Now, Gintama and Sket Dance are two of the front runners in the spring anime block, notably the two anime are the best and most watched comedy anime in the spring anime block. The two anime for the most part are usually, if not always being compared to each other… and I think I’ll just do that in this post, comparing the two anime.
Similarities
Now, both anime are shonen anime. Also, both are obviously comedy and how they deliver it is almost similar… and also, how both deliver drama is strikingly similar. Both anime are almost so similar that one may say that “Sket Dance is Gintama lite”, but let’s not jump to there…
Differences
This is where things get interesting. One thing they differ is on the focus. Sket Dance focuses on the misadventures of the SKET dan, while Gintama mainly focuses on the gags. On the topic of delivering humor, I’ve said earlier that they’re almost similar in delivering humor with all the use of parodies and running gags, the one difference in humor, in my opinion is that Sket Dance humor has consistency in substance while Gintama has no qualms in going to borderline trolling like in episode 209 to deliver humor.
So is that it?
Not really, I think I forgot something….
Personnality
No matter how much people say they are so similar or ‘Sket Dance is Gintama lite’, I think that the personality of the shows/manga differ. Ginatama’s personality is that of a hardcore comedian which has no qualms in trolling his audience to make them laugh and can do a bit of good drama while Sket Dance has that personality of an actor who has equal skill in both comedy and drama. Also their shonen-ness is different in my opinion, Gintama is a shonen title which you can describe as a ‘gateway title’ which everyone can enjoy like the BIG SHONEN 3 (Naruto, Bleach, One Piece) while Sket Dance shonen-ness has this bit of pandering to otaku and fujoshi in my opinion.
In the end, Gintama and Sket Dance are different anime despite both being top shonen comedy in the spring anime block. Personally, I think that comparing Sket Dance and Gintama is impossible because its like comparing a kitten and a puppy, which is basically two different animals but both are cute animals, just like Gintama and Sket Dance which is two different anime but both shonen comedy… Maybe I just have a different way of viewing things.
Kuro's anime ramble blog 
SKET Dance is what happened when the cast of Gintama went to high school. I love both, and really hope it gets another season or three.
That’s pretty much an easier way of comparing the two anime. Yeah, I’m hoping that Sket Dance will get another season or at least a movie. It s a really good anime. 🙂
“Sket Dance focuses on the misadventures of the SKET dan, while Gintama mainly focuses on the gags. ” – We can also paraphrase, that Gintama focuses on the misadventures of the people at Odd Jobs Gin. The gags comes out in those “jobs/adventures” they’re part of. Same thing for Sket Dance in sort.
But yeah, in the end Sket Dance and Gintama are in two different breeds of works having bits similar to each other. Fans can’t stop comparing each other, especially if you love both of them. At least, we can safely say, that the comparisons are mostly positive so there’s no harm in that. XD
You are kind of right there, while Gintama also focuses on the misadventures on the Odd Jobs, the gags that come out of it are given more emphasis rather than the misadventure itself as opposed to Sket Dance who focuses more on the misadventure rather than on the gags that come out of it.
But yeah, Gintama and Sket Dance are so similar that fans can’t help but compare the two anime to each other.
Disclaimer-thing: I haven’t been following the Sket Dance anime (dropped it at the first episode), but I’m up to date on the manga.
Sket Dance-Gintama comparisons are inevitable. The mangaka of Sket Dance (Kenta Shinohara) was once Sorachi’s assistant, and it really shows in the comedy.
While Gintama can get funnier than Sket Dance and more hardcore serious than Sket Dance, Sorachi would rather make numerous funny arcs and serious arcs than develop a main story. The difference between the serious half and the funny half of Gintama is striking and often catches me off guard. There’s rarely any overlap between the two.
On the other hand, Sket Dance, as you mention, has “equal skill in both comedy and drama.” I would go further and say that Shinohara knows how to integrate comedy with drama to make one strong storyline. Sket Dance never achieves the comical genius of Gintama’s funniest arcs, but it doesn’t have to – such a combination of drama and laughs is excellent and interesting enough.
But then again, the manga gets severely disappointing after around 50 chapters. Shinohara drops Switch’s arc in favor for a random funny arc, and never re-achieves the blend of drama and comedy that sets Sket Dance apart. Later chapters are truly nothing more than ‘Gintama lite,’ with a drizzle of bland gags.
P.S.: I’m pretty sure Nichijou is more popular than Sket Dance. At least among foreigners/internet peoples (those Nichijou sales are pitiful!)
You pretty much nailed it, although I think I’m one of the only few who follows Sket Dance manga through.
P.S. – I’m a die hard Nichijou fan.