Hump Day Husbandos: Seishuu Handa (Barakamon)

Hump Day Husbandos is here and today I will be talking about Seishuu Handa from Barakamon — a series that came and went within the space of just one season, but which left a lasting impression on me as a genuinely funny, wholesome, and enjoyable show.

A new season of anime is upon us and with it comes a ton of new series. This had me reflecting on seasons gone by, and Barakmon immediately came to mind as a show that reminded me of when I first started getting into this form of entertainment: it came, had its 12-24 episodes, was a massively enjoyable experience, and then left. 

Here on Rice Digital, we love to talk about everything that comes with anime, from VTubers to hentai, we cover it all. Something that we basically worship here, however, is the wonderful waifu and husbando subculture. Our ever-growing archive of work can be found HERE for waifus and HERE for husbandos — you’re welcome!

Who is Seishuu Handa?

At the beginning of the series, Handa is a 23-year-old Japanese calligrapher who, after assaulting a critic who insulted his work, is forced to move from mainland Japan to the Goto Islands on the westernmost edge of Japan. The reasoning behind this sudden relocation is for him to remove himself from an overly familiar environment and instead go somewhere where he can focus on his work, find himself, and rediscover the passion that lies within him. 

To say Handa is a stubborn person would be putting it lightly; not only this, but he is also easily irritated, which is something he has to overcome after moving to the quiet countryside of Japan. While Handa may have been criticised for his work during the opening episode, he is actually quite the brilliant young man who pours his whole being into his calligraphy. 

After moving away from the mainland to the Goto Islands, Handa meets some of the natives who, rather too quickly for Handa’s liking, become familiar with him and often stop by his house to check in on him. While he may see this as some form of divine punishment at first, it’s this experience that sets him back on the path of being a fantastic calligrapher — and also something that allows him to open up more. 

Why we love Seishuu Handa

Honestly, I really love that we have all of these arty-farty type people that you can easily imagine are such pompous and pretentious people in a real-world setting, then we have our main character who, upon being told his work is rubbish, reacts in a way that catches us completely off-guard — I had no idea the punch was coming when I first started watching. 

In my book, Handa had a strong start and quickly became a character that I knew I would enjoy throughout this season of anime. The best part is that he only continues to get better as he meets the residents of his new town and grows as a person. The first person he comes across is Naru, a young and energetic little girl who is a bundle of playful chaos; she immediately claims Handa’s new home as her base and later turns up uninvited numerous times. 

As Handa gradually comes to meet all of the island’s residents, he grows more and more as a person. Throughout his life, Handa had kept mostly to himself, was a fairly anti-social person, and just wasn’t all that interested in anything other than his calligraphy. But as he goes on these daily adventures and gets caught up in the chaos of the island, he begins to learn about the fundamental life experiences he had been missing out on, which subsequently leads to his growth as a calligrapher.

Why you’ll love Seishuu Handa

On the whole, Handa feels like a very relatable and understandable character — he just wants to keep to himself most of the time and focus his time and energy on the things that he loves. But as all introverts know, eventually an extrovert will come along and adopt you, pushing into us all of these life experiences that you would have otherwise missed out on — and this is exactly what happens to our man Handa. 

We witness his story from the point he thinks he is at his highest, plummets down to his lowest, attempts to focus his time and energy in a new environment, goes through the depression of still feeling like he’s not good enough, and finally overcomes his own mental hurdles through the experiences he gains from those around him. It’s a really wonderful little character-driven story that I enjoyed immensely.

You can catch Barakamon on Funimation.

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