Hidamari Sketch is to art as Yuru Yuri is to girls’ love.
They share many similarities being that they are feel-good slices-of-life. Watch either of these for comedy, not drama.
Hidamari Sketch does have yuri undertones as does Yuru Yuri but it’s much less subtle and never a constant focus. The proof is in their names.
Speaking of their names, “sketch” is a term that does imply art, specifically drawing in this case.
And Shaft is a fantastic choice of a studio, one known for its quirky, unique art direction.
The characters have an overall, cute design that can change depending on the context. For example, in more quirky moments, the characters’ eyes and heads become larger, signifying a chibi design. The coloring seems as if it was done partly with color pencils. Either way, I like it because it’s fittingly soft for such sweet characters.
The backgrounds are not to be outdone. They frequently adopt noticeable colors or gradients or shapes acting as picture frames framing the scene.
And the same can be said for objects, such as the students’ art supplies, some of which have been photographed by the studio and inserted directly into the anime. Not all of these objects are a part of the background. The characters can interact with them as Yuno often does with her teddy bear. Either way, they make for nice scavenger hunts for the viewer.
Hidamari Sketch has my favorite, overall depiction of adults in a slice-of-life. The series gives them enough screen time to let you know that they are there, but the protagonists never lose focus. In many cases, the adults share quality screen time with Yuno, Miyako, Hiro, Sae, and their fellow classmates. This is made possible because the characters essentially are content with their livelihoods. They are not emotionally oppressed by their jobs even if these jobs are not the most ideal. Subsequently, this, at least in part, allows them to develop friendships with their younger counterparts. I know many of the people of Japan are not able to relate in this aspect–that helps to explain the lack of an adult presence in much of anime, manga, etc.–but it is nice to show adults who are capable of this contentment.
I could undoubtedly say more, like about the diverse, yet appropriate soundtrack which ranges from classical to jazz to pop rock. By all means, if you’re looking for a cute slice-of-life with an art motif, give this one a try. If you like the first episode, you’ll have four seasons worth to enjoy. I’ll keep taking my time with this one because I don’t want it to end.
So, I was on YouTube and came across this future funk song by Nanidato, already a favorite of mine:
To anyone not familiar with the genre, future funk takes funk and remixes it like it is EDM. Yung Bae, my favorite artist of this genre, and his album Bae is a good start for anyone who is curious about it.
Moving on, the GIF featured in this video is from the anime Magical Angel Creamy Mami.
Creamy Mami is about a young girl, Yuu, who after seeing a spaceship is given the power to use magic for one year. She is also given 2 cats, Poji and Nega, to watch over and guide her. Using her magic powers to transform into the idol Creamy Mami, Yuu must work hard at acting, singing, helping her parents at their crepe shop, fighting aliens and bad guys, going to school, plus try to get the affections of her childhood friend Toshio.
After looking up information, I started watching immediately. I’ve seen episode one as of the time of this post.
Magical Angel Creamy Mami began to air on this day, 33 years ago in 1983. This is an anime older than I am, and it shows its age in a great way. Of course, I’m saying that because I enjoy feelings of nostalgia.
Eazy Peazy’s choice to use an animated GIF from this anime could not have been more appropriate. I can see the series’ own 80s style of pop music and production being remixed by retro artists. At times, the art style becomes abstract or otherwise exaggerated, fitting with the slapstick nature of the episode that got me to smile a few times. It’s like the music: unusual but chill.
The slapstick nature reminds me a lot of American cartoons from this era, but there is a key difference between Magical Angel Creamy Mami and them: the series contains suggestive sexual themes, such as nudity and fan service.
Protagonist Yuu is quite a cute girl who has a childlike innocence. What I find promising about her is that she already shows faults in this first episode. She is pure but also stubborn and a little cunning, like many kids are.
The anime is 52 episodes long. I’m going to watch all of it.
This will be a cross-post of sorts for a blog for my university’s newspaper where I introduce mostly slice-of-life anime primarily to newcomers.Like with Uncanny Mountains, I hope to do so in a mostly professional but still fun context.
I also still plan to create podcasts and related material in the future. Although, it may be for something other than my overview series.
Undoubtedly, the Clannad series is tied with Hachimitsu to Clover (Honey and Clover in English) for my favorite anime series ever. I’ve pondered about which series are most appropriate to discuss in an analytical context, and this masterpiece by Key Studios comes to mind. Appropriately, with Valentine’s Day in the air as of the time of this post, Clannad is a great choice for a reviewing or first-time viewing.
The story follows Okazaki Tomoya, a student who believes life is dull and will never amount to anything. He and his friend Sunohara Youhei commonly spend their days skipping school. One day, Tomoya passes a girl whispering to herself as he walks to school. “Anpan!” she exclaims (Anpan is a popular Japanese snack.). He learns her name is Furukawa Nagisa and she likes to exclaim things she likes for motivation. Nagisa then claims the two are now friends, and Tomoya passes on without acknowledgment of this statement. As Tomoya notices her more around school, he soon concedes the two are friends. Next, he learns Nagisa has been held back a year because of a severe illness and her dream is to revive the school’s drama club. He chooses to help her with this goal, along with four other girls, Sakagami Tomoyo, Fujibayashi Kyou, Ichinose Kotomi, and Ibuki Fuko. In the process, he discovers more about them and their personalities and opens his heart to life.
From left to right: Sakagami Tomoyo, Ichinose Kotomi, Furukawa Nagisa, Ibuki Fuko, and Fujibayashi Kyou. Studio: Key and Kyoto Animation.
Clannad rather fittingly is of the slice-of-life genre. A slice-of-life can be defined as a series set in a world that at least mostly parallels our own or parallels our world’s history. Specific details do not have to be the same. However, aspects such as technological advances have to somewhat closely match contemporary time or historical periods. Thus, sci-fi, fantasy, and super power series most likely are not going to be slices-of-life.
Anime newcomers may watch the first few episodes or even most of the entire first season of Clannad and may think it is flawed or such. And I would agree with them.
It is good, but it does rely on a variety of character archetypes, particularly for the heroines. This anime features the likes of a tsundere, kuudere, and dandere. For clarification, here is a link from Kotaku simply explaining what these and the other most common dere mean.
These archetypes are not surprising given the series’ source material is a dating simulator visual novel of the same name. Think of a visual novel roughly as a cross between an anime and a manga where the viewer reads and listens to dialogue and occasionally makes decisions which can affect the outcome of the story, with some exceptions.
The nice aspect of the first season is that, while many of the plot lines have expectable outcomes, there are attempts made at exploring the characters’ complexities beyond just these archetypes. I suppose director, episode director, and storyboard director Tatsuya Ishihara, who has worked on titles such as Air, InuYasha, and K-on!, and his staff did this to please fans of the visual novel who are fond of a particular heroine or heroines.
From left to right: Girl from the Illusionary World, Garbage Doll, Furukawa Nagisa, Okazaki Tomoya, Youhei Sunohara, Fujibayashi Kyou, Fujibayashi Ryou, Ibuki Fuko, Miyazawa Yukine, Ichinose Kotomi, and Sakagami Tomoyo. Artist: aZLing.
Speaking of heroines, in a series such as Clannad based on a visual novel with romantic options presented to the player, the anime adaptation generally does not follow the specific female protagonists’ paths all the way through if at all. An anime like Grisaia de Kajitsu (Alias: Le Fruit De La Grisaia) is like this. This is done for a few reasons, including for the sake of fanservice and time and budget constraints.
Clannad is unique in this regard because it does not use this formula which is one of the most common archetypes in and of itself. And, to add to this, this series is in the minority of those that continue to follow the characters after they have finished high school. There are a few Japanese societal reasons as to why this is the case, although I’ll explore that at a later time. Even before they finish high school, the female protagonists, the male protagonist, and some side characters experience growth and the aforementioned complexities that make them more dynamic than many of their counterparts in other adaptations.
I believe the trailer for the first season is an appropriate teaser about this complexity, particularly for Tomoya:
The trailer and the OP act as a good preview of the series’ music and art style.
Newcomers, one staple of contemporary anime is the characters’ large eyes. Because artists and animators cannot possible draw every facial detail (think frown lines for example) within the confines of time and budget constraints, they compensate by drawing larger eyes which are better at displaying emotion.
Music soundtracks in anime are quite diverse, just as they are in other media. Often, they depend on the animes’ genres. Since Clannad is a comedy, a drama, a romance, a slice-of-life, a school anime, and a supernatural anime, the music reflects moments where at least one genre predominates. Slice-of-life permeates nearly all of the anime, so the music is not likely to depend on it, instead choosing to depend on at least one other genre accompanying slice-of-life when it is present. The overall genre of the original soundtrack (OST) loosely can be described as pop with elements of orchestral music and EDM.
In the first trailer, which is a reflection of the drama and the supernatural aspects, the song is rather melancholic with its use of synthesizer, string instruments, and percussion set in a minor key. You just would not expect something like mid- to high-tempo EDM in such scenes reflecting these genres.
However, you would in moments which have a similar romantic mood as the OP, along with the aforementioned instruments generally played in a major key. This also applies to scenes where comedy and school-life dominate, especially when they are intertwined.
From left to right: Furukawa Akio, Furukawa Sanae, Sunohara Youhei, Fujibayashi Ryou, Furukawa Nagisa, Fujibayashi Kyou, Okazaki Tomoya, Ichinose Kotomi, Ibuki Fuko, and Sakegami Tomoyo. Artist: KairiHearts.
Clannad After Story, the second season, in my opinion, is where the anime shines brighter than all other dramatic, romantic slices-of-life I’ve seen so far, excluding one. Hachimitsu to Clover is tied with it. I’ll definitely talk more about that anime later. The direction of the art, music, and writing come together in such a way that it had my friends and myself emotionally invested at a level we did not think an anime was capable of doing when we first saw it six years ago. This is what sparked my interest in anime and for slice-of-life in particular.
I could say more about Clannad and why I’ve seen it at least seven times, but then, I’d begin to spoil it for you. For those out there who are new to anime or the dramatic, romantic slice-of-life genre, I recommend Clannad and Clannad After Story. You probably will not finish or even begin it by Valentine’s Day, but, by all means, take your time with it if you decide to watch it. I hope you enjoy it.
And to veterans of the genre (or the series), I think it could be worth a (re)view for this time of year. I hope you enjoy doing so, as well.
Newcomers, I also recommend the Japanese dub with English subs over the English dub if you don’t mind reading the subtitles. Some characters’ names and other words are pronounced incorrectly in the English dub. I am not sure how the English licensing studio allowed this…
I discovered Amagami SS and Amagami SS+ about three to four months ago through an online friend. He knew (and knows) of my fondness for the slice-of-life genre, and I believe he recommended it to me because of how much I love the Clannad series.
I’ve watched five seasons so far. I’ve watched the first season and the first fourth of the second season twice so far.
Typically, this would be a great deal of time to spend on just one series, although, Teekyuu does not use exactly the same formula as your typical comedic slice-of-life.
Uncanny Mountains 