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When I got first into anime, beyond shows that I simply watched because they were on TV with or without the knowledge that they had been imported from Japan, I was of course first wowed by the spectacle of movies like Akira or the coolness of a show like Cowboy Bebop. However, one day I stumbled over a show that was so completely different from everything else I had ever seen that I could not help but be fascinated by it. That show was Sketchbook ~full colors~ and it belongs to what is known as the Iyashikei genre.

The goal of all art is to emotionally ... connect with the audience. This is reflected in the names of genres like “romance”, “thriller” or “horror”. For action shows the feeling that is meant to be conveyed is the excitement of a fight and the triumph in it. For Iyashikei it is the direct opposite, it is meant to be the least exciting, but that doesn’t mean “boring”. Instead, Iyashikei is meant to convey feelings of comfort and relaxation. And as its name (meaning “healing type” in japanese) suggests, it is something you can watch to reduce the stress from your job or other sources. You could almost fault Japanese society for having to bring something like this forth, but I find the absence of titles trying to enable similar emotions in other countries even more remarkable. The biggest comparison I could find are things like nature documentaries or The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, but neither are narrative stories.

Iyashikei shows aren’t completely devoid of conflict, but the problems that arise are usually minor and relatively quickly resolved. In Sketchbook for example we follow Sora Kajiwara, a first grader that joins the art club at her school where the biggest issue is that one of her upperclassmen perhaps shouts a bit too much, and cats don’t lie still long enough for her to draw their toes.

With a light jazz soundtrack and beautiful watercolor backgrounds depicting Fukuoka’s countryside, the show is just endlessly relaxing, while at the same time able to retain the attention of the viewer through small comedic moments enabled by a surprisingly vast roster of more than twenty recurring named characters, far outnumbering most other shows of its type. Primary focus is on Sora and her closer circle of friends, but interactions with other characters often occur and are interesting for their own sake and without it being overwhelming. It also includes a group of alley cats that get their own episodes to highlight how their group deals with things such as a new cat arriving in the neighborhood, with them given voices through the magic of film.

In particular I want to highlight the fourth episode. Here the art club had planned to go on a nature walk with opportunities to draw, but most members skip out on it due to a bad weather forecast. Sora ends up alone with Nagisa, a tomboyish girl who likes insects, and shows Sora and the viewer small details like butterflies hiding under tree leafs to avoid the rain. Though the episode is mostly drenched in dull grays due to the weather, it is nevertheless enjoyable throughout.

I would classify Sketchbook as a particularly pure example of the Iyashikei genre, as even the comedy bits that are sprinkled in are very light and don’t disrupt the overall tone, whereas many other series that have also received the Iyashikei label are much more high strung, just with a rural and/or low-stakes environment. Sketchbook on the other hand has one single goal it fulfills to the best of its ability: Radiate tranquility.

Sketchbook is unfortunately nowadays largely forgotten, with less than 30,000 people having seen it on MAL. Perhaps it was a bit overshadowed by the similarly titled Hidamari Sketch which was released about nine months earlier and with which it also shares elements such as the main characters being art students and both series based on yon-koma manga. Sketchbook unfortunately did not have the benefit of sequels or a studio with a cult following. I also love Hidamari Sketch, but I would classify it more as a straight up comedy and it just doesn’t quite scratch the same itch. And even then, the viewership numbers of Hidamari are still only about 10% of what a popular show racks up nowadays.

If Sketchbook has one remarkable thing going for it, it’s being one of Seiyuu superstar Kana Hanazawa’s first main character roles, giving voice to Sora’s delightful idiosyncrasies. Sora is perhaps an oddball and it is rare to see “the quiet one” being the main character of a show, but she is also very entertainingly portrayed through her inner monologue and HanaKana is of course excellent in her role. The show also features great voice acting talent beyond her in supporting roles.

Though Sketchbook admittedly does not boast many outwardly appealing qualities that lend themselves to draw in a large audience, it has been something I have repeatedly returned to. It is my personal comfort, and something I am always willing to watch in order to take my mind off work. I would particularly recommend it if you have enjoyed shows like Yuru Camp or Super Cub. Even if I was not able to convince you to give the show a chance, I certainly hope that you will find a show that gives you as much comfort as Sketchbook was able to give me throughout these years.

Comedy as a genre is usually not given the same respect as its more dramatic siblings, but sometimes a new show comes along that transcends these stereotypes. Even in an incredibly stacked anime season such as autumn of 2022, **Bocchi The Rock** stood out despite having very little hype behind it when the show began airing.

