For a long time, I've always wondered what my second favorite anime after FMA:B is. I really like a lot of anime but if anyone asked me, "List your top 5 anime", I don't know if I can answer. I like Steins;Gate but number 2 after FMA:B? Not really. I also really liked Hyouka, (even better than Steins;Gate) but even that I'm not sure I'd put it second after FMA:B. Same goes for Detective Conan. (Detective Conan and I have an on-again-off-again relationship. Currently in a semi-off state)
Where does SKET Dance come in all this? I've known about this anime for a while but just in passing, like such an anime exists. But every time I hear the name I think "Oh it must be about a dance club or something". And I finally got around to watching it.
SKET Dance is probably NOT in any "must watch anime" or "top insert-number-here" lists. Simply because unlike FMA:B (and Naruto, One piece etc) it does not have mass appeal. No tale of epic proportions, no awesome fight scenes. Just everyday adventures of ordinary high school students. Yep, that overdone plot. But for some reason, it worked.
Let's start at the beginning :
Story : SKET Dance is a story about three high school students who form a club called SKET-dan with the simple purpose of helping people who ask for it. So the anime is structured as the everyday adventures of these three students and the mostly bizarre/comical requests of help they get from a variety of weird students in their school. On the outset it seems like a typical slice-of-life comedy and yes it is mostly that. But what makes it so much better is, the surprisingly deep/well-thought out character back-stories and awesome character development. Interspersed in the comic setting is some drama that never felt out of place, very interesting myriad set of characters who make this show lovable.
Characters: I am only going to talk a bit about the three main characters without spoiling anything. The leader of SKET-dan is Fujisaki Yusuke AKA Bossun. Bossun is a classic shounen hero archetype with positive attitude, his kindness, his clown-like personality and perfect can-do-anything type but then again he is not and that is the difference between him and any other classic shounen hero. What's different is despite all this, Bossun is always realistic in serious situations. He does not believe people can "saved" by talking/befriending them. He knows that all he can do is "support" people as they try to overcome things themselves. And the situations the characters in this anime face are mostly realistic to teenagers (with only slight exaggeration and use of cliches).The only girl and vice-president of SKET-dan is Onizuka Hime AKA Himeko. Himeko is a kansai spouting former "yankee" or delinquent girl who is very strong and typically the muscle of the trio. Yes this is also an overused trope, but despite this Himeko is given a good back-story (on why she became a yankee) and is very normal girl super-strength non withstanding. Her friendship with Bossun is strong and the two share a great chemistry because of her past. Finally, the last member and secretary of the club is Usui Kazuyoshi or Switch. Of all the three characters, I felt Switch had the saddest back story, the result of which leaves him mute so he speaks using a laptop. Despite not being able to talk or show any expressions (Switch is always stoic) and having been a hikkikomori (or shut-in) for a while, Switch is a myriad of contradictions. He's extremely good-looking (voted Mr. Popular in class) yet an otaku, popular yet nerdy, stoic yet hilarious. One of my favorite scene's comes from Switch's past. Without spoiling too much, when Bossun and Himeko first befriend Switch, he comes out of his room, but says he needs time to come back to school and he wants to do it by himself, which I thought was very well done. Bossun does not magically cure Switch of his hikkikomori-ness (I just made up that word) but Switch does it himself with help from his friends. This was surprisingly realistic and good character growth that I was impressed. Little things like this mean a lot to me. That's why this anime made such an impression.
As for the supporting characters, some of them were interesting and funny, some not so much. There are definitely ups and downs in this anime. One of my biggest issues is the ending of the manga. For such a good story, I wanted a longer/detailed ending than the one we got. Which is why I am sort of glad the anime just ended abruptly (even if I wished they animated more of Switch's past than they did) than adapting that awful ending from the manga.
Will I recommend this to anyone? No. Not really. It worked for me. But SKET Dance is not for everyone. But if you liked Gintama and want to watch something tamer still just as funny, I highly recommend this anime.
SKET Dance contains a lot of shounen elements, the upbeat hero, tragic pasts, friendship but it's execution is better, the comedy actually works and that's what makes it worthwhile and earned it the position of my second most favorite anime after FMA:B. Not everyone will agree, but hey, it's my list!
See ya ~
