The manga focuses on the adventures of Kaimei High School's campus support club, the Sket Dance. Dedicated to the general improvement of campus life, the Sket Dance is devoted to solving any and all problems submitted by the staff or student body. However, due to its general lack of meaningful assignments and the unglamorous reputation of being just a 'group of handymen', the Sket Dance is treated with widespread contempt and it is composed of only three members. The story is told through a series of short, self-contained stories focusing on cases undertaken by the Sket Dan and is usually told in the space of one or two chapters. Cases to date focus on a variety of issues from more humorous cases to more serious cases.
Media
Manga
Sket Dance is written and illustrated by Kenta Shinohara. The series debuted in January 2006 as a oneshot in Akamaru Jump, with another oneshot appearing seven months later in Weekly Shōnen Jump, the latter more closely resembling the serialized version. The serialized series was first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump on July 14, 2007. The series finished on July 8, 2013. The 288 individual chapters have been published into thirty-two tankōbon volumes published by Shueisha with the first being released on November 2, 2007. The last volume was released on August 2, 2013. Outside Japan, the series is licensed by Tong Li Publishing in Taiwan.
Drama CDs
Shueisha released one drama CD Sket Dance ドラマCD on October 30, 2009, and a second Sket Dance 2 ドラマCD was released on April 28, 2010.
Light novels
SKET DANCE extra dance1: Theory true? Seven wonders of school
An anime adaption produced by Tatsunoko Production of the Manga Sket Dance premiered on April 7, 2011 on TV Tokyo. It contains six openings and endings with 77 episodes as of September 26, 2012. An OVA was released on February 4, 2013, bundled with the 29th volume of the manga series.
Video games
Bossun, Himeko, and Switch appear together as a single support character in the Jump crossover fighting gameJ-Stars Victory VS.
Reception
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. Volumes 7, 9, and 10 debuted at number 11. Volume 8 debuted at number 13 while volume 11 debuted at number 12. In January 2010, Sket Dance was announced as the winner of the 55th annual Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen manga. 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.
