Sket Dance - TV Tokyo's "Secret Samaritan" Anime

[KLevin26]

Coming this April is one of TV Tokyo's Shonen Jump titles.

A group of kids form this organization in highschool, which the sole purpose is solving whatever problems the kids may have (big or small). And yeah, you can bet there'll be lots of misadventures. The organization? Sket Brigade

Here's a synopsis by ANN

At Kaimei High School, the Living Assistance Club (aka the Sket Brigade) was organized to help students with problems big or small. Most of the time, though, they hang out in their club room, bored, with only a few trivial problems floating in every once in a while. In spite of this, they still throw all their energy into solving these worries.

---

CR Stream (http://www.crunchyroll.com/sket-dance)
Official Site (http://sketdance.jp/)
TV Tokyo's Site (http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/sketdance/)
ANN Entry (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=12089)

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[Westlo]

It's really a good manga.. and has a surprisingly emotional punch @ times when it delves into the past of the main trio.. but this just comes across as a very cheap production.. (like most of the money went to AKB48 & The Pillows for the OP and ED) and most SJ manga tend to start out slow..

The main trio have good chemistry and once you start to get the main reoccurring characters involved like Momoka (omg marina inoue <3), Roman (Ai Kayano, will be big within 2-3 years imo) + the Student Council things really become fun.

I just don't think much people here will give it a chance or if they do give up after an episode or two, don't really blame them if is a cheap production as well as seeing how packed this Spring season is.

Oh well as long as it boosts the sales of the manga and keeps it running in Jump for a few more years yet I'm happy...

[Fencedude]

Please put that in your OP post

[KLevin26]

Please put that in your OP post

I see, thanks for the heads up. I'll remember that next time.

[HitokiriShadow]

Not a bad first episode. It obviously wasn't the big thug that was dropping the paint, but I didn't see that twist coming. Though I probably should have.

Himeko is pretty fun, Switch is kind of amusing (the Tomokazu Sugita voice helps), and Bossu is okay. So far, no one in the cast is annoying me, so that's a good start.

The show isn't exactly blowing me away, but it didn't do anything wrong, its just.... severely lacking in the kinds of things that keep me watching. The episode's story was a decent intro though. I can certainly give this a few more episodes for more characters to get introduced and hope that they live up to Westlo's hype.

[TAS]

The show isn't exactly blowing me away, but it didn't do anything wrong, its just.... severely lacking in the kinds of things that keep me watching.
It kind of felt like a lame copy of Okamisan (even a catapult in the ED) with nothing at all special about the first episode. I'll give it a couple more eps, but I may drop it due to excessive meh.

[Westlo]

The show isn't exactly blowing me away, but it didn't do anything wrong, its just.... severely lacking in the kinds of things that keep me watching.
It kind of felt like a lame copy of Okamisan (even a catapult in the ED) with nothing at all special about the first episode. I'll give it a couple more eps, but I may drop it due to excessive meh.

Urrgh it's much better than that show, Okamisan had a horrible lead male character... I think people will like episode 4 and 5 of this show.. if you can get past episodes 2 and 3. I'm personally a much bigger fan of the characters introduced in 4 and 5 and I doubt many people here will think different.

[Westlo]

I enjoyed these chapters more than I did when reading the manga, I think it's a combination of knowing the characters better as well as the great vocal work. The pacing was quite good and I think the animation for the show works really well. Really liking that AKB48 OP and the Pillows ED is nice too.

I was also very happy too see that they are looking to animate 2 chapters an episode, it avoids the mistake of other adaptions like say To Love Ru off animating one chapter and than extending it. I thought that was going to be the case with Sket Dance too so I'm glad to see it avoiding that pitfall... And they're also chapter shuffling which is a good thing.. Samurai was chapter 4 and the Ape was chapter 2 in the manga. Next week will be 5 and 6... <3 Momoka.

Hope you guys stick around to see why it won a Shogakukan Manga Award!

[Fencedude]

Urrgh it's much better than that show, Okamisan had a horrible lead male character...

Hey, Ryouko was awesome!

[bear]

.. I think people will like episode 4 and 5 of this show.. if you can get past episodes 2 and 3. I'm personally a much bigger fan of the characters introduced in 4 and 5 and I doubt many people here will think different.

On that recommendation, I'll have to try one more episode. The last two weren't horrible, but were sort of boring (I didn't even finish the "Ape").

[Westlo]

.. I think people will like episode 4 and 5 of this show.. if you can get past episodes 2 and 3. I'm personally a much bigger fan of the characters introduced in 4 and 5 and I doubt many people here will think different.

On that recommendation, I'll have to try one more episode. The last two weren't horrible, but were sort of boring (I didn't even finish the "Ape").

What I thought would be Episode 4 is actually going to be Episode 3, Momoka ftw. The first reoccurring character I really liked... the second I really like gets introduced like the next chapter.. and will hopefully be Episode 4.

Did you at least see Himeko in dat cheerleading outfit?

[HitokiriShadow]

Anything directly involving Himeko was somewhat amusing, everything else.... ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz....

Oh, I guess the teacher saying "Shit!" in English was good for a chuckle.

[something]

Episode 1:

That wasn't bad at all. And I'm very glad the transfer student seems to be a one-off - he just didn't seem remotely quirky enough to fit in with the three Sket-dan members and I was not looking forward to seeing the story through his eyes.

The lovely Onihime is, of course, the best. I really like Shiraishi Ryouko here.

Will definitely watch more.

[Westlo]

The lovely Onihime is, of course, the best. I really like Shiraishi Ryouko here.

I think her and Switch's VA are absolutely perfect for their roles, wouldn't switch them for anybody.

Though the performance I'm really looking forward to is that of Ai Kiyano, I thought she is a star in the making ever since I saw she was a fresh face after watching the first episode of Yumekui Merry. Her character in this show is... well it's best to experience it.

[HitokiriShadow]

Though the performance I'm really looking forward to is that of Ai Kiyano, I thought she is a star in the making ever since I saw she was a fresh face after watching the first episode of Yumekui Merry. Her character in this show is... well it's best to experience it.

Oh, she has a role in this show? Very nice news. I was going to give this show at least a few more episodes anyway, but that's certainly a good reason to keep going. Have to at least see what her character here is like.

[something]

Episode 2:

Still liking it. It can be a little too uh, loud at times (everyone is constantly yelling) but all three members of the Sket-dan are fun. And Himeko is fucking awesome. Especially in a sexy cheerleader outfit. <3

Side note: I can't see the logo without thinking of Bleach.

Another side note: It's kind of funny, I can't watch a Shounen Jump anime adaptation the same way anymore after seeing Bakuman.

[Westlo]

Though the performance I'm really looking forward to is that of Ai Kiyano, I thought she is a star in the making ever since I saw she was a fresh face after watching the first episode of Yumekui Merry. Her character in this show is... well it's best to experience it.

Oh, she has a role in this show? Very nice news. I was going to give this show at least a few more episodes anyway, but that's certainly a good reason to keep going. Have to at least see what her character here is like.

I think her character will be episode 4, just depends if they shuffle.

[TAS]

Urrgh it's much better than that show, Okamisan had a horrible lead male character... I think people will like episode 4 and 5 of this show.. if you can get past episodes 2 and 3. I'm personally a much bigger fan of the characters introduced in 4 and 5 and I doubt many people here will think different.
Maybe if your a big Shounen Jump fan. But after 2 episodes I'll have to disagree, this show is just loud. All they do is yell and run around.

[Westlo]

I realize you won't be watching this show long enough to see them but I assure you nothing in that mediocre show compares to the back stories of the main trio in the sket Dan. Said backstories not really typical wsj but whatever.

[Westlo]

Another side note: It's kind of funny, I can't watch a Shounen Jump anime adaptation the same way anymore after seeing Bakuman.

Hah true, Bakuman also seems to get referred too a lot when we argue about the WSJ TOCs on some manga forums.

[Suwako Moriya]

Ah, so we seem to be getting a variation on the "X" of the week theme. Except this time, it doesn't involve giving a speech to a random monster. Although we still ended up getting a fight scene anyway.

So far Himeko seems to be the main reason if any to keep watching this. Not that the other two guys are bad. It's just that err do I have to explain it?

In any case, I think the members of SKET are the scary ones....

[KLevin26]

Ah, so we seem to be getting a variation on the "X" of the week theme. Except this time, it doesn't involve giving a speech to a random monster. Although we still ended up getting a fight scene anyway.

So far Himeko seems to be the main reason if any to keep watching this. Not that the other two guys are bad. It's just that err do I have to explain it?

In any case, I think the members of SKET are the scary ones....

Well, give it a few episodes. Maybe you may grow to like it.

But as for #2, that guy seems like an idiot lol. With that "self-proclaimed" samurai wannabe.

[bear]

Ok, I haven't cared much for the show but this one managed to crack me up. The first section with Saotome was a riot with the satire on the old style shoujo manga. Bossun being able to draw while the manga "artist" was a good bit also. Loved the "Otome filter" and they're breaking of the fourth wall was well done.

Second bit wasn't quite as funny but the running Pelocanpop bit is starting to grow on me.

[EmperorBrandon]

The latest two episodes have kept my interest in the series a little after the first two bored me thoroughly, with some more interesting side characters finally (wonder if the series will continue to have its sharp ups and downs in that regard). Ep. 3 had Onihime focus which interested me and the delinquent wannabe girl and her sidekicks were actually decently amusing. Roman this episode is so amusingly quirky with her shoujo manga-isms. Interesting to see that Merry's seiyuu Sakura Ayane voicing the post-ED school girl, since Isana's (and Menma's) seiyuu Kayano Ai voiced Roman here. Wonder if we'll see her getting more big roles at some point as I like her voice too.

[something]

Yikes, dead thread for this show. I was going to start a separate ep 3 subthread since nobody else had, but no point now I guess - because all I really have to say is, Satou Satomi's softball girl was very cute, and fuck yeah Inoue Marina as Momoka! Here'e hoping she stays in love with Himeko the whole time.

As for episode four, Roman was very cute. Dumb, but cute enough to make it tolerable. The second part was okayish, I'm just sad it didn't have more Chiaki.

[something]

Episode 5:

Student journalists are always so irresponsible in anime.

The real point of the episode, though, is introducing the student council. The angry-looking short-haired guy is going to get tiresome fast. I like the others so far though.

[something]

Episode 6:

- Momoka is so cute... especially when she's looking troubled as her unsavory past is brought up. But I'm torn. She's lovely, but brings along three incredibly annoying bitches.
- Yeah, Sasuke is irritating. But Unyuu is looove.

- So student council are beign jerks and SketDan needs to put on a successful play to keep their club going etc etc.
- More importantly, moe moe Momokaaaaaaa! And Lum Momokaaaaaa!

Yay, that's what this show needed. Something more than constant yelling and overreaction gags. It's not been bad, but Momoka and Himeko practically confessing during the puppet show was way better than anything else so far. Totally made me tear up some.

I WANT MY HIMEKO x MOMOKA NOWWWWW! (yeah yeah I know it's obviously Himeko x Bossun)

[something]

Episode 7:

- Plot of this episode is a rather common one. Guy is friends with a girl, but only communicates via email/phone/letter/text and now she wants to meet. Guy is nothing like how he describes self to girl. Guy tries to get a stand-in, thinks get weird, guy is found out, girl liks guy for who he is, happily after ever.
- But, yay, another cute girl. Momoka, Roman, Chiaki, now Misaki. Getting a nice cast of cute girls together, though I don't know if Misaki will be a recurring character.
- Hahaha, okay this is nice. Bossun's mom, and sister, Rumi (add her to the cute girls list) see him on the "date". I'm not a big fan of his sister's voice though. Kashiwagi Yuki is her name... ah, she's part of the AKB48-spinoff group that sings the OP. So she's obviously just in the show because of that, since she's clearly not a seiyuu. Actually, I kinda feel like most young-idols-turned-temporary-seiyuu-for-promotional-purposes end up sounding like this. Like they're trying, but just not... succeeding.

- The date goes okay, and Misaki knew the whole time that Bossun wasn't "Koutarou". She's also off to America to get an operation... yeah that's about how it goes.
- But Misaki going to America... I guess we won't see her again any time soon.
- The ending here was good though. I don't care about Tetsu but when he screamed "Ganbare!" that was actually really nice. And I like how Switch commented on having to clean up all the confetti. :sd: I was thinking "man that's major littering" the whole time.

