Subculture Anime Blog

MIYAKO FILMS PRESENTS:

Summary:

Yoshinoya has trouble waking up in the morning as usual, but when she finally does, she is disappointed to find that she has work even though it is summer break. The Headmaster constantly tells Yoshinoya that there is still work to do, but when she sees the usual students coming from the Hidamari apartments, she goes to greet them instead. Yoshinoya continues to do other things throughout the day, such as dressing up and painting, but the Headmaster is always around to scold her. The teachers eventually meet in Kuwabara’s office, then getting a delivery from the Landlady for lunch. The Headmaster again reminds Yoshinoya that she will have work to do afterwards, but she finally admits that she cannot be motivated. She wishes the rest of the students were at school, making the Headmaster agree that it is too quiet without them.

When Yoshinoya escapes once again, she begins writing postcards to all of her students. Natsume shows up in the office to use the printer, but Yoshinoya takes the chance to ask her for a favor upon seeing her. Natsume ends up delivering postcards to the Hidamari apartments, but she quickly escapes at the thought of being fond by Sae. Yoshinoya is bombarded with papers at nightfall, but she finally finds encouragement when the Headmaster offers to do fireworks with her after she is done. With this, the three usual teachers enjoy themselves in the firework’s sparkling light a few hours later. Though Kuwabara notices Yoshinoya’s easy going nature, the Headmaster also notices how much she cares for her students. Upon reaching home, Yoshinoya hopes that her postcards would reach her students the next day.

When Yuno wakes up one morning to meet the girls outside, she shows them a letter she has received from Miyako. Sae wonders why Miyako would send a letter to someone so close, but Miyako reminds her that some things can only be expressed in one way. The girls then travel to the city to watch a movie by Kishi; one that turns out to be quite touching. When the girls return to the apartments, they discuss how sad, yet fitting the final scenes of the movie were. Yuno then reveals that she was able to meet Kishi shortly after the film, which turns the conversation to the large audience the film actually had. The girls realize how amazing Kishi is for realizing her dreams, but while alone that night, Yuno recalls that she herself doesn’t know exactly what she wishes to do. Knowing what she certainly enjoys doing now, however, she begins to draw.

Later, Hiro treats the girls to dishes that she suddenly felt like making. While the girls enjoy this meal, Miyako shows them a flip book that she had created with one of her textbooks. Even after becoming distracted from a program on the television, the girls continue to be fascinated by this. Sae is eventually interrupted by a phone call from her editor, and the girls learn that she had actually received a fan letter. The girls are amazed at this, and happy for Sae, but this causes embarrassment for her while they are in her room with her. After the girls retire own rooms, Yuno takes the chance to reply to Miyako’s letter. In it, she describes her feelings of wanting to draw after being inspired by Kishi.

Preview: Miyako is always the weird one.

Impression:

Dude, that animation would have not fit on the amount of pages that book actually had. Totally a Shaft move there, and I absolutely loved the ridiculousness of it. Today’s episode was great, from Yoshinoya silliness to Yuno gaining just a bit of insight into what she wishes to pursue. I don’t think we’ve ever had a real look into Yoshinoya’s typical day until now, but it certainly wasn’t too surprising. Matsuki Miyu does such a good job with her unique role, even though one of her roles from the recent “Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu” has started to resemble it recently. Watching Yoshinoya do childish things like running from the Headmaster was hilarious as ever. Behind the oddness of her character though, Yoshinoya is just like many other teachers who love being around their students. It was awesome how the usually strict Headmaster recognized this, even offering sympathy after she finally got her work done. Behind all the silliness the first half of the episode had, Hidamari proved it could have a small message packed in with all the fun as usual.

I liked the second half of the episode even more, with the girls taking a visit to watch Kishi’s film. Filmmaking is definitely an art too, and I actually have a close friend who is serious about the subject. Art seems to exist to change peoples’ hearts, and when such artists realize they wish to pursue such dreams, they can finally find the happiness they would have never received otherwise. The understanding of this is why I’ve always believed that the heavily art influenced Shaft has always been the perfect studio to handle a show like Hidamari Sketch. Most animation studios seem to be so concerned with the technical side animation that they have forgotten what animation was originally meant to be. Ah, but maybe that’s just the start of a rant coming from a digital media major who actually wants to be a fine artist.

I should probably just end the post by saying, “OH GOD YOSHINOYA-SENSEI IS HOT.” Next week should be fun too.