Barakamon

## Barakamon *Barakamon* is one of the warmest, most genuinely funny slice-of-life anime ever made — a deceptively simple story about a calligrapher who goes to find himself and instead gets found by an entire community. Seishuu Handa is a talented young calligrapher with a prestigious family name and a serious problem: his work is technically flawless but utterly soulless. When he punches a veteran critic who calls his calligraphy "textbook," his father sends him to a remote island in Nagasaki Prefecture to cool off and reflect. Handa expects isolation and artistic growth — what he gets is Naru Kotoishi, a hyperactive six-year-old who immediately moves into his house, along with every other curious, eccentric, wonderfully nosy villager on the island. Through countless small moments — helping with festivals, learning to fish, playing with kids who have never had a video game — Handa slowly begins to loosen up and understand what a personal artistic voice actually requires. *Barakamon* is that rare anime that earns its heartfelt moments because everything before them is so cheerfully, raucously alive.