I recently read the sixth volume of Hidamari Sketch (Sunshine Sketch if going by the Yen Press name) and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I’ve always liked the series with how much love and care the characters receive, the lightheartedness of it all, and of course, Ume Aoki’s art.
Your nutbladders cannot handle moe of this magnitude!
But something about the author’s note in the back really struck me.
“Japan is in a severe state right now, and I’ve been thinking, what could Sunshine Sketch do? Even if you read Sunshine Sketch, it doesn’t make you full. What power does it have? And I came to the conclusion that if Sunshine Sketch stayed the same, maybe the readers could be fulfilled in places where food can’t fulfill. That would be most gratifying to me. So I decided to continue working on Sunshine Sketch, having fun as I always did before. To be able to work on Sunshine Sketch and to have you, as a reader, enjoy it is the happiest thing for me.”
-Ume Aoki (2011.8)
Of course, this is written not too long in the aftermath of the Touhoku Earthquake disaster.
I wonder if this is why I like Hidamari Sketch so much. It’s not a manga that saves the world. It’s not a manga that reveals some deeper meaning to life. It’s not even a manga where anything happens. But what it does do is make me happy.  And maybe, just maybe, instead of saving the world or winning the Holy Grail, that’s what I really want.
deeeeeeep, man