Ooh, next ep is Momoka-focused! Momoka is becoming a seiyuu!

And in less exciting news, we'll meet that guy who looks exactly like an old Harima Kenji.

[nakimushi]

Episode 6:

Yay, that's what this show needed. Something more than constant yelling and overreaction gags. It's not been bad, but Momoka and Himeko practically confessing during the puppet show was way better than anything else so far. Totally made me tear up some.


I agree. The show had been fun (although my primary enjoyment until this point was Shiraishi Ryoko's Himeko - I love her tomboy voice), but this episode and the following both finally added story-lines with some very welcome emotional depth. A bit sappy, but I like sappy when it is done well. :)

[FUNiOP]

So yeah, I've been watching this. I've heard it called "Gintama Lite", which is pretty accurate, but also extremely generous. Not that it's bad or anything, but it's nowhere near Gintama-level.

Anyway, this time Momoka becomes a seiyuu by practicing with Switch's unusual anime collection. It was amusing to see an episode of an anime (or half of one, anyway) focused on the ADR process and just anime in general. It doesn't go as far with references as Gintama, but you can guess where some of the ideas from anime came from. Momoka ends up not getting the role she auditions for because she goes crazy on her sleazy director, but the producer (I guess?) realizes she's perfect for a new major role he's casting, and she makes her seiyuu debut after all.

The second part is much less enjoyable. The most annoying teacher ever makes Sket-dan play a ridiculous game he made up to try to form a club for it. There were definitely good moments, but I thought they seemed to drag stuff out a little more than I liked.

[everydaygamer]

might not be as good as gintama but i always felt that gintama didn't get really good till its second year. anyways thought episode 8 was pretty good and have really enjoyed this show so far.

[Westlo]

Uh.. I really don't like the GENESIS chapters aside from the most recent one which had lots of Captain... I generally skim through these chapters (4or5 out of 143) as fast as possible.. still if they adapted that chapter it gives me hope they're doing at least a 1 year run, since that's not exactly a chapter you'll animate if you were cherry picking the best material.

might not be as good as gintama but i always felt that gintama didn't get really good till its second year. anyways thought episode 8 was pretty good and have really enjoyed this show so far.

I've actually started watching Gintama since I'm a massive fan of the Sket Dance manga and I've heard of the similarities.., i've only seen the first 7 episodes... really enjoying it.. but I really don't see what makes those 7 episodes so much better than Sket Dance's first 7... While Gintama's first 7 were more funny I would say Sket Dance has the emotional punch edge.

I mean it's not exactly fair to compare 200 episodes of Gintama to 8 episodes of Sket Dance.. I mean two can play that game.. first 7 episodes of Gintama are nowhere near the level of the 143 chapters of the Sket Dance manga I've read.

Anyway as for the similarities to Gintama.. well it's true, the Sket Dance mangaka was an assistant for Gintama before he struck out on his own. Heck they just had a Gintama X Sket Dance crossover manga chapter in Jump a few weeks back where the Gintama crew ended up in the Sket Dan room. Switch and Gin having the same VA and other similarities between the main trios where poked fun at.

Sket Dance is like a high school version of Gintama with more focus on girls. Himeko is the clear #2 of the main trio, as Switch said in one chapter "those two are the main characters, some chapters I don't even get a line". The major supporting characters have a lot more prominent females than Gintama as well. And like Gintama you'll get major arcs that deal with the characters past.

[EmperorBrandon]

Oh wow, "HNNNNNNNNGGGed" Himeko's reactions to cute little Bossun is the best thing ever. :bigsmile: It's so very adorable and hilarious.

[FUNiOP]

New episode was alright.

As for the Gintama comparison discussion, I'd say that to me, there's no episode of Gintama that isn't better than all of the 10 episodes of Sket Dance so far. But I'm a huge fan of Gintama as it just hits all the right notes for me, so it's not like I expect everyone to agree with me completely. I do hope that this gets better, but I recommend everyone watch as much Gintama as they can fit in their anime schedule, because it's a lot more than just a (perfect) comedy, and it does drama and action a lot better than most anime that focus entirely on that. I really doubt that this will ever reach its quality in any respect.

[Westlo]

STEPHANIE!!!!!

Why you so godlike Roman.

Slight change from the manga version (Organizers paid the guy to go with SC instead of Roman so it would go to the last round, afterwards the Pres found out and voided the bet) but still pretty damn good as an adaption. Definitely better than Letter Bee, Beezlebub, Mago....

[something]

Episode 8:

- Momoka becoming a seiyuu? I can totally get behind this.
- The in-show anime is clearly not parodying Precure at all!
- But, pregnant magical girls. That's new...
- Momoka is so fucking adorable. So, so adorable.
- Hahah, the second anime is even better. Mahou Shoujo Extortion!
- YES! Her catchphrase is a line perfectly suited to both Momoka and Inoue Marina. <3
- Heh, the sound tech at the audition has an Azunyan figure.
- Momoka finds her calling...

- Oh boo it's only half the episode. The other half is... ugh annoying guy. The one who looks like an elderly, strung out Harima Kenji.
- ...I kind of want to skip this part entirely.
- Yeah, enough of that. I really hope we don't see this guy a lot. Let's just jump to ep 9.

[something]

Episode 9:

- I feel like I need to watch this show with the volume turned down. Sooo much yelling.
- Hahaha, Switch playing a Saki-knockoff majong game with a Nodocchi-knockoff. And a Clannad-knockoff logo font.
- Heh, this mangaka (play on the name of the real mangaka apparently) is totally tearing apart the basis of this story.

- And then uh... Himeko gets her shotacon on HARD.
- Even more yelling than usual, holy crap.

Sometimes I really feel like this show is just too high strung for me. It has good moments but everyone flipping out all the time really wears me down.

[something]

Episode 10:

- Man this show is really into parodies. That was some hardcore KimiTodoke there.
- Oh hey, Ayumi is Aizawa Mai. I love her as Mio in Nichijou so it's nice to hear her here.

This episode was alright, but they went way overboard making the teacher so evil. You'd think he'd been stealing homeless people's organs or something.

Hmm, I'd intended to catch up on this but I need to take a break from it again, for now. Too hyperactive. And needs more Momoka! Momoka is by faaaar the best character.

[Westlo]

- Yeah, enough of that. I really hope we don't see this guy a lot. Let's just jump to ep 9.

Yeah I really don't like that guy period and than the voice they choose for him is annoying as fuck, I guess it fits his character but still.. Anyway don't worry about him showing up to much.. I think he shows up maybe 5 times in the 148 chapters I've read and the longest time is for 2 chapters in a row once IIRC... and that was probably his most bearable appearance because it featured lots of Captain and he was hardly in it.

Might see him again once this year and IIRC it's for a old video game system parody so it shouldn't be as bad, should be half an episode again.

[Westlo]

Episode 10:

- Man this show is really into parodies. That was some hardcore KimiTodoke there.

That was originally an Ichigo 100% parody in the manga lol... I liked when they were commented after about how stupid it was, because it was lol.

This episode was alright, but they went way overboard making the teacher so evil. You'd think he'd been stealing homeless people's organs or something.

Hmm I've noticed they've been playing down some of the more "dubious" things in the adaption, for instance that Spider group who was after the money of the girls they were framing in the anime was after their bodies/sex in the manga, maybe I should check if the same thing happened here.

Hmm, I'd intended to catch up on this but I need to take a break from it again, for now. Too hyperactive. And needs more Momoka! Momoka is by faaaar the best character.

Should catch up so you watch it weekly than :p Probably too loud to watch 6 in a row...

[something]

- Man this show is really into parodies. That was some hardcore KimiTodoke there.
That was originally an Ichigo 100% parody in the manga lol... I liked when they were commented after about how stupid it was, because it was lol.
Huh that's an odd change. Guess they wanted it to be something more current for anime watchers? Seems like Todoke and SketDan shoot for rather different audiences though.

Should catch up so you watch it weekly than :p Probably too loud to watch 6 in a row...
Yeah I was thinking the same, that it's got to be easier to take in smaller doses. I might try to catch up tomorr-- er today after I get some sleep, since I'm not quite ready to start summer shows, but am getting to the end of one cour Spring shows. So I guess I have a little slack.

I could totally watch six episodes in a row about Momoka though.

[EmperorBrandon]

Anyway don't worry about him showing up to much..

Oh, that's good to hear. I don't think I liked him much either.

[Westlo]

- Man this show is really into parodies. That was some hardcore KimiTodoke there.
That was originally an Ichigo 100% parody in the manga lol... I liked when they were commented after about how stupid it was, because it was lol.
Huh that's an odd change. Guess they wanted it to be something more current for anime watchers? Seems like Todoke and SketDan shoot for rather different audiences though

I'm guessing they wanted a more updated reference, even though it was old by the time the manga did it, it's like ancient now. As for different audiences.. I guess but Todoke is a very well known franchise as of right now so I'm assuming most otaku know the basic gist of it.

Sket Dance seems to have a little legion of fangirls as well, the Vice Pres and Pres ranked 6th and 7th respectively in the first character poll and than 4th and 5th in the second and most latest one. 2nd character poll is.. broken down into tiers of how close they were.

Bossun
Switch, Himeko, Vice Pres
Pres, Mystery Girl (hope the anime gets to her....)
Captain, Momoka, Daisy, Roman

I actually hope they animate the first character poll chapter lol... though they might do a Hayate and just give the results of the second even though that has a chapter for it as well.

[Westlo]

Anyway don't worry about him showing up to much..

Oh, that's good to hear. I don't think I liked him much either.

I really don't know anyone who likes him tbh lol, I think Sket Dance gets at least a pass mark on most occurring characters and than hits some out of the park (Roman and Momoka) but this guy is just an utter failure. I think his chapters are the only ones I've skimmed since it usually comes with pages of crappy instructions for whatever bullshit game he comes up with. I can just see a scanlator t/l going fuck this when they came across that crap.

[something]

Hmm, I guess it's not worth creating ep 11-12 subthreads since 13 subthread already exists, and I only have a sentence or two to say about each. Will just post here.

Episode 11:
I liked this once yabasu girl went away. Obviously, the Himeko part what was made the episode - SO CUTE oh my god. I really liked that she turned out to be entirely competent at cooking, rather than being terrible at it like you'd expect. And the blushing and stuff that followed was was phenomenal.

Episode 12:
I was really hoping Switch would lose, because that would mean Momoka had to win. But Momoka ended up not coming anyway, so boo. ;_; Well, now Roman will lose and then Bossun will win the last match.

Episode 13:
- Unuyuu! <3 Apparently her emotions are worth only ¥5000.
- Man, Roman goes all-out.
- Hahaha, Roman breaks the fourth wall to say what I said about ep 12, that they'd obviously lose this round. :sd:

Actually pretty good timing on my part, totally inadvertantly. Stopped yesterday when it was getting kind of overwhelming, then watched all three of these today, and they end up being a single three-episode arc that closes out the first cour. And it was actually pretty decent. Shy Himeko was totally the best though. <3

Slight change from the manga version (Organizers paid the guy to go with SC instead of Roman so it would go to the last round, afterwards the Pres found out and voided the bet) but still pretty damn good as an adaption.
Odd change to make. I think it worked fine this way too so it's not a big deal, but the manga version sounds better. I thought it a bit weak that round four ended like it did when all the other matches were concluded pretty seriously. Relatively seriously anyway.

[FUNiOP]

We start the second cour with an episode about trying to make a kid popular. After that little three-episode arc last time, this is obviously just going back to episodic one-offs, but obviously those vary in quality as well. I guess this one was alright. It was cheesy, lame, and pretty predictable, as usual, but I was alright with letting it make me feel good for the kid at the end, and it has it's funny moments.

[EmperorBrandon]

Well, this tournament really turned out to be surprisingly epic and enjoyable.

Obviously, the Himeko part what was made the episode - SO CUTE oh my god. I really liked that she turned out to be entirely competent at cooking, rather than being terrible at it like you'd expect. And the blushing and stuff that followed was was phenomenal.

