The rock festival gets underway, but the bands have most definitely changed.
What They Say:
Bossun makes friends with a violinist while practicing for the upcoming Rock Festival, Sugisaki Ayano. He learns from her how fun music is, and in no time the curtain rises on the Kaimei Rock Festival!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While I continue to not be a huge fan of music festival episodes of school based series, Sket Dance allowed the show to have some fun the last time around by having Bossun really show some charm, emotion and quiet time while learning and talking with others. It was that rare time where you felt like he could be an interesting character if we can get below the surface a bit. It was cute to see the other two of the group end up doing their practicing and getting into the concert as well, but the believability factor of all three participating is a bit much. Of course, that’s why things do start to fall apart in this episode for the plans that some of the others have.
Switch ends up on the outside of his group after he realizes that they’re just bad otaku and don’t even really end up practicing while Himeko’s group just breaks up in general. Neither of them can believe that Bossun made it into a group and that he’s the only one of the three to really still be involved after their groups flaked out. Still, when it comes to Bossun, his focus is on his own practicing as well as explaining to the other two a bit about Sugisaki, as there’s definitely been some nice growth and understanding going on there. While it’s not as good as what we got in the previous episode, detailing her lack of confidence overall while still being quite skilled is nicely done and it gives Bossun the kind of motivation that makes sense for him in a SKET kind of way.
While it does turn naturally to having Bossun do the right thing in helping out Sugisaki, there is a good bit of music to be had here, or at least a good variety of bands that are done almost as a sideshow before getting to the main ones. Dante in particular is a lot of fun to watch as he’s completely different when on stage. Even some of the teachers get involved in a band which is comical. The student council performs well as you’d expect and there’s no real surprises in general with how the Sket Club performs as a trio considering their relationship. It’s not often we really see them all working together so completely like this, as they tend to play off each other a bit and support each other indirectly, so it’s a welcome change of pace.
In Summary:
Sket Dance handles the second half of its musical adventure pretty well and the show dealt with the material better than a lot of other ones do in general, even if everyone can play an instrument easier than the reality of it. The whole purpose turns more to Sugisaki, which isn’t a surprise considering the previous episode, but I would have liked to see Bossun be the one that needed a little help and potentially end up with a mild romantic interest for a bit since that’s a bit more high school appropriate. Still, there’s plenty to like here, though it doesn’t exactly shine in a huge way. The comedy is mild but enjoyable and I liked the expected variety and diversity of the bangs. The show continues to be one that is definitely mildly entertaining when done this way and leaves me with a few chuckles and smiles as it’s good, harmless fun.
Grade: B-
Simulcast By:
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
