Hidamari Sketch - x SP

This particular segment of Hidamari Sketch composed of two special episodes has been the weakest I've seen so far. The main letdown was mostly the first episode, where neither the museum visit nor the pool outing really grabbed my attention. Almost nothing felt funny, and the girls didn't seem as cute this time around. The museum visit was honestly a bit dull, and the pool scenes felt too generic and cliché for the genre. The episode only picked up for me in the last few minutes during the sleepover, especially with that final gag featuring pictures of sleeping Yuno. On the flip side, the second special turned out much better. It was elevated not just by my favorite teacher Yoshinoya, but also by the landlady and the focus on food, which is always a delightful theme in this series. Plus, I noticed a slight change in the animation style here. The colors seemed a bit brighter, and the outlines sharper than usual. The music also seemed louder than what I'm accustomed to, or perhaps it just didn't quite fit some scenes this time, making it more noticeable. This was also the first time we saw 3D animation in the series, and as is often the case with 3D in anime (especially back in 2011), it didn't quite land well. Frankly, some of the 3D models of artistic works, statues, and sculptures from the museum, even the bubbles in the second episode, were quite jarring. So, where does that leave us? While I adore the girls from the Hidamari dorm, and the second special was just as fun and cute as previous episodes, the first special falls short of deserving anything more than an average, at best slightly above average rating (maybe a 5.5/10 at most)... Once again, I'm teetering between a strong 3 stars and a weak 4 stars, but as a fan of slice-of-life and cute girls doing cute things, I'll probably lean towards the higher rating, even if begrudgingly... 6.5/10 (20.02.2024)