Handa-kun: The Complete Series

A prequel to Barakamon, which was a manga/anime dramedy that followed an intense young master calligrapher, Handa-kun is presented with a totally different tone as an outsized, madcap classroom comedy. Teenager Sei Handa has something like a mythic rock-star/athlete status in school because of his penmanship and renderings. Yet, for some reason, he constantly misconstrues the hero-worship as bullying and underhanded malice. In individual episodes, a geeky street-poet tries to gain popularity by impersonating Handa; Handa helps a shy student librarian revitalize her collection (she becomes hopelessly obsessed with him, like all of the co-eds); and Handa is cast in a play for a culture festival. In the opener, Handa's worshipful corps (the "Handa Force") of admirers are so busy discussing the new anime that there isn't enough time to finish the episode. These metafiction touches make for a fairly funny series. Presenting all 12 episodes from 2016 in a dual-language Blu-ray/DVD Combo edition, rated TV-14, extras include an episode commentary. Recommended. (C. Cassady)