Barakamon, Vol. 3 (Volume 3) (Barakamon, 3)

A lovely slice of life story of a young well known calligrapher who needs to get away from the big city for a while and settles down in a little island village. One of the reasons he leaves is because a director of the awards calls his work conformist (highly insulting to an artist) and he gets upset and hits him. The "city boy" very quickly gets involved with island life and the people, who all call him, Sensei. It's nice how all the kids hang out with him and how the people slowly start to show him how to relax, enjoy life and take a fresh approach in his calligraphy.This volume brings Sensei face to face with his young calligraphy rival who beat him in their last contest in the big city. Comedy ensues when the island folk try to keep the rival away from Sensei because they think the rival will depress him.

My favorite volume of this series (so far) although all chapters of Barakamon and Handa-kun (prequel) rate fantastic adorable. Outrageous, charming, cute, and heartwarming, Handa-sensei, Naru, and the rest of the island gang are, as always, endlessly entertaining. Add Kawafuji to the mix and hilarity ensues. My only question is, what's up with Taka's tattoos? He's an art dealer, not yakuza! Haha.

It was a fun read!

nice

~3.5/5I really want to love this series. I’m trying really hard. And it’s good, don’t get me wrong—but I don’t love it.In this volume, friends of Handa come to town. To visit, see how he’s doing, but also kind of to get him to come back home. Just like this was an odd town to Handa, it’s strange to his comrades. Such a small town, with people who know everyone, overprotective of their children, with no real sightseeing opportunities.There are a lot of comedic opportunities. Like when the newcomers are believed to be kidnapping Naru, and then get forced into drinking as punishment. When the group goes fishing and are pushed into the water. How his rival brings old articles about him to embarrass him with his new friends.But there are also the moments of development. We see Handa really deciding what he wants to do with himself, his realization about his calligraphy career, when his rival pushes him. That he likes where he is and wants to stay in this tiny town. We also get to see how his new friends care about him, helping him when there’s a storm, and trying to keep his rival from causing him trouble.This series is fun, and the group of characters are vast and unique and a lot of cause for antics. I enjoy those things, but it’s still not hitting me like I want it to. I’m going to stick with it a bit more, hoping it gets better.[More of my reviews are available on my blog, Geeky Reading, to which there's a link on my profile.]

If you watched the anime and wanted to see how it ends, this is great. It is translated well, and I enjoyed reading it.

Enjoying this series more and more, cant wait to have the whole complete series!