Hidamari Sketch

First off, the only school animes I've ever enjoyed were Azumanga Daioh! and Lucky Star. Both had their own unique quirks, in both character and presentation, that made them really enjoyable and drove the plot... As for Hidamari Sketch, I felt as though everything was just trying too hard.

It's as though the writer(s) knew what they were up against when it came to the popularity of Azu and Lucky and just tried to go all out with their adaptation of this series. Sure there were many interesting ways of showing certain emotions and the faux-3D scenes etc. but I felt the character design and emotions ... were too on par with Lucky/Azu. Maybe this series is just trying to find a niche in an already niched up place and thats its true downfall.

I dont even know why I took the effort for this review...all in all I would only recommend this to someone that has never seen the famous two...

Hidamari Sketch commits to the idea of slow television, or at least the anime equivalent of it, which to some might be a good thing, but true to its name, slow television is sluggish, my eyes, ears, and thoughts all move much faster than the onscreen characters, and it leaves me wanting more. Within a slice of life where ‘nothing’ happens, enough has to actually happen to keep me focused and engaged with the characters, but Hidamari doesn’t quite do that.

It’s not a bad anime by any means, the basic components are still functional enough, I’ve certainly seen a whole lot worse, but if there ... is a single issue I have, it is that of the main cast, nobody is of any particular interest. Yuno is okay, I guess, but she’s not got any memorable lines, and for a supposed comedy, there is a considerable absence of any real jokes, an issue compounded by the fact most the jokes you do see are just kanji puns, which of course, don’t make any sense when they’re translated. Compared to Lucky Star for instance, you had various archetypes, which while basic, worked well with each other, making one main character an otaku, and another a hard worker is going to create humorous interactions, but nobody in Hidamari Sketch has any distinctive traits, and while you can compartmentalise them, a lot of the time, they end up slipping into the roles of each other – Sae is meant to be ‘the shy one who gets embarrassed easily’, but Yuno acts embarrassed in the exact same manner plenty of times, which means none of them are hugely distinct. When it comes down to it, the most memorable character was the teacher, whose performance seemed to have a whole lot more energy put into it than any of the main cast, which certainly isn’t a good thing, considering she’s a side character.

In actuality, these flaws are not major, while they aren’t something that can be entirely ignored, they also aren’t something that I should give more prominence than is necessary. Hidamari Sketch certainly does a better job than most at providing a relaxing atmosphere, the characters are not particularly distinctive or expressive compared to most anime, but that is because it would conflict with the overall aesthetic of the show, which is to provide a relaxing atmosphere, and it does that well, the colour palette, the seiyuus’ enunciation, and the music, which is probably the best part of the show, all contributes to a calming atmosphere. Hidamari Sketch is an anime you could have an easy time falling asleep to, whether or not that is a bad thing depends entirely on what it is you want from it. And that summarises it rather well, the characters aren’t that great, the comedy even less so, but it’s definitely relaxing, I wasn’t particularly impressed, but it is good at what it does, and maybe if you’re some crackhead who wants to watch anime and try and sleep at the same time, maybe you’ll like Hidamari Sketch more than I did.