Sketchbook: Full Color's

To Sora Kajiwara, the world is full of wonderful and adorable things she wants to draw—cats being a popular object of her affection. Even though there are some things that can't be captured with a pencil and paper, she still brings her sketchbook wherever she goes. Her love of drawing eventually leads her to join her school's art club, despite her shy and childish personality.

Just like herself, all of Sora's fellow art club members have their own vivid imagination and personality to match. Through her interactions with the rest of the club, Sora begins to break out of her shell and see more of the world around her, taking every opportunity to sketch whatever is on her mind or in her heart.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kajiwara, Sora Main

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Asou, Natsumi Main

Nakase, Asuka Japanese

Torikai, Hazuki Main

Makino, Yui Japanese

Kate Supporting

Gotou, Yuuko Japanese

Kurihara, Nagisa Supporting

Tamura, Yukari Japanese

Kuga, Kokage Supporting

Saitou, Momoko Japanese

Tanabe, Ryou Supporting

Asano, Masumi Japanese

Himuro, Fuu Supporting

Kuwatani, Natsuko Japanese

Kuma Supporting

Nakata, Jouji Japanese

Mike Supporting

Kaneda, Tomoko Japanese

Satou, Junichi Producer, Storyboard

Beniya, Yoshikazu Producer

Iizuka, Toshio Producer

Haruta, Katsunori Producer

Reviews

Feb 23, 2025

Cynthesia

Recommended

The second half of the 2000s were a pretty good time for slice of life anime and I think Sketchbook is a bit of a hidden gem. While it doesn't manage to touch the upper ranks what it does do is quite good and it's a very comfy viewing experience.
It's weakest point is probably just that it's core cast doesn't have enough chemistry or quirks compared to it's contemporaries. That isn't to say that they're bad but aside from Sora, and later Kate, the main cast feels fairly whelming in their interactions. Sora's brother likes to call her group of friends odd but most ... of their interactions seem fairly normal. This doesn't detract from the experience as much as it limits it's potential for entertainment in the comedy sections. The anime finds a decent foothold in it's second half but for the comedy tends to be fairly hit or miss in it's execution. It would have really benefitted from either cutting down the cast and focusing on the quirks or at least tightening up the interactions between it's core members. Kate is a good example of a character that works well because of her extremely broken Japanese and higher level of expressiveness but the rest of the cast leaves a bit to be desired. They had some gimmicks initially but they're mostly sidelined for fairly normalcy.
Interestingly they did actually know how to write fun characters with good chemistry and this is demonstrated in the cat society. Every now and then there are sections which are taken from the perspective of the neighborhood cats and their views on human society and they're definitely the highlight of the slice of life aspects of the show. Probably because it's from the perspective of a cat they allowed the writing to be much sillier and less constrained and it works extremely well. If they brought this kind of energy to the human cast as well this would be an extremely funny show.
Production wise Sketchbook is quite impressive. The artstyle isn't completely derivative of the typical moe style which kind of works but on first impression I thought looked a bit awkward, especially around the chin area. The scenery looks pretty nice. It's not the most beautiful anime ever but it achieves a nice calming normal look. The usage of colors in particular is very well done, things really pop out and it pulls through whenever the scene wants to impress. The soundtrack is especially nice, slice of life shows especially benefit from a good soundtrack and this one fits the atmosphere perfectly. The tracks don't particularly stand out on their own but they have fantastic synergy with the visuals to bring you into that calmed state.
The main appeal of this show for me comes away from the comedic moments and in the quietness of Sora simply going about her day to day monologuing on her perspective on the world around her. Those simple moments are really calming and the atmosphere as she seeks things out to draw or observe lulls you into a peaceful state. While Sora is a very quiet girl, she also very silly, and this combination leads to a much more natural form of entertainment than the interactions with her friends which can be hit or miss. For the most part the anime balances the Iyashikei with the comedy well although I would have preferred a bit more downtime personally.
There isn't too much else to say. It's an above average slice of life experience with some decent comedy and great atmosphere. Nothing groundbreaking but remains a great way to unwind.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Aug 14, 2024

