(L+CR) Barakamon

[hai_san]

Aww a really nice ep, Barakamon is best slice of life anime this season.

[Kanon]

Great episode. Perfectly fitting for the season (it was only one week late!).

Given that Naru's parents are nowhere to be found and there are no graves for them, it's highly likely she's a foundling. The other option, her parents being temporarily away for whatever reason, is not dramatic enough. I have this foreboding feeling Grandpa is kind of grooming Sensei to take over for him when he dies.

[Diveman]

After looking a bit into the Ed lyrics, it made me cry a bit, it's as if Sensei is singing that to Naru

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by Kanon

The other option, her parents being temporarily away for whatever reason, is not dramatic enough.

Oh, there are more options.
Version 1: The parents are away in a big city, trying to eke out a living in the busy, modern world. Since they have no time/energy to care for their child, they passed her down to the grandparents.
Version 2: Divorce and remarriage, child from previous relationship got left behind (with the grandparents).
Version 3: Parents are incapable of taking care of the kid (sickness/addiction/whatever).
Version 4: Naru was born out of wedlock! Scandal, parents leaving the island, leaving the child with her grandparents.
And so on, plenty of possible drama there.

(Disclaimer: I've read only the first 2-3 volumes of the manga, more than a year ago, so I've no idea what's going on with Naru's parents.)

[AntonKutovoi]

Lol'd at Handa's Illumi face.

[Lord of Fire]

With the whole brooding over Naru's private life, I too wonder why no word is being spoken about her parents. It's almost as if the the villagers are entrusting her in Handa's care, maybe even expecting him to take her with him once he leaves the island for his Tokyo home again.

Plus, Naru gave me that 'wild child' vibe ever since I first laid eyes on her, as if she was forced to fend for herself when she was even younger than she is now. Something is definitely not right here.

That aside, I loved this episode. Handa going out of his way to get Naru a birthday present, and eventually settling for something very simple that had probably the biggest emotional reaction from her was very nice.

The 'gravesitting' was heartwarming and hints at a sad backstory for Naru. Loved it when both of the older girls got busted after sneaking away from their own graves to spend time with Handa and Naru and Handa basically told them to deal with the consequences themselves.

And then came the post-ED sequence. The whole 'Poochy talking to Handa' skit was funny enough, but when it was revealed that Poochy was female, Handa's reaction to that news had me floored. It's also a sign that he's starting to feel quite at home there.

[Echizen777]

Maybe she was adopted? I am starting to think her grandparents are not her biological ones, it would explain why nobody is mentioning her parents, because they never knew them.

[Itlandm]

I really don't think Sensei can imagine what power he put into Naru's hand with that little paper. She certainly looked like she had some pretty far-reaching plans for it! Could this be ... the beginning of a plot?

[PreSage]

This episode was wonderful...cute and heartwarming.

After watching Nozaki and bull!Kashima...then switching over to see Handa squatting on a rice bowl...killed me.

But the info about Naru's family background (or implication) does make for a slight melancholy look at the poor kid.

I'm sort of with Tama in that it'll be sad when (if) Handa leaves for Tokyo later. He should listen to Pooch-san (who happens to be a female ) and stay here permanently...adopt Naru and be cute together.

...and giving Naru that present...you'll regret it Handa.

(Ah! And Aki returned...with Tama in the same scene! )

[Dop]

No Barakamon this week!

Naru will be sad...

[TinyRedLeaf]

Late-comer to the series. Just caught up with it yesterday.

Originally Posted by Flower

In artistic creative activities for some people controlled environments often produce controlled results (in a negative sense) at a certain point of one's growth, and I guess the message of this ep is a different angle that Sensei needs to not really so heavily on the controlled environment, but in this case it was through "hands-on" experience.

As a writer and former magazine editor, I identify very strongly with Handa's predicament in the second-half of episode 4: Nothing terrifies me more than an empty page, or the white glow of a blank page on Microsoft Word.

