Hidamari Sketch 365
Hidamari Sketch x365 is definitely a difficult show to really review and talk about. It is essentially without any real plot or even overreaching ideas. At its core, it’s just about watching these girls at different times throughout the year as it bounces around and we see how they’re slowly growing and interacting with each other. There aren’t any big events and most of the time not even small events. It’s about going to class, having meals, walking to the convenience store and talking about sometimes inane little things. The art side makes some decent appearances here and there but even then it’s often not a central focus.
One nice piece to this season is that it does spend some time with the start of the school year when Yuno made it through her exams and started there. The exam side is cute to watch as she stresses mildly over it and gets the support of her parents. We also get to see her first visit to the Hidamari Apartments and meeting with Hiro and Sae. The two of them are trying to take a new view on being the older students and their memories of their sempai who has now moved on has them wanting to be the best seniors to them that they can be. It’s all very laid back and cute as they start having meals together, getting introduced to the area around the apartments and getting into the groove of being on their own and showing their own particular quirks.
Like the first season, it does jump around a lot here to different dates to tell the tales. The sports day event is fun as we see them all showing their skills in different ways as they try to win out over the other classes. Yuno takes the focus here as she’s the most unskilled athletically yet she ends up as the anchor in the relay race. The competitions are things we usually see and there are definitely cute bits to it as they either struggle to do things well or they have to cope with Yoshinoya getting involved. She has a great scene as she tries to take down the principal in the three man match where the teachers ride around on the kids shoulders while trying to get the flags off others. Yoshinoya in general is her usual outlandish and quirky self when she does things but she continues to be really nicely balanced by the nervous principal who does admit that she is a good teacher, just one that he’s trying to make sure becomes a great teacher.
One thing that’s becoming a little more common is the use of Sae’s younger sister, Chika. Chika’s more like Sae than she cares to admit so the two rub up against each other a lot, especially since Chika resents that her sister got to leave while Sae dislikes the way Chika seems to fit in so easily in some ways. Chika definitely does that though as the other three girls get along with her and encourage her a lot as she does her own entrance exams and is getting ready for that next stage of life. There’s some good camaraderie that comes of it, especially from Yuno and Miya as they just did the whole big change themselves recently and it has them reflecting on their own experiences and the positive that came from it, especially in living at Hidamari and the friends they made.
Chris Beveridge
Chris has been writing about anime, manga, movies and comics for well on twenty years now. He began AnimeOnDVD.com back in 1998 and has covered nearly every anime release that’s come out in the US ever since.
He likes to write a lot, as you can see.