Agree 100% Himeko's so absolutely adorable for her match... Like that the order switching thing ended up making the matches more interesting than they probably would have been otherwise. Maybe it's because I keep seeing them so close to together in the opening, but doesn't Shinba Michiru looka good bit like Bossun's sister. :sweat:

Switch vs. Daisey was pretty cool. Loved Daisey's outfit and attitude. Kobayashi Yuu really makes a lot of things awesome...

And speaking of awesome... Roman :beatingheart: I can't help but laugh out loud through most of that.

[Westlo]

Himeko is like perfect waifu material, her back story is still my fav part of the manga.

[FUNiOP]

SKET Dance becomes BECK for a few episodes? I have no problem with this. Lots of the Pillows, too. That was a nice treat. Like BECK, this episode constantly reminded me that I should try learning to play an instrument, but I'm just too damn impatient. And I'm not unrealistically gifted like Bossun. That bastard. He makes it look so easy. I guess bass is easier than guitar in most respects, but not like that. Remind me to look surprised when all the bands fall through so the Sket-dan members are forced to form a band with each other to enter the festival.

[nakimushi]

SKETRemind me to look surprised when all the bands fall through so the Sket-dan members are forced to form a band with each other to enter the festival.

Yep, that was pretty obvious wasn't it. What a stroke of luck that they all play different instruments. :)

This was a fun episode.

[FUNiOP]

What was I supposed to say here? Oh, right: I'm so surprised! Okay, obvious plot is obvious, but I really loved these two episodes. All these Gintama comparisons, and the one time I really love it is when it reminds me of BECK more than anything (which I don't like nearly as much as Gintama). Suddenly Bossun can also sing really well. I guess they didn't think it was worth spending time explaining that. At least that's more realistic for someone to be able to naturally pick up than playing an instrument. And the Pillows are pretty much the biggest real band in anime now. FLCL is entirely set to their music, Taira joins them and plays with them briefly in BECK, and now they're the center of attention in these two episods of SKET Dance. I am alright with that.

[nakimushi]

Well, that's definitely the first childbirth eye-catch I've ever seen. :sweat:

The Hyperion episode was better than the Genesis (half) episode (which was awful IMO), there were actually some funny parts - especially with introducing the pieces. Also Dudun-dun-dudun. But wow, that eye-catch was most unexpected.

I like new OP animation - the bikinis are obviously nice - but I still prefer the original ED animation and the first OP and ED songs. The new songs are OK, I just like the first ones a lot more.

[EmperorBrandon]

The Hyperion episode was better than the Genesis (half) episode (which was awful IMO), there were actually some funny parts - especially with introducing the pieces. Also Dudun-dun-dudun. But wow, that eye-catch was most unexpected.

Yeah, I cringed at the thought of another made-up unfunny game, but this one was actually really amusing with the inconsistent ripped-off game pieces and wild imagined scenes.

I like new OP animation - the bikinis are obviously nice

Indeed. Hoping we see them in bikinis in the actual show too (maybe if we do, it will only be Yabasawa :sweat: )

I'm planning on catching up on this (was at ep. 15, finally picked back up and watched four episodes). Even though I let myself get behind, I still enjoy this series a good bit and probably going to catch up further in between watching and waiting (on Funico) this simulcast season.

[FUNiOP]

So I've only thought a few episodes of this were very good, and this one wasn't one of them. It's split into two parts and both of them still take too long. Nothing really happens of interest, and none of the comedy is very funny. Oh well. I'm used to it by now.

[EmperorBrandon]

I'll have some comments on a few episodes as I catch up, so might as well get some subthreads going.

Here Bossun has a lot of trouble getting his hair cut. Even with an unlimited supply of hair, Himeko and Switch just aren't very good at it. :)

[EmperorBrandon]

Even though I don't really get the Japanese comedy stuff, it was really fun watching Himeko being so enthusiastic about it when she was spying on Bossun and Switch at the mixer. They didn't really get paired up well - the obvious couple drops out right at the beginning both times, and things just get extremely awkward...

[EmperorBrandon]

This was probably one of the more interesting episodes in my recent catchup. I liked the focus on the "occult vs. science" pair of Yuuki and Switch. Nice to see Switch encouraging Yuuki to get back at that total jerk ex-crush from middle school of hers.

[EmperorBrandon]

The Prinicipal keeps asking for favors this episode. The first one doesn't turn out so well, as they come up with a crazy remake idea for the Momotarou story with completely random elements. Didn't really work as well as the Hyperion episode for me, though.

The second part is them trying to get Principal's emotionless grandkid (amused that he happens to have Kyubey's VA :) ) to have fun. They get him out to play baseball and that works...

[EmperorBrandon]

Really happy to see that Momoka's seiyuu career is flourishing, and Switch has become quite the fan, wanting her to recite Liberty Maji lines. It's always cute seeing her so embarassed about it all.

And speaking of cute, now we get the return of Chuuma's shrinking medicine. Rather than being smitten like Himeko was with little Bossun, Bossun is really annoyed. And I don't blame him: Himeko really is quite a brat as a little kid throughout the episode @_@ Momoka on the other hand takes up the cutesy embarrassment to a higher notch. Seems we even get the student council girls accidentally taking the drink too. Little Daisey was probably the most amusing, since its fun to see her same coarse attitude in cuter form. Liked the post-episode SketDan Youchien segment with them all as kids and student council president as the teacher.

[EmperorBrandon]

Ugh... seemed like this was going to be a rather uninteresting episode about faux-samurai and his brother, but then that only ended up being half of the episode, and a lead into Switch's backstory, which will continue to the next episode. Definitely quite curious about how this will turn out. Sawa is so incredibly cute, with her mole and all. Shame that she also got a creepy stalker... :angry:

[EmperorBrandon]

Oh wow, the guy was just a red herring. The real creepy deranged person was Yukino. Started realizing something was just not right with her when she started talking with Kazuyoshi, though I still had it in mind that she was a genuine friend of Sawa's for a little while for some reason (I guess I forgot this show was mostly straight, and a pyscho lesbian would be very unlikely :P ) I was expecting this would turn out dark and his younger brother would get killed (and Sawa too, though looks like she ended up getting spared), but it's still really sad. :( The guilt from acting like an ass out of jealousy that day really got to him too, and made that even more depressing.

[EmperorBrandon]

Well, after the super-serious last episode, we're back to a sillier episode with a Gintama crossover focused one this time. Not very familiar with Gintama at all, so I don't think I got as much out of that, but I did enjoy them taking the fourth-wall-breaking element of the series to the extreme this time. That was pretty amusing. Always nice listening to KugiRie's voice too.

[Nagato-san]

This was an very interesting, but also somewhat depressing backstory. I at first thought that the older brother would die. Never actually thought the younger brother would die. Pretty sad stuff. :( Glad it goes back to the typical gags next time.

[EmperorBrandon]

Another new character, this time a very energetic young female teacher, Misora Remi. She's a former actress on a kids' TV program, and she still acts like it at school... She's got a very cute voice, and no wonder, it's Tange Sakura (can't believe I didn't realize that).

New OP and ED this time, and the ED is very girl-centric with some hot moments. Seeing Roman makes me wonder what's happened to her... It doesn't seem there's been much focus on her in a while. :(

[EmperorBrandon]

Looks like the broadcasting club is actually doing TV broadcasts at school now, though the first program featuring Michiru ends up being a disaster... It's hard not to think of Mio from Nichijou every role I hear Aizawa Mai in (particularly as Ayumi here) with that distinct voice of hers. Well, Minene in Future Diary certainly has been something different at least...

Sawa is so incredibly cute, with her mole and all.

Speaking of moles, I noticed quite a few characters around with them. Remi from last episode, Bossun's mom, and then there's a prominent broadcast club girl that has one here too. Must be a feature that the author likes.

[EmperorBrandon]

I at first thought that the older brother would die. Never actually thought the younger brother would die.

I did think at the beginning I thought that the younger brother would end up being the present "Switch", even though it turned out it was the older one. Younger brother has a different VA, but I've always had it in my mind (even though it was proven untrue with this arc) that the recorded voices Switch uses with his program could possibly not be his own, so "using his older brother's voice after he died" seemed feasible.

[EmperorBrandon]

More of Dante's quirky incomprehensibility... Still somewhat amusing at times.

I was happy to see more of Captain this time. Seems our most "normal" member of the cast actually a special ability to eat food extremely quickly. Shame she was foiled by that boiled egg (not really much of an egg fan myself). That ramen shopkeeper was so arrogant: I think he really did need a comeuppance.

[EmperorBrandon]

So here I am, all caught up on Sket Dance. Can't believe it. Seemed like it was going to be daunting, but I wasn't that far behind anyway. Nice...

I found it interesting that we got some focus on some of the pressures of the anime seiyuu career with the second part of the episode. Momoka seemed to strike a good balance in the earlier part of her career, cuter personality but still essentially being herself, but things went a little too far by the point of this episode... Shame that she's moving on now, since I liked Momoka as a seiyuu, even if she's still going to be a performer apparently.

[Suwako Moriya]

So here I am, all caught up on Sket Dance. Can't believe it. Seemed like it was going to be daunting, but I wasn't that far behind anyway. Nice...

Impressive, I have to admit I'm sort of tempted to catch up myself. Although it will take awhile given how much there is to watch. Both in terms of the episodes for this show and the other shows running in Autumn. Well, I'll see how things go.

[Suwako Moriya]

If we're lucky maybe Misaki will get to make a cameo appearance in the future. Over all a decent episode.

[Suwako Moriya]

Is it bad that I want to see a full episode of those two anime series shown in the episode?

Is it obvious that I was disappointed they changed the focus of the episode? Not that the Genesis stuff was terrible. More that it felt like a weak act following a strong one.

[Suwako Moriya]

So how soon before we can start reading "Roman the Romantic Manga Artist!"?

[Suwako Moriya]

So the main thing I got from this is that it made me think Ayumi X Yagi. Well, nice to see Yagi smile.

Hope that's the last we see of evil teacher.

[Suwako Moriya]

Roman was the best part of this tournament. That's the main thing I'll say about this three episode arc.

[Suwako Moriya]

So Uchida wants to become popular and the plan is to win a medal. Except he's no good for any of the categories that he tries for.

His reasoning to become popular? To impress his mother and such. A mother that already knows.

The fun part is the fact he wins a medal not by trying to do something he isn't good at, but by doing something that comes naturally for him. He got the Mr.Kindness award.

Seeing the rewards for some of the others was fun. Should we feel sorry for Bossun?

[Suwako Moriya]

(We really need to stop skipping sub threads)

Episode 15

Bossun, you're an idiot. Don't say such things towards Himeko.

Well, the first half of episode 15 was for the most part way too forced. The only real value of the plot was the joke in the second half where scary teacher met even scarier cult girl. The second half was a bit better. Not that it was grand, but....

Episode 16

So now we have the battle of the bands with all three leads in different bands. Also, some focus on a cute violin girl. Looks like this will be story will be multiple episodes.

[Suwako Moriya]

So to send a message to Ayano the violin girl, the three form a band called Sketchbook. I approve of that name.

The "camera" should have focused more on Himeko in that dress. I mean that's very important.

The "message" gets through. One of those messages of confidence and such.

Oh, and we get another reminder of how powerful Roman is. A one girl band! So many Romans.

[Suwako Moriya]

18 is an interesting time to start up a new opening and ending.

So Hyperion might as well be a thrown together game for all intent and purposes. Wait, never mind.

I was half-expecting them to do one of those "Because you promised to return, you're doomed to die" jokes. Good thing for the daughter.

Side note, that Hyperion game almost makes me ashamed to be male.

Roman, you're here to save us. Err maybe save is the wrong word.

[Suwako Moriya]

That hair segment went on a little long and could have been cut short.

The student council segment was nice to have. Especially one that's not so focused on Tsubaki being hateful and more focused on the group interacting.

[Suwako Moriya]

I agree with the idea of not going to mixers in the future, they're just not worth the trouble. Especially if you get people like that.

[Suwako Moriya]

Yuuki's makeover was amazing. Also, I'm counting this as a date between her and Switch no matter what the two may say.

Also, this show seems to give occasion hints towards Himeko x Bossun. Not that they're going to break the status quo. Also Himeko belongs to Momoka anyway.

[Suwako Moriya]

Oba-Nyan was the best part of Momotaru. I mean seriously.

