Takao Kawafuji (川藤 鷹生 Kawafuji Takao) is Seishuu's friend who takes care of his calligraphy and other needs.
Personality[]
Although he looks pretty carefree, he takes his job seriously as Seishuu's art dealer. He's a nice guy who helps out Seishuu and sometimes even gets worried for him. However, he admits he considers Seishuu as someone he makes his money from first before considering him a friend. He can also be strict as he told Seishuu he wouldn't give Seishuu sympathy when he punched the museum curator when he said harsh words about Seishuu's work since the curator he punched was an old man using a cane. He also seems to have a temper which becomes more ferocious and volatile when he is drunk. He can also be shrewd as shown through his negotiation with Naru to have her show him and Kosuke where Seishuu was and by his use of Kosuke as a rival for Seishuu to motivate him to get better at calligraphy. He is an insightful friend to Seishuu as he understands that coming to the island will be good for him as it will help him search for his purpose and style as a calligrapher.
Overview[]
Handa-kun: Middle School to High School Days[]
It was revealed on Episode 3 of Handa-kun that he and Seishuu were friends from middle school and met during their middle school entrance ceremony. He later described Seishuu as excited to meet someone else who loved calligraphy and that he was an "oddball", though they got along great regardless. But one day, when he thought that his crush was confessing her love towards him, she instead told him she loved Seishuu, and told Kawafuji to give her letter to him. He then lied to Seishuu that she actually hated him and that he was ugly, and was telling everyone, specifically that he was a "letter-writing, narcissistic brush face". This left Seishuu in shock and took it as a serious matter, even though Kawafuji told him later it was all just a joke and he has a love letter dedicated to Seishuu. But he didn't listen and was left thinking everyone hated him.
In their High School days, Kawafuji decided to undo what happened in the past and start all over again in High School by helping Seishuu conquer his fears amongst other peers. He wanted to tell him how popular he was, but he decided to leave it for later, as he was enjoying himself watching Seishuu being so oblivious to his obvious and widespread popularity. During a festival, when Seishuu was forced to go up on stage in front of the whole school, Kawafuji decided to go up on stage and tell the whole school he was friends with Seishuu, and also tell Seishuu how much the school admired him.
Seishuu was shocked and annoyed his best friend was just teasing him and that the school actually loved him.
Barakamon[]
6 years later, he now works for Seishuu as an art dealer. He later on comes to the village with Kosuke because he thinks Seishuu is searching for something and he probably doesn't know what that thing is. In order for a person to mature they need a rival, so he brought Kosuke with him.
Trivia[]
- Even though he likes to drink he cannot hold down his liquor.
- He is a smoker.
- He met Seishuu in middle school.
- He might be slightly perverted because he mentioned how he might like Naru in ten years.
- He prefers mature women.
- He says considers Seishuu a money tree first and a friend second. However, he truly cares for Seishuu.
- He has two tattoos, one on each arm. The one on his left is a hawk and the one on the right is a sun.
- The Hawk tattoo might be a reference to his own name, as "Taka" (鷹) is "hawk" in Japanese.