So one day, like most, I was on Jason’s blog and happened to stumble across something called Hidamari Sketch. Although I’ve heard of it, I never really knew, nor did I bother finding out what it was about. But things look so different when you only other alternative is studying. So needing a break from studying, I glanced over a few brief summaries I though to myself “Hrmmm.. seems like my kinds of anime!” And so my Hidamari marathon began…
Hidamari Sketch is a slice of life anime (produced by Shaft!) about 4 students who go to this art school. They all live in a “dorm” (not so much a dorm than it is a student housing) across the street from the school. There is no real plot and no real climax, its about how the 4 friends interact. Kinda like Honey and Clover minus the serious business (Did I mention that Honey and Clover is one of my favorites?). The animetion style is… very Shaft-like different. Sometimes it’d be a normal anime, sometimes super chibi. They also mix in still shots with the anime which was annoying at first… but I got used to it. Although, It may seem boring but they depicted a student’s life (well at least my life when I was a first year student) very well. It really reminded me of my first year of university where my friends and I would eat together, have fun with the most random things, play pranks, poke fun of each other, help each other, and just spend lots of time doing nothing in particular. Of course if I were to describe my last year or two as a student, it would be closer to Honey and Clover where most of my time went towards planning and worrying about the future but freshman year was much more fun!
SHAFT = Not your every-day animation.
Aside from all the nostalgia, the quirks of the show also made it highly enjoyable:
- An enjoyable cast:
- Yuno, first year student. Very normal.
- Miyako, first year student. Energetic, loves to eat, loves to poke fun at Hiro and Sae
- Hiro, upper year student.
Sae’s lover, takes care of everyone, HAS COOL HAIR, always on a diet that never works out - Sae, upper year student.
Likes HARD YURI, intelligent, writes books for a living - Yoshinoya-sensei. The world needs moar of her!
- Phallic shaped headed principal.
- Episodes are not in chronological order. Keeps things interesting
- Random stuff
- Mailboxes usually change colours between episodes.. sometimes in between scenes as well. I don’t really understand it.
- In the same scene, if the camera zooms in on someone then zooms back out, things are sometimes different. ie : things go missing after zooming out.
- Objects will disappear right before your eyes. Not important things… but like a prop such as a doll lying on the floor will just slowly fade and disappear while someone is talking.
In the end I realize that probably only fans of SOL (slice-of-life) genre will enjoy this slow yet entertaining 12 episode anime. I have to admit that while watching I found it kinda boring at times but after finishing each episode, I would think to myself “Ahh I remember when something like that happened to me” or “Wow I did that too“. After finishing Hidamari, I ache to go back 4 years and start university all over again, not so that I could do something different. No, if I had a chance to go back in time like that …. I would of spent even more time doing absolutely nothing 
I loved Hidamari Sketch, and although it wasn’t the most exciting, it did what it had to do and deserves “The Perfect Slice” title.
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