8.3 C
New York
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Advertisement

Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb (Season Four) (TheaterByte Blu-ray Review)

Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb Blu-ray PackshotHidamari Sketch is one of my favorite slice of life anime series. I always look forward to checking in on the lives of the girls at Hidamari Apartments whenever I get another Blu-ray in for review. Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb, the fourth season in the franchise, dates from 2012, and unlike some of the earlier seasons, has its episodes set in chronological order. Our protagonist Yuna is growing and now beginning to think about life at Hidamari after her seniors Sae and Hiro graduate. The season offers up a couple of episodes in which Sae and Hiro go away on a class trip leaving Yuna and Miyako behind. Yuna finds herself fretting over how she can be a good example of a senior to the younger art students at the Hidamari Apartments — Nazuna and Nori – just like Sae and Hiro were to her. Likewise, Hiro and Sae have their own moments of reflection in this season of what life will be like once they graduate from Yamabuki Arts School. Of course, the season isn’t all serious, this is Hidamari Sketch, after all. There is plenty of time for he girls to goof off, have art competitions, swimming competitions, and lapse into general aimlessness. As usual, the artwork is inventive and the comedy always amusing and heartfelt. Honeycomb, given its tight chronological order, may have one of the strongest story arcs of the Hidamari Sketch franchise, which is fitting given the coming of age themes the season is dealing with.

[envira-album id=”103049″]

The Video

The series comes to Blu-ray in an AVC 1080p encodement that looks about as good as it gets. The alternating 2.35:1 and 1.78:1 framing and color palette of the series, which often looks like watercolors or pencil sketches, looks crisp and beautiful with little to no digital anomalies like color banding or stairstepping. Colors are vibrant without oversaturation.

The Audio

Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb gets its traditional Japanese stereo mix in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Given that this is a slice of life comedy, there isn’t much to stand out aurally, but the sound is good nonetheless like the pitter-patter of footsteps that is a common go-to sound effect. The quaint musical soundtrack comes through with good balance and, of course, the excellent voice cast is presented clearly as well.

The Supplements

Only the clean opening and closing and Sentai Filmworks trailers are offered up on this barebones release.

The Final Assessment

Hidamari Sketch grows up just a bit in x Honeycomb, but still keeps the atmosphere light, fun, and heartfelt, with wonderfully inventive artwork and character animation. The collection is barebones, but it is well worth owning for fans of the franchise.

[amazon_auto_links id=”103050″]

3.5 / 5 TheaterByte Rating
{{ reviewsOverall }} / 5 User Rating (0 votes)
TV-PGTV Rating
ShaftAnimation Studio
Sentai FilmworksDistributor
Shinbo AkiyukiDirector
Ooshima Miku | Hasegawa NahokoWriter
300 Mins.Run Time
8 Aug. 2017Release Date
$59.98MSRP
2.35:1/1.78:1Aspect Ratio
AVC 1080pVideo
Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 StereoAudio
EnglishSubtitles
The Animation
The Story
The Video
The Audio
The Supplements
Summary
Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb sees its characters growing up a bit and thinking about life after high school -- but that doesn't mean they don't have time for fun. The artwork remains inventive and the comedy amusing in this heartfelt slice of life franchise.
What people say... Login to rate
Order by:

Be the first to leave a review.

User Avatar User Avatar
Verified
{{{ review.rating_title }}}
{{{review.rating_comment | nl2br}}}

This review has no replies yet.

Avatar
Show more
Show more
{{ pageNumber+1 }}
Advertisement

Related Articles

Join the Discussion on TheaterByte!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Stay Connected

301FansLike
0FollowersFollow
184FollowersFollow
1,710FollowersFollow
- Advertisement -

Notice of Compliance with FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 16 CFR Part 255

In accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR part 255 guidelines, this website hereby states that it receives free discs and other theatrical or home entertainment "screeners" and access to screening links from studios and/or PR firms, and is provided with consumer electronics devices on loan from hardware manufacturers and/or PR firms respectively for the purposes of evaluating the products and its content for editorial reviews. We receive no compensation from these companies for our opinions or for the writing of reviews or editorials.
Permission is sometimes granted to companies to quote our work and editorial reviews free of charge. Our website may contain affiliate marketing links, which means we may get paid commission on sales of those products or the services we write about. Our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers or affiliate partnerships. This disclosure is provided in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR § 255.5: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Latest Articles