Forum - View topicREVIEW: Hidamari Sketch Sub.DVD
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_Emi_
 Posts: 498 Location: Langjökull |
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Does he take large steps?
A shame since Azumanga Daioh had such nice cultural notes. It's also annoying since I can't think of a reason why they wouldn't bother beyond being extremely cheap. The typos are also a minus. Still, the show sounds interesting so I've added it to my rental queue. |
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Gewürtztraminer
 Posts: 1028 Location: Texas - Its like whole other country. |
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After about 4 episodes, I was a little confused about what the anime was going for, but I stuck with it. By the time it was over, I had preordered x365.
This was great for all the reasons mentioned in the review, but also it reminded me more than a little of one of my favorite series Aria. Nice snapshots in the days of some girls, though going for a completely different target than Aria. Now this is nowhere near Aria in my mind, but I was surprised at my level of entertainment as the episodes went on. I had blind bought this for a ridiculous price during some Section 23 sale or Christmas sale and am very happy with the result. |
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Neko-sensei
Posts: 286 |
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Many thanks to Carlo for a truly outstanding review. This is one of my favorite shows, and I wish that more people would watch it (although I am very sorry that this bare-bones release means that the only people to really love to the show will be those like me who already do).
One other stylistic element of the series I wanted to mention was the incorporation of synecdochic visual symbols for each of the main characters---Yuno is her x-shaped hairband, Miyako is the cat's-paw mark on her stomach, Hiro is her tendrilous hair, and Sae is her glasses. Often the introductory shot of each character in any given scene is replaced with a picture of her associated symbol and a "bleep" sound as the viewer makes the mental connection. I think this is quite brilliant because it makes the viewer aware of the way he or she is interaction with the animation to create a personal experience of it and provides a clever commentary on the inherently abstract nature of animation (are the "normal" looks of the characters really that much closer to a human being's, or are we ALWAYS using synecdochy and metonymy to associate them with "people"? Carlo's point that the whole show is deliciously Formalistically self-referential is quite insightful)---and at the same time, it reuses cuts and saves the production money! It's hard to be simultaneously an artistic and a commercial genius, but it seems that Akiyuki Shinbo has just about managed it here. |
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ani12
 Posts: 165 |
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Nice review, but you sure have a low opinion of the Hidamari Sketch manga. D:
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dragonrider_cody
Posts: 2541 |
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I really liked this series. It reminded me a lot of shows like Lucky Star and Azumanga Daioh. Though unlike those shows, I liked this one from the get-go. Though I agree it could have made excellent use of cultural notes or some on screen notes like the much missed AD Vidnotes.
However, I do have to say that the subs on this were pretty good, and the typos were very few and very far in between. It may not have been as flawless as say Skull Man, but there on par with most of the subtitled releases I have. |
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CareyGrant
Posts: 453 |
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Well... This puts me in a quandary. I liked Azumanga Daioh as well as K-On! very much (despite a few musical issues relating to the suspension of disbelief in the latter, and what's actually possible for a complete guitar/musical novice to accomplish in such a short time).
Lucky Star... *GROAN* I did not care for. In fact, I downright hated it. It was painfully unfunny/boring to watch, for me. The one exception being Lucky Channel at the end of every episode, which was freakin' hilarious! I thought THAT should have been the show! And so, I'm on the fence. Perhaps I'll dip my toes into a Sub or two to test the waters. |
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dragonrider_cody
Posts: 2541 |
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To be honest, I would say this series steers more towards Azumange Daioh than Lucky Star. Like both of those, it is pretty much a story about nothing, but I found it a lot more entertaining than Lucky Star. It was much better able to hold my interest.
Though I do enjoy Lucky Star, it took some time to grow on me, and I can easily see how someone would be bored by it. |
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asimpson2006
 Posts: 3151 Location: USA |
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I am curious about this show, but I seem kinda of the fence about it if I should purchase this or not. I was thinking about renting first but Netflix has it as Save All. I love Azumanga Daioh and I loved Lucky Star almost equally, so I will probably like this one, though I am a bit disappointed with the lack of liner notes or some type of cultural reference guide.
