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Monday, January 12, 2015

Manga Review: Barakamon, Volume 1, by Satsuki Yoshino



Rating (Out of 5): ~4
Publisher: Yen Press
Release Date: October 28, 2014
Volumes: 10+
Spoilers?: No.
Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

First things first.........Visitors are supposed to come in through the front door!!
For a certain reason, a handsome, young calligrapher by the name of Seishuu Handa uproots himself and moves to an island on the westernmost edge of Japan. "Sensei," as he comes to be known, is a city boy through and through, and has never experienced rural life until now. And by the looks of it, he has much to learn! Luckily(?), he has a willing teacher in Naru, the energetic expert islander, to help show him the ropes. But can Sensei keep up with the plucky first-grader, or will he get schooled?! Here unfolds a heartfelt island comedy about a gruff on the outside, soft on the inside urbanite teacher and his new, unfailingly kind island neighbors!

Review:

There was a lot of hype over this series, and since the art looked nice and it sounded funny, I jumped on board. And I’m glad I did.
The artwork is very pretty, as it looks on the cover. The humor is very nice, too. Handa is a little surly, but that don’t bother the other characters much. Naru especially, who continually sneaks into his house and wants him to teach her and speaks in third person.
This feels very similar to Yostuba&!, both in character and style, only with maybe slightly more story, I think. It definitely made me want to pick up Yotsuba&!, though, a series I never got around to finishing or collecting. It moved that series way up on my list.
The country feel of the characters and their town, how they all know each other, and their accents, make for a very fun series so far. Handa is just getting used to it, and I’m looking forward to reading more of it. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next volume, honestly.

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