It's actually a well-known problem among writers (Why writers are the worst procrastinators), and one of the major contributors to writer's block.

It comes from the paralysing fear of not being able to adequately put what you've pictured in your mind into words.

And as long as you keep delaying the start of writing, the story you have in your head will remain "perfect". It's only when you start having to write it that you realise how terrible it actually is.

In my case, the moment I start writing, however, is when the flow takes over. Inspiration and years of practice will naturally direct my hand and, soon enough, the first draft of the story will be done.

(And then begins the many rounds of tedious, but absolutely necessary, editing...)

I couldn't help but burst out laughing at how Naru resolved the problem in that episode. Not just because it was funny in itself, but also because that is exactly what a lot of other writers would advise others to do when they're stuck.

If you're writing on paper, just scribble something on it. Go ahead, dirty it. Or, if you're working on a computer, just type in random stuff, whatever that pops up in your mind. The moment you've got a mess in front of you, the natural instinct to fix it will take over.

And you'll soon be fully engaged in the writing process before you even notice it.

Originally Posted by Flower

That being said in this case that odd shift in tonality Enzo spoke of is something I very, very much understand (we have spoken about it to one another a decent amount) - and part of what makes it so odd is that we know it is still a very good adaptation and that it does seem to be effectively adapting the material to push the manga source.

This is where I pontificate about the importance of separating anime from source, yada, yada, yada..... not today.

It's situations like these when my appreciation for a story increases rather than diminish. The way I approach it, I don't focus so much on the differences. Rather I marvel at how a different perspective can add a new twist to the story. It's a sign of a good writing, which doesn't dictate how a reader must see the story, but rather gives the reader room to explore as many possible interpretations as possible.

It's never easy to distance oneself from one's first impression of a story. But just like the creative process I described above, once you're aware of the process and commit yourself to it, the rest will come with practice.

[GDiddy]

I was soooo sad that this wasn't on this weekend. THis and Nozaki-kun are my weekend shows that I look forward to!

[ookamigirl]

#9

Spoiler for plot:

Seishuu looking for new inspiration.
He sure got defeated by a bathtub fast enough LOL
At least he learned how to do another new thing.
Damn, his fear of bugs always has such funny outcomes.
Naru on fire duty... not the best choice.
Poor Seishuu never has any privacy at all.
The bullying part was kinda weird-ish but funny too.
Naru just wasn't having a good day.. neither was sensei...
Still he managed to see some really nice nature & find his inspiration.

[Stark700]

Lmao, sensei can't even catch a break when he is in the bath. Another great episode again with a lot of humor. I feel really bad for sensei now lol since he got caught with the Tarzan fun but ended up getting hurt.

Oh and those brats picking on Naru gave me some nostologia. Boys at their age can be pretty crazy

[Valky]

Wait what, he's coming back home?

I thought something like that only happens at the last episode. And we only got 9 of 12, 3 more to go.

[GDiddy]

HE CANT GO HOME CAN HE? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


For a minute there I thought things were going to get super dark for this series until Sei realized that he got lost in his own backyard.


Something had to have happened. This manga's still ongoing right?

[kuromitsu]

So Handa cooks like me. (His food probably tastes like mine, too... )

[Kanon]

Sensei is such a wimp. I love it

Originally Posted by Valky

Wait what, he's coming back home?

I thought something like that only happens at the last episode. And we only got 9 of 12, 3 more to go.

Given how downcast he looked, I suspect he's temporarily coming back home for his father's funeral or something.

[Valky]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Given how downcast he looked, I suspect he's temporarily coming back home for his father's funeral or something.

Wait, it's (mostly) a comedy .. will the father really died suddenly? It'll be depressing.

If I have to guess, he won the competition and his father wants him back. Since he already "learn his lesson", or something like that?

[MCAL]

"Hey, that actually looks like fun "Oh boy, did I laugh at that.

These episodes seem to fly by now. A week without this show feels somewhat empty.

Is it bad I just realized the ending is sung in English?