As likable as Handa is, his negative outlook leads to mixed results in his encounters with various students.
What They Say:
Episode 2: “Handa-kun and the Continuation of Episode 1, Handa-kun and the Chairperson, Handa-kun and the Model”
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Another week, another misunderstanding, or two, or several. Episode 2 is every bit as hilarious as episode 1, even if the pace has slowed down a little bit. But then again, comedy is all about timing, and you can´t have good timing without allowing for some breathing space.
This week’s episode properly introduces two members of the self-proclaimed Handa force, but not before actually finishing the plot from the first episode. Well, maybe calling it plot is a bit of a stretch. Anyway, some may find this forced, but I thought it was pretty clever . I kind of like this type of comedy that doesn´t just jump from joke to joke without ever remembering where it’s been before. All I can tell you is by the end of this whole ordeal, Handa-kun is even more popular than before and of course, absolutely convinced he isn´t. This will happen around him over and over again, because as it turns out, Handa-kun is not the only deluded student at this school.
The real first segment of the episode deals with Aizawa Junichi, a.k.a The chairman. His nickname stems from his actually being the classroom’s chairman and he takes great pride in his role. He’s gone absolutely unchallenged until Handa-kun, in spite of all his efforts to avoid any kind of responsibility, gets nominated to run against him. Once more, this happens because Handa is extremely popular, but he’s certain it’s an act of evil. The ensuing battle gets pretty ridiculous, as both of them are fighting to obtain the exact same result (Handa wants to lose and Junichi wants to win), but because they can’t seem to trust each other or even understand each other, they keep failing. The only one who seems to understand what is going on is the teacher, but these two are so profoundly misguided, even if he were to explain it to them, they’d probably just twist his words into whatever crazy idea they’ve already formed in their minds.
The next segment introduces us to Nikaido Reo (Leo? ), a teen model, handsome, popular, humble. Okay, maybe not that last part. His plan is to sail trough high school in a rose colored bliss of being admired and adored by all the girls, but once again, he wasn´t counting on Handa-kun’s ever growing popularity. Even his biggest fans star mentioning the reluctant school idol, talking about how the clothes Reo is wearing on a certain photo shoot would look better on Handa, and then basically calling Reo empty and superficial. Reo gets so traumatized by this, he decides to follow Handa around to figure out what’s so special about him.
By the way, if you haven´t watched Barakamon and are wondering what was the deal with the cat, Handa actually likes cats a lot but he’s severely allergic to them so he can only look at them form a distance. The cat’s annoyed face was priceless though. And I’m guessing they will introduce him later too, but the blonde guy who seems to know Handa well enough not to get involved in his weird adventures, is Takao Kawafuji, who will later become his art dealer.
Now, to get back on track, as with Junichi before and his role as chairman, Reo’s entire sense of self-worth seems to revolve around being a model. You can imagine his reaction when Handa decides to take a stroll trough a street crawling with industry people.
In Summary:
Handa-kun is one of those anime that has you laughing out loud and completely relaxed at the same time. It’s definitely a good fit for the weekend. Just sit down and watch this silly kids melt your stress away. I love how each of the characters is so full of life and funny on their own. The series could have easily relied on Handa being clueless, and it does, of course, but it never forgets you need variety to be funny. You can´t just have a funny concept and a bunch of dull extras around the main character. The joke in the end is not just that Handa-kun is self deluded. It’s how it affects everyone else according to their own delusions. Because in the end, each one of these kids is half-living inside their own heads, and isn´t that an accurate albeit exaggerated metaphor for our teenage years?
Grade: A
Streamed By: Funimation
