Anime Review
Barakamon
When calligrapher Sei "Seishuu" Handa becomes so enraged at a judge's critique of his work that he actually punches the old man, his father decides that Sei needs to reflect on his behavior and sends him to a remote island to live. Far from the modern conveniences of the city, the moody artist must adapt to his rural environment and his quirky but well-intentioned neighbors. How can he focus on his art when his appliances frequently don't work, his neighbors keep bothering him, and the neighborhood children have turned his house into a secret base?
Overall
10/10
Story
10/10
pacing
10/10
9/10
Sound
10/10
Characters
Animation
10/10
Overview
What would you do if you had to relocate your whole life and adapt to your new surroundings? Barakamon takes this concept to tell a fantastic narrative of growing up from multiple different perspectives. In this light-hearted anime, we get to see a dynamic duo of Sei and Naru bring out the best in each other by showing each other what they are missing. While this 2014 show was not one to receive the popular vote for the year it was one of the top-rated shows of the Summer 2014 block. It is only twelve episodes long making it a great quick watch for those who need a break or change up from the popular action animes from any season. If the essence of this show were to be represented in music it would easily be the Lofi of anime.
Story
10/10
Overall the story of the movie is fairly straightforward and well-conceived. As mentioned before the movie’s story acts as a transition side quest to the main story. It is best to see this story as a way to flush out more of the supporting cast’s story. As we watch Benimaru and Hiiro both rekindle their brotherhood we also get to see a bit more into the events that led up to the ogres going to Tempest. We then watch as our main cast help to save the kingdom Hiiro is serving by saving the Queen of Raja in numerous ways. While the story is well written, as with many anime films from existing properties it does feel a bit short compared to the greater narrative. But It is still enthralling enough to keep you engaged with what is happening at all times.
Animation
10/10
Barakamon has a simple stylistic twist to its animation to give a very subtle texture to everything. In many ways, this show does not do anything that is groundbreaking in animation. But it is the fact that this show does everything so consistently and with purpose that it gets its rating. The general style is very sharp but has a subtle looseness to help the characters really feel alive. When the animators really go in on the animation and fluidity of the characters it leads to great scenes that no others are able to bull off as well.
Pacing
10/10
The nature of the show is very episodic which leads to a narrative where one storyline starts and ends in usually one episode. This lets the show have a good pace throughout without feeling like anything is dragging on for too long. Another benefit to this style of narrative is that each episode has a purpose and even on one-off watching of a single episode, a viewer doesn’t feel lost. The only time where the story is drawn out is at the conclusion of the show which covers a couple of episodes to really round out everything that happened in the show prior. Even in each episode, the story is paced out well to really hit every punchline and illuminate every lesson without feeling overbearing.
Sound
9/10
Let’s talk about audio production. To be honest there is nothing wrong with the audio production in this show. Sound effects are used beautifully to highlight moments of both tension and comedy to great effect. The real reason that we don’t give this show a ten out of ten here is that for us the music just falls short just a hair. When watching it really sets the mood and gets you enthralled by what is happening. But the issue is that it is always just shy of being memorable. The only real memorable music for us is the intro and outro.
Characters
10/10
What makes a great character? For us, it is the ability to create a character that is relatable, entertaining, responsive, and natural character. Many times we get to see characters that are too forced in one way or another. While this is not bad it can distract from what the story is trying to tell. The beauty of Barakamon is that every one of its characters is molded in a way that is never distracting from the narrative while maintaining entertaining qualities. Each character really feels like someone you know and can relate to as if you have met and known them before. While the animation accentuates the comedic elements when needed what is said and done are things we could easily see from people we may know. This is what separates Barakamon’s characters from any other show.
Conclusion
Barakamon was released at a time in our life when we were between major early life moments similar to our main protagonist. Finding one’s own perspective and then developing a future on it is something that many can relate to at any moment. This reliability is what makes Barakamon one of, in our opinion, the greatest anime series of all time. No matter if it is your first time watching or your 20th you can relate to different aspects thanks to the broad swath of characters.