The titular Bocchi is one Hitori Gotoh who suffers from social anxiety. She has spent the past three years learning to play the guitar in hopes to join a band that becomes popular. While spending all her free time playing her guitar made her a good guitarist and garnered her ... some subscribers on YouTube, she has still not made any friends on account of being too shy to approach people. Her classmates at her new high school show little interest when she brings her guitar to school, but on her way home she meets Nijika, the drummer for "Kessoku Band" whose guitarist flaked on them. Nijika manages to rope Hitori into the band where she received the nickname Bocchi and begins to gradually change and come out of her shell. At the same time Bocchi has to learn how to play music with other people, which is quite different from playing your guitar alone in your bedroom. And of course, being on stage and the center of attention is also quite a bit more stressful than anticipated.

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Social Anxiety has become quite popular as a central theme and narrative pillar for comedy shows in recent years with series like Komi-san wa Comyushou desu and the similarly named Hitoribocchi no MaruMaru Seikatsu ("hitoribocchi" being a japanese word for a lonely person). However, few of them have managed to actually give a well thought out progression to its central character to remedy their issues. Thankfully Bocchi, both the character and the show itself, display more growth. Whereas at the start of the series she is a nervous wreck from the mere thought of interacting with a stranger, she gradually becomes more ready to approach people of her own accord with each episode showing some small step forward on her way out of the pit that is anxiety.

This is particularly reflected in her relationship with Nijika. The cheerful and energetic drummer is the backbone of the band and takes care to not put too much on Bocchi, but later on we also see Bocchi becoming more attuned and caring when Nijika seems to have something weighing on her mind. The rest of the band also has an interesting dynamic with the main character. The cool and introverted bassist Ryou becomes somewhat of a role model to Bocchi, someone with odd quirks that enjoys spending time by herself but is also invested in the band. Meanwhile the extroverted singer Kita is a stark contrast to Bocchi's personality (or so it seems), but also looks up to Bocchi for her guitar skills and tries to learn from Bocchi to improve her own ability at playing guitar.

The rest of the supporting cast is also well put together and along the main quartet give the show a good amount of appeal on a surface level with it being the usual anime stand-by of almost exclusively female characters in a rainbow of hair colors, though the series is far more than your rudimentary "Cute Girls Doing Cute Things" show. The hook of it being a band and therefore giving it another angle to introduce diegetic media is also helpful in that regard, and the songs sound good and weave the themes of the show into the lyrics. They will probably become mainstays of anime music playlists for years to come, a path that K-On! and a multitude of idol shows have walked before. Of note is also the involvement of major personalities from the japanese rock music scene in the writing of these songs, such as Maguro Taniguchi (from Kana-Boon), Ikkyu Nakajima (Tricot), Yuuho Kitazawa (The Peggies), or ZAQ. This has the minor side effect that these songs take on the style of the respective writers, making Kessoku Band sound musically unfocused and generally a bit too competent for a new band comprised of teenagers, one of which has social anxiety that canonically makes it hard for them to sync up with their bandmates. I guess though this is the gap between verisimilitude and marketability but I thought Beck handled the tribulations of a young band slightly better, but with a different focus and the benefit of more episodes.

Bocchi the Rock scores big points with the effort the animation staff put into bringing the characters to life as they are fluidly animated in most scenes but particularly when playing their instruments. To me the selection of camera angles also stands out, from standard frontal shots to POV perspective shots to angles that are fixed to the instrument. The latter is a standard for guitar footage, but it strikes me as something that seems difficult to animate, as the background has to shift as the guitar is moved, while showing the hands acting on the strings. Non-performance shots also use interesting and dynamic camera angles such as fish-eye shots from odd corners in the room. The production design is also well done in other regards, such as having the music noticeably being "off" in the band's first concert in front of an audience as they are nervous and tense.

But even more recognition deserve the experimental forms of animation and other media CloverWorks employs in the service of making jokes. From simple art style shifts to live action footage, from computer graphics to pixel art, and in one episode even a real, physical zoetrope. Almost every episode has some sort of surprise in store for its viewers to keep them on their toes. This makes the viewer pay closer attention and helps the jokes land as they are delivered in rapid fire succession, particularly for visual gags that take more advantage of the medium with effort spent the way shows such as Nichijou or Kaguya-sama have done before. Some of the jokes feel like they are aiming a bit too low, punching down at Bocchi's anxieties and resulting mannerisms and delusions, but since Bocchi is the central and sympathetic character it is all in good fun at the end, and the antics of other characters also are good for a good laugh. The show forced me multiple times to pause because I was laughing too hard

In summary, Bocchi The Rock is an incredibly well put together show with strong comedy writing and visual gags, great character interplay, and high quality animation, all in service of an interesting story about overcoming social anxiety. The essential part that music plays in the show is also in focus and adds greatly to the experience. An A+ anime that seemingly came out of nowhere.