Today I want to share such a kind of anime with all of you that leaves a warm feeling after watching it. Barakamon is like those shows for me that seems very simple. Again it adds a lot of little moments throughout the anime that make you happy. From my impression after watching it...I expected to be about a light story of a calligrapher who wanted to leave behind the pressure that came onto him but no...it was such a gentle story about a slice of life. It felt so close and personal to me.
I think the most surprising thing here for me...was just how gentle the story was. The country, there is a magic to it that makes you breath a little slower..and..see the tiny parts of life that we usually don't or oversees. Seeing Handa attempt to adapt to island life I thought..One thing about people when they are taken..outside of their comfort zone. It’s one of those shows that makes you smile and you don't realise it.
Barakamon begins with Handa Seishuu, a calligrapher who crushes at a gallery event and...punches out an old curator because he was told his work possesses no life...He gets sent to a faraway island where there are no skyscrapers, noisy groups or aggressive hurry...It is meant to be a space for him to settle his mind and reclaim the purpose in his art. The interesting part of the story is in how strangely over time..we see this island..shape into a challenge to him in all of these small but impactful ways. The first person to take a break in Handa's well ordered world is Naru...an energetic young girl who has regarded him as part of the family from day one. She has such an effervescence about her...that she bubbles up in every scene and with her matter of fact innocence..Handa’s brought face to face with the knowledge that life doesn’t go the way he wants. With her..he experiences things that he would never have the time to do..chasing a bug..running circles around the lakeshore just because.
How to get the people of the Island to mold Handa without him being aware?...“I can be honest with these guys,”...she says to herself one night in the forest...and returns to them..and Tamako opens up a new world of boisterous but well meaning otaku who teach her things about people’s warmth that I don’t think...she’d learn from Miwa or those pesky old men who like making fun of Handa. To me the magic of the show is to see how those simple interactions consequently...chip away at Handa's proclivity towards being a stiff...upper lipped ass. He wants everything to be sort of perfect and serious and the..island people don’t give a shit about perfection. They are interested in warmth and community and living..with a relaxed heart. Seeing him discover all of this for himself made me think about..how much we consider life as serious.
One of the things I absolutely adore about Barakamon is how delightfully goofy and silly scenes integrate...right along with very heartfelt ones. Many scenes are funny in the most unique ways...especially when Handa is trying to hide...his embarrassment or gets annoyed by all the chaos happening around him. But meditative moments appear to be the work of nature. Moments like when Handa is watching the kids in action and...he suddenly realizes that he has forgotten how to simply enjoy some things in life. Or when he gazes at his calligraphy...and is struck with the fact that he can’t locate anything true in it. The show never..over-emotes. It just allows it to go up slowly and slowly..and that slow rise makes..it feels more honest.
The more artistically rendered clips of the story are there to heighten rather than to complicate it. Calligraphy It's a..way of Handa expressing mental state. When he forces himself to do something amazing and it just...falls flat. When he lets his emotions flow unimpeded...something genuine flickers to view. That image was so affecting to me...because it brought home how creativity actually unfolds in a person’s life. You cannot force meaning. You have to live a little...break a little and heal a little and then let your experiences seep into...the work you make.
Setting...The placement of the location is really important too. The island has a personality about it. The sounds of the waves...the tiny houses..the open fields and feeling that there is community here makes the world feel alive. Each time Handa takes a stroll around the..island he discovers something new...even if nothing as earth-shaking happens. It is done to give the story time...it’s also incredibly human. I thought about how our lives too are altered..incrementally..rather than in great jumps.
The other point...Barakamon stands out well is also the warmth inside the characters. To the adults...Handa is one of their villages. The kids scamper around him as if he’s been there forever. And Naru elicits the most tender aspects of Handa. And their relationship is not in a big dramatic sense..like all romantic..but in a realistic way. She instructs me on how to breathe again. She teaches him how to laugh...moreover she helps him to live in the present. And at the end..you can just feel how much improvement he has had.
At its heart...Barakamon is a story about healing...learning and kindness as well as..finding yourself in the most unexpected of places. It does not rush. It does not try to be loud. It also only lets you walk next Handa as he finds back his smile. Oh, and that thing about...being quiet is pretty awesome.
If you like to watch nature and want to feel nature through the screen then Barakamon is a must watch for you. This is the kind of anime that lets you take a escape from the real world and the stress, this types of animes takes you into its world of soft feelings. You don’t need to know anything about calligraphy or the countryside to appreciate it. It’s the charm of their characters and the gradual ways they change one another. Give it a try if you have time