Hidamari Sketch Vol. 3 (Sunshine Sketch)

something · #1 07-27-2009, 08:32 PM

Only noticed a review for Vol. 2 so new thread it is.

I finished this last night, after holding off on it for quite awhile. I didn't really want to take so long to read it, but seeing as how Vol. 4 won't be out until... oh god, January 2010?... I wasn't in a rush or anything.

As usual Yen does a great job, minus the whole "sophomore/junior" thing, which has always been a huge pet peeve of mine, but it rarely comes up in the book itself. I also think the way they decide when to and when not to do a translation note is a bit odd. Do we really need to define kotatsu in every volume, while not including notes about some rather less obvious things? Still, if you're reading something like Hidamari Sketch, you probably know enough to get by fine. I still think some indication that there even is a translation note would be great, as opposed to flipping to the back every time you think you missed a joke. Just put a little "tl" in the bottom of each 4koma that has a note or something. Anyway, minor nitpicks, and I'd rather them keep true to the jokes and me miss a joke or two rather than have things be altered significantly and never be given the chance to get the original joke at all.

As for content, I kind of wish the stories in the manga gave dates of when things happen so I could match them up to the anime more easily. (I wonder if the anime based the dates off context guesses or if they collaborated with Ume.) I noticed a number of things from the anime, but also some things I don't think have been animated yet. I don't think we've seen the first skit in the book, which is one of my favorites in the whole thing. Even putting aside the fourth wall breaking humor ("Nothing happens around here that would make a good manga." ...Hah!) I seriously found Yuno's robot 4koma to be the wittiest, most adorable goddamn thing ever.

Plenty of other stories are great too, like Yuno and Miyako's sketching trip to the shrine, Yuno's parents visiting, the Olive salon, riding a bike, the whole polaroid segment, etc.

There were some slightly more serious ones too, where a bit of an emotional element creeps in - Miyako's cat (aww, crying Yuno), Yuno's crisis of self-confidence when her sketch places poorly in the competition, Hiro and Sae's fight (Miyako: "I see. It's your fault." ::bluntly:: XD).

I actually thought that new characters were in this volume, but that must be later. I suppose them not being on the covers should have tipped me off. I do feel like the great secondary characters weren't quite used as much as they could have been. Yoshinoya got a lot of page time, and was always hilarious, but the one Natsume scene reminded me of just how terribly underused she is. And Aoki Ume's comment at the end points out that the landlord didn't make it into this volume once! Kuwabara needs a few more scenes. But we got some fun with Yuno's parents at least. It's Natsume I miss the most though. Actually, I miss someone else more, but I think they're anime-only.

As usual one of the real highlights of the book is Miyako's delightful bluntness and lack of tact, as well as Sae and Hiro's relationship, but in the end I always, always come back to the adorable Yunocchi as my favorite. The way Ume draws her and all her facial expressions just goes straight to my moe centers and flips a switch into overdrive. Especially the poorly-placing sketch bit. Ohhh Yuno. Fight Yunocchi, fight! You can do it! Oh how I love her so.

I actually read this over four nights, each day rereading the parts I read the night before, same as I did for Vol. 2. Partly because it was just so fun, but also because... it's so short! Sigh. I can't believe the next volume is still 5-6 months away. I wanted to make this last as long as I could...

Need more! And hurry up and announce a season three, Shaft!

Suwako Moriya · #2 07-27-2009, 10:08 PM