Handa-kun follows Sei Handa, a high school calligraphy prodigy who is convinced that everyone around him hates him. In reality, he is the most admired student on campus, known for his unmatched calligraphy, striking looks, and unnervingly cool demeanor. Because Handa misreads every gesture as ridicule or mockery, the praise he receives from classmates only pushes him further into isolation, even as he tries to keep his distance from the people who idolize him. The more Handa avoids attention, the more attention he gets. Classmates and fans swarm around him, certain that every awkward reaction and accidental remark only proves how exceptional he is. Fashion models, shut-in delinquents, obsessive fangirls, and other oddballs are pulled into the chaos, turning ordinary school life into a nonstop chain of escalating misunderstandings. The comedy of Handa-kun comes from the gap between Handa's self-image and the cult of personality that has formed around him, as his desperate attempts to disappear keep making him even more impossible to ignore.
