Subculture Anime Blog

Just a little different. My final impression is included!

Summary:

The cherry blossoms have started blooming, so the whole gang is out to view them. Juju has trouble dividing a pizza among everyone, and Nagisa doesn’t do very well either despite her original confidence. While Natsumi reassures Minamo that is was ok for her to attend, the whole group discovers that Oba Tsukiyo is there with them. This is a student that does not appear often, and she even panics when everyone notices her. Finding different cherry blossom trees, the class begins attaching a few to personalities in the class. There is a lively one like Negishi, and even one that follows its own pace like Sora. When she sees this late blooming tree, Hiyori expresses her wish for it to hurry. When she even convinces the class to attach to it in an attempt to help, Nagisa suggests that it might be fun. She suggests to Sora that they can hear the tree’s sound, which Sora finds is true as she closes her eyes. Hiyori goes on to have Negishi preform a cheer from the tree’s branches, but the tree obviously doesn’t bloom by the end of the day. The class starts to leave, but Sora suggests that she will stay a bit longer. Looking at the blossoming trees by herself, Sora notices that it is a bit different from when she was with the others. Minamo meets Sora shortly afterwards, presenting her with the pictures she took of everyone before. Minamo expresses all the fun she’s had, before leaving herself. When Sora sees the picture inside the envelope, she smiles to herself.

The cherry blossoms have become even more beautiful when Sora and the other girls get to school later. Natsumi states that she will not be going to club as she has a dentist appointment, and Hazuki has some important business of her own. When Sora ges to the clubroom, she finds that no one is there. Taking a seat, she enjoys her regular tea before getting to work. Looking around the room, Sora wonders where everyone is at. She notices the slow paced tree outside has properly bloomed, believing that everyone had helped. Sora finally decides to draw from the photo Minamo took. Sora recalls that, at some point, Natsumi and Hazuki being next to her became a normal thing. Ryo and Fu suddenly enter, but realizing that no one else is there, they quickly leave. As Sora continues to work, she also mentions that Ryo and Fu are always together. Sora describes Nagisa’s knowledge on insects and the fact that Juju is always smiling, when they walk into the clubroom. Juju searches for the teacher, as Nagisa chases after a butterfly that has entered the room. The two leave to draw outside afterwards, however. When Sora gets back to her drawing, she finds that the butterfly was on top of the canvas.

Kokage enters the room next, hiding herself next to the door. Sora recalls that it was Kokage that made it easier for her to talk to Negishi, as Negishi walks into the room. He mentions that he is looking for Mike, before leaving as well. Kokage describes how Negishi was fooled by believing that Sora was the only one in the room, before stating that there are things better left unknown. Kokage states that even if no one was inside of it, the room they are in would remain to be the clubroom. While Kokage describes even the smell of the room, Sora notices that she is a bit different than usual. Kokage reveals some moldy bread in a locker, however, before taking her own leave. Sora begins describing the rest of the club members’ personalties, and even adds the cats to her drawing. Sora looks outside to see Mike during her break, believing that he may have come to see the cherry blossoms as well. Sora gets to Tsukiyo, expressing her interest in her despite her low attendance. Sora adds Minamo and Ao next, completing the drawing portion of her artwork. Although the room is empty, Sora feels as if she is not alone.

Sora begins to paint next, as she imagines that everyone is there with her. Sora believes that everyone is full of different colors, and wonders if her color is there as well. Hiyori finally arrives to the clubroom, noticing that Sora is the only one there. She takes a look at Sora’s painting, mentioning how rare it is for her to do one. Hiyori then leaves the clubroom as well, but not before complimenting Sora on her work. Finally finished, Sora walks outside to view the cherry blossoms again. She sees many different colors and trees, before stopping at the tree with its own pace. Sora believes that this tree may be like her, in that it takes its time. However, that is fine. Sora decides to live life at her own pace, and guesses that it must be the same for everyone else. Hazuki meets Natsumi on the street, so they begin walking home together. Sora sees them as well, but she is unable to catch up to them because of a stop light. Sora calls out to them instead, so the two quickly run back to her. When the three stop by a restaurant, a friendly waitress introduces herself to them. Natsumi and Hazuki introduce themselves in return, but are surprised when Sora uses her own voice to introduce herself as well.

ED: “Tanpopo Suisha (たんぽぽ水車)” by Kana Hanazawa, Asuka Nakase, Yui Makino – The ED is played while we are shown everyone living their lives as usual. Hearing Yui Makino sing along with the other two main seiyu was definitely a treat, and I can’t wait for the single.

Impression:

Like any other true slice of life anime, this episode was left quite open. You could say everything was concluded nicely with Sora’s painting though. Watching Sora draw out all of her friends, it was like all of the previous episodes were coming back to me. Like a few others, I was kind of surprised that Tsukiyo’s introduction did not come until the end. After realizing her role in this episode, however, I thought it was very fitting. I definitely laughed when I heard Mamiko Noto’s voice before everyone else realized who was sitting next to them.The cherry blossom theme was a very nice one to play on, and I really loved the parallels with the “my pace” Sora. Watching her finally be able to start speaking up at the end of the episode was wonderful, and it probably reminded me a bit of myself. I don’t know what else to say about this episode. Watching Sora create her artwork and watching everyone in their usual wackiness was a great as ever, and the new insert song made the episode even better. I guess I’ll sum it all up with my final impression…up next!

Final Impression:

Needless to say, Sketchbook has been a great ride for me from start to finish. I had high expectations for the series before the season started, and it exceeded them every single time. There was not a huge audience for this show, but that’s the case with practically any slice of life anime. Meanwhile, the few of us who took the chance to enjoy this show experienced a wonderful treat. Sketchbook’s theme has always been around those of friendship, change, and family. It seems like you can only get such touching themes from underrated anime like this. Another reason I appreciated this show so much so its predominant art theme. Being an artist myself, I could relate to things in just about every episode. Sora’s inner thoughts were those of a true artists’, and it is clear that the creators have brought their own experiences to the table for this.

The lovely thing about this show is that all of the characters mirror true to life ones. Especially in an artistic environment, you would find many quirky personalities all around. Even Kate’s late entrance as a transfer made things feel more realistic. I loved each and every character in Sketchbook, but I probably liked Sora the best because of my own relation to her. I was, and maybe still am, a shy artist. Watching Sora’s slight difficulty interacting really got to me, especially when I knew she had her own insight about all the things around her. The cats were just as wonderful as the humans, as they had their own little cast and world. It’s rare that side characters become just as lovable as the main cast, but Sketchbook pulled it off with ease.

Add all of these great things with a wonderful soundtrack and cast including Yui Makino, and Sketchbook will remain to be one of my favorite anime of all time. It doesn’t matter if not many people watched this show. Those that have will never forget the wonderful masterpiece they have seen. I wouldn’t mind a sequel in the future, but the series is also fine as is. For now, Aria will probably fill my slice of life needs next season. Who else feels like going out to enjoy life right now?