tow.
6	"Guys from Tokyo" "Yosonmon /Toukyou kara kita Yatsura" (よそんもん　/東京から来た奴ら)	August 10, 2014
Seishu's agent and only real friend Takao shows up drunk at his house with prodigal calligrapher Kosuke Kanzaki carrying him. Upon realizing that Kosuke is the younger calligrapher who beat Seishu in a previous contest, Miwa and Hiroshi try to get him to leave. Naru inadvertently helps out by giving Kosuke a ball full of stinkbugs, which he breaks open. As Kousuke and Takao leave, Seishu tells the others that he knew who Kosuke was, but already moved on. The next day, Kosuke visits Seishu's house and shows him all the magazines and interviews that Seishu did in the past as his inspiration, though Seishu feels only embarrassment when he hears his own lines read back to him. Kousuke begs him to return to Tokyo with him, saying that Seishu's art has gone downhill since he came to the island. Seishu has another breakdown, as he feels unable to reconcile writing for a prize with writing for his own satisfaction, when Naru and Hina start throwing paper planes made from the pages of Kosuke's magazines. After that brief interruption, Seishu reiterates his decision to stay in the village for now. Later, Seishu finds that the magazine pages with his interviews have spread across the village as the villagers all line up at his door for an autograph.
7	"A High-Grade Fish" "Hisan-Iwo /Koukyuuna Sakana" (ひさんいを /高級な魚)	August 17, 2014
Seishuu, Kawafuji, Kousuke, Naru, Miwa, Hina, and Hiroshi go fishing, with Kawafuji, Kosuke, and Seishuu having not fished before. Meanwhile, Hiroshi plans to catch an expensive fish. There, Kawafuji tells Kosuke he hasn't been writing ever since he saw Seishuu's latest work, having lost his point of reference when Seishuu changed his style. Later on in the day, Hiroshi throws his last bait, but is unable to catch anything. While packing his things, he gives his fishing rod to Kousuke. Soon, a large fish catches the bait and the group helps reeling it in. Just as they pull the fish out of the water, they identify it as the same fish Hiroshi was pursuing, just before the bait breaks and the fish escapes. The next day, Kousuke and Kawafuji leave the island and Kousuke apologizes to Seishuu for his rude behavior when they first met, also thanking him since he learned some new things.
8	"Buddhist Chanting Dance" "Onde /Nenbutsu Odori" (オンデ /念仏踊り)	August 24, 2014
The gang decides to hold a surprise birthday party for Naru, but Seishuu doesn't know what he should get her. After giving it some thought, he decides to give her a beetle. He goes outside and tries to buy a beetle from Kentarou, but Kentarou doesn't want to give him one since he also wanted to give Naru beetles for her birthday. Seishuu decides to catch one himself, but when he finally has the chance to catch one, he becomes too scared to touch it. At the end of the day, Kentarou gives Seishuu a beetle, but it bites Seishuu and flies away. Back at his house, everyone celebrates Naru's birthday and Seishuu gives her a "I'll do anything you say" ticket as a present. The next day, Naru and Seishuu go to the graveyard since it is already the Bon Festival. There, they visit the grave of Naru's late grandmother, and afterwards, they have a lot of fun with everybody from the village until late in the night.
9	"Was Almost Seriously Injured" "Okega Makucchishita /Ookega shisouni natta" (おけがまくっちした　/大怪我しそうになった)	September 06, 2014
Only two weeks are left until the Narukain Contest deadline and Seishuu still hasn't got an idea what to make. Meanwhile, Seishuu's bath boiler broke, so he asks Yuujirou for help and he suggests that he should warm the bath with a fire. Seishuu subsequently asks Naru to keep an eye on the fire, but Miwa and Tamako arrive and start to mess around with the fire, enraging Seishuu. After he is finally finished with his bath, he finds Hiroshi at the kitchen; he explains that he came to make Seishuu's lunch since his mother couldn't. After they eat their lunch, a crying Hina arrives at Seishuu's house and states that Naru was being bullied. Both Hiroshi and Seishuu go to the scene, where they spot three kids from another village who were bullying the kids. After getting into a childish fight, the bullies leave after seeing Akki. The next day, Seishuu goes into the mountains together with Naru and his friends. On the way back, Seishuu accidentally falls off a cliff without being noticed. Thinking he was going to die, Seishuu sees the sky and a falling star. He makes a wish to get saved, just before Miwa, Tamako, and Naru finally discover him.
10	"Let's All Go Together" "Dacchi Ikode/ Minna de ikou" (だっちいこで　/みんなで行こう)	September 13, 2014
Seishuu finally finishes his work for the Narukain exhibit, just as the president decides that he could return back home. While walking around with Naru, he meets Kousuke and helps him with building a dam. While they are at it, Kousuke asks Seishuu to help him rewrite the names of people who helped out with a shrine. While walking back home, Seishuu is told by Akki that Kawafuji called him. There, he is seen on the phone, saying, "I'll return." The next day, the entire group goes to the festival, and afterwards, Seishuu leaves the island without telling anybody.
11	"I Am in Tokyo" "Toukyou ni imasu/ Yoseo" (東京にいます　/よせおっ)	September 20, 2014
Seishuu returns to Tokyo and becomes slightly worried about his new work since it is not really his style. When the director arrives, he apologizes to him and is forgiven. Afterwards, the director inspects Seishuu's new work and believes it was good enough to win the first prize. However, in a state of panic, Seishuu accidentally says that it wasn't his real work and the real one for the competition was still being shipped. As a result, Seishuu has to write a new one, but he doesn't know what to write. The gang back on the island calls him and it inspires him to create another work called "The Stone Wall".
12	"Glad That You're Back" "Kaette Kite Urishika" (かえってきてうりしか)	September 27, 2014
Seishuu's mother voices her opposition of him going back to the island. While discussing it with her, he finds out that his father used to live on the island. Afterwards, Seishuu's mother brought him a box sent by the gang. After she saw how delighted Seishuu looked at the present, she finally agrees to let him return to the island. When he arrives at the island, everybody surprises him. In addition, Seishuu receives a call from Kawafuji, saying he got fifth place, but he is pleased about it since it was a work he could be proud of.

References

1. ばらかもん (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved September 19, 2013.
2. "Barakamon Countryside Comedy Manga Gets Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 19, 2013.
3. "Funimation Adds Barakamon, Sengoku Basara Judge End, Black Butler: Book of Circus". Anime News Network. July 5, 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
4. "Yen Press Adds Accel World, Übel Blatt, Barakamon Manga". Anime News Network. February 14, 2014. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
5. "Barakamon Prequel Manga Handa-kun Gets TV Anime". Anime News Network. February 1, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
6. "Barakamon Prequel Anime Handa-kun's July Debut, Teaser Visual Revealed". Anime News Network. March 11, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
7. "Daisuke Ono Stars in Barakamon Countryside Comedy Anime". animenewsnetwork. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
8. "ばらかもん 1 (ガンガンコミックスONLINE)" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
9. "ばらかもん(10) (ガンガンコミックスONLINE)" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
10. "Roses are red, don’t be blue, we have new licenses for you!". Yen Press. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
11. "Barakamon, Vol. 1". Amazon.com. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
12. はんだくん(1) (ガンガンコミックス) (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved August 19, 2014.

External links

• Manga official website (Japanese)
• Anime official website (Japanese)
• Handa-kun (anime) at TBS (Japanese)
• Barakamon (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia