Manga Adaptation by SHAFT
Simulcast on The Anime Network

Premise: There are still six art students living together in an apartment building and they still don’t do jack shit on a daily basis. What did you expect?

In this overly exciting episode, Yuno wakes up to hear Sae and Hiro being up to… shady business in Sae’s apartment. She runs to Miya to start up an investigation. With the help of the juniors and really just by… asking Sae, they manage to figure out that the third-years are preparing their honeymoon senior trip. After some shopping antics, Sae and Hiro leave for Hokkaido, much to the dismay of Miss Yoshinoya. Yuno feels nervous now that she is the oldest in the Apartments and helps Nazuna turn her failed SHTUW into curry. Meanwhile up north, Sae and Hiro act like newlyweds and run into an alpaca. Afterwards, everyone takes a ba- Why am I summarizing this?

Aqua’s Verdict: Still as efficient as ever

If you expected me to write anything more than “It’s more Hidamari Sketch and this is always a good thing” then you were expecting way too much.

Dragonzigg’s Verdict: Pastel Shades

I must confess I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. For me, the main draw is Shaft’s usual superlative artwork, which breathe fantastic, brightly coloured life into this sleepy world. It’s not just the animation, but also the delightful design touches, like the art deco arrangement of the apartment doors or Yuno’s named footprints pattering across the screen. Shinbo directs with his usual flair (and in case you’re wondering if it really is him, there’s an extended bathing scene) and while it’s true very little happens here, it succeeds in the most important thing for a slice of life show, which is establishing a relaxed, easygoing atmosphere. Surprisingly enough, highly recommended.

Lifesong’s Verdict: Very Shinbo; Very Cute

Surprisingly enough I didn’t hate this, I had assumed I would. The directing here is nothing short of fantastic, and the way the directing and artstyle play together is masterfully done. Also, there was a little homage to Kanon that I couldn’t help but hear toward the end of the episode when one of the characters crouches over and says “Uguu~” I was not expecting that so it put a smile on my face. That said this does still suffer from the one draw back all slice of life has; it’s not about anything in particular, and is essentially a story in a void with no plot beyond developing it’s setting. Hidamari is very cute, and for anyone looking a relaxing pick me up after a stressful day you will find that in abundance here.

On a less positive note I was a little bit creeped out by the bathing scene; It feels like they are so aware of how odd their artwork is that they can just show anything they want. Most likely this is just Shinbo being Shinbo; everyone knows the man is a lolicon at this point, and just don’t care because hes an incredibly skilled director. On that note the character designs themselves look odd to me; I can not tell if these characters are supposed to be overly developed gradeschoolers, or under developed college girls. Overall the tradeoff of having Shinbo as a director is probably still a worthwile one for most fans; creepy as it can be Shinbo does a wonderful job with Hidamari.

Marlin’s Verdict: Wait, haven’t I seen this somewhere before?

I’m actually surprised I hadn’t been turned onto this show earlier in my anime viewing career. The jokes were definitely no Azumanga Daioh, but this show really knows how to pull off slice of life in its own way. As Zigg and Life said, I absolutely love the art direction. The colors are so bright and distinctive that it really draws you into this world and its characters. The atmosphere is also perfect, really portraying these girls as a pack of adorable girls without a care in the world. There was one bit of confusion brought about by its easy-going atmosphere and very young character designs between Zigg and me at the same time around the middle:

[2:39:36 PM] Marlin Clock: so wait is this a college
[2:39:38 PM] Marlin Clock: or a high school
[2:39:40 PM] Dragonzigg: are they meant to be in high schoool or college
[2:39:43 PM] Dragonzigg: hahaha

Plus some disturbing animals:

[2:48:42 PM] Marlin Clock: what the fuck
[2:48:43 PM] Dragonzigg: retarded horses
[2:48:44 PM] Marlin Clock: those were not horses
[2:48:49 PM] Marlin Clock: those were monstrocities

Being someone who watched Madoka before Hidamari, It was really hard to make that mental disconnect between the two. I’ve been so tainted by Madoka and how its art style was meant to conceal a greater dread that it’s hard to realize it seriously is meant to be taken as incredibly cutesy at face value. By the end of the episode I was warming up to it, but it definitely took a while to get used to.

Two seasons ago, Acchi Kocchi was a show all of my compatriots somewhat ridiculed me for watching. I didn’t really blame them, it was a really muted slice of life with only adorableness going for it. It was a show I could really turn my brain off to and just relax for a moemnt. I’m kinda getting the same vibe from HSxH, and the great art direction just makes it that much more of a treat I’m sure to come back to every week and forget about my problems for a while.