Also, part of me was hoping they'd throw the child into a lake and maybe throw his father in too. Then again he did show a small sign of hope near the end. So perhaps I'll spare them for now.

[Suwako Moriya]

Momoka's seiyuu career being a long term thing instead of just a one shot event is nice.

So Momoka, Unyuu, Himeko, and Daisy make for adorable children. With interesting attitudes in some cases.

And later we get to see they have a promising future in ten years. Himeko should let her hair grow out.

[Suwako Moriya]

I'm still trying to accept the idea of a Switch that actually talks. Sure it's a flashback, but it's still jarring.

Sawa is so incredibly cute, with her mole and all. Shame that she also got a creepy stalker... :angry:

Sawa is quite lovely for the reason you stated. In any case, that stalker must suffer. Sometimes I forget this can be serious and that scene was a reminder.

[Suwako Moriya]

Ah, so that explains the story behind Switch. This story was definitely darker than I was expecting the show to have. Note, I'm also including the part in episode 24.

Although I suppose part of the reason it's effective is you don't expect it as easily as one of those series where it's "dark" 24/7.

[Suwako Moriya]

So a crossover with Gintama. I'll admit if not for the fact it's over 200 episodes, I consider trying out more of it for the sake of Kagura. Being voiced by Kugimiya Rie does kind of help. Not much more to say than that.

[FUNiOP]

The highlight of this episode for me was definitely when Shinzou cosplayed as all the Jump characters. I especially liked the mention of Gin and the reference to Switch having his voice again. Other than that, not much was notable in this episode.

[EmperorBrandon]

I was expecting a negative outcome for Shinzou, but I totally wasn't expecting that "Megumi" would actually be a guy with a girly head. Hilarious, but bizarre. Speaking of bizarre, same for the exercise video with otaku cliche references...

[FUNiOP]

Wow. That was really quite bad. Their regular thing might not be the best, but I'd definitely rather they stick to that than pull this again.

[EmperorBrandon]

Rampant fourth-wall breaking again with this episode, particularly with the first part... Did like seeing some of the girls in ninja outfits.

[Damius]

So this time, we have the first part = Naruto and second part = Space... Not a great mix...

[FUNiOP]

Back to the much better side of the show, although still not that great, even compared to some of the few episodes I was really impressed with. It had a decent balance of fun mystery and emotion. Neither was done as well as I'd like, but overall, it wasn't too bad.

[Damius]

- In the Intro we can read BAD BAD on the TV, which resumes quite well episode 32!
- Sket Dance is going back to normal…for the best!
- The 3 freak baseball players!
- The both girls are now friends and…

Well, that was better than the last episode, but still can improve.

[Damius]

- A new member in the manga club? That sure makes Roman super happy!
- “How to draw Manga” a romantic version…Well…
- We are sure to have an honest comment from Hime and that’s what I love about her!!!
- Well, let’s say that first part was useful to learn how to draw manga…but was it really???
- Let’s cheer up the teacher…once again!
- We want so much to have a “panty shot” on the show, but we can’t right? Well, let’s hide it with a mop!

A final comment about this episode…well, let’s just say it was not the best. In need of great episodes!

[FUNiOP]

Another standard, not too great, episode of Sket Dance. Nothing unexpected given the content. A bit of a cute overdose this time. It works a little bit, but not enough to make it a very good episode. Next episode looks like more dumb silliness. I'm not expecting much.

[EmperorBrandon]

This one was rather interesting. I like that the cute mole girl from the broadcast club (that was only in the background last time) showed up again and then is all of the sudden revealed to be an episodic villain near the end. Nice that the Sket Dance was able to avoid them fighting over the blame by taking it themselves.

[EmperorBrandon]

Hah at Roman's hilariously bad "introduction to manga" manga. Nice that she now has a cute junior to mentor, though. Curious to see more of her. Also happy to hear some more of Onee-san. The episode really highlights she would do better teaching much younger kids. Sweet scene in the end, though. Poor Specter...

Next episode seems it could be a crossover with Phi-Brain (well, probably not, as I doubt the quiz/puzzle stuff will be extreme serious business :P )

[FUNiOP]

Quizzes. It's like there's an extra episode of Phi Brain this week. This episode pretty much balanced the good with the bad. The first half was annoying, but the quizzes were mildly interesting, and the second part was a little bit funny, but almost entirely predictable.

[Westlo]

Quizzes. It's like there's an extra episode of Phi Brain this week. This episode pretty much balanced the good with the bad. The first half was annoying, but the quizzes were mildly interesting, and the second part was a little bit funny, but almost entirely predictable.

When it comes to those two every time they reappear it gets better and better, the last time was hilarious. Anyway next week, Orgess, fuck yeah.

[Damius]

So will we have a special quiz episode? How will this be?
So Bossun got all the answer. First part was ok. Found the Enigman annoying thought.
So that guy is Enigman. He is less annoying that way! And we are back to more normal stuff which I prefer.
LOL on the change of personality! Cute face, ugly personality!

Bring up next week!

[FUNiOP]

First half didn't do anything for me... until the second half. Sure, it's still a weak segment, especially in comparison, but at least it ends up having some meaning beyond finding a new stick to beat the shit out of people with.

But the second half was probably the first episode since the Gintama episode that I actually cared about. So far, it doesn't look to be as good as Switch's backstory, but Sket Dance is making its strengths quite clear. I hope Bossun's is good, too.

[EmperorBrandon]

Ah, so here's Himeko's "dark" backstory, though likely not as dark as Switch's. I was wondering if someone was going to die (maybe that might happen next episode, but doesn't seem like it's learning that way). Seems we'll get to see her meeting Bossun next episode, which I'm interested about. Switch's story seemed to omit the meeting up with Sket-dan part, making me assume it would come in a later story. And I guess Bossun's own backstory won't come with this arc but something we get later too.

[Damius]

A hero call Popman…why after hearing that name I went and make Popcorn…
The cyclone is dead and…buried!
Wait Wait Wait…that was the Bruins logo…I HATE THIS!
I really liked the story of Hime-chan from the past; it made me forget about the worst 2.5 seconds in anime history ;)

[FUNiOP]

About what I expected after the previous episode. Not as good as Switch's backstory, but still better than most of Sket Dance. It definitely did have the same emotional impact, but there was still some deserved crying for a less tragic reason. Now to wait for Bossun's backstory. I can't be sure how good it will be, but I think it's probably safe to assume it will still be better than most of Sket Dance.

[EmperorBrandon]

This was pretty sweet. I loved Captain's and then Bossun's persistence in befriending Himeko. Speaking of Captain, I liked her prominence here, as we don't see too much of her (I guess the result of being somewhat more "normal" than several of the other friends of the Sket-dan). There's a tie-in with Switch's story as Bossun apparently runs into him before Switch's tragic events happened. Look forward to seeing the story about Switch later joining Sket-dan and/or Bossun's backstory, if and whenever they cover those.

[Damius]

- So the flashback I really enjoy continues. Let’s see what we will learn in this episode.
- So that is how they met! The Popman hat almost went to garbages, but he his on Bossun’s head now!
- Ok, let’s go back to the fight! But, she sure is lucky, the stick was there waiting for her!
- Hime-chan is my favorite character so I really like her backstory! And this is better than the average Sket Dance.

[Damius]

- Of course Bossun won't be able to remove the head…
- Of course, they won't be able to get out of the storeroom...
- Of course, they are in the wrong storeroom…
- Did you even think it would stop to burn just like that??
- EXPLOSION!!!
- And they do it anyway in the end…

I didn’t find that episode enjoyable at all… This is a big drop compare to the last one.

[FUNiOP]

Back to pointless comedy one-offs. And they're no better at those than they've ever been. Well I guess that was the last one of the year, so three cours down, and we should have a new OP and ED next time. Plus, we get a week off. I'm alright with that. Not much of an idea of what the next episode will be like, since they spent all their preview time letting Switch talk about whatever. I'm not expecting any quality to show up again for a while. There's been significant gaps between the good episodes so far, so I expect that to continue. Honestly, I'm more interested in the new OP and ED. At least they seem to put real effort into those. Well, see you next year, Sket Dance, for better or worse...

[EmperorBrandon]

Haha, I think I rather enjoyed the hilarious bizarre mish-mash of retro games this time. Does the creator of this series have an interest in office ladies? The previous kooky made up game from Yamanobe had an office lady character too. Of course, the final boss has to be voiced by Wakamoto Norio. There can be no one else.

[Damius]

- Blowing in a cartridge, that sure brings back memories!
- Hey….let’s call it the “Brings back memories episode”

I did enjoy that episode, but now I have the Mario Bross tune in my head…NO!!!

[Damius]

- So… Hime-chan caught a cold…Boo to Bossun
- Will Sket Dance (well Bossun) and student council (well Tsubaki) join forces?!
- Well... both of them don’t want to, but they did!
- Well…when Himeko is sick, she doesn’t look too bad… does she?
- Bossun gives is coffee can to Tsubaki…but it’s empty!!


Well, this was a funny little episode!

[EmperorBrandon]

Blowing in a cartridge, that sure brings back memories!

Hah, yeah, that definitely brought back memories for me too. I did that a lot with my SNES cartridges :sweat:

[EmperorBrandon]

The new opening seems to suggests we might get some "serious business" stories for both Bossun and Tsubaki this cour. And after the girl-centric ED last cour, we get the guy ED this time.

Well, this was a funny little episode!

Indeed, Bossun and Tsubaki make for a rather hilarious duo.

I liked the return of the kindergarten segment at the end. Little Daisey has to be the most adorable thing in the entire series.

[EmperorBrandon]

Well, the goofy puzzle duo is back, and they even enlisted Bossun ("Bosshuton") as an ally in challenging the student council sans president. Daisey thinks she can answer the question with violence, and Mimori with money, which was amusing. All of the student council subordinates get their answers wrong, but Agata arrives and shows off his superior intellect at the end.

In the second part, we get back to the relationship between the two, which quite surprisingly has progressed since we last saw them. Enigman can't seem to stop worrying about every potential thing that could go wrong for their date, and imagines some pretty crazy unlikely scenarios. The Sket-dan finally get to beating some optimism into him, and then when he goes, it turns out exactly like his pessimistic imagination. :sweat: Really seems like the Sket-dan isn't helping things with the relationship at all. Both times they have been involved, the immediate result is pretty negative...

[Damius]

I liked the return of the kindergarten segment at the end. Little Daisey has to be the most adorable thing in the entire series.

I liked it as well. I would hope for the kindergarten segment to be there more often!!

[FUNiOP]

Two segments about friends of the group finding more success in their endeavors for their respective passions, and in both cases, there's lots of poor writing, although in Momoka's case, it's not her fault. And considering that, the series itself could have worse writing itself, I suppose. But I feel like they spend too much time with "this is bad so it's funny". That gets old when you don't do new things with it. Still pretty good overall.

[Damius]

- The Quiz club is back!
- Bosshuton the Quiz King! Well, a nickname from a nickname!
- Agata, is it possible for you to have a successor…
- Well, the first half sure was funny!
- And we are back at the relationship of the duo!
- Enigman sure is over worrying about the date…
- But…he was right!
- Maybe the duo should stay far, far, far away from Sket-dan!

[Damius]

- I’m quite sure Bossun only wanted to help Momoka, to hold her like that!
- I really like Momoka so I loved that segment!
- Roman manga won a prize?!?!?!?!
- Good for you Roman…wonder who made you win…

Well, I prefer Momoka over Roman so I prefer Momoka segment, but since I like Roman I still enjoy her segment.

[Damius]

- Don’t you think there is a lot of things to do before asking Hime-chan to marry you??? Oh well… ^_^;
- Hime-chan explaining who her boyfriend is and all the situation is way too funny!
- Now, Hime-chan needs to prove Bossun is her boyfriend! Oops! How will she do that?
- Wow….I sure love the Hime-chan reactions and comments!
- Yes, Hime-chan, you were acting funny today!
- Hime-chan and Bossun both have the same T-Shirt!!!!
- The first half was really funny, let’s hope it will be the same for the second part!
- Hime-chan, you knows that acting like that in front of your friends, it looks like even more that Bossun is really your boyfriend!
- Yup, it was all calculated right Hime-chan?
- So, in this series, they call Pocky, Pockin! I wonder when they will ran out of way to name them!

