I can't remember my middle-high school life as it was more or less of a blur that do not want to recall... but I do remember one thing... is that I started reading/discovered SketDan when I was 14 and was looking forward to new chapters every week.

I don't have the most funnest school life, but I could remember at least 20 arcs/funny short stories at Sket Dance. SketDan was designed as if it can make up for those who lost an opportunity to have a fun school life. SketDan can become your school life to look forward to if you never had one. When people do weird club activities, organizing festivals, running around near the neighborhood, you can FEEL like they are your pals when they happen. It's strange, it's like getting parasocial in a way? If there's an award for the most "school-life" series, this will be it! SketDan, as opposed to many other school life series that use it as merely a background (more like a background device for romcom or sports) at the time (I know later on there are more series that start to do it too---like ReLife), use it as the main stage. As in it focuses on normal friendships a lot and odd and stupid teenage obsession and hijinks without any malice. Some chapters are not the most funny, some of them a mess, but the ones that hit hard really do hit hard. Technically speaking this should be a 7/10, but I have lots of positive bias and thankfulness for this series, hence I gave it a 10.

The comedy is over the top but not too crazy, while the character portrayals and interactions managed ignite me some hope in humanity (I was a misanthrope when I was a teen). What to say, it's a series full of laughter and hope. Reminds me much of New Who. So yeah if you love Doctor Who you'll probably like it very much! The gang's synergy and the thematic are very similar! The portrayal of heavier topics such as love and loss too. (ReLife can also come in close but it's more serious and grounded and focuses more on the character development, and less on the friendship and comedy --- while sketdan is more comedy and friendship)

... Last updated on February 14th, 2024, 8:02pm

This reminds me child friendly version of onizuka

Chapter 167 is best
Chapter 200
235
2afger Chapter 270, it feels like rhe story falls off except 277
277 best
Chapter 286 and 287 made me tear up a bit

OK, to start off my review.
I thought this manga was gonna be like Gintama and tbh I did not like Gintama as most of the jokes went over my head and the pacing for drama vs comedy was very inconsistent
I started off this manga thinking that it was gonna be the same, but after a dozen chapters I was getting hooked on this. It reminded me a bit of GTO, but without serious adult topics. Overall this is a pretty good read, just bear with it through the dozen chapters then u should be good

Overall this was a journey and oh boy am I glad I stuck with it, I laughed out loud, I felt sad, I felt all these emotions that I never did when reading manga before.
Overall I suggest give this manga read

... Last updated on November 11th, 2022, 12:13am

I actually enjoyed reading sket dance it was worth reading the series. I admit that its usage of side characters was having some problems. Even the author throw lampshade on this and made fun of himself for it( I love an author who can poke fun of himself that doesn't turn into a pity party). What I mean is some side characters felt undeveloped or was just developed on the spot based on an emotional whim or to come up with a story to meet the weekly deadline which props to the author for delivering six years of content without a break that earns my respect already.

But when it comes to the serious aspect I think the author did some of it well to an extent. I think Switch was developed more than the main character himself(Bossun still got good development but switch just had more of it in the end). Some side characters got shafted in the end like the detective club members, some were terrible side characters like cherry boy or usami they weren't good. But I do get why a lot of side characters the series focused more on coming up with jokes rather than sprinkle hints of continuity for dramatic effect or solid character growth.

There were some good self-contained stories like the sketchbooks story, the candy can story and also the sket dance's flashbacks are good self contained stories too.

Overall it is still worth a read, but some chapters can be a mix bag at times as they can be misses for some since their sole purpose is to be joke driven. The ending while it stumbled here and there had some positive merits to it such as switch's speech, the overall message of the ending is change can't be forced but people can only provide guidance and hints as the final steps are done by the person themselves. Change is done either by oneself or a mutual effort and that it is ok to acknowledge your quirks as it makes you unique(though there should be exceptions such as cherry boy saying statements that can be sexual harassment but i will let it slide). It also needed to be longer in my personal opinion i thought it was too selective in showing some characters future than again the author struggled with the amount of side character the series had so it is very understandable.

And those are my thought, don't get your hopes up for strong continuity used to create character growth as it focuses more on self contained stories that are funny though there are times where the self contained stories can have touching moments those are one of my favourite stories the author created. I think binbougami ga had better character development and treated its side characters better but sket dance was still a lot fun to read.

When I looked into this manga, I was like "Damn! 32 Volumes??"
And I didn't even think it'd be good. Still, I gave it a try then I got hooked up ever since the first volume!!!
AGHH!!! It's so hillarious!!! I LOVE IT!!!
Sure, there's plot holes here and there, but this is a comedy.
I love it because of the comedy.
This is not a manga you should take seriously.

I'd say those 32 volumes are worth the time! 32 is nothing if you can enjoy every chapters of it.

REALLY RECOMMENDED IT!!

Update: A complain for this manga is Momoka. I love her when she first show up, but after that she just disappeared
and SOMETIMES make an appearance. And what is worse? Suddenly Whaaaaaaat......?
Another complain is how short their third year compare to their second year. Mangaka seemed rushing to end the series faster. But thankfully, it's done very well.

At the last volume of this manga, I really did cry... though it also makes me sad



Still... TOTALLY RECOMMENDED IT!!!!