nozomiEX

Recommended

Ignore the number for a sec; Sketchbook: Full Color's is just barely entertaining enough to get a shaky, half-hearted recommendation. A fusion of iyashikei and slice of life comedy, the two parts never fully blend and the latter will be carrying the slack for the former. When it's just the colorful cast getting up to their antics, it's pretty alright. The characters are endearing and there's just enough variety between them to be refreshing and prevent anyone from getting annoying. It's not gonna have you busting a gut but it's enough to have you grinning every so often. However, the ... other half of the show is where it might start losing you. When it switches to Sora's shallow contemplation, it dips a little too far into the iyashikei and becomes tedious. It is just far too insubstantial, without the ambiance that other more tolerable iyashikei have to at least make the time pass. I also found the cat segments to be quite annoying, too, partly because of the obnoxious voices they have, partly because of the fatuous scenarios themselves, and partly because of just how long these segments take. Unlike the human characters, where the brevity of any given segment typically breaks up the monotony, the cat bits drag far too long. Less fuzzy fun, more hairball in your throat.

Overall, even though I think there are plenty of times where you'll be looking at the timecode, itching to fast forward, or start staring at the wall or trimming your nails, or otherwise falling out of it, the art class and their shenanigans are just engaging enough to make this worth checking out, but you are forgiven if it's just not enough for you. If you don't find yourself caring enough to stick it out for the humans, you won't be missing anything if you decide to drop it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Mar 20, 2009

Skadi

Mixed Feelings

When you first sit down to watch Sketchbook Full Colors you need to know what it is your getting in to. First if you are someone who needs action and a story driven series to keep you entertained, Sketchbook is not your kind of show. This is a very slow and methodical slice of life series that will have you feeling at ease and relaxed.. or asleep depending on the episode you’re viewing.

Almost the first thing I am reminded of when viewing Sketchbook is Aria, and rightly so as they were both produced by the same studio. There are even several appearances ... of Aria characters in the series. But even though Aria had the same sort of pacing as Sketchbook does, this series feels more disjointed and inconsistent. Some episodes are humorous and nostalgic feeling, the one that I probably felt the most emotional connection with was towards the end when Sora is home sick. I found it fascinating how some things, such as the boredom of lying in bed and the things one imagines or thinks about transcend culture and language. However this was not the case in many of the others. Slice of life tends to always walk the line between soothing and being boring. When we look at our own lives, how exciting really is most of the things that happen to you during the day?

The characters also hurt the series. They just aren't that interesting. In this genre the characters have to be strong to carry the lack of plot and action but I didn’t really find myself carrying all that much for any of them. Sora is the lead, she is a painfully shy girl who borders on complete anthropophobia. She can’t even so much as say her name to people she has just met and only finds any level of comfort with people she has known a while. She does make a breakthrough at the end of the series so in that sense that was good to see. The rest of her personality doesn’t make her all that much more interesting. That’s not to say she isn’t very sweet and moe, but really her only other character attributes is her love of cats and sketching and the blissful state she enters when drinking her favorite tea. The rest of the cast is pretty much just as socially awkward and strange. Many of them feel like they have some very deep seeded emotional issues. They grow on you a little by the end as only a cast of complete lunatics can. Most of the comedic moments revolve around the non human members of the cast, the group of cats that Sora is so fond of. As characters the cats are probably the most interesting the show has to offer.

From a voice acting and music standpoint, Sketchbook is truly brilliant. The music is outstanding, the songs are so beautiful and serene that I think I could have listened to them all day. The art is very inconsistent. Many of the backgrounds are really beautiful and the colors are vibrant, but when it comes to the characters themselves most of them look dull and boring. Individually characters like Sora sometimes look great but at others she doesn’t look good at all. Some of the character models are downright ugly. I do give the artists this though, these characters were probably the most realistic in terms of bodies than any series I have seen. No impossibly short miniskirts, fantastic busts, and waist lines a runway model would kill for.

Overall if you like the slice of life then this might be worth your time. Those of you didn’t like Aria you won’t like this one either. If you did, then this could be your cup of tea. For someone who has seen neither and wants to sample the genre, then I would recommend you check out Aria instead.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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