Kajiwara Sora and her friends in the art club sketch what they see and make observations on life. That's really all there is to it. Sketchbook features beautiful scenery, plenty of feel-good moments, and cats. Can't forget the cats. It's just the kind of show that puts a smile on your face. A fine example of a Slice of Life series. An anime, titled Sketchbook ~full color'S, aired in 2007.
This show contains examples of:
Adaptation Distillation: The manga consists largely of Japanese word jokes, but only some surrounding Kate found their way into the anime.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Ryou and Fuu, they are talking to the audience, which only confuses the other characters a little, as they are known as "eccentric".
Canon Immigrant: Minamo, Daichi's little sister, first appeared in the anime adaptation, but was re-introduced into the manga about two years later, in chapter 97.
Cat Smile: Kurihara Nagisa is never seen without one
Character Development: EVERY single character goes through this, but it applies most to Sora. Compare to how she introduces herself to Natsumi, Hazuki, and Kate to how she introduces herself to the waitress at the diner in the last episode.
Demoted to Extra: Tsukiyo Ooba's role, already not that big in the manga, has been assigned only a few seconds of spoken dialogue in the anime—which is a shame, since she is a genuinely funny character.
Eyes Always Shut: The club president and Juju. Also Asakura-sensei, who appears in the manga from time to time and does magic tricks.
Lampshaded - when the art club goes to see fireworks, they all decide to squint at the fireworks and see what that looks like. No one can tell if these two are squinting or not.
Friend to All Living Things: Subverted in that the cats don't view Sora as such. Double subverted at the end of episode 11. Played straight with Kurihara's love for all things living.
Fukuoka Regional Accent: Natsumi. Strange enough, nobody else talks this way, even though the series takes place in Fukuoka.
Goldfish Scooping Game: Sora decides to think of it as "goldfish saving" (the same in Japanese). She then decides it sounds better without the "goldfish" part.
High School Rocks: Sora's fellow students may be eccentric, but they're also absolute sweethearts.
Hive Mind: Ryou and Fuu, elevated to sometimes creepy levels in the anime.
Huge Schoolgirl: Juju, although it doesn't particularly bother her or the others.
Inner Monologue: The main reason Sora even needs a voice actor.
Kindhearted Cat Lover: Sora doesn't have a cat, though a few of her friends do, but is your typical Friend to All Living Things...but the kid keeps giving them expired food, which her brother calls her out on. so this might be subverted in the cats' eyes until she realizes her error.
Large Ham: Tsukiyo tends to be... rather melodramatic
Schoolgirl Series: There are a few male characters, but both adaptions, especially the TV one, focus on Sora, Hazuki, and Natsumi. Kasugano's Adult Child personality and the focus on the wackiness of the art room cement this series as a Schoolgirl one.
Shout Out: To ARIA, with the "president" of the Aria Company as the mascot of a bowling center. Also, at the very end of the last episode, there's a picture◊ of President Aria and Akari meeting Mike and Sora.
A discussion about Paracerura tattaka turns into a shoutout to Hamtaro in the manga.
Shown Their Work: Some of the insects seen later are discussed in the notes.
Shy Blue-Haired Girl: In the anime, Sora plays this trope completely straight. (In the manga, her hair is just drawn black, but it's still blue in colored pages and covers.)
Surprisingly Good English: Kate: and her cat Buchi. Good job for the creators for picking someone who can speak very good English to voice her, unlike Ai Yori Aoshi. Since when Americans speak bad English?
The Quiet One: Sora, who's actually the protagonist. Though she does Inner Monologue to the audience quite often.
In the manga, there's no confirmation as to whether or not she ever speaks at all. None of her dialogue (if it is that) is conveyed with speech bubbles.
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