Sket Dance (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kenta Shinohara. The manga follows the adventures of the Sket-dan, a high school club whose goal it is to help the students and teachers of Kaimei High School with their problems, as they do whatever it takes to help make their campus a better place. The story is mainly told in the perspective of the Sket-dan's three members: Bossun, the leader of the group; Himeko, the "muscle" and the only female in the group; and Switch, the otaku and the "brains" of the group. It was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from July 2007 to July 2013, with its chapters collected in 32 tankōbon volumes.

Sket Dance
First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Himeko (left), Bossun (center), and Switch (right)
Genre
Manga
Written byKenta Shinohara
Published byShueisha
ImprintJump Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Jump
DemographicShōnen
Original runJuly 14, 2007July 8, 2013
Volumes32 (List of volumes)
Light novel
SKET DANCE - Extra Dance
Written bySawako Hirabayashi
Illustrated byKenta Shinohara
Published byShueisha
ImprintJump j-Books
DemographicMale
Original runNovember 4, 2009July 2, 2010
Volumes2
Anime television series
Directed byKeiichiro Kawaguchi
Produced byKen Yoda
Music byShuhei Naruse
StudioTatsunoko Production
Original networkTXN (TV Tokyo)
English network
Original run April 7, 2011 September 27, 2012
Episodes77 (List of episodes)
Original video animation
Sket Dance OVA
Directed byKeiichiro Kawaguchi
StudioTatsunoko Production
ReleasedFebruary 4, 2013
Runtime27 minutes
icon Anime and manga portal

The manga was adapted into an anime television series produced by Tatsunoko Production, and was broadcast on TV Tokyo from April 2011 to September 2012, airing 77 episodes. In 2009, Sket Dance won the 55th annual Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen category.

Synopsis

edit

The manga follows the shenanigans and day-to-day activities of the Sket-dan (スケット団, Suketto-dan, "SKET Brigade" in the Animax broadcast), a high school club dedicated towards helping other people in the campus of Kaimei High School, whether teacher or student, with whatever request they have – completely free of charge.

The club consists of three members: Bossun, the immature yet reliable "jack-of-all-trades" leader of the group; Himeko, the aggressive yet delicate "muscle" of the group who wields a hockey stick as her weapon; and Switch, the tech-savvy otaku and the "brains" of the group who only speaks through his laptop with speech synthesis software. Together as the Sket-dan, the trio take on requests from different kinds of individuals around their school, and no matter how big or small the request, no matter how mundane or absurd, the Sket-dan manage to always get the job done – all on a mission to improve the lives of the people in their high school.

Media

edit

Manga

edit

Sket Dance is written and illustrated by Kenta Shinohara. A one-shot chapter was published in the Winter 2006 issue of Shueisha's Akamaru Jump[4] and another one-shot was published in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump on August 28, 2006.[5] Sket Dance was later serialized for six years in Weekly Shōnen Jump from July 14, 2007, to July 8, 2013.[6][7] Its 288 individual chapters were published in thirty-two tankōbon volumes published by Shueisha, released from November 2, 2007, to August 2, 2013.[8][9]

Starting in 2018, Shueisha revealed plans to re-release Sket Dance into a 16-volume bunkoban edition release, which condenses two tankōbon volumes of the manga series into one supersized volume.[10] The first two bunkoban volumes of Sket Dance were released on June 18, 2018.[11] The final bunkoban volume was released on January 18, 2019,[12] and the complete 16-volume box set was released on August 8, 2019.[13] In February 2023, Shinohara drew a crossover between Sket Dance and his current Weekly Shōnen Jump series, Witch Watch.[14]

Outside Japan, the series is licensed by Tong Li Publishing in Taiwan,[15] by Kazé in France,[3] by Elex Media Komputindo in Indonesia,[16] and by Kim Đồng Publishing House in Vietnam.[17]

Anime

edit

In October 2010, an anime television series adaptation of Sket Dance was announced.[18] Animated by Tatsunoko Production and directed by Keiichiro Kawaguchi, the series was broadcast for seventy-seven episodes on TV Tokyo from April 7, 2011, to September 27, 2012.[19]

The series has been published in numerous DVD volumes. The first DVD compilation of Sket Dance was released on August 28, 2011,[20] with individual volumes being released monthly. As of May 24, 2013, 26 individual volumes have been released.[21]

An original video animation (OVA) was released on February 4, 2013, bundled with the 29th volume of the manga.[22][23]

In September 2021, in commemoration of the anime's 10th anniversary, it was announced that a Blu-ray box set, titled "Sket Dance Memorial Complete Blu-ray", is set to be released on December 24, 2021. It will include the seventy-seven episodes and the 2013 OVA.[24][25]

On October 15, 2021, the first 25 episodes became available for streaming in Japan on Amazon Prime Video. Episodes 26 to 51 were made available on November 15, and episodes 52 to 77 were made available on December 15.[26]

Drama CDs

edit

Shueisha released two drama CD based on the manga series. The first drama CD is named Sket Dance ドラマCD (ISBN 978-4-08-901169-0), and was released on October 30, 2009.[27][28] A second drama CD called Sket Dance 2 ドラマCD (ISBN 978-4-08-901171-3) was released on April 28, 2010.[29]

