Hidamari Sketch x365 Original Sound Track – Review

Review: Hidamari Sketch’s soundtrack didn’t initially catch my attention when I first listened to it. There were a few interesting tracks, but the huge tracklist made it difficult to really recall any of the pieces aside from the main themes in any precise detail, which is part of the reason I hesitated in picking up Hidamari Sketch x365’s soundtrack for so long. My expectation for this album was that it would recycle a large chunk of music from Hidamari Sketch and while that is the case, I daresay that composer Tomoki Kikuya managed to improve upon his earlier compositions. As a result, Hidamari Sketch x365’s soundtrack, packed primarily with jazzy pieces with a touch of some soothing fare, feels fresher and more enjoyable while retaining the quirky melodies that fit so well with the series.

Part of what makes Hidamari Sketch x365’s soundtrack so appealing is the wide variety of music that it incorporates into the series, thereby preventing the soundtrack from being boring. The first full-length track, “Waku Waku Hidamari Sou” uses a swing rhythm for its base and the result is an upbeat, lively track that uses a violin and a vocalist to create a melody that brings out the excitement and the unexpected in the characters’ day to day lives. And after the energetic “Hatena de Wasshoi,” the soundtrack makes way for “Ohayou’s” slow, mellow violin melody that brings out a calm and easygoing nature. To counter that, the soundtrack brings in pieces like “Isoga Nakya” to mix things up a bit through a heavy synth track that adds various percussion instruments to the beat and the aptly-titled “Mysterious” that creates its eponymous feeling though a solemn xylophone melody and a violin and percussion part playing the harmony. Together, all of these tracks reflect the diverse set of experiences that the series offers the viewer ranging from slow, contemplative moments where pieces like “Yuttari” and “Kirei na Yozora” fit perfectly to energetic tracks like “Minna Ganbare” which capture the excitement that one might get when participating in a competitive event.

Just because the pieces fit doesn’t make them great tracks though, and as one might expect, there are a few oddballs that are clearly intended to mesh with the atmosphere on the screen, but aren’t too compelling without the context. For example, “Nandaro” uses the same repeating melodic line for its entire duration, which gets dull upon repeat listens because that melody was never interesting to begin with while “Nanka iru?” uses a synth beat that feels overwhelmingly heavy and ponderous compared to “Isoga Nakya.” Thankfully, there weren’t many tracks that got on my nerves, making this album one of the more consistent soundtracks out there.

Perhaps the most delightful thing about this album is being able to listen to the arrangements of other tracks. Clear examples that come to mind are “Ooya-san da” and “Choko Choko,” both of which derive their melody from “Waku Waku Hidamari Sou,” but the way in which they’re arranged is different enough that they aren’t tedious to go through. The former track uses a bassoon melody that plays the theme in the minor key while the latter plays that theme through a solo violin that uses a pizzicato melody with a piano chiming in intermittently to differentiate themselves from the original. “Mattari Hidamari Sou,” featuring an accordion, piano, and vocals playing a jazzy melody, gets an enjoyable arrangement in the second half of “Nesugoshita!” which moves at a fast tempo through its piano melody backed by a percussion section that, together, creates a sense of excitement and packs a lot of energy into a short span of time. Though I had mentioned that I was worried about the possibility of track recycling in this album, these arrangements are very enjoyable because the way Kikuya takes the source material and changes the tempo and instruments or the key over to the minor mode brings about a new side to the original melody that is equally superb.

On the whole, the diverse track list means that you’re not left with a situation in which the album becomes monotonous and drones on and on like what so often happens with anime soundtracks. These tracks capture the mood and atmosphere of Hidamari Sketch x365 which structures its episodes as a series of light-hearted vignettes and the tracks’ length helps complement that presentation. Though some degree of knowledge and familiarity of this series is required to get the most out of this soundtrack, you really can’t go wrong in listening to this one since the tracks are solid enough on their own as to be enjoyable.

Rating: Very Good

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