Yup! This was definitely one of the funniest episodes since a really long time! Some romance as well!! Love you Hime-chan! Want more, a lot more!!!!

[Damius]

Well, the theme around this episode was kinda bizarre, but I did like this episode. And yeah, they had to make it a lot more complicated than needed to find the can, but that is fine.

This episode was a good one to end a week of hell at work!

[Damius]

- J-son-sensei is my least favorite character… Oh well…
- In front of J-son-sensei anyone would be nervous…
- About time she runs!
- The second part focuses on Onee-san this will be better for sure!
- So will the two of them finish together? The daughter accepts Onee-san already!

Well, I will forget about the first part, the second one was a good entertainment!

[Damius]

- Bossun’s dad sure looks like him…
- And now we discover who the blood-related mother of Bossun is!
- Ok…both blood-related parents of Bossun died the same day in separate accidents…
- And Bossun runs after knowing it.

This was a depressing episode…really rare in this anime…and it continues next week.

[FUNiOP]

That was a really good episode for this show. Sure, it's made up entirely of convenient coincidences and infinite cheesiness spawned from them, but the way it all works so perfectly is obviously intended to be its charm, and I thought it worked really well. And the way they tied in not only all the stories of the episode itself, but also to other events in the other "serious" episodes, as well as the "regular" episodes of the series, and therefore the series as a whole... not too shabby, Sket Dance. You should quit this whole comedy deal and try this side of things more.

[Damius]

- Well, at least someone stop them…
- So, Bossun meets Taisuke the guy who was saved by Bossun’s dad…
- Thanks to that, Bossun was able to read a letter from his dad to him… It sure hard to take at first, but…
- He finally go help the kid and protect him from the same three punks who hit him sooner
- And Bossun finally go back home. And have an emotional reunion with the woman who he calls his mom again!
- And of course she calls him “his son”!!

Well, that sure was a serious an emotional episode. Well done! Next episode, Hime-chan as a maid? NICE!

[FUNiOP]

For some reason I didn't watch the preview at the end of the last episode, so I didn't realize this episode was going to continue on that theme. I found it a little strange that Bossun's sister is suddenly mentioning the fact that they're not related by blood now that the audience knows it either way. But here we are, exactly two years later, and Bossun has another fateful encounter, this time with the doctor responsible for his birth. Despite what he believed to be the truth for the past two years, he does in fact have a blood relative left in the world. I was wondering about that part of the letter in the previous episode. I figured he just meant that they planned to have more children later, but I'm glad to see there was more to it than that. I figured out who it was about the time that Bossun did. That explains why the openings gives the impression that it will focus on Tsubaki in a serious light as well. Sasuke and Yuusuke. Perfect. And going along with all the convenient coincidences from last time, they just happened to discover the secret of their birth at the same time, and that just tied into this whole situation even more. I really love how they weaved everything in this story together. I don't know why I haven't dropped Sket Dance in all this time, but now I'm very glad I never did. Just this last sixteenth of it makes it worth it. It can just go ahead and end right here. It would be the perfect ending to me, and I don't need them to follow it up with more of the usual material.

Happy birthday.

[Damius]

- School festival episode!
- And here it is! Hime-chan as a maid!!!
- Well, today Bossun meets the doctor who took him from his mother belly…
- There is a person who shares the same blood as Bossun????
- Bossun have a twin?!
- Tsubaki is his brother! WOW!
- And…both brothers meet!

That sure was a really good episode. I wonder when Bossun’s mom will find out that Bossun have a brother, how she will react…

[FUNiOP]

And that's why I said they should have just ended the series after the previous episode. The opening now ends with a great new shot. At least I don't think it was ever in there before. That's all I'm going to acknowledge in this episode.

[everydaygamer]

And that's why I said they should have just ended the series after the previous episode. The opening now ends with a great new shot. At least I don't think it was ever in there before. That's all I'm going to acknowledge in this episode.

it wasn't a bad episode but if you've never liked episodes involving that teacher before you're not gonna start now.

[Damius]

And that's why I said they should have just ended the series after the previous episode. The opening now ends with a great new shot. At least I don't think it was ever in there before. That's all I'm going to acknowledge in this episode.


Indeed....talk about a big gap compare to last episode... Can we have great episodes again? Please...

[FUNiOP]

And that's why I said they should have just ended the series after the previous episode. The opening now ends with a great new shot. At least I don't think it was ever in there before. That's all I'm going to acknowledge in this episode.


Indeed....talk about a big gap compare to last episode... Can we have great episodes again? Please...

Wait another cour or two. It's a cruel game you put us through, Sket Dance. I don't know if anything else will match those three episodes before this one.

[Damius]

And that's why I said they should have just ended the series after the previous episode. The opening now ends with a great new shot. At least I don't think it was ever in there before. That's all I'm going to acknowledge in this episode.


Indeed....talk about a big gap compare to last episode... Can we have great episodes again? Please...

Wait another cour or two. It's a cruel game you put us through, Sket Dance. I don't know if anything else will match those three episodes before this one.

I wonder how I will feel now that we have reach a new level with that 3 episodes. Will I feel like, there is hope for episodes of that level again! I will wait for it. But, maybe also since a new level have been reach, it will be tougher to go through episodes like that...

[Westlo]

And that's why I said they should have just ended the series after the previous episode. The opening now ends with a great new shot. At least I don't think it was ever in there before. That's all I'm going to acknowledge in this episode.

If it makes you feel better.. reposting some part of a convo I had on Neogaf,,

Other dude
Sket Dance 46

So it looks like they're going to cover all ten chapters of this arc in three episodes. I guess that pacing will work, I just hope they can do a good job with the important scenes. They already cut some of the better parts from the first third of the story.
I don't mean to sound overly pessimistic about it; it's just that this is the one of the most important story arcs in the manga and I wish they'd put more effort into accurately adapting it.[/b]

Me
To say it's a tad frustrating would be an understatement, especially when you see some random single chapters get blown out to fill an entire episode and than the best parts of the manga get 10 chapters compressed into 3....

Switch, Himeko and Bossun's backstories were all rushed through rather quickly, and like I said some "random" chapters got padded into full episodes..

Turn 1 average as fuck chapter into 1 full episode
Turn 10 of the best chapters in the entire manga into 3 full episodes

Makes sense to me!

It's not so bad when you get an chapter focused on someone you don't like in the manga, it's a 5 minute read if that.. but with the anime it's a 20 minute investment.

[Damius]

And that's why I said they should have just ended the series after the previous episode. The opening now ends with a great new shot. At least I don't think it was ever in there before. That's all I'm going to acknowledge in this episode.

If it makes you feel better.. reposting some part of a convo I had on Neogaf,,

Other dude
Sket Dance 46

So it looks like they're going to cover all ten chapters of this arc in three episodes. I guess that pacing will work, I just hope they can do a good job with the important scenes. They already cut some of the better parts from the first third of the story.
I don't mean to sound overly pessimistic about it; it's just that this is the one of the most important story arcs in the manga and I wish they'd put more effort into accurately adapting it.[/b]

Me
To say it's a tad frustrating would be an understatement, especially when you see some random single chapters get blown out to fill an entire episode and than the best parts of the manga get 10 chapters compressed into 3.... Switch, Himeko and Bossun's backstories were all rushed through rather quickly, and like I said some "random" chapters got padded into full episodes..

Turn 1 average as fuck chapter into 1 full episode
Turn 10 of the best chapters in the entire manga into 3 full episodes

Makes sense to me!

It's not so bad when you get an chapter focused on someone you don't like in the manga, it's a 5 minute read if that.. but with the anime it's a 20 minute investment.

Reading this makes it even more frustrating... Oh well... (didn't know the comparison with the manga).

[Westlo]

Reading this makes it even more frustrating... Oh well... (didn't know the comparison with the manga).

Well for some goods news... Kana Hanazawa is about to join the cast... she's voicing the second most popular female character in the manga, second to Himeko and 6th overall.

Bossun > Switch > Himeko > Tsubaki > Agata > Kana's character > Captain > Momoka > Daisy > Roman.

Bossun nearly doubled Switch's votes, Himeko was behind Switch by like 90, Kana's character nearly doubled Captain.

[Damius]

Reading this makes it even more frustrating... Oh well... (didn't know the comparison with the manga).

Well for some goods news... Kana Hanazawa is about to join the cast... she's voicing the second most popular female character in the manga, second to Himeko and 6th overall.

Bossun > Switch > Himeko > Tsubaki > Agata > Kana's character > Captain > Momoka > Daisy > Roman.

Bossun nearly doubled Switch's votes, Himeko was behind Switch by like 90, Kana's character nearly doubled Captain.

Well, I'll sure hope for the best!

[FUNiOP]

If it makes you feel better..

(makes me feel infinitely worse)

WHY WAS THIS NOT SUNRISE? They adapt Gintama masterfully, and I bet they'd do a hell of a better job at Sket Dance than Tatsunoko.

[Damius]

If it makes you feel better..

(makes me feel infinitely worse)

WHY WAS THIS NOT SUNRISE? They adapt Gintama masterfully, and I bet they'd do a hell of a better job at Sket Dance than Tatsunoko.

Speaking about Gintama, the Gintama episode in Sket Dance made me watch Gintama and now I'm hook (episode 195!) Thanks to Sket Dance for that! I almost want to start a discussion about Gintama when I'll catch up...

[FUNiOP]

If it makes you feel better..

(makes me feel infinitely worse)

WHY WAS THIS NOT SUNRISE? They adapt Gintama masterfully, and I bet they'd do a hell of a better job at Sket Dance than Tatsunoko.

Speaking about Gintama, the Gintama episode in Sket Dance made me watch Gintama and now I'm hook (episode 195!) Thanks to Sket Dance for that! I almost want to start a discussion about Gintama when I'll catch up...

This is easily the greatest contribution Sket Dance has made. I would love to join you in a Gintama discussion when you catch up. I already post my thoughts on each episode on another forum every week, although that's also often inactive, so I end up not posting anything about many episodes, and I'd love for a thread over here (and on TFP, I assume) to fix that.

[Damius]

If it makes you feel better..

(makes me feel infinitely worse)

WHY WAS THIS NOT SUNRISE? They adapt Gintama masterfully, and I bet they'd do a hell of a better job at Sket Dance than Tatsunoko.

Speaking about Gintama, the Gintama episode in Sket Dance made me watch Gintama and now I'm hook (episode 195!) Thanks to Sket Dance for that! I almost want to start a discussion about Gintama when I'll catch up...

This is easily the greatest contribution Sket Dance has made. I would love to join you in a Gintama discussion when you catch up. I already post my thoughts on each episode on another forum every week, although that's also often inactive, so I end up not posting anything about many episodes, and I'd love for a thread over here (and on TFP, I assume) to fix that.

Well, then I'll catch up as fast as I can! Give me 2-3 weeks.

[ookamigirl]

The whole broken fingers thing...
Bossun was making a huge deal out of it.
Himeko sure made a deal with the devil. He totally guilt tripped her LOL
Well... it totally backfired though, got what he deserved.
The second part was interesting, but still funny at times. Those two really get along..

[Damius]

...

Would just like to indicate this:

1) If you're the first person to post about an episode in any given week, please respond to the root post and indicate in the subject line which episode you're posting about.

Right now, you are replying to Episode 49.

[something]

Ookamigirl, please follow the posting guidelines. I've had to spoiler mask a number of your posts already.

Almost every discussion thread lists them in the top post:
As usual, please try to follow these three easy forum courtesy habits when replying:
1) If you're the first person to post about an episode in any given week, please respond to the root post (this post) and indicate in the subject line which episode you're posting about.
2) If someone has already posted about an episode before you, please respond to that post (or a relevant reply to that post). Keep in the right subthread.
3) Don't use the blue "Post Reply" button because it causes your reply not to correctly inherit the subject line of the post you're replying to. Just click "Quote" to the post you want to reply to.

Reply to the very first post in the thread if you're starting a new episode subthread.

Thanks.

