Anyway, this entry is about Hidamari Sketch, the latest in a relatively long list of anime I watch and enjoy that nobody in this country has even heard about.
The show is like Lucky Star and Manabi Straight in the sense that there's nothing going on, and you're really only exposed to the core cast members. However, the show, for me, has a different tone.
You know how some blogs don't seem to be about anything at all? Most blogs don't have a given topic or focal point, unless the person writing the blog counts as a focal point. They tend to shift from topic to topic, paying attention to whatever it was that caught the attention of the person controlling the blog as the post was being made. Or something like that. In any case, bloggers don't seem to really pay much attention to the overall direction of their blogs (like me), and just hammer away whatever seemed worth writing down at the time.
Watching Hidamari Sketch is sort of like that, in that the show has no direction. Describing it as "slice of life" is highly accurate because it really is a "slice of life" show. There's nothing going on, no attempts at comedy, no goal that begins to manifest among the cast. Nothing. Just the literal daily goings-on in the lives of the cast, though most of the events tend to center around the heart of the show, Yuno. She's the one with the 'X' shaped hair clip thing. It might as well be some sort of collective blog for the four cast members. It doesn't help much that each episode literally only takes place in a day - with each episode having a specific date.
That being said, the show is quite cute. For a show that beats Seinfeld (and I honestly don't find anything about that show remotely likable) at its own game of being "a show about nothing," Hidamari Sketch is adorable. Yes, it is highly niche and unlikely to be aired anywhere outside of Japan, let alone be appreciated by the Narutards and the Bleachheads that seem to dominate the population of anime fans. Yes, there's really nothing going on other than things that could easily happen to any other person. Yet I can't help myself. The show is just adorable.
Watching the show is like reading a well-written, regularly updated blog. Sure, the things contained are mundane and ordinary. Maybe some of the things there could even happen to the viewer/reader. Yet, it doesn't matter, because like a good blog, Hidamari Sketch manages to become more than the sum of the parts that make it up. It isn't outright comedy and it isn't dramatic and there's no plot to be hooked into, but that's probably what makes it so inviting to watch. The show is relaxing.
Very relaxing.
It isn't something I'd recommend to other fans, or to those who've never watched a single anime in their entire lives. It isn't something that is going to become a huge hit and have merchandise for it being made years from now. And I'm fine with that. Most shows like the second one tend to be complete and utter garbage anyway.
I'll just enjoy "reading" Hidamari Sketch, and let my mind take a break before I delve into the madness and conspiracy of Code Geass R2.
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