Slice of life at its finest. As Lucky Star was ending, a friend and I went looking through the Fall 2007 lineup to see what series would be best to replace it in terms of random, simple “it’s funny because it’s true” humor. Based on the blurbs we read about sketchbook we felt confident it would provide a good coasting off the high that was Lucky Star.
We were half-wrong, I guess … as Sora and her friends definitely weren’t hyper otaku, and nobody was particularly GAR in the series. But everyone was surely random, including puppeteers, sempais who traverse up and down curtains, teachers owning chickens, a quirky duo, and one of the best gaijins you’ll ever know. Plus cats! Oh how the cats made this series awesome.
Synopsis
One high school’s art club meets regularly after school and schedules trips for sketching scenes of nature. They have various interactions (often with each other) along the way and just enjoy their hobby. Sora, the lead character, slowly grows from super shy to … a little bit less shy. And everyone has awesome cats.
That’s about it. ^_^ No saving the world necessary. No deeply entrenched romance. No murder mystery or angsty pasts. And when you watch this series you discover: you don’t need it. Every now and then a simple “Ahh.. this is relaxing” feeling is wanted, and Sketchbook provides just that.
Thoughts
The characterization is wide, with fans loving at least somebody from the series. I ended up liking the funnier ones more, like Kate. When facing a slice of life series, you just have to enjoy life, and that would be laughing at normal things or the simple pleasures. Of course nobody has to be boring; everyone needs some quirks in order to make good TV. But they aren’t necessarily over-the-top quirks. While I do think Kate’s accent is rather exaggerated, the humor driven by it is very appealing. And I, too, smirk at the thought of the word ガソリン (gasoline) having three katakana that look rather similar (at least in handwriting). Gaijin characters amuse me also because I can understand half the things they say (because it’s in English) and perhaps where they’re coming from (translation challenges).
And maybe it’s just me, but Kate is drawn just slightly differently from all the other Japanese natives. I can’t tell exactly what it is. I always thought the shape of her chin or cheek, but I can’t get a definite. Speaking of artwork, this series does very well at that, using soft tones that are easy on the eyes and reflect the calm mood of the story.
The soundtrack is one of my favorites, and I have looped it many a time while doing homework or tutoring friends. All the tracks are gentle; many are piano-based and slow-tempo. They truly capture the slice-of-life atmosphere of the series, and I feel myself as calm as Sora and her friends when doing my work. ….most of the time at least. I’d probably rather be sketching than calculating Riemann sums, even though I’m better at the latter.
Sora’s progression from shy to assertive is sweet and simple. It doesn’t take any real miracle to change her. She’s just found her place in a club she enjoys, and the cast of characters, which all seemed rather eccentric and beyond her at first, slowly became her best friends. And she got used to them as they got used to her. And before you know it, there was a real community growing in that club that now included Sora. So being more assertive towards your friends is natural. It’s cute that all she really did at the end was call out a name across the street. It wasn’t even speaking in front of a student assembly. It’s just something that others do almost every day, but it was a significant step for her.
The cats are unforgettable. I’m a cat person in general, so anime cats are even better, especially if they have their own world on the streets of this town and speaking cat-Japanese. It’s fun to wonder how they attain general knowledge of geography and technology .. while not grasping other concepts related to the plot. Oh well, at least it keeps you interested. And I find all their antics just great. And Buchi’s English rocks. I’m glad Mike and Haa were able to get a fresh meal from Sora in the end, although it wasn’t them that finally communicated that fact to her.
Should it get a sequel? Nah, it ended on a great note and doesn’t need it. A Kate OVA, though? Yes, please. Perhaps more of her going shopping .. or reading items off a menu in a restaurant. Or trying to teach a class because the resident English teacher was out sick that day.
Sketchbook will go down as a series for all ages and for all families and for all starters of anime as a short, 1-cour breather between two longer, tougher series. Relaxing to anime can be just as fun as being on the edge of your seat to it.
~Crisu
I also had a crush on Makino Yui during this series because of the ED and her soft voice and cute little face. And how her song blends in to the last few seconds of each episode. I love those transitions; most Shakugan no Shana episodes do that.
Ack! And I forgot Minamo, the lolicious photographer. I don’t care for the puppy, but Minamo has spirit. Also, it’s the camera. I love pictures myself, as I can do those much better than manually sketching things. I enjoyed the beeping noise as every shot was carefully focused.
<333 This series is pure win. Sora-chan really grew on me after a while. I sort of got a few Sora-crushing-on-Negishi-kun vibes from time to time, but maybe that’s just me. ^_^;; I also loved the cats, nyan~ ^_^
You know that Makino Yui voiced Hazuki, right? It’s interesting to compare that to how she sounds when she sings. :P
I think I’d like to watch this. Assuming I can find it. ^_^;