Post number 3 and were back on Anime reviews, next up is Hidamari Sketch.

Hidamari Sketch is about a group of four Art Students talking to each other.......... That’s it.
Yes were back to the genre where it’s hard to really get a grip on a narrative when there’s nothing other than four girls talking to each other, Lucky Star was the same and it was started by Azumanga Daioh but what makes these shows strong is the world around them and the secondary characters they communicate with and the situations they get themselves into, basically life from the perspective of school students and it’s more effective with female characters.
In this story it’s from the perspective of the four tenants of the Hidamari Apartments next to the school grounds, a typical episode would pick a date and see what happens with the four characters.
Our rousing quartet, are as follows.
Yuno: The sweet girl who clearly looks the youngest with a lack of self confidence, most episodes are shown through her perspective and is always the one to start and finish the episode. Start in bed, finish in the bath with a bath bomb.
Miyako: The energy of the group, who is short on money but big on appetite; expect most of the comedy to come from her.
Hiro: The motherly type who never shuts up about her weight. (It’s an outdated trope cut it out)
Sae: The stoic hard worker who has a little bit of a crush on Hiro, but is easily rattled and embarrassed by her friends.
As most of these shows tend to take place in school we need some teachers and they are.
Miss Yoshinoya: An art teacher with an obsession for cosplay and very young at heart but not that professional and has a tendency to play act the sex victim. (No I don’t understand either)
The Principal: An old man who looks like a Moai head, he spends his time pondering the benefits of school life and punishing Miss Yoshinoya for her unprofessional behaviour.
The Landlord: While not a teacher, she is worthy of noting, she brings gifts to her tenants and is a no nonsense hard smoker/hard worker type.
Ume-Sensei: The artist avatar of creator Aoki Ume, doesn’t do much but appear on screen.
The show itself has a bright optimistic feel to it with well timed comedy thanks to the chibi style art used in gags and actually having interesting topics to talk about, the anime’s shining moments comes when the art direction dives into photo realism when switching scenes and completely nails it when we get to Yuno’s hallucination dreams when she gets sick.
I know this genre really has it’s haters but it’s one of those shows that is relaxing to watch; it’s non offensive, it never over blows the characters personalities, it doesn’t let its own universal rules control the show, it focuses purely on the characters, it’s genuinely funny and most importantly it gets rid of stress.
There isn’t a dub for this anime but I don’t think it needs one; there is a season 2 as well so I may revisit this anime in the future.
Final Verdict: Probably the most enjoyment you can have out of such a simplistic plot.