天下制覇

Mmmmmm everything.

Impressions:

Wow. Just… wow. Everything here has taken a sharp tick upwards. The Shaftiness, the production values, Shinbo’s… Shinboness, the works. At times, it’s a little strange because it’s too well animated and feels a bit overblown, but then again, what Shaft show manages to avoid that? Like most Shaft shows, it’s a little tough to fully describe and rides a lot on your tolerance to the style and the direction. This first episode was a little more… well… angsty than I remember Hidamari being, but even that was just a few shots of Yuno standing alone in a dark room before Miyako assaulted her for food and Yuno was attacked by the danmaku of friendship. No, really. It was a rather… weird little scene.

This sequel series is a prequel (well, this episode at least), so if you thought the original was a little too slow paced, you might want to give this one a try since we get reintroduced to all the characters as they meet eachother, but I don’t think it’ll change your mind if you despised it. I’m pretty sure fans of the original will be absolutely ecstatic that the series has new life, a new budget, and new episodes. Hiro is still as adorable as ever too, and despite whatever Totali may say, she’s totally the best of the four girls. Yoshinoya is a pretty nice little number too for that matter.

What else is there to say (aside from the obvious: "Oh god, Yoshinoya-sensei is hot.")? It’s more Hidamari and it really does look pretty amazing. Yuno’s still pretty cute (but doesn’t hold a candle to Hiro), Miyako’s wacky, and the OP is 90 seconds of girls being tossed through the air. What isn’t there to like? Even if I don’t end up covering this too thoroughly (Thursdays are pretty crappy this season), I know that Totali will be all over this like… well… like Totali on a Shaft and/or slice-of-life show. He’ll probably have something a little more intelligent to say than my likely nonsensical gigglings at Hiro’s girlcrush on Sae.

Hidamari Sketch x365 OP