[FUNiOP]

Even after those great Bossun-centric episodes, they sure make it easy to hate him when the time comes. Sure, it was Himeko's fault in the first place, but she really didn't deserve to be put through that. And even after being such an ideal maid out of guilt for that little injury, all that bullshit that Bossun out her through was enough to make her do a lot more damage without any guilt. The second part actually focused on kind of the opposite theme, with the positive side of their relationship. It was interesting to hear Switch's analysis of the situation. Sounds pretty accurate. I wonder if they're going to develop that relationship any further in the future. Maybe that will be the next serious arc, since they've already got all the backstories out of the way and they're still going with the standard format for the rest of the series.

Next week seems likely for a new OP and ED. I really like this OP, but hopefully the next ones will be good as well.

[Westlo]

since they've already got all the backstories out of the way and they're still going with the standard format for the rest of the series.

Have they? Think about it, this obvious one hasn't even been covered in the manga yet AFAIK, this is something I really want to see... and I would hope the anime runs long enough for them to put it into the anime one day.

[FUNiOP]

since they've already got all the backstories out of the way and they're still going with the standard format for the rest of the series.

Have they? Think about it, this obvious one hasn't even been covered in the manga yet AFAIK, this is something I really want to see... and I would hope the anime runs long enough for them to put it into the anime one day.

The Sket-dan members themselves anyway. So I could see them moving on to more serious development of those characters just as easily as revealing the backstories of less major characters.

[Westlo]

since they've already got all the backstories out of the way and they're still going with the standard format for the rest of the series.

Have they? Think about it, this obvious one hasn't even been covered in the manga yet AFAIK, this is something I really want to see... and I would hope the anime runs long enough for them to put it into the anime one day.

The Sket-dan members themselves anyway. So I could see them moving on to more serious development of those characters just as easily as revealing the backstories of less major characters.

No you're forgetting something about the Sket-dan members themselves.... we know why Bossun wanted to make the Sket Dan, we know how he met Himeko and why she has such gratitude to him, we know about why Switch is how he is.... there's clearly 1 puzzle piece missing. How did Bossun save Switch?

[FUNiOP]

since they've already got all the backstories out of the way and they're still going with the standard format for the rest of the series.

Have they? Think about it, this obvious one hasn't even been covered in the manga yet AFAIK, this is something I really want to see... and I would hope the anime runs long enough for them to put it into the anime one day.

The Sket-dan members themselves anyway. So I could see them moving on to more serious development of those characters just as easily as revealing the backstories of less major characters.

No you're forgetting something about the Sket-dan members themselves.... we know why Bossun wanted to make the Sket Dan, we know how he met Himeko and why she has such gratitude to him, we know about why Switch is how he is.... there's clearly 1 puzzle piece missing. How did Bossun save Switch?

Oh yeah, I guess so. I guess Switch kind of hinted to that at the end of this episode actually, mentioning why Himeko has such gratitude for Bossun, and that he's the same. So I guess that will probably happen eventually.

[Damius]

Well, yeah it may have been Himeko-san fault, but it was not even intended. I hate so much when characters use others because they may feel guilty... that's exactly what did Bossun with Himeko... he even trick her... it was not broken...

The second part sure is better, they could have done a full episode about the relationship between Himeko-san and Bossun and just skip the first part.

[ookamigirl]

Tsubaki totally lost all street cred since they know he's Bossun's brother.
Those two are pretty much the same, except the eyes.
Himeko & Swith were totally enjoying themselves watching those two, as was the student council too ^^"
That banner was just hilarious!!! ROFL
Tsubaki & Bossun really like to bicker a lot... *sigh*
It's kinda nice watching the merger of two "clubs".
Really nice episode.

[FUNiOP]

Oh hey, this episode was actually all about the newly-discovered pair of twins that is Yuusuke and Sasuke. I'm alright with that. The first half was pretty standard Sket Dance, but the second half tied much more closely into the previous episodes, and it was very strong for it. I wonder if that was part of the content from the manga arc that people were saying they left out. I hope they covered everything now, because I doubt they're going back to this now that they're done with their first year. I was a little worried that they were going to end it on a trivial note when they could have ended it with the arc that this episode surprisingly continued, but I'm glad to see they brought it back to this material to finish it off. I could really be satisfied with them ending the series right there, but obviously that's not going to happen.

So how are they going to start the second year? A TSUNDERE, AIRHEADED, BIG-BOOBED, TWIN-TAILED, BIG-BOOBED, KNEE-SOCKS-WEARING BISHOUJO CHARACTER VOICED BY KANA HANAZAWA! Well that will be something, anyway...

[Damius]

Well, that sure was a great way to end the first year of this series. I knew they would done the twin brothers episode sooner or later, this is the best place to do it. I enjoyed that episode quite a bit. I'm looking for more and I want to know more about the new character!

[ookamigirl]

Twin tail tsundere girl Saaya was ROFL!
Tsubaki was all cute when he was complaining about Sket club LOL, no wonder the other student council members don't take him seriously since Bossun is his brother.
Helping that girl was not easy at all.
Switch's mom impersonation was LOL
The owl was kinda cute & smart too, the perfect mascot for their club.

[Damius]

- So here she is.
- So she wants to cure her tsundere.
- Not a dog, not a cat, a owl!
- She has a crush on Bossun. More competition for Himeko?
- She’s Agata’s little sister.

I’m looking forward to know more about Saaya. I hope she will be a main character. I sure did enjoy this episode!

[FUNiOP]

I don't know... I feel like she could use glasses as well. So yeah, she was pretty much as described, and it was pretty amusing how much they pointed out what a stereotype she was. Going that far with it was surprisingly refreshing to me, just to see a show actually acknowledge it on that deep a level. Lots of fun this episode overall. It's definitely a lot different from what we saw in the past few, but for some reason it didn't feel unnatural like any of the previous post-arc episodes.

[ookamigirl]

The new shy girl in need of help was a really unusual one.
That amount of strength was just amazing!!
Poor Bossun tried it out first hand LOL
Guess she was a bit much...
Visual Kei guy & crazy strong girl, now that's one unusual couple ^^"
Really funny episode this time!

[FUNiOP]

And we move right along with more new girls added to the cast. This one is so shy that she's expected to be really cute... but she's kind of a giant. And she has superhuman strength to go along with her size. So who do they pair her with? Dante? Yep...

[Damius]

- The shy girl is the new client.
- She sure is strong.
- She hits Bossun and now he is scares like hell.
- Good start…bad finish Bossun. Koma hits you for that Bossun.
- Oh, Koma-chan was able to not hit that guy…at first. Then Bossun saved that guy… Maybe he should not have save that guy though.
- Dante fall in love with Koma.
- “It’s like you became a dinosaur fossil” Lol. Poor Bossun…
- In the end it didn’t work between Dante and Koma.

How long with it takes for Bossun body to recover from this episode? It was a good entertainment.

[ookamigirl]

The whole horoscope thing was kinda ridiculous.
Everyone was obsessing over it way too much ^^"
Yuuki was scary and creepy as ever though.
Himoko the fortune teller was a total scam artist, but that was to be expected.
The showdown was interesting to watch, as was Tsubaki's help.

[FUNiOP]

That was really stupid. The kids go and expose a famous fortune teller's fraud at one of her big shows, resulting in all her followers turning on her, using simple logic. I feel like they were trying to play it straight in some way, but it ended up being comical as all hell. And now literally more people than Bossun will ever meet all know the truth about his past that he only just learned about within the past few months at the most. I guess he and Tsubaki have been mentioning that a little bit ever since, so it is realistic to think that the rumors could spread around their high school thoroughly enough for the men in black to extract that information from random kids who aren't close enough to either twin to say "fuck off bro". And goddamn it is stupid as hell to think she'd really sound out these FBI types to go investigating around a high school for dirt on a kid there. I'm still a sucker for Tsubaki helping out and stuff, though. The eyes were a dead giveaway that it was him from the first second they showed him, though.

[Damius]

- Bossun’s horoscope says that he will probably die tomorrow.
- Wow…they really got that fortune teller. She sure doesn’t notice evident things.

Next episode please…

[ookamigirl]

Bossun drank an experiment again ^^"
It was funny how his expressions got reversed LOL
Keeping up with his facial expressions was kinda hard & confusing.
Jason-sensei & omiai .... .... ROFL
Second part with the origami was not bad.
Who knew Bossun had another hidden talent.

[FUNiOP]

More origami right after Polar Bear Cafe. But first, Bossun has to drink some new drug that Chuuma-sensei made and left lying around looking like an off-brand Coke bottle. That concept is getting a little tired at this point, but I thought the idea was pretty funny and well-executed. Then the origami part. I guess I've always kind of been a sucker for unbelievably good origami creations, so I really ate this one up. I totally saw that ending coming when he drew the map, though.

[Damius]

- Bossun had to drink it.
- Of course, the cliché was use often, but I like the version of Sket Dance.
- Origami!
- Bossun is quite good at origami, what a surprise.
- So that’s what happened. lol

Both parts were quite funny!

[FUNiOP]

Well here's your Switch/Momoka romance. Damn, Switch is on his way to a harem as well. And one of his admirers is a big idol. Not bad for a mute otaku who doesn't show emotion except through typing. I really wasn't expecting her to be that into him, especially when he's even less capable of returning any emotion to her. And I like how his laptop drops and smoke pours out. That's how it works, right?

I could have done with more of that actual content to see what else they could give us until the next time they possibly touch on it, rather than the Biscuit Dance thing. Still, I can't pretend it wasn't cute as hell, and having the twins actually act like it as little kids adds to that a lot.

[ookamigirl]

The beginning totally reminded me of Kimi to Boku and their reminiscing of kindergarten days.
Switch really is a big fan of Momoka, but seems like she likes him too ^^
The broken laptop thing was really inconvenient for Switch.
All that writing reminded me of Eucliwood from Kore wa Zombie LOL

[Damius]

- Oh, welcome back Momoka!
- Both Switch computers are broken… What he will do?
- Yeah… let’s go back to “old way” of communicating.
- Wow, Switch was quite something when he gets rid of that unwanted fans… Go Switch Go!
- Switch grabs Momoka shoulder… asks her for a marker… Momoka is hoping… Switch writes: Give me your autograph. Poor Momoka.
- The autograph was not even for him.
- Momoka now have her treasure.

Not that Biscuit Dance is bad, but I would have like to have more of the Momoka/Switch romance. And yeah, I want more Momoka too. I hope it won’t take too long before we see her again.

[Damius]

I could have done with more of that actual content to see what else they could give us until the next time they possibly touch on it

I wonder how long it can take... Whiting the year please.

[ookamigirl]

So Samurai guy got Bossun hooked on e-mailing chat.
It's amazing how fast he got interested in that kind of thing.
The funny part was the amount of people involved in it.
Guess it really does connect the most unexpected people.
Seems like Switch is definitely the smartest one.
I totally ROFLed when they figured out they were on a date with each other!
Looks like Bossun & Himeko might have some other feelings than just friendship.

[FUNiOP]

This time, back to some Bossun/Himeko romance. They're the last ones to know, though. I always like seeing how perfect they are for each other and realizing it more and more even as much as they both try to deny it, but the level of obliviousness, not even denial, just got way too ridiculous this time. It was stupid enough that they didn't figure it out the same way Switch did without even being involved, but then they go through that whole overly long ordeal for their meeting. I did like Bossun's dream Pudding-san appearing and getting freaked out when he assumed she had to be the one. Of course it took that for them to realize what was going on (Bossun even said her name in the classroom, but Himeko couldn't figure it out), and then they have to be all aggressive toward each other. I was hoping they would make the date happen, but nope.

[Damius]

- Oh. They made a mistake there! First time they show Bossun cellphone at 4m19sec, it is 15:30, second time they show it at 4m44sec it’s 13:19.
- I knew it, Pudding-san end up to be Himeko in the end.
- Well, Switch noticed it.
- I wonder what will be their reactions when they will realize it…
- That was just the perfect reaction.
- They won’t erase it…I’m sure of it.

Wow, that was a funny episode. One thing I will do, when the series will end, is to watch all the episodes of each romance stories one after another, it would be nice to see the evolution and change since there will not be weeks between each Himeko/Bossun romance episodes for example.

[FUNiOP]

What's with that chibi Roman? It was in both parts, even though they weren't connected and it didn't seem relevant to either? Is that going to be a thing from now on? Both parts focused on Bossun being subject to bizarre inventions and kind of being naked a lot as they try to figure out how to fix the inevitable problems with them. And of course, the second one is solved by a paradox, hence the beginning part.