Light novels

edit
  • SKET DANCE extra dance1: Theory true? Seven wonders of school
  • SKET DANCE extra dance2: Student Council Case Report ~The Cook Shell Incident~

Video games

edit

Bossun, Himeko, and Switch appear together as a single support character in the Jump crossover fighting game J-Stars Victory VS.[30]

Reception

edit

From volume 6 onward, Sket Dance has consistently debuted on the weekly best sellers list for manga in Japan. Volume 6 debuted at number 9.[31] Volumes 7, 9, and 10 debuted at number 11.[32][33][34] Volume 8 debuted at number 13[35] while volume 11 debuted at number 12.[36]

In January 2010, Sket Dance was announced as the winner of the 55th annual Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen manga.[37]

In September 2009, Japanese publisher Shueisha issued an apology in the 42nd weekly issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump over a depiction of main characters, Bossun and Himeko, inhaling helium to raise the pitch of their voices. The scene drew criticism from online forums and blogs over the danger of suffocation from breathing helium.[38]

References

edit
  1. ^ Manry, Gia. "Crunchyroll to Simulcast Sket Dance Comedy Anime". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on April 2, 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  2. ^ 「SKET DANCE」TVアニメ化決定!2011年春スタート. Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. October 25, 2010. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Sket Dance - Le club des anges gardiens". manga-news.com (in French). Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  4. ^ 集英社 赤マルジャンプ 2006 WINTER 冬. Mandarake (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  5. ^ 週刊少年ジャンプ 2006年 Vol. 39. Shueisha. Archived from the original on November 7, 2006. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  6. ^ 週刊少年ジャンプ 2007年 Vol. 33. Shueisha. Archived from the original on March 1, 2009. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  7. ^ 篠原健太「SKET DANCE」連載6周年で堂々完結. Natalie (in Japanese). July 8, 2013. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  8. ^ SKET DANCE / 1 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
  9. ^ SKET DANCE 32 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  10. ^ "篠原健太「SKET DANCE」が全16巻で文庫化、初版分にはポストカード付属". Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  11. ^ "SKET DANCE 文庫版 コミック 1". Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  12. ^ "SKET DANCE 文庫版 コミック 16". Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  13. ^ "SKET DANCE 文庫版 コミック 全16巻完結セット (化粧ケース入り)". Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  14. ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (January 29, 2023). "Witch Watch Manga Gets Collaboration Chapter With Sket Dance". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  15. ^ "SKET DANCE 學園救援團" (in Chinese). Tong Li Publishing. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  16. ^ "Sket Dance 32" (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on August 21, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  17. ^ "Sket Dance - Quái Kiệt Học Đường" (in Vietnamese). Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  18. ^ Loo, Egan (October 19, 2010). "Sket Dance Manga Gets TV Anime Next Spring". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  19. ^ SKET DANCE. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  20. ^ "SKET DANCE フジサキデラックス版 1 (特典CD付 初回生産限定) [DVD]". Amazon.co.jp (in Japanese). Amazon. August 26, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  21. ^ "スケットダンス(SKET DANCE)公式サイト:商品情報". Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  22. ^ Loo, Egan (November 26, 2012). "Sket Dance Manga to Bundle New Anime DVD". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  23. ^ 2月4日発売の「ジャンプコミックス29巻アニメDVD同梱版」に収録されるアニメは…あの大人気エピソード!. sketdance.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  24. ^ 12月24日(金)Blu-ray BOX発売決定! (in Japanese). September 24, 2021. Archived from the original on September 25, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  25. ^ アニメ「SKET DANCE」10周年!スケット団3人が揃った記念ビジュアル、BD-BOX発売. Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. September 24, 2021. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  26. ^ アニメ「SKET DANCE」独占先行配信がスタート、アマプラ内のアニメタイムズで. Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. October 15, 2021. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  27. ^ "SKET DANCE ドラマCD" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on October 2, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
  28. ^ "集英社ドラマCD SKET DANCE" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
  29. ^ "集英社ドラマCD SKET DANCE2" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
  30. ^ "Jojo's, Nube Characters Join J-Stars Victory Vs. Game". Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  31. ^ "Japanese Comic Ranking, January 6–12". Anime News Network. January 14, 2009. Archived from the original on February 22, 2009. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  32. ^ "Japanese Comic Ranking, March 3–9". Anime News Network. March 18, 2009. Archived from the original on July 6, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  33. ^ "Japanese Comic Ranking, August 3–9". Anime News Network. August 12, 2009. Archived from the original on July 2, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  34. ^ "Japanese Comic Ranking, November 2–8". Anime News Network. November 11, 2009. Archived from the original on January 24, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  35. ^ "Japanese Comic Ranking, June 15–21 (Updated)". Anime News Network. June 24, 2009. Archived from the original on October 3, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  36. ^ "Japanese Comic Ranking, December 28-January 10". Anime News Network. January 13, 2010. Archived from the original on January 18, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  37. ^ "55th Shogakukan Manga Award Winners Announced". Anime News Network. January 21, 2010. Archived from the original on November 13, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  38. ^ "Shueisha Apologizes for Sket Dance's Helium-Inhaling Scene (Updated)". Anime News Network. September 16, 2009. Archived from the original on January 26, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
edit