Anime: Azumanga Daiou The Animation (2002)

• What’s Azumanga Daiou about? Simply put, this is a comedy series focused on the everyday life of a group of high school girls and two of their female teachers. Since it’s a slice of life adapted from a 4-koma manga, there’s no plot progression, and no evolution in the characters or in the relationship between them, so I will mostly focus on analyzing the comedy. But first, I’ll talk about the technical aspects of the show.
  The technical value of this anime is good, no more, no less. The art-style is simple but fitting, it’s the “moe” art-style where most of the female characters have huge eyes that take up one fourth of their face. The character designs are mostly good. Some of the characters have forgettable and dull character designs (Kagura and Sakaki among others) while some others have more memorable ones, such as Chiyo, “Chiyo’s father”, Kimura-sensei and the Osaka girl. The face expressions are well done. The backgrounds and background characters are very simple but since this is a comedy series adapted from a 4-koma manga, there is no need for extremely detailed backgrounds. There is one character that has an irritating voice, but other than that, the voice-acting is good. Although it is forgettable, the background music fits the various situations. The opening is also pretty good and catchy, though the high-pitched singing can be a little annoying.
  So, what’s the comedy about? Since it’s a slice of life, most of the comedy is about the daily life and the school life of the characters. There is, however, some surreal comedy, with the character known as “Chiyo’s father”, some sort of weird cat-like monster who only exists in the mind of some of the characters. The surreal comedy is the most enjoyable, but unfortunately there isn’t much of it. There’s also Kimura-sensei, the pervert teacher, a pretty comical character with a weird face who always appears out of nowhere to say dumb pervert stuff. The series is sometimes more focused on the cute / “moe” aspect than on the comedy, and there is one character, Chiyo, the child prodigy, who is only here for her “moe” value.
  The comedy is somewhat enjoyable in the beginning of the series, but as it progresses, it gets weaker and weaker. There are entire episodes that are just plain boring. The characters aren't that great either. The characters have simple characters traits that they always follow: Yukari’s defining character trait is being a lazy teacher, Kaori is madly in love with Sakaki and that’s all, Tomo is the dumb “genki” girl… Obviously I’d rather have these characters than empty, cliché, incoherent or overly complex characters, but the problem is that it gets repetitive over time, as all of their interactions become extremely predictable.
  There are three other things that are wrong with the comedy in this anime.
  Firstly, the long moment of silence after a joke. This anime thinks that adding a long pause after a shitty joke will make it funny – it doesn’t! On the contrary, it makes it even more embarrassing to watch. This happens dozens of times in the series, and it ruins the jokes that are actually good.
  Secondly, over-repetition. This anime thinks that a character repeating a sentence or a word dozens of times counts as comedy, and as a result you have many moments where the dumb “genki” girl or the Osakan transfer student (who is also dumb), repeats a sentence or a word dozens of times for no goddamn reason other than annoying another character. It’s not fucking funny. On the contrary, it is extremely irritating. It reminds me of children doing the same thing to drive their parents mad.
  Thirdly, most of the comedy is childish stuff, and stems from the fact that some of the characters, namely the Osaka girl and Tomo, are complete morons. By the way, Tomo is one hell of an annoying character, as she is constantly yelling dumb shit with her high-pitched voice.
  To conclude, even if Azumanga Daiou has good comedy at some moments, most of it is either boring or plain irritating. If you like this type of childish comedy, this show is for you. Otherwise, watching a compilation of all of Chiyo’s father’s appearances on youtube will provide you a much better experience than watching the entirety of the series.

Sub-score explanation:

I've spent some time trying to think of how to sum this series up but it's a pretty hard one... It's a not-so-extreme version of Nichijou focusing on slice of life elements and the character interactions of a group of girls and two teachers as they progress through three years of high school. However, unlike in my review for Nichijou, this series takes a while to pick up. I could barely stand to watch an entire episode towards the beginning, but it definitely got better as I continued watching.

This is a light comedy that actually has an underlying timeline to keep a semblance of plot continuity. The cast is pretty much all girls (at least in terms of high school aged) so don't expect any romance (or yuri). There are two features of this show that really stood out. #1: the large, gaping, and happy, open-mouthed smiles. #2: the ability to spend over 30 seconds of screen time with the characters doing absolutely nothing. I'd say this is probably hit or miss, you'd either think this is really cute or extremely dull.

Animation:
Huge eyes and overused (either good or bad depending on the viewer) expressions are the first things to note here. The overall animation style is a bit simplistic but given the genre it isn't really a problem. Characters are distinctly drawn, sometimes a bit to the extreme (Kimura sensei). Expect a lot of scenery changes as there's quite a bit of traveling in the series. Given the light tonality of the series, action is limited to sports tournaments and erratic driving by Yukari sensei. This series is also ecchi free.

Be warned that there are some scary cats and also a very scary/strange mascot character that is often referred to as Chiyo-chan's father.

Sound:
The OP is chromatic and comes off as both a bit crazy yet cute in a childish way, really a perfect fit for the series. The ED is a bit more traditional, but if anything is way too calm to end a calm episode; it's definitely sleep inducing. The BGM in the series is definitely above average. It creates a very light mood and has numerous memorable pieces.

VAs are all very appropriate. Yuki Matsuoka does a great job of teaching what an Osakan accent sounds like, definitely wont forget that anytime soon-ya.

Story:
There really isn't much of an ongoing plot other than the girls trying to work their way through high school. Each episode is pretty self-sufficient though they occasionally do refer to previous occurrences. Don't expect anything grand here as 99% of the value in this series will be in the character interactions.

