17 July 2016: I sure hope Handa-kun has more than one joke
Handa-kun gives everyone the stink eye again.
Despite a fair bit of persistent reluctance remaining from the very moment I learned of Handa-kun to begin with, I watched the first episode anyway. I enjoyed Barakamon quite a bit, but essentially every aspect of the show I liked is probably going to be absent from its Handa-kun prequel. Notably, a Barakamon prequel set while the main character is a first-year high school student will not have an adult protagonist. Who in Hell thought we needed yet another anime starring a teenage boy? For crying out loud. Moreover, a Barakamon prequel will almost certain not feature Miwa or Tomo. This is unacceptable.
I guess I do like the girl who looks like a ginormous Funko Pop!
After watching the first episode, I have to grudgingly admit the show is all right, but I'm still wary because it seems very likely it will only have one joke. Specifically, Handa is a pathologically socially inept prodigy with severe self-esteem issues who persistently mistakes his classmates admiration and awe as ire and loathing. This causes him to turn even more insular, exacerbating the problem. This was fine for one episode, but I hope Handa-kun doesn't drag this out all season.
References.
With regard to Handa-kun himself, he sort of strikes me as Machi from Kuma Miko except without her support group (such as it is) yet perplexingly viewed like Sakamoto-kun by everyone around him. I'm a bit skeptical that everyone would be that impressed by him and so intimidated all the time no matter how good he was at calligraphy. Does this mean Handa-kun technically has more than one joke?
