Did everyone read my youth comic, 'SKET DANCE'?
What were the popular manga in Weekly Shonen Jump back in your day?
I feel like this might really divide us by generation.
My personal golden age was when 'ONE PIECE' was the main pillar, and 'NARUTO', 'BLEACH', and 'Gintama' held hegemony. I think I was in elementary school.
One day, a classmate of mine, who was a 'Jump evangelist', told me, 'You should read SKET DANCE, it's interesting.'
At the time, 'Gintama' and 'SKET DANCE' were the dominant forces among elementary school students who read Jump, so I decided to check out this content called 'SKET DANCE' just as the 'evangelist' suggested.
Since the anime was airing back then, I started with the anime version. And I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. The first episodes I watched were the rather eccentric 'Momoka's Voice Acting Debut' and 'Genesis'. The SKET DANCE anime packs one episode's worth of content into 15 minutes, so you can experience the equivalent of two comic chapters every week. More importantly, I can't believe I got hooked on such eccentric episodes.
After that, I saved up money every month to collect the comic version little by little. I even spent some of my New Year's money on it. I think I bought all the latest volumes in one go as a reward after finishing my entrance exams.
In this article, I want to talk about it without too many spoilers, so I'll list a few of my favorite episodes! If you can relate, give it a like!
To give a rough overview of 'SKET DANCE', it's a school life comedy comic where there's a club called the Sket Dan that helps people out, and they have all sorts of youth adventures—it's got everything from gags to serious moments!
1. Episode 64: 'Panic in the Principal's Office'
This episode focuses on the members of the Student Council, who are in a rival position to the Sket Dan. The Sket Dan has a unique cast of members, but the Student Council is just as impressive.
It's an episode where they panic and try to figure out what to do after the principal's statue is completely destroyed.
2. Episode 67: 'Gacha Gacha Trader'
A classic story about an otaku's collection. It's about completing a set of dozens of different (and there are quite a few) gacha toys, only to feel a sense of emptiness afterward.
I used to have my parents buy me the 'Petit Sample Series' food toys, and I collected them too.
I often talk about this episode with my father. He's also a fan of Sket Dance. He loves collecting figures and Gunpla, and he's been doing it for years, but surprisingly, he sold his unbuilt Gunpla this year. He said it was because he 'didn't have the confidence to finish building them in his lifetime' and because he remembered this episode of Sket Dance.
3. Episode 107: 'The Man Called Origami'
The protagonist, Bossun, is good with his hands. It's rare to have a protagonist who is good at drawing, isn't it?
In this episode, he discovers a talent for origami and attempts to enter an origami tournament.
The punchline is excellent, so I really want you to read it. There's also an episode where he makes figures and gets sucked into the figure-making rabbit hole, so please check that one out too.
4. Episode 159: 'Burn, Falken!'
Following 'Genesis', 'Hyperion', and 'The Special Mariko That Broke', the popular Yamano-sensei kusoge (trash game) series 'Falken' returns. How do you come up with so many trash games, Shinohara-sensei...
'Falken' is a karuta card game similar to Hyakunin Isshu.
It's a chaotic game with various rules that you don't understand the purpose of and cards that make no sense, but in the end, everyone gets hooked.
I'll spoil it here, but Bossun burns down the club building. He performs a legendary technique called 'Brennen Kreisel' where fire is produced by the friction between his hand and the card, and burns down the club building.
Although their lives were spared, the Sket Dan received appropriate punishment in the next episode.
By the way, 'Brennen Kreisel' was also mentioned in 'Kuso Kagaku Dokuhon' (Fantasy Science Reader).
5. Episode 163: 'Lovely Bunny Girl'
The student council generation changes, and a new girl, Usami-chan, joins.
She is a character with a unique constitution: she has no tolerance for men, and when touched by one, her shy personality becomes bold, turning her into a sexy older sister type.
To cure Usami-chan's dislike of men, Bossun, Switch, and Tsubaki dress up as girls. That cross-dressing is just too cute. As a club that loves cross-dressing boys, this episode is pure demand. Especially Tsubaki looking like a 'mori girl' is just irresistible.
I like the retort in this episode the best; the conversation between the three boys is so feminine that Himeko retorts, 'Are you guys Gout Temps Nouveau?!' I laughed because it's been so long since I heard the term 'Gout Temps Nouveau', and it's a wonderful retort that really captures the generation. By the way, it seems Shinohara-sensei, who didn't understand the content of girls' talk, heard stories from his wife and studied by desperately watching talk shows featuring women. Shinohara-sensei is a wonderful teacher who, like Bossun, can absorb anything like a sponge and output it, so please pay attention to the realism of the girls' talk. He probably watched Gout Temps Nouveau as part of his studies, too...
