So SAO2 brings up an example of victimization as a trope, an issue that keeps creeping up in fiction - including the recent season of True Detective.
.
Please don't compare an amazing show such as True Detective with the filth of SAO 2 lol
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barakamon 12: Episode and Series Thoughts
So it seems almost appropriate that a show with a relaxed mood the whole way through ends with such a relaxed episode. The stand-out of the episode? Like if it was even an option. Sensei's mom has gone to become one of the best moms in anime, she was hilariously moe and violent. Extremely clingy as well for her son to not go back, I even felt bad for her at one point but I couldn't stop laughing at her barrage of fists against everybody haha. Good times. Sure there wasn't anything particularly exciting about the episode, but that's the show in a nutshell. Not much excitement just extremely solid writing and a great cast of comedic characters.`
When I read the synopsis of Barakamon before the season started it wasn't even all that much in my radar. It sounded like it was going to be a slice of life comedy of fish out of water which are a dime a dozen in a lot of media. But I was pleasantly surprised to find what is easily the second best show of the season. This coming from somebody who didn't think Nozaki-kun could be beaten for the 2nd place spot. But this show made it happen and it did so damn flawlessly.
So what's the show? Our lead, who I cannot remember the name of because 90% of the characters call him Sensei, gets transported to an island after falcon punching the director and one of the highly respected figures of the calligraphy department/industry of Japan. He gets sent to an island to learn to humble down and find his own stance and style. The show follows the day to day activities of Sensei and the group of islanders, which basically revolve around having fun and learning about this island's culture as inspiration kicks in for sensei throughout.
The cast of characters is as colorful as it comes, with arguably only Nozaki-kun having a more diverse group of regulars. Not to say this cast of characters isn't amazing, it's just that so many of the children (including the middle/high schoolers) outside of Naru follow the same idea: the boys are sweet but confrontational and the girls are also sweet but a bit mischievous. And this works really well, each has their own variation but outside of some of the more stand-out style/design most of the other children just faded in the crowd. The rest of the islanders with a prominent role didn't have much involvement in the plot but each had their own varied personality revolving around friendly islander. Which was great of course. The recurring characters from the city were by far the more varied ensemble, but unfortunately they also had the least amount of screen time. To summarize everybody was great, but some characters didn't stand out enough and blended in to the background from those with more screen-time and personality.
Sensei in particular is one of the two best characters. He isn't particularly the most hilarious character, but is consistently funny. He just worked really well as a lead. From the beginning of the show to the end you'll see a big change in him. Which is extremely solid writing. You won't lose your quirks or personality but to see him humble down as much as he did, and grow closer with a group of children when he had little to no friends back home, it is an amazing amount of character development.
Naru is of course the other stand-out character, which makes sense as these two are the leads. The fact they didn't choose a grown VA to do her most irritatingly high pitched child like voice was amazing. I recall somebody mentioning that the children, or at least Naru, were voiced by actual children. And it seemed to pull through. Her VA did an amazing job, the personality absolutely oozed from every spoken line and when I read the manga I'm sure I'll still hear her in my head. Naru, alongside the other children, had one particular advantage to children in other media: the moe wasn't the focus. So much slice of life anime tries to make children as cute and #lollicious as possible. Which is seriously sickening of an industry. The children in Barakamon though outright act, talk, and laugh like children. Such a breath of fresh air, and it definitely helped the show as I felt like I could see these children in an island.
Barakamon is an episodic show for the most part with a plot-specific episode or event here and there, more on the end. It succeeded in never having audiences bored. The fascinating group of islanders, the locale, the characters, everything was top notch. Is this show for you? It depends. How into non-traditional slice of life are you? Do you enjoy fish out of water stories? If the answer to both or either of these is yes, then go for it. If both of them are no, I honestly feel you should give it a watch unless you outright do not care for slice of life outside of high school-based ones. Because the show, being not of this group, doesn't follow any of the tropes. I mean sure there's a beach episode, but this is an island and it's a bunch of children hanging around with sensei, so it's not about the fan service. It's about sensei and the kids hanging out. Barakamon is relaxation incarnate so if you just finished watching a very emotional or serious/depressing show this is for you even more so.
Barakamon gets 9.5/10 Woofs.