Character:
The daring of the staff in creating such characters is definitely admirable. Despite being greatly varied, you get a sense of innocence from the girls, yes even from Tomo-chan, that you just don't get from other series, even when they're pulling pranks on each other. This is nowhere more pronounced than in little Osaka, who apparently has always been a bit slow, but in the cutest of possible ways. The characters in this show will grow on you, whether it be little Chiyo-chan in an unbelievably moe penguin suit or Sakaki and her infinite love for cute animals, despite their sometimes violent reaction to her.

This series definitely does a good job of portraying its characters, they don't introduce many side characters at all, but if I hold anything against the characters it's that I don't felt like they grew at all in their three years. Yes Tomo's hair changes annually but I don't feel like their personalities or even brain-mass moved at all in three years time.

Value:
But perhaps it's okay that no one grew cause in the end their original personalities were exactly what makes this series as good as it is. While not the most showy or outlandish slice of life out there, this series finds a nice balance that sits well with me. It is a bit long for a series with virtually no long-term plot but there are little gems hidden throughout the series.

The very first anime which introduced me to the term moe. There were other shows older than it which were also about cute girls doing cute things but this is by far the one which centred solely on the element and created a subgenre of school comedy that became overabundant in the following years because of its success. Although many will rush to say it was Haruhi which managed to that (as they will say the same about everything else), since Azumanga came first and set the rules of the game I am willing to say it was Haruhi which took pointers from Azumanga and without it, it wouldn’t be the way it is.

Being the very first means that by default it is also the most simple in its presentation. It’s moe without fan catering otaku jokes, or guitar product placements, or love for sweets. Many would see it and think it is boring for being plain … which is not true. To me moe means to like watching cute girls doing cute things ONLY. All the rest of it are in my eyes nothing but manipulating extras that are there to full you into buying products not related to the nature of the show (such as the constant Haruhi references in Lucky Star ) or tease you into doing things (such as the girl bands in K-On ). Although being inspired to do things thanks to a show is a good thing, it is still in effect emotional manipulation bent on taking advantage of your brain having turned to mashed potatoes and being open to suggestive commands. Can you imagine using moe to infuse you with war mongering feelings? … Hey wait a second, they made Sora no Oto ???!!

Well Azumanga does not do that and it’s the reason I consider it the first and the purest of them all for being JUST moe. It is JUST about girls in school doing simple yet silly things without any sort of major conflict or tension. Still, I must admit that there actually IS a sort of tension in the form of seeing the girls coping with their simple daily problems. Nothing major but it is highly humorous to see how they manage to make a joke out of the simplest thing. The humour of the show is focused on presenting them as completely naive (but not stupid) to even the most fundamental aspects of their lives. It will feel like their brains lag in processing data or their imagination makes them come up with some really hilarious line of thought that it is silly and innocent at the same time.

The type of humour is not working for everyone of course; there are dozens of different ways to make a joke and in order to like this show means to enjoy this sort of treatment. I for example liked it because it was very relevant to the way the girls thought, it was fitting the mood of the show and it was even ingeniously stupid at several moments. The plot is also not always about the girls. At times it focuses on their teachers and other relatives, thus giving you the feeling the world is not autistic. The adults are stupid too but in a naughtier and more complicating way, thus provide an antithesis to the still pure minds of the girls.

The story is as usually unimportant but does give you the feeling there is a progress. The series covers entire years of their daily lives, after of which they graduate and separate. On each year you will see how they take part in several school activities and ethic holidays, each time as if they are trying to improve themselves by correcting last year’s mistakes. That not only provides a feeling of how time moves in repeating schedules but also how each time is unique and different than before. I liked that a lot; it wasn’t that aimless and made you keep recalling previous events in order to get the joke. Thus it was smart silliness.

Another thing I liked is the number of the main characters. Unlike following moe shows which are always about three to five girls only, Azumanga has almost a dozen, and not JUST girls but teachers as well. Each one has of course a simple personality but their distinctive quirks and interactions create a very interesting blend, both complicating and humorous.

In conclusion, despite Azumanga being the first moe and with no extra fuss like otaku jokes or bands, still manages to be more complicating and variable next to its descendants.

The production values are not bad either. They transmit the feeling of the show perfectly, with simple yet likable character figures, minimal but practical backgrounds, almost monotonic but still humorous voices, and some really crazy songs that are cute and silly at the same time. It all works fine in the context of the premise and one should not consider them as bad or plain. It wouldn’t add anything to the lot if there was more to it. I must also point out how despite being a J.C. Staff production, the girls are not turned to sluts; fan service is kept to minimal and most of it is implied rather than shown. If only most shows from that dreadful studio were subtle like this one…

In terms of value it gets the maximum score for being a cornerstone in moe history. My enjoyment out of it was high; it is still a mostly aimless show about cute girls but the fact they had no product placement and offered a feeling of progress makes it much more enjoyable. I was even left with a sad feeling when the show was over and the girls now separated, each going to a different place and having a different life with different people. That after effect is priceless and not found easily in any other show of its type.

Highly OVERRATED anime, this is definitely not the funniest anime, dash! Kappei is probably....

I heard how this show was just good fun since it didn't have a plot but this show was such a drag to watch. It's about the everyday life of these high school girls presented in the boring, ordinary way. Pretty much nothing happens and there's lots of silence afters some lame joke resulting in plenty of boredom.

Most of jokes that are in this show is just slow, stale, dull; the jokes just aren't very "smart" it's just very simple "immature jokes" you'd find in kids show, even nurse angel ririka sos was funnier. There's nothing about the comedy aspect that impressed me, it was just dull and lame though there were a few things that were actually funny (not hilarious)//

I would never recommend to a comedy fan because I've seen much funnier animes (most of them having "Good clean