... Last updated on May 11th, 2020, 2:00am

Okay, it doesn’t has the same comedy as Gintama but it does feel different. It’s not the same as Gintama.
Judging sket dance as sket dance is what I normally do, so I’m going to tell you that is the highschool life I wish I could have, this manga has everything.

I don’t know how to describe it but as you are reading it you start to understand that highschool can be full of everything, the dram doesn’t feel charged or anything.

First of all, as someone who often reads shounen manga, I am prepared to find some crappy jokes and gag shounen-like actions in this manga. I also expect to see how the Sket Dance club (i.e., the three of them) would just be all comical and never be serious, HOWEVER, that impression quickly changes after a few more chapters onwards.

Of course, I wouldn't deny that some chapters are boring and the comedy part is forced (I always feel like skipping those chapters when that weird teacher--what's the name again?--appears. And yeah, he appears quite..... numerous). There's also part that I feel like skipping when it's just all about gags, or when the trio do weird experiments using Chuu-san's medicines. At least, I pretty much like the tsukkimi part, lol.

As we move on, the story starts to grow more serious--if not "normal"--, and it tells more about the interaction of the characters.
To be honest, I always want to make a manga in which all students have their own specialty, divided from first year to third year, and altogether, using their own individuality and special talents, they make school a very special places with lots of events going on every day. And Sket Dance just answers them all!

Bossun too, has a time when he's lame and weak, but he has a lot of special talents which makes him has his own spotlight moment.
It also strikes me that to make a manga interesting, it's more important to make the characters to appear "alive", rather than going on with the all-perfect-bishounen/shoujo. I think this is what makes a school life genre + shounen like Sket Dance special.

On the mangaka's note on last chapter, he mentioned about the low rate of female readers, but I can surely tell him that you have one-me- here!
Sket Dance doesn't only tell a story of high school life that everyone (may) dreams about. It also answers some questions about our life as high school students. "Do you regret your high school life?" "What would you say as you're graduating?" "What's your life career?" "What is justice?"
The chuunibyou that resides within everyone, lies in Sket Dance.

As a matter of whether it is a good manga or not, I think it depends on each people. You may not like a simple school life manga and expect the fantasy element, then you'd say this manga is boring. You might have pure disliking to this manga, and then you might start badmouthing it. For someone like me, who enjoys school life genre like this, I might overrated it. It's all depends on how much this story has touched or gave you.

Last but not least, I am very satisfied with the art! The characters look all cool in their own way! Another point that I like from this manga is also how their feelings are portrayed. I feel like the emotions when someone is doing the narrations totally nail my heart :')
Thanks for giving me a manga worth to read.

... Last updated on January 7th, 2016, 1:54am

The manga starts the story stumbling but once it gains momentum a few chapters in, you're going to want to keep reading to know what happens next with each and every chapter throwing a curve, twist or straight ball keeping you entertained.

I have never read a manga where some of the lines the characters say actually touched me to an extent that I wished that someone had said some of those to me when I was in high school. Maybe I would have been different but I digress. This review isn't about me, it's about this wonderful manga where a trio of mismatched kids give their best in helping with all sorts of requests and the fun we gain from it.

There is an excellent balance of funny and serious chapters which deal with the past of the characters so you get to know what shaped them into the people that they are today. Anyhow, I re-read the manga again half a year after it ended scanlation and I have to say the ending moved me as much as it did the first time around.

It's one of the best series I've read and I doubt if I'll ever get to read such a masterpiece again. Thanks Sket Dance for all the memories.

This is one manga that is definitely worth your time. To call it a simple gag manga is not a worthy label for Sket Dance. It will make you laugh, and it will make you cry. It's a slice of life manga that'll show you another perspective of overcoming daily struggles that anyone goes through.

Yes, the first ten or so chapters are mediocre, but as you get past it, at some point, you'll be drawn into the characters and their struggles, and you'll get to see how they overcome, and not only that, but how they change afterwards. It's a great story of growth and development, and if this all sounds too serious, just remember that it is a 'gag' manga, and the laughs are pretty amazing too! ^^

The perfect way to describe this manga.

I'll make it short:
This series is very dear to me, I was still in high school when I first read this and that was a very long time ago. It's a comedy manga with the drama with friends and family but kept it simple and not heavily dramatic which is good.

I didn't cry on my HS Graduation but SERIUOSLY cried on the last chapter of Sket Dance. It really felt like I graduate from HS. While others may seems to take the ending as Open ended, it make sense for me, because it's another beginning.

I guess my opinion is rather very personal.

Sket Dance is Awesome.

... Last updated on December 22nd, 2014, 5:32pm

It took me a while to get into it. I started to read it a few times over the years but could never get into it. Recently I had to deal with an internet outtage so I decided to finally just pick it up and read through. For some reason, the beginning didn't really catch my interest, but when I started to learn more about the characters and their dynamics, how they ended up in such a weird trio, AND A SUPER SECRET ABOUT THE MAIN CHARACTER THAT MADE MY HEART ACHE AND FAMILY FEELS HIT THE TOP OF THE METER, I got really into it.

Right now, after blasting through this over the last few days, I'm loving it. I'd definitely give it an 8 or 9 rating.

Gintama is similar to Sket Dance in which I started to read it but I haven't gotten deep into it yet. It's next on my list I suppose. But from what I can see, the humor of Sket Dance is different from Gintama, it's more attuned to my tastes. But I won't give up on Gintama!