6. Episode 168: 'Gottsu-Kepie-Ashbone'
You can't tell what it's saying from the title, but it's the final form of Bossun's funny face gag 'Gottsu-Uke-Fishbone' after many changes. It's an episode where Himeko, who finds Bossun's funny face too hilarious, struggles and writhes in agony while trying to hold back laughter in various 'absolutely must not laugh' situations.
In the end, she puts on Kabuki makeup to hide her laughter and tries to calm down on the rooftop where no one is supposed to be, only to end up saving the life of someone who was about to jump (out of fear of Himeko's appearance). It's a punchline where they end up helping someone anyway. How peaceful. By the way, in the last panel, she was so cold about it that she said, 'It's not even funny when I remember it.' That happens, doesn't it?
7. Episodes 186-188: 'Valentine Crisis'
A slightly longer story consisting of three episodes. Himeko and Momoka buy Valentine's chocolate.
Himeko's is, of course, a 'giri' (obligation) chocolate (really?), but Momoka has feelings for Switch and gives him 'honmei' (true love) chocolate.
There's a mix-up where the message cards get swapped before they can give them, and well, it all works out in the end, but what I particularly like is the scene where Himeko gives chocolate to Bossun.
She's so flustered that she hands him the chocolate with a monstrous look on her face, saying 'Eat it.' Bossun cowers, asking, 'Is this a poisoned bun!?' The interactions between these two are especially funny when Himeko is the nervous type.
8. Episode 225: 'Stealth Bodyguard'
This is an episode where Kiri-kun, a junior in the student council (who has a master-and-subordinate type of relationship with him), secretly protects Tsubaki, a rigid, clumsy, and serious man who is dangerously defenseless.
Kiri-kun is a descendant of ninjas, so he has excellent athletic ability. Tsubaki says, 'I am a capable person, so I don't need a bodyguard!' (but he is just too spaced out and in danger, and Kiri-kun is just saving him), and Kiri protects him so overprotectively that he is told, 'Leave me alone!'
Even so, the worried Kiri-kun continues to act as a bodyguard without being noticed (or rather, Tsubaki wouldn't notice even if he didn't use ninjutsu).
In the end, Tsubaki gets caught up in a mafia conflict, but because he is too spaced out and because of the perfect bodyguarding by Kiri-kun, Tsubaki is the only one who arrives at school unscathed.
Tsubaki gradually becomes endearing. He is a good kid at heart, so I can understand why Kiri-kun becomes overprotective.
9. Episode 235: 'Switch All Alone'
This is a Switch-focused episode. Bossun and Himeko of the Sket Dan catch a cold, and Switch has to handle all the requests by himself.
Switch is usually expressionless due to various reasons, but occasionally he smirks, gets flustered, or gets enraged. I think this episode shows him at his most enraged.
Switch, equipped with inventions he made himself (a laundry drying machine and an animal language translator), a dog on a leash, a baby on his back, gloves, and a laptop, sweating and sprinting through the school, is beyond 'not cool'—he is cool. It makes no sense. There is also a scene where he punches someone, which clearly shows how much stress Switch must have been under.
Switch has supported Bossun and Himeko with his knowledge and inventions. Well, since he is relatively sharp, he might be able to take on Bossun's role, but he can't match Himeko's physical strength and stamina (and she has no control), so Switch, having used that much energy, must have felt a lot of gratitude toward the two (especially Himeko). In the end, he offered them tea, saying, 'Thank you for your hard work as always.'
10. Episode 255: 'Fly Clad in Gold'
This is a story about Bossun and Switch trying to surprise Himeko for her birthday.
They made a detailed plan and tried to execute it, but they failed from the very first step.
To explain simply, Bossun was supposed to be inside a large cardboard box on a dolly, wearing a gold full-body suit, and Switch was supposed to move it to set up various surprises, but the dolly was mistaken for trash by the janitor and sent away by mistake.
After that, they get caught up in various troubles, and even though they manage to reach the club room where Himeko is, they fail to celebrate properly...
The series of troubles is just hilarious. This might be my favorite episode in Sket Dance.
These are the 10 works I selected while reading the manga.
What Jump works were you reading in the first half of the 2010s? Please tell me about your youth.