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.
