AnimeSugoi

Back when I was younger, life seemed much simpler compared to what it is now. So when I watch Sketchbook, the feeling of life at a simpler time flooded my mind. Enjoying the simple mix of flavors from a bowl of ramen, sketching what I see just for fun, and walking around an area just because I was curious is what I watched and remembered from my past. Slice of life anime’s can do that to a person, but this one depicts life where I could put myself in that position and feel comfortable.

Sora Kajiwara is sitting in an abandoned lot trying to draw a sketch of a white, brown, and black cat who is lazily sitting in the sun and tempting Sora by never showing the bottom of its paw which keeps Sora on the edge. A girl passes by and takes a picture of the cat then goes over to Sora to talk to her. Unfortunately for the girl, Sora is quite shy, especially around new people, so all the girl gets is Sora’s attempt to ask her to go away by waving her arms frantically in the air. This seems to work as the girl goes away but wishes for Sora to show her the sketch when its done.

Back at Sora’s school, the Art Club is having another meeting where they draw what interests them the most. Easier for some compared to others, darkness anyone (reference: Lower right corner picture)?

Sora’s friends Natsumi Aso and Hazuki Torikai are also in the art club. Natsumi is trying to decide what interests her, which is food, through her hand puppets while Hazuki is trying to decide how to depict her interest on savings, for the other day her favorite miso was on sale for 100 yen less (est. 1 USD). How would she draw it? Maybe in the form of 100 yen or maybe the miso itself? While she’s deciding, Sora appears by the art clubs door but doesn’t go in as one of the members, Daichi Negishi, scares her due to his loud voice (lol, weird). To entice her to come in, Kokage Koga, picks up two paint brushes and arranges them on Daichi’s head and makes him say “Nyah” (meow) to calm Sora down as cats are her favorite. Sora eventually goes inside and heads towards the windows of the class. She suddenly spots a blue and white cat on the campus grounds and heads right out the door to try and sketch it, Natsumi and Hazuki follow.

Unfortunately for Sora, the cat is no where to be found when she reaches the grounds. Too bad, for Sora interest is always on the move ^^. So she decides to walk around town to find something that interests her. Sora found it through a bird that rested on a telephone wire and pulled out her sketchbook only to see the bird fly away as she was about to start. She later finds a ramen restaurant that she and her friends decide to take in and grab a bit to eat. They order identical ramens and Sora starts to eat the delicious ramen that takes her to cloud nine. Natsumi wasn’t paying attention and accidentally put way to much chili flakes on her ramen while Hazuki ended putting too much on hers as well but only because she was trying to get the crunchy spice inside the container. So the two decided, what the heck and go with it, bad decision as they take a sip of the soup and ends up burning their mouth. Sora on the other is in a state of euphoria with her ramen as she shows her friends that the best way to eat it the ramen is with a little bit of everything on one spoonful to get the most out of it. But due to the spiciness of their ramen, Natsumi and Kazuki end up with a mouthful of spiciness as they gasp for water to cool down their burning mouths.

Later on, the three meet up with their sempai’s at a river bank, Nagisa Kurahara and Juju Sasaki. Nagisa is an interesting erratic person who’s interest lies in bugs. Nagisa finds a tiger beetle also known as “the path guide” due to its behavior to fly short distances away from those coming close to it, as if guiding you to a location. The group end up following the tiger beetle to a remote open spot past a forest where they can see the town bathed in the sun’s last light. Nagisa finds a bush of sticky bon-bons, actually called cocklebur, and is ecstatic about it as she puts it all over her body and is enjoyed by the other girls as well. Before the sun sets, the girls use the remaining light to draw their art project. Sora finally finds her interest as a gigantic Aria Taijou is on top of a bowling alley called “Aria Bowling,” for his paw is lifted which allows Sora to finish the paw she was drawing.

The next day at the art club, the girls show off their art project. Nagisa has drawn a branch of the stick bon bon bush while Natsumi has drawn the bon bon itself, though it looks like a moldy yam to their sensei. Meanwhile, back at the empty lot, Sora has found the cat, who she named Mike, from before posing in a way that she would like to draw and instantly starts drawing. Somehow Mike senses this and approaches Sora, causing her to freak out and drop her sketchbook on the ground which Mike steps on after stepping in a puddle of water which leaves cat paw prints on Sora’s sketchbook which she couldn’t be happier about. Sora leaves the lot and reflects on how this experience has shown her that not everything can be drawn, from Mike’s voice to the rays of the sunlight reflecting off a street mirror.

Impression:
This anime makes me think back about my own life, how it used to be simpler before college lol. Man I had it good and never utilized it to its fullest, but that was in the past and I can’t dwell on what has already happened. Just need to look forward to the fugture and make the most out of it. The same person who directed ARIA, Junichi Sato, also made this anime if you couldn’t tell by the Aria Taijou reference ^^. So I’m really looking forward to watching Sketchbook. When I saw Aria Taijou I was shocked lol, “What is he doing in this anime?” I wondered. So I went to the almighty internet to find out and discovered the link between the two. Though the anime isn’t exactly what I would call “fast-pace,” it is at a speed where I can indulge and enjoy in its simplicity. If you want to take a look at a simpler life combined with comedy then I suggest watching Sketchbook. Btw, Sora looks like Tenma-chan from School Rumble ^^, especially when Sora closes her eyes which is awesome.