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「しまんおんつぁんどん / 島の親父たち」 (Shiman Ontsandon / Shima no Oyajitachi)
“Island Dads”
Why is this show so good!?
Random Slices of Life
If there’s something that Barakamon does right, it’s how it handles the slice-of-life side of things. Mixing your typical day-to-day activities with the hassles that come with living in a rural village, it can take something as simple as stray cats and turn it into something awesome or hilarious depending on your perspective. I mean, just where else in the world are you going to see that many well-behaved stray cats in one place?
But this show doesn’t just stop there! With the perfect platform for awesome slice-of-life sequences to occur, you have to love how well they add humor into the mix. Maybe it’s because I’m getting a little older but I wasn’t sure whether I was supposed to laugh or cry after watching Handa’s epic-fail with the rotary phone. The best part of it? I think Handa and I are pretty close in age — which means he has absolutely no reason not to know how to use such an amazing device!
Bonus Trivia: For those of you who had no idea who Takahashi was, don’t worry because I didn’t either! A quick search reveals that his claim to fame was his ability to fire 16 shots per second and applying it to video games for the NES.
You’ll Never Know till You Try
Continuing the pattern of opening our hearts with some slice-of-life and then unleashing a wave of feels right after, this episode’s lesson once again perfectly resonated with me. How often have you been tasked with doing something that you just can’t screw up on? Be it a presentation at work, an important playoff game, or maybe something as simple as writing a boat’s name on its hull — there’s always some kind of pressure that’s looming over you before the big moment. But just like Naru showed us, you have to eventually start somewhere and before you know it that sense of pressure disappears and you’re caught up in the joy of doing what you enjoy. Sure it won’t always be as simple as slapping handprints onto a boat but as long as you’ve put in the work and prepared you’ll find your way.
Looking Forward
With its seamless integration of story and life lessons that are all held together with a glue called “slice-of-life”, this show is definitely on a roll. Always taking the time to remind us about Handa’s real life problems while giving opportunities for him to grow as both a calligrapher and a person, I don’t think there’s anything this show could do better. Well, I wouldn’t complain for more Naru c:
This anime, next to Gin no Saji, is easily the best slice of life anime I have watched in a good while. I am not including the mo~e greats like Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka? or Kiniro Mosaic in the same bracket even though they are also slice of life. All things considered, I don’t know why this show is so great; it just does everything it sets out to do flawlessly.
It’s so cute yet so hilarious and does everything in such a simple fashion that it’s brilliant.
I laugh and tear up every episode, it’s great. I agree with the “more Naru” comment, really; it’s more or less filling in some of the void the lack of a Yotsubato anime gave us. 😛
https://randomc.net/image/Barakamon/Barakamon%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2003.jpg
As a cat fan myself, I couldn’t help but chuckle at this episode..
Neko kawaii, neko daisuki (≚ᄌ≚)ℒℴѵℯ❤
By the way, anybody heard of Japan’s cat island?
There’s much much more real life cats there compared to what’s depicted in this episode.
http://youtu.be/rHLLDOyZepY
Handa would probably die from cuteness overload there.
THATS ALOTA OF PUSSSY… cats!!!
or maybe he’ll just die from allergic reactions
As sweet as this episode was I am still upset over how they are mutilating the manga content. The story about the cats for example is far more poignant in the manga as it briefly discusses parenthood and responsibilities. I kinda wish I never read the manga as a result because this anime really is solid.
Except for Kuro, weren’t the other cats disobedient? XD (Most of them even ate the man’s dinner!)
If you think these cats were disobedient, you need to think again 😛 When I served in the Greek army, I was stationed on a rock (literally a rock), where a cat gang of around 14 cats lived, alongside 5 dogs and a donkey (yes, a donkey!). You would come out of the outpost with leftover food; the cats would eat YOU first, eat the leftover food and, after beating up the poor dogs, maybe leave a bone for them! All these up until the donkey showed up of course, who would just try to stomp cats and dogs alike, but usually he was too late to the party; the cats had cleaned up everything 😛
awesome concise post takaii!
YET YOU FORGET JAPAN IS WAAAAY TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED IN THE BIG CITIES …ehhehehe! so no surprise about the phone 😛 also judging by the flash backs seems like hondas dad dealth with all the little details which could mean using the phone for him 😛 he just picks up the receiver or hes only known touch pad phones growing up 😛 still so funny how he tried to press the numbers in lols!
https://randomc.net/image/Barakamon/Barakamon%20-%2004%20-%2018.jpg
This anime is too adorable and funny. One of the best slice-of-life anime out there so far.
Totally agree with you Takaii, this series, every episode’s lesson seems to resonate with me. I can totally relate to it every single time. This has been my weekly breath of fresh air from my extremely cramped and busy week.
Somehow, I’m more interested in seeing Akki’s expressions. He was blushing a lot, whenever Handa embarrass himself.
Barakamon Mijikamon (short specials for Barakamon) are hilarious. Watch the latest Mijikamon special, Handa: “The demon geezer said that ?” Love the way the girls quoted the movie lines.
I liked the boat better with just the children’s handprints.
i find myself pleasantly surprised to be enjoying this show and Hanayamata a lot! they are not my typical goto genres