[ookamigirl]

Bossun & potion of invisibility LOL
There's no way not to laugh like crazy to baka Bossun.
He and Himeko + their crazy discussions all over town = just awesome
This was one of the best episodes so far, totally LMAO!
Seriously, that Bossun always has to drink those experimental potions.
Not to mention, even experimental inventions.... sigh.
That power suit totally got to his head, but as usual not for long.

[Damius]

- Bossun is now invisible…and naked.
- Chibi Roman is cute. I would like to see more characters chibi version now.
- “Hair in trouble” Lol Time is running out.
- Well, nothing did look natural.
- Well, that’s a lot of emotions…from Bossun to a body suit.
- That pose for 3 days…

[FUNiOP]

A pretty serious episode overall, but not without its comedy. Lots of character development, though, this time for Tsubaki and Daisey primarily. Very nice to see. The comedy was well-balanced as well.

[ookamigirl]

Bossun & Tsubaki are so totally alike it's amazing.
Both have the same need to help people.
That student council secretary sure is an interesting girl.
Asahina sure attracted some unwanted delinquent attention.
Tsubaki, her knight got himself in a huge pinch, good thing Sket club appeared.
Really cool episode.

[Damius]

It was a quite good episode. I always like to see some characters development about non-main characters. Pretty good and well done.

[FUNiOP]

Himeko gets to be the Pelocan girl! A role she should be perfect for, but of course she has to screw it up. And of course Bossun and Switch get dragged into it and add their own nervousness and hilarity respectively. Then, after a sequence of stupid puns, they realize they have to study for practice exams the next day, which they all suck at, except for Switch of course. They decide to study at Himeko's house, but their study skills don't improve any. Until Himeko's mom joins in and shows us all where Himeko gets her scary side from. And as it turns out, it was exactly what they needed. I was honestly expecting them to be too tired and fail the exams because she made them stay up all night, but I guess seeing it work out perfectly ends up being more amusing.

[ookamigirl]

Himeko & Pelocan commercial.
She was really excited at first, but then she just got really nervous.
Himeko looked really cute in her costume.
Those three were totally LOL in making the commercial.
The second part about exams was pretty good too.
Himeko & Bossun are totally useless when it comes to studying.
Himeko's mom was just amazing!

[Damius]

- Oh, will Hime pass the audition and do the next Pelocan commercial?
- It was not so hard for Hime. She passes.
- Hime signs autograph already.
- Hime is so nervous…she even wants to go home. Go Hime you can do it.
- It didn’t turn out like they wanted…

- They ask for help to study and end up at Hime’s home to study.
- Hime’s mother sure looks happy to see them. Poor Hime…
- Well…well, when Hime’s mother discovers they were not studying, let’s just say…she is different. She is very scary.
- Too be terrified, may be a good thing sometimes…
- That bath scene came out of nowhere.

[ookamigirl]

Roman having manga pro switch moments.
Everyone in the club is looking up to her now.
Her switching between creator and normal mode sure was interesting to watch.
Fumi's manga was full of all kinds of weird twists LOL
I do like it when they give us a short manga to read in the middle of an episode.
The impersonation part was really nice.
Fooling Tsubaki like that was totally LOL

[FUNiOP]

I really like Roman's other personality, and her switching back and forth between the two is quite amusing. Her advice sounds amazingly good for as bad as the result always inevitably ends up being. Then, the Sket-dan gets to be the Student Council for a meeting. If this was dub VAs I'd be able to tell for sure, but I'm actually not quite sure whether the seiyuu just switched to whoever they were impersonating, or if the seiyuu for the characters doing the impersonations were just that good at them. I assume that at least Mimorin's voice was used for Switch's ponytail whatever girl. Also, since Bossun went to the trouble of going over to Agata's desk to do his voice, wouldn't it make more sense to just pop up so Bossun could see his silhouette?

[Damius]

- I like this personality of Roman. It’s fun to watch even more with the comments of Hime.
- How will be the Fum sketch? Roman's Creator Mode!
- Good luck Fumi, I hope you will win the contest.
- Bossun and Hime reading the Fumi’s manga, was quite funny.
- Roman finds Fumi to be a scary girl!

- Imitating voices can…bring problems…. or…
- Budget for Sket-Dan = 1 million yen!

Both parts were quite good.

[ookamigirl]

School Skii trip to Niigata.
Giant rope skipping tournament for room choice?! Now that's just weird.
Saaya was pretty hopeless with it... at first.
We got to see Himeko's weakness this time too lol
The weird sensei and his crazy pills sure made things very lively again.

[FUNiOP]

It's almost the end of the season, and that means Sket Dance has to do something out of the ordinary. The school trip is brought up within the first second of the episode, then the OP has a credit scroll and a different ending, with Saaya instead of Tsubaki, and Hoosuke in the picture. There's no ED, but there is a preview, which we haven't gotten in a while, although I suspect that's more due to Crunchyroll than the actual content. The next episode, obviously the beginning of the actual school trip, has a title about it and a "part one", so obviously the rest of this cour will be part of that arc.

[Damius]

Nothing much to say about this episode. It was ok, but this may be because of the fact it was an episode around Saaya.

[Damius]

It's almost the end of the season, and that means Sket Dance has to do something out of the ordinary.

Yup, no surprise they are doing something special at each end of a cour. But I don't think anything will beat the end of the last cour...

[FUNiOP]

School Trip Rhapsody, Part 1! I loved the random story tailor recap. For some reason, Chuu-san just gives Tsubaki the Hypno pill instead of being there to tell him what to do, and somehow seeing a cat causes him to believe he is one, except not really, because he still talks like a normal person, just adding "-nya" to the end of his sentences and acting cat-like in general. And somehow cat ears spawn on his head. Can other people see them? They appear to be tangible. I always wondered what that was about in the OP, so I'm glad to see there was actually a point to it. I would be complaining about how cliche the whole thing was, but the show itself let Roman do that in such a perfect way that I can't complain at all. I absolutely loved that whole part.

[ookamigirl]

Bossun <-> Hineko body switch continues..
Tsubaki was totally cute with the whole ~nyaa thing ^^
Those two freaking out over basic things was just LOL
At least Roman was using it as inspiration.
Awesome episode! Sket is getting more and more fun by the episode!

[Damius]

- Indeed, who the hell is he?
- Tsubaki with nekomimi? Really? Why him…?
- Poor Himeko…she hits herself…
- This is one of the reason we need more Roman! Her part sure was great.

[ookamigirl]

Samurai guy caused another funny incident LOL
This school trip was totally funny since everyone seemed to be at their max craziness.
Bossun & Himeko were closer and closer to being discovered.
Saaya's flashbacks were nice ^^
Looks like she developed some strong feelings for Bossun.
The bed sharing thing was really a nice bonus this time.
The mini game special was pretty interesting and LOL but didn't really fit after the whole school trip theme.

[FUNiOP]

Cour 5 End.

Great stuff as usual. If only the majority of each cour wasn't so damn mediocre. I'm glad to know that everything in the OP ended up happening during its run. I was really hoping for that scene of Bossun and Himeko in bed. It's funny, I always thought it was strange that Bossun got the pillow, but now I see that it was really the other way around. And while it's a stupid cliche plot device they threw in there for the school trip, they utilized it really well to develop the drama and relationships between these characters, and that's something I've been waiting for, so I ended up being a lot happier with that choice than I thought I would.

And then random Dragon Quest. To be continued? Really? That seems like a very strange thing to do at this point. I love Dragon Quest and references to it, but I would have greatly preferred they let this arc cap off the cour and move on to something else with the next one, which will have a new OP and ED like usual. Well there aren't many previews anymore, or at least Crunchyroll doesn't usually have them anymore, so we'll see if it actually continues next week, or if they just start on something new like usual.

[ookamigirl]

Saaya sure wisely used Tsubaki to get some more info about Bossun ^^
Her big brother totally confronted her...
That guy was acting way way overprotective of his sister.
It was LOL how each of them thought about a different person from the one each of them was thinking they were talking about. Confusing much??
Well, at least it brought about positive things ^^
Looks like Saaya's "date" turned into a group misunderstanding thing ROFL

[FUNiOP]

New OP but old ED? That's very unusual.

A lot of the major relationships are further explored in this episode, all connected by the same thread of comical misunderstanding. Not a bad offering considering I was expecting some throwaway comedy one-offs at this point. I'm not too surprised that they didn't acknowledge all the issues posed by the previous arc, but they did reference Tsubaki's issue a little bit. No mention of Quest Dance, though.

[everydaygamer]

there was a new ed, it just wasn't shown with the simulcast for some reason.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK7-qgjQSCk

[Damius]

I won't take it from Sket Dance, this show knows how to finish a cour. But it makes it more frustrating that we don't have more episodes of that level. Let's see what will the next cour will reserve to us.

[Damius]

That was a little funny episode. Saaya sees hope at the end...and Agata doesn't understand anything even at the end of the episode. Will he ever?

[ookamigirl]

Hoosuke was pretty interesting this time.
Looks like that owl is much smarter than average.
Switch's new invention was just awesome!
Seems like everything they do, they just have to fight over it first.... *sigh*
The masks were pretty ROFL at least.
OMG! Looks like Himeko really likes Bossun and he didn't realize it at all even when she said it.
Himeko vs Komiyama, tsukkomi competition was really funny.
Bossun & Himeko make a great team.

[FUNiOP]

Chuu-san and Switch really do need to pick up their Nobel prizes. Hoosuke is just tweeting. Everyone has their inner thoughts exposed, and they all end up hating each other because of it. That would definitely be the most likely outcome if such a device existed. Fortunately, Hoosuke is the smartest one, and saves the day! Except it was actually Roman writing some crappy manga. But hey, it works! The second half would have been just as good, but I really hate it when a show (often this one) decides how hilarious I should think its gags are. Some decent moments, anyway. I like seeing Saaya realize how close Bossun and Himeko really are to Momoka.

[Damius]

- Bossun is more boring than Hoosuke…
- Hoosuke saved the day!
- Momoka was in the second part! I want to see her more regularly

[ookamigirl]

Tsubaki's t-shirt was interesting ^^"
Guess he has an interesting hobby.
President was right, they were kinda lame.
Good thing he asked Bossun to help out.
Tsubaki was way too serious about the whole thing.
At least Himeko was enjoying watching them.
The second part about mecha anime was good.
Bossun was totally lost in the otaku world ^^"

[FUNiOP]

Thanks for the commentary, Hoosuke! First chibi Roman, now this. I guess they really like to have fun with that kind of random stuff.

It's funny how Japanese people seem to find English writing as stylish as Americans find Asian characters. Then, Bossun becomes an otaku, but he's still no match for the real ones. However, a joke by Switch actually ends up being his savior and he becomes the new god of the otaku.

[Damius]

- We will have Hoosuke commentaries now… Give me back chibi Roman NOW.
- He said it! The t-shirt is lame.
- Well, let’s say first part was good since they focus on the brothers.
- Bossun otaku version
- Switch is jealous.

[ookamigirl]

Chuuma-sensei's love life.
That love potion had pretty complicated instructions.
Bossun's plan was pretty interesting.
Suzu was really determined to pair up her dad with Remi.
Watching Chuuma's confused face was just LOL
The restaurant part was just LMAO!!!!!
I'm glad Remi decided to give the old fashioned way a chance in the end.
The unexpected marriage proposal was just wow.

[FUNiOP]

This kind of seemed like it would be a throwaway comedy one-off at first, but with the result being an actual romance between Onee-san and Chuu-san, that's actually kind of a big deal. And honestly, I thought the whole episode was pretty damn good. I don't know how they could have handled Chuu-san actually accepting Onee-san's love without it seeming completely out-of-character, so I guess following the comedy of the rest of the episode up with him being so over-the-top that Onee-san can't even accept his level of enthusiasm was probably one of the better options they could have gone with. Their relationship is now very different, so I'm interested to see what their scenes are like from now on. I don't know if this is what Himeko meant by being surprised at both of their ages, but I definitely thought of Chuu-san as being older than 33 and of Onee-san being younger than 27. Which is already a pretty big gap, so I thought it would be kind of weird for them to actually get together if their ages were what I thought they were. It's still a little unusual, but I think they've built their relationship enough that it should work. And while the Sket-dan was largely irrelevant for this episode (other than Bossun's stupid goggles thing coming up with an impossible plan that works out perfectly, a scene that's only barely passable because of how ridiculous they play it, although the sudden changes to DBZ Time were getting to be a bit much for me), the touches on their own romantic situations were nice. For comedy, the eyecatches were honestly probably my high point. Roman's scenes are limited as they point out, but they usually shine really well when they actually pop up.