I am a bit disappointed to hear about Sentai having spelling problems with their subs. I though they finally got over that by getting rid of the person or persons responsible for it. |
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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Oh, er, somehow I thought this series was a harem romantic comedy. I think I'll actually watch it now. |
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Teriyaki Terrier
 Posts: 5689 |
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I read about two chapters of this manga and then decided to not continue. I felt the series was slighty too moe and focused more on the moe factor more than anything else. Additionally, I only saw all females, but not one male (except for a cat, but obviously that doesn't count).
While I do give this series credit for not going down the over the top moe/really, really creepy moe, this series really isn't something I would probably watch. But out of every slice of life shows that centered around high school students, Azumanga Daioh is still my favorite. Little to none fanservice, interesting and hilarious characters and the cast actually graduated from high school and were about to start college. In my opinion, Lucky Star (the anime) was great because of the excellent English audio and well done extra's that came with the dvd. However, had the original cast not dubbed Lucky Star, I probably wouldn't have bought the first dvd. Wendee Lee is a above excellent voice actor and I've enjoyed almost every series she has had a role in. But like Azumanga Daioh, I was also glad the cast graduated high school and the show actually the life outside of the school and inside of the school. Odd as this may sound, seldom ever does a anime show students actually doing homework or show the process of studying for tests. That said, the series isn't the greatest, but isn't bad either. I really do enjoy slice of life anime series, as well as manga series, but its increasingly challening to find well made or somewhat realistic series. Genshiken is also another fantastic series, but the manga is slightly better at parts. Great review though Carlos. |
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teh*darkness
 Posts: 901 |
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Wow. I knew I liked this series, but it seems to have gotten an amazing review here, as only the packaging stuffs (or lack thereof) were the negatives to the release. Very enjoyable read, and a nice reminder of a series I need to drop money on. Thanks.
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Kalessin
 Posts: 931 |
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Well, I've been reading the manga and definitely like it, but there's no question that it's far from the most original or exciting one out there. It's entertaining and enjoyable, but it's no masterpiece. It's a lot like Azumanga Daioh but not quite as good. But if Shinbo did the anime...
Not everything he does is gold (Soultaker anyone? *shudder*), but it's generally a really good sign when he's directed a comedy anime. They tend to be some of the best. However, while I've order the DVDs, they haven't come yet, so I can't comment on how well he did this time. I'm quite excited about it though. However, if Shinbo did it, the lack of translation notes could be truly devastating. He typically has tons of signs all over the place, and there are bound to be lots of puns and cultural references (the source material is particularly fond of puns already). It'll likely still be good, but we're bound to miss out on a lot. It may be one of those cases where you buy the DVD so that you have it legally and then watch the fansubs since they're likely to have done a fair amount with the signs and cultural notes (though not having seen any fansubs for the show, I don't know for sure that any of them treated it that well. It would be typical for fansubs of Shinbo's stuff though). I hope that Sayonara, Zetsubou Sensei (another one of Shinbo's works) gets treated better than this when MB releases it. This kind of stuff needs translation notes and the like, but since it's likely also the stuff that has a harder time selling, I guess that it makes sense that the R1 company would skimp on that sort of thing. It's quite sad though. |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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Thanks to this review, I know exactly what series I'll be watching today. I blind bought this series as well, thanks to TRSI's 40% off sale.
The review detailed exactly what I was hoping for, so thanks much, Carlos!
Score x2 + 500 Bonus! I share a similar feeling with Aria, so now I'm really looking forward to watching this. I'm hoping the many anime I've watched, including Pani Poni Dash, will allow me the enjoyment of many of the cultural gags, even if there are no pop-up hints to help me. Thanks, Gewürtztraminer! You just helped seal the deal.
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The Human Spider
Posts: 334 |
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I also initially watched(and finished) LUCKY STAR just for "Lucky Channel"(and the Shiraishi EDs in the second half) but the great performances in the English dub, especially for Kagami, made me a fan. As for Hidamari, of the shows you mentioned I think it's most similar to AZUMANGA, but A LOT more laid back,abstract, and with more otaku-centric humor. If I had to compare it to another show I'd say it's like an extremely abstract version of Sketchbook Full Color'S. Although I liked it I rated it lower than other Shinbo shows I've seen because it's one of his more relatively "normal" shows. |
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Gewürtztraminer
Posts: 1028 Location: Texas - Its like whole other country. |
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Now I did qualify that it was nowhere near Aria, just the pacing and style and subject matter reminded me of it. I am rewatching Aria The Natural part 1 this morning, and am being blown away once again. |
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