Short blurb on TBS's Hidamari Sketch page on 22 November saying yes the fourth season will air in 2012. No world yet on in what season.

ひだまりスケッチ第4期は、2012年放送開始予定です。よろしくお願い致します！

(Fourth Hidamari Sketch is scheduled to begin broadcasting in 2012. Thank you!)

No real surprise there.

The art work posted 7 October is rather nice, too bad it has the big SAMPLE stamp on it.

Hidamari Sketch x SP 01 - To a Harmonious World

The opening of the Specials was very... Charlotte. I know that cake motifs have been common in all media since cakes became a thing, but this being Shaft, it brought that imagery to mind. The ED, with Yuno's dream sequence, was beautiful. Shaft's been getting a lot bolder with Hidamari as the franchise goes on, all while keeping the art style consistent. I waited until I had the OP and ED on my hands to watch, because music is important to me. The new character song sung by the Hidamari Six - "Egao Circle" - is pretty good too.

The first half of ep. 1 was probably my favorite of all the segments. The gag with Hiro and Sae trying to act out the duo, everyone's ideas of what constituted a sculpture (X-Duck!) and the naming session all stood out as either great gags or little contemplative moments. In the second half, seeing Yuno try to swim was cute - slowly but surely, she's growing. Also liked Nori's comment about envisioning Nazuna full-nude. That's a dirty mind she's got there. The various sketches of Yuno were encompassing the spirit of the show as well - heartwarming, but just a little goofy.

Hidamari Sketch x SP 02 - Curtains for You, Hiro

The first segment with the curtains was a lot of fun. Since there was a lot of Yoshinoya this episode, and she steals pretty much any scene she's in. The "I'm still pure white!" exclamation was great. I wonder if, in the second half, she through the Principal was going to call her "Ushinoya". Speaking of the Principal, aside from that moment (both he and Yuno got knocked down. Ow.), his only other appearances were shaking his groove thing in the OP and surfing in episode 1. Yet they were still great. Don't mess with the principal.

The scenes at the buffet were fun. The Hidamari crew always makes even going out to eat seem like an adventure. And hey, more of the Landlady. The only person who didn't appear in these specials at all was Natsume, but the cast is plenty large as it is. Keep going forward, Hidamari, and I'll keep going with you.

We have something to take the place of that generic (Fourth Season) placeholder. Looks like it's now called Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb.

This season is definitely going to be big. It's not small, no, no, no.

Heh, I can't wait until October! :D

This season title sounds so unhealthy as much as SP opening. I’ll just stick with fourth season. Thank you.

Actually, you really don't need to start with Season 1; you can pick it up from almost any point and follow it. Hell, the seasons themselves aren't in chronological order-- not to screw with you (I'm looking at you, Haruhi), but just because it doesn't really matter. Relax and go with the flow...

At least we have Vol6 of the manga coming out in late June to hold us over.

Is this just an OVA or what? A normal TV anime?

What'll be airing in the fall will be a TV series. Not sure if there'll be another OVA or special released before, given that there was one not too long ago, but yeah, "x Honeycomb" is the fourth TV series.

(I edited the thread title to clarify.)

Thanks a lot. This quite many problems.

After three seasons, a load of specials and an upcoming fourth season have any of the mods considered giving this series a sub-forum?

I can just imagine a favorite character thread with everyone voting for every girl. I know I will.

I think it can be a TV series of just 12 episodes. I hope it is. MORE YUNO FTW!

Though the franchise is quite popular in Japan, it has sort of a niche/hardcore following in English circles. I don't think there's enough interest to really warrant a sub-forum. There's also the fact that the episodes are quite episodic and not plot driven, so I don't see a bit benefit for episode threads or much of the other trappings that accompany a sub-forum. That's not by any means a reflection of the franchise, which I love, but yeah... I just don't see that sub-forum makes sense, IMO. I could be wrong, though -- that's just my own personal reaction.

The official line on sub-forums is here, by the way.

I wish this series be more organized on a forum. But, heck, this goes beyond me, so I will enjoy the series as always I do :D.

I agree with the person in page 1 who said that Nazuna and Nori need more screentime in Honeycomb. They got a decent amount in SP, but I was kinda disappointed they weren't used too much in Hoshimittsu.

I'm still hyped for Honeycomb in any case I'm sure it'll be great as always.

I'm sure that there's going to be plenty of Nazuna and Nori goodness this season (and, depending on which stories get adapted, maybe a little bit of goodness featuring Yuno and Miyako's classmates, Mami and Nakayama). I think part of the issue with Hoshimittsu was that there was still plenty of pre-Nazuna and Nori stories from the manga that have yet to be told, but the show wanting to introducing those two at the start of the third season.

ANN: The talent agency Axl One has issued a notice stating that voice actress Yuko Goto (Hiro in Hidamari Sketch, Mikuru Asahina in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) will be going on hiatus due to poor health. According to the statement, Goto was told by a physician that she required treatment after undergoing an examination at a hospital.

Here's hoping she's soon recovered!

What's worse is that her hospitalization could mean the show's production gets postponed for quite some time.

Here's hoping that she makes a swift and full recovery, though from what I read about her illness (it's apparently an autoimmune disease that caused trouble to her before), it could take a while.

I would rather have her take her time and rest than having someone replace her.

That makes two of us.