Too bad the next episode is going to shit all over the positivity this episode instilled in me. Literally. Ugh... should I even bother?

[Damius]

- Onee-san is in love with Chuu-san! This can be really interesting… Let’s hope for the best, let’s hope it will last.
- A love potion… I see… What will be the results? What she wanted? Accident? (touch by another girl first) Potion not working?
- I feel bad for Roman… I want her to have more screentime…
- Well, in the end Onee-san didn’t do it… That’s understandable.
- Chuu-san finds out…
- And she says it…without the help of any potion…
- He said it, he asked Onee-san to marry him!
- She said no…she wants to date first.
- Chuu-san is only 33? Onee-san is already 27? Never thought that…

So when will we have another episode about this relationship? Before 2013?

[ookamigirl]

This episode sure began in an interesting way!
The whole Bossun poop story was ROFL, but also kinda disgusting.
Encounter with Dante in the bathroom ^^"
Bossun sure was shit out of luck with toilets LMAO!
The second story about student council manga was pretty funny.
Tsubaki & his idea of a mascot character was LOL though.
What Sket did out of it was ever worse ^^"

[FUNiOP]

AREN'T POOP JOKES HILARIOUS?!

So fuck this episode. At least that only lasted for the first half, although the second wasn't anything special. It did bring up that the president and Michiru would be gone soon, though. Looks like that's what the next episode will be about. That should be a good one. We already know what the two new members will look like from the OP, but I'm curious to see what they're like. They definitely look like they have the potential to be interesting. I'm guessing we'll first see them in the episode after next or later, since next week's episode seems to be focused on the president's last day and should provide a nice conclusion to his story before they start the story of the new members. Does that mean it's going to be the next school year? That seems like the kind of thing that would end one cour and begin another.

[Damius]

Poop jokes are just not my thing, not my thing at all... Well, the second part was fine...nothing really good. Next episode can only be better.

[ookamigirl]

Student council elections ended.
Current president was a bit down since he's leaving his place to Tsubaki.
Tsubaki went a bit power crazy...
Way to strict and totally unreasonable.
Well, at least that little talk with Agata helped him see the light.
Saaya's kidnapping story was interesting.
They sure put Agata through some hoops ^^
A really nice farewell for the student council president.

[FUNiOP]

Oh right, student officers change partway through the year in Japan. Weird. Still, this really seemed like the kind of thing they'd do for the end of a cour, especially with the special ED. But with the level of quality about as high as an end-of-cour arc, I can't complain about there being more of this kind of stuff than usual. Really nice closure to Agata's Student Council days. No preview from Crunchyroll this time, but I wonder if the next episode will be about the two new members that we've been seeing in the OP. I assume Agata's Saaya misunderstanding gag will stick around for the rest of the school year (not sure how much longer that will be).

[Damius]

- Let’s make a better school. For that Tsubaki need to take a really important class: Sket Dan 101.
- The first half end on a suspense note… good it’s only the first half of the episode.
- I knew it was something like that. Nice way to close the Agata's days as a President.

[ookamigirl]

Seriously, what happened to this episode?
Totally out of the blue..
Seems like it was a game of some sort full of impossibilities.
The second part was more normal though.
Those visual kei guys are just weird.
Dante pulled a full 180 on them and went enka style *shocked*
That Dante really is susceptive to unconscious influences lol

[FUNiOP]

One of Sket Dance's really bizarre episodes, complete with some more poop jokes. Great.

Then, Dante goes all enka. Amusing if only for enka Gackt.

And finally, more random Kura-chan desu fanservice.

Next time, looks like we finally get to those new student council members. At least that has to be better than this.

[Damius]

- The first part sure was weird… I didn’t like it. Well, the fact that there was poop jokes, made it even worse.
- Dante really changed…
- And so Dante in the second part…oh well.

Well, good thing about this episode? Next episode can only be better, I guess.

[ookamigirl]

Looks like this time they're catching a thief.
That guy was no ordinary thief.
Freshman ninja Katou Kiriwas was really cool.
That story was over rather quick.
The second part was about Tsubaki as the new student council president.
Well, he does fit that role perfectly.
Usami, the new student council recruit was an interesting surprise.

[FUNiOP]

This is now a show about high school ninjas.

I really didn't know what to think from the OP, but Usami is very much not the kind of character I expected. Interesting, I guess? We'll see how this plays out.

I love you so much, Roman.

[Damius]

- When will we see the ninja again?
- Let’s see if Usami will be more talkative later on.
- Usami wants all the boys to be expelled. Hehe.
- Usami sure made quite a first impression…to say the least.
- Roman is back for the best!
- Usami completely changed… didn’t see that coming.
- The ninja will join the student council.

[FUNiOP]

Heh, they put Sasuke in the show and called it Sarutobi.

[ookamigirl]

Himeko's peeping Tom case.
Bossun sure became competitive with the student council.
Guess it's 'cause of his brother Tsubaki....
Katou is just amazing, yup, that's the right word.
The current student council sure is full of all kind of weirdos ^^"
The second story about Roman's manga competition was a bit flat considering the first one.

[Damius]

- Hime yelled… Is there a pervert peeping?
- Yeah…it seems that way.
- Well, some more about the new members of the student council is always a good thing.
- Will the President be able to deal with them all? I think he did a step in the good direction with the silver hair guy (forgot his name…).
- Second part with Roman!!
- Roman wins!

[FUNiOP]

These animators really love fucking around with random shit in different episodes. This time, their focus was on Mimorin's boobs, at least at the very beginning. And not just a standard bounce. They put more impossible physics in those boobs than High School of the Dead does with bullets flying through. And then after a few minutes, there was no more of that. That was just so ridiculously jarring that I can hardly even remember anything else about the episode. The over-the-top scale of her house was amusing.

[ookamigirl]

Bossun playing with toy car LOL
His fight with Tsubaki about it was so typically brotherly.
That Mimori and her life were just wow! Who knew?
OK, now they just totally overdid it!!!
This was just wrong in so many ways...
The second story was a total opposite of the first.
A food eating contest...

[Damius]

- Impossible bouncing boobs…
- Mimorin's house sure is extravagant and unique… It’s a lot of fun visiting it!

[ookamigirl]

Katou still not having much regard for others.
Always does things his own way.
Himeko bonding with Katou. That's a new one.
Katou's story was interesting.
The new/former Katou's teacher was the lowest of the low.
So it looks like his past came back to haunt him.
He's lucky he's got really good friends now that support him.
Good episode.

[FUNiOP]

Ridiculously evil teacher plots are really hard to take seriously. However, I won't pretend they didn't succeed somewhat in getting me to want to see his face punched in while still pulling off the tried-and-true self-restraint and power of friendship stuff they were going for. I was wondering how exactly Katou was going to become obsessed with constantly protecting Tsubaki as it shows in the OP. Now we're finally getting to that point now that it will be changing again soon. Oh, I guess that means there should be a major serious arc soon, right?

[everydaygamer]

Ridiculously evil teacher plots are really hard to take seriously. However, I won't pretend they didn't succeed somewhat in getting me to want to see his face punched in while still pulling off the tried-and-true self-restraint and power of friendship stuff they were going for. I was wondering how exactly Katou was going to become obsessed with constantly protecting Tsubaki as it shows in the OP. Now we're finally getting to that point now that it will be changing again soon. Oh, I guess that means there should be a major serious arc soon, right?

honestly I'm wondering if sket dance will even continue. gintama is supposed to be taking its time slot and i haven't heard anything about sket dance continuing in a new time slot.

[Damius]

- I hate the teacher since the first time I saw him, but now that he made Hime-chan cry, I hate him even more.
- Bossun hits the teacher!
- Katou and Bossun got suspended two weeks…

If the episode was not around a teacher like that it good has been a good serious episode…

[Damius]

honestly I'm wondering if sket dance will even continue. gintama is supposed to be taking its time slot and i haven't heard anything about sket dance continuing in a new time slot.

Oh really? I suppose we will wait and see. If it is the case, I probably won't really miss the show, but there is still things and characters I like and would like to find more about.

[FUNiOP]

honestly I'm wondering if sket dance will even continue. gintama is supposed to be taking its time slot and i haven't heard anything about sket dance continuing in a new time slot.

Oh really? I suppose we will wait and see. If it is the case, I probably won't really miss the show, but there is still things and characters I like and would like to find more about.

Agreed. As much as I'm disappointed with Sket Dance, I've still connected with the characters over time enough that I want to see their issues that have been left hanging properly resolved.

[ookamigirl]

Tsubaki & Katou joined at the him LOL
Bossun really seems to enjoy teasing Tsubaki.
Katou's attitude sure is unique most of the time..
Looks like student council will come to appreciate his ninja skills.
Katou proves to be the best & most efficient member student council ever had.
That guy is just wow!
Usami's problem with men sure got a unique approach ROFL
Guys dressed as girls were really cute!! Especially Tsubaki who totally looked like a real girl.

[FUNiOP]

Well there's out official in-show confirmation that the series is ending. The final episode looks like it's going to deal with some issues to include in a final episode, but having the series end with the only cour that doesn't end with an arc is going to be really weird. And of course there's plenty left hanging that can't be avoided since there are obviously reasons for ending it. I just hope the final episode is good enough for what they have to work with.

As for this actual episode, it wasn't anything special, although the guys being perfect girls definitely had some amusing moments.

[Damius]

Well there's out official in-show confirmation that the series is ending.

Well, I think they should have ended the series sooner. The arc Bossun found out that he has a brother would have been a nice way to end it. We never had something as good since...

[FUNiOP]

Well there's out official in-show confirmation that the series is ending.

Well, I think they should have ended the series sooner. The arc Bossun found out that he has a brother would have been a nice way to end it. We never had something as good since...

That's exactly what I've been thinking since this was confirmed.

[Damius]

So that is how they announced next one will be the last… I hope they will find a way to do a nice last episode.

We had a nice episode this time. I like especially how they deal with Isumi issue.

[FUNiOP]

And so it's over. Like I said last time, the fact that they have to end it with not only so many things left hanging, but with the only cour not ending in an arc was going to make the attempt to have the ending seem satisfying and conclusive extremely difficult. That said, they pulled off this episode about as well as I could imagine. They tied together a lot of things from the very beginning of the series, and provided some important developments we've been waiting for. Saaya's development is something we've basically been waiting for since her introduction, and considering how conclusive the end of the first year was, this second half-year kind of felt like a second series, which this episode provided a decent bit of a conclusion to. Will there be an actual sequel series at some point? Probably. At this point, I hope so, because there's still a lot left that I've invested myself in.

But hey, it's making room for more Gintama, right? They managed to run side-by-side for the majority of this show's run, but if that's not a possibility anymore, I'll certainly take more Gintama over more Sket Dance. No matter how much it impressed me at any point, I could never think of Sket Dance as anything more than a vastly inferior Gintama.

Series Grade: B-

[ookamigirl]

Saaya still hung up on Bossun - Himeko relationship.
Her brother still misunderstanding the whole thing...
Bossun as basketball stand-in was interesting to see.
Saaya finally confessed to Bossun. Now that was a big deal.
There sure was a lot going on in this episode.
Seems like all the characters from previous help requests were in it.

[Damius]

But hey, it's making room for more Gintama, right?

Too bad Gintama won't only have new episodes. I wonder how many new episodes we will have and will CR get it?

[Damius]

But hey, it's making room for more Gintama, right?

Too bad Gintama won't only have new episodes. I wonder how many new episodes we will have and will CR get it?

And of course, on the same day, CR announced Gintama...

[Damius]

The show has ended. I think it's a perfect way for that kind of show to end. Best scene of the episode was, without any doubt, the scene where Saaya confesses her love to Bossun. She was so adorable.

Well, I will remember the characters and their relationships more than the show itself.

Good bye.