Handa-kun is a prequel to Barakamon. It is 12 episodes and is based off the spin-off manga. It is best to have watched Barakamon first so you already have an idea of Handa’s personality, as the anime assumes that you already know him. It starts off with a weak scene in which various characters are discussing about the new Handa-kun anime and while it is played for laughs, it wasn’t actually that funny or interesting. It just felt weird and you had to double check that you didn’t accidentally watch a DVD / Blu-ray special short episode or something.
Once the anime gets into the story proper, it’s a lot better. Basically, this anime follows Handa, a calligraphy prodigy, while he was in high school. It dials down on the calligraphy aspect and is more of a high school slice-of-life comedy where the main character has weak social skills. The funny and unexpected thing is, Handa is actually quite respected, and even admired by his classmates. This wasn’t what you might have gathered when watching Barakamon, but Handa is so misunderstood that he’s construed as the cool loner.
Handa walls himself off from others, preferring to not interact with anyone, thus he has no friends. He is focused on his calligraphy and while he is clever, he keeps to himself and ignores classes. He is so out of touch that he misinterprets anything that people talk to him about, or ask him about. This goes both ways, since everyone else misinterprets his actions, usually in a positive way, which serves only to elevate his status even more. This is where all the amusing scenes are, as it just gets ridiculous and over-the-top but it works really well.
It’s very impressive at how Handa manages to attract such a following, without even trying. Sure he can be considered handsome, but it seems that the mysterious nature about him (because he has walled himself off so much) is alluring to many. He ends up having several dedicated followers and despite how easily Kawafuji can clarify the situation, he doesn’t because he is enjoying it so much.
Given that this is a prequel, we only recognize Handa, and also Kawafuji, since Handa hadn’t met anyone else on the island yet. Thus there is a raft of new characters introduced, and given the change in settings and an even lighter tone than its source material, the anime can feel quite different at times. Handa’s interest in calligraphy takes a back seat after we are told that he is absorbed in it. Events that happen afterwards uses him as more of a background character, with the focus on the group of four that idolizes Handa.
Despite how amusing some scenarios are, it can get a bit repetitive. This is because it ends up just relying on the same thing with Handa interpreting everything that’s happening to him as bad, while others interpret it as something awesome. People always seem to see his actions as something selfless or some ploy to help them improve when in fact, Handa is either clueless on what’s happening as he’s in his own world, or wanting to shirk away as he is afraid.
The peak is around the middle of the season since Handa eventually becomes more and more like a scaredy cat. He becomes so extreme in his shy personality that he feels a far cry from the character that was portrayed in Barakamon. The anime is a lot sillier, with a drastically different tone and in the process, loses the charm that made Barakamon so endearing.
While most characters are Handa’s fans, there is one straight man who sees Handa for what he is. Then again, it’s hard to tell sometimes whether they really know Handa’s troubles and true thoughts, or when they’re delusional themselves and assume their thoughts onto him. The season finale actually goes ahead and provides some closure. You would have expected things to go on as per normal, with Handa blissfully (or maybe not blissfully) unaware of his effect on people. Instead, Handa gets a clearer picture of what’s happening.
Overall, there are two likely scenarios with Handa-kun. If you have seen Barakamon before this, then Handa-kun’s shift in tone and approach will be jarring, and this can be a big turn off. Conversely, if you watched Handa-kun first then you don’t have expectations and it can be fun and lighthearted (and Barakamon will then become the weird one).
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