[SIZE="6"]Hidamari Sketch (ひだまりスケッチ)[/SIZE]
Hidamari Sketch is about a bunch of high school students who are attending a high school specializing in art. This particular bunch are from out of town and live in the Hidamari Apartments, right across the street from the school. We'll be following them as they live the student life, going to school, rushing assignments, pulling all-nighters, and dropping in on each other, having meals, and stuff like randomly finding a bike and taking it for a ride.
Hidamari Sketch is a 4-panel strip drawn and written by Aoki Ume, pictured here:
No, really, that caterpillar thing is credited as Ume-sensei and is voiced by Aoki Ume herself.
So what's so interesting about Hidamari Sketch? As another 4-koma strip about high school girls doing stuff, it's very similar to Azumanga Daioh. The humour is less weird (which isn't to say it's not absent of its own type of weirdness) and there's a lot more life-y stuff. Even though they're in high school, I feel like it captures what it's like to be living with a bunch of friends, with the random drop-ins and shenanigans that go on. A lot of people say this about Honey and Clover, but I don't think my student life has ever been at that level of poverty (thank goodness), so Hidamari Sketch is much more relevant to me.
Hidamari Sketch is produced by SHAFT and directed by Akiyuki Shinbo of weird shots and stills and budgetary constraints fame. I mentioned in the SZS thread that it's interesting to see Shinbo's style applied to other contexts, and this is one of them. Ever wondered what a slice of life comedy would look like with SZS style direction? Well, here you go. Don't be surprised when you see symbols (X) standing in for characters and other weirdness. Another interesting style note is Aoki Ume's trademark widefaces.
In keeping with the slice of life theme, the series is actually not in chronological order. Each episode corresponds to a calendar day (say, March 13). Since there's no overarching plot, the order doesn't really matter, OR DOES IT? The details are pretty fun to watch out for because of this. For example, the caterpillar (not Ume-sensei) is a pretty obvious detail to watch out for as you go along. Wikipedia conveniently has the correct order, but watch out, because there is some year-overlapping going on. Some guys over at the Megatokyo forums also started a "calendar-style" watching of Hidamari, where you watch the corresponding episode on the actual day of the year (watching the June 7 episode on June 7 and so forth). Obviously, it'll take a long time to watch it this way, but it's a really cool way to rewatch it.
In terms of personal preference, I think it's my favourite 4-koma adaptation. It definitely beats out Lucky Star for me and I think I might enjoy it more than Azumanga Daioh. Like I mentioned before, there's something about the unique experience of living together with your friends (hey, a box of random food arrived today, let's bring it over to [friend]'s place) that resonates with me that makes me enjoy it more than other similar series. Not to mention the fact that I am a huge fan of Shinbo's weird direction style (I love Bakemonogatari, ef, and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei).
So, about acquisition. Everything that has come out has been fansubbed. The series recently got a license announcement from Sentai Filmworks and you can expect the first season to be available on DVD on January 12. The manga has been licensed by Yen Press, which has seen some volumes released already.
So what is there? There's Hidamari Sketch, the first season, which aired in winter 2007 with two extra DVD episodes. Then there's the second season which aired in summer 2008, Hidamari Sketch ×365, which also had one DVD episode (Hidamari Sketch ×365 EX) and two special TV episodes which aired in October. The third season, Hidamari Sketch ×☆☆☆ (pronounced Hoshimitsu, or ほしみっつ), will be airing in winter 2010.
The holidays are the perfect time to watch this delightful show (which actually starts off around this time of year) so you can be ready in January to join us in this thread in anticipation for ×☆☆☆.
