(L+CR) Barakamon

[Grifis]

I was really looking forward to this and it delivers. So far I like this the most. Nice setting and atmosphere. Likeable characters. It's definitely a keeper.

[Lord of Fire]

Unless they mess this up seriously past this point, this will most likely become one of my favorites this season. Naru is friggin' adorable, I like the main guy, too and the fact that they actually sue children to voice children makes the dynamics between the characters much more realistic and lively. Why Japan doesn't do this more often is beyond me.

Anyway, off to a very good start. Good OP and ED, and though the BGM wasn't really noticeable, I don't really care, as long as the show is enjoyable.

[sikvod00]

I agree that the casting of Naru is a big positive. Does anyone remember that Nickelodeon cartoon Hey Arnold!? I really enjoyed it and one of the reasons it stood out was that it was one of the few American cartoons where kids were actually voiced by kids. I imagine child VAs in anime isn't popular in because the industry prefers to have female VAs voice them (some do a really great job too).

[Kanon]

Is it really possible to fill your shirt up with air in order to float more easily? That's not something I've ever seen done before.

[Om Nerabdator]

The first episode was so damn good i skipped to the manga right after, pity they dropped the scanlation after 25 chapters

Cant wait for next week

[askara]

i really like the manga but dam i hate Naru's voice, it sounds stiff with alot of awkward silent moment in between and fake like it is heavily alter with autotune

best part of eps - Punch old man in the face and finsih off with flying shoe

[Dop]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Is it really possible to fill your shirt up with air in order to float more easily? That's not something I've ever seen done before.

I vaguely remembered advice about using your trousers as a float in an emergency, but not a shirt. There are things about using your clothes as flotation devices, but not in the way this show shows.

[cleo]

I loved everything about this. Nice art, a great opening and than that lovely atmosphere in the countryside. Naru is adorable and acts like a real kid. Count me in as one who likes kids being voiced by kids. And OnoD is perfect as Seishuu.

[Guardian Enzo]

It's funny, in my mind I always imagined Suwabe Junichi as Seishuu and they cast him as the best friend...

[NaweG]

Add me in for a +1 Like on this one. Some of the feel of Usagi Drops perhaps with a cross with Bakuman. I presume that Calligraphy is a bit like some of the design/font areas here in the US in terms of the in vs out crowd?

[Master_Yoma]

Just funny Naru being thrown out of the house and in to the sea

[GDiddy]

Best part: 'ROLL ROLL ROLL....' getting kicked out of Seishu's home

[Flower]

Originally Posted by NaweG

Add me in for a +1 Like on this one. Some of the feel of Usagi Drops perhaps with a cross with Bakuman. I presume that Calligraphy is a bit like some of the design/font areas here in the US in terms of the in vs out crowd?

Hmm... Hard to say.

Calligraphy, as far as I understand it, it much more one of the traditional (meaning several centurues old) arts of Japan - and of course of China as well.

I do not know if there is a close direct comparison between that and the font design areas in the contemporaty US, much of my exposure to publishing involved being the sys admin for the comps that were used to create printed and electronic books. What little I was aware of was that for many (not all) editors the question of fonts was super "srsbzns"... but kind of on the same level as which were the optimal tools or ingredients to be used in painting.

Traditional calligraphy has much more of an emphasis not only on the saying as much as possible compressed into as little as possible - i.e. the "minumum words / maximum content" aesthetic; there was more to it - it was to "say" as much as possible that is also packed to the brim with "meaning". And the contexts for what was meaning-ful and what was not was based on an largely unsystematized articulation of "Japanese'ness", though there could be different things emphasized that cover those general parameters and still be regarded as "fitting the bill".

The (albeit harshly and perhaps arrogantly phrased) criticism of the old gentleman towards the young calligrapher in public was basically saying that he not only did not have the proper growth and experience of reality as a human being, but even moreso as a human being as typified in the art's manifestations through the centuries. And he was right.

Hence the solution of the calligrapher's father to send him to the island in the hopes that he would mature and grow as a human being first and ideally therefrom as a more "traditional artist".

And by the way the aesthetic and aimed for context for calligraphy also applied to poetry, dance, ikebana, gardening, even swordsmanship, etc., etc.

As far as I understand the font design development areas and people involved here in the US there is nothing like such a centurues old and specific standard for developing their work.

[pagan poor]

Originally Posted by NaweG

Add me in for a +1 Like on this one. Some of the feel of Usagi Drops perhaps with a cross with Bakuman. I presume that Calligraphy is a bit like some of the design/font areas here in the US in terms of the in vs out crowd?

Yeah, I was getting the Usagi Drop vibe with this show as well. This show is looking good. Dude sent out like a fish out of water to learn to get over himself with a somewhat wacky cast to help out. Me likey.

[HandofFate]

Was a bit boring to me, even though I find calligraphy interesting.

The bit with using a shirt as a flotation device was neat though.
I keep that in mind the next time I fall into the ocean.

[Mubyoshi]

Aw yeah, the one anime this season I was really looking forward to. Had read a few chapters a few years back; translation was taking too long or didn't happen at all so I stopped reading it. So far I'm liking this adaptation a lot.

[jeroz]

There's more of a Yotsuba vibe than Usagi Drop. The little noisy brat will sure keep things entertaining.

[Guardian Enzo]

There's plenty more where she came from, too.

[hai_san]

Wonderfull serie, an excellent start. I am hooked.

[White Manju Bun]

Ok aside from Handa having black hair and being voiced by OnoD (thats the reason it was on my too watch list ), I enjoyed epi 1. I liked Handa exploring his living quarters and finding Naru (wow havent typed that name in a while).

Cute series, will keep watching.