Manga
Picked by our editor, Nico.
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About
Everyone in school has their share of problems, be they big or small. Luckily, there’s a team ready to help with just about anything. They’re the Sket Brigade, your go-to crew for solving school life’s toughest challenges. Another day, another new request comes their way!
Character analysis
Bossun founded the Sket Dan, a school club that takes requests from other students, big or small. He is loud, childish and easily excited, so he does not look like a leader at first. But when someone really needs help, he can focus hard and find the answer. The series uses him to mix silly comedy with real kindness, and his own family story becomes important later on.
Himeko is the club's fighter. She has a scary delinquent past, and she still solves some problems with her hockey stick. At the same time, she has a soft spot for cute things. That gap makes her funny and easy to like. Her friendship with Bossun, full of arguments, is one of the main sources of the series' comedy.
Switch is the brains of the club. He talks through a voice program on his laptop instead of using his own voice, which leads to many strange jokes. The reason is not a joke, though. It comes from a painful event in his past, and the story that explains it is one of the series' most serious moments. He shows how the series can turn from comedy to drama without feeling forced.
Tsubaki believes rules should always be followed, so he often butts heads with the free-spirited Sket Dan. He is not a villain. He wants to protect the school in his own way. His rivalry with Bossun gives the story a second point of view, and the two of them turn out to be more connected than they first think.
Status evaluation
Clean, expressive art that works well for jokes. It becomes more confident as the series goes on.
Most chapters are short, one-off requests, with a few longer serious stories. It won the 55th Shogakukan Manga Award (shonen category) in 2009.
Fast gags, parodies and the club members teasing each other make it one of the funniest school manga of its time.
Between the jokes, some stories, like Switch's past, are truly moving.
This is a school comedy with nothing frightening in it.
There is only slapstick, cartoon-style violence.
Most chapters stand on their own, so it is easy to pick up anywhere.
It ran from 2007 to 2013, and AniList lists it at 32 volumes and 288 chapters. This figure has not been verified against a current source and should be treated as approximate.
“I laughed out loud at most chapters, and then a serious one would catch me off guard. It feels like hanging out with a group of funny friends.”