Wow – that was about as plain vanilla as a first episode can get.  Of course, Shonen Jump adaptations are legendary for starting slowly – as indeed are their manga sources – so perhaps there’s hidden depths of entertainment value  here. 

Nothing was especially offensive about that, but I would be hard pressed to find anything about Sket Dance that made much of an impact.  From the premise to the characters to the animation, it all seemed pretty cookie-cutter.  There’s an obvious similarity to Ookiami-san in that premise, but I wouldn’t have an issue with that if the episode had been more entertainment value.  Even the narrative device – using a new transfer student for exposition about the premise – has been done often and usually better.

There’s really not enough heft here for the series to work as a drama, at least not yet.  So it had better work as a comedy.   I think it’s supposed to be one, but again, nothing in the first episode was especially hilarious.  One more week on this one, I think – and my expectations aren’t especially high,  Maybe it’ll surprise me.