Handa-kun

Episode 5

Handa may not want (or even be aware of) the affection of his classmates, but his popularity makes his life difficult either way. His legion of fangirls draws the attention of student council president Sawako, who aims to rule the school with an iron fist. Sawako assumes that Handa is a shameless womanizer, so she decides to give him a taste of his own medicine by forcing him to wear a girl's uniform. This naturally leads to a frantic chase through the school, and Handa is only able to escape after falling down the stairs. Unfortunately, he loses his memory in the process and returns to school as an outgoing, flirtatious version of himself. It's up to the guys of the Handa Force to bring their hero to his senses, even if they have to hit him in the head with a hammer to do it.

Handa's struggle to escape the student council has its moments, but the story is a little weak overall. Much of the trouble lies with Sawako's characterization, which occupies an awkward middle ground that is simultaneously too far over the top and not absurd enough. This segment would likely have worked better if the show had either dialed back Sawako's intensity or cranked it up into deliberately silly territory. There are at least some fun sight gags to be found, and the image of the student council trying to restrain Handa like some kind of wild animal is a particular highlight. I also appreciate the series staying true to itself by having Sawako's memory of Handa valiantly breaking her fall run up against the reality of her using him as a human shield. As always, everyone ends up liking Handa for the wrong reasons.

The episode's second half is easily the stronger of the two, and this episode makes good use of Handa's temporary personality change. This kind of setup has been used to good effect by other comedies, and it works best when there's an obvious opposite for the amnesiac character's normal attitude. In Handa's case, this means making him aware of his popularity and having him become obnoxiously overconfident. Some of bizarro-Handa's lines are right on target, but the other characters' reactions are what really make the premise work. The utter dismay of the Handa Force is as funny as you might expect, and I love that most of the other students just think he's another impostor trying to borrow Handa's popularity.

Another point in the show's favor is the way that Handa goes back to normal. The obvious solution, and the one that the episode telegraphs early and often, is to have him fall down the stairs a second time. As the guys chase Handa around with hammers in hand, you can almost feel the show counting down to his inevitable tumble. However, Handa-kun is able to upend our expectations while staying true to the spirit of the series; the realization that everyone hates him is what ultimately brings Handa's personality back to normal. Our hero returns to his old, gloomy self by rediscovering his inner pessimist, at which point the script pushes him down the stairs anyway. That's some deviously clever writing.

A fun second half does a lot to make up for this episode's lackluster opening, but the overall balance falls a little short of Handa-kun's usual standard. I wouldn't worry too much about this in the long term, as a series that focuses exclusively on comedy is bound to be a little hit-or-miss. The memory loss story offers ample reassurance that the series still knows what it's doing, and it wouldn't take much to develop Sawako into a decent supporting character somewhere down the line.

It's also worth noting that Funimation's dub of the first episode came out this week, and the early signs are reasonably promising. The script alters some dialogue here and there, but changes are generally minor and remain close to the meaning of the scene. More importantly, the humor makes it through the translation process in One Piece, and the dialogue flows naturally. The casting matches voices to roles fairly well, and the episode's opening in-joke is actually funnier after a few episodes of the “real” show. If you prefer to watch your anime comedies dubbed, the English version of Handa-kun should work just fine.

Rating: B

Handa-kun is currently streaming on Funimation.

Paul Jensen is a freelance writer and editor. You can follow more of his anime-related ramblings on Twitter.