Hidamari Sketch (Manga)



Hidamari Sketch is a yonkoma (i.e Japanese four-panel) manga by Ume Aoki that tells the story of a group of high school art student girls living in the same apartment. The apartment has a tendency to attract many weirdos.

The manga is based around a girl named Yuno who gets accepted into the Yamabuki High School. The only way she could afford to go is by moving closer to the actual school, and she finds her home in the Hidamari Apartments complex located very closely. She wastes no time in making friends with Miyako as well as Hiro and Sae. The plot follows the daily routine these characters go through as they build their lives around each other, only interrupted when they move up in their studies and are joined by Nazuna and Nori.

The yonkoma is originally published in the Manga Time Kirara Carat magazine. So far, eight complete volumes of the manga have been released in manga form with a ninth in progress.

Continuously released in panels throughout 2004, it was finally release under the title Sunshine Sketch in the United States on May 27, 2008.

An anime was released shortly before the coming of the English-translated manga in October 2007. Consisting of four seasons (Hidamari Sketch, Hidamari Sketch x 365, Hidamari Sketch x Hoshimittsu, Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb) with various special episodes intertwined; it continues to be distributed. The North American distribution rights are held by Sentai Filmworks, and all four seasons currently stream on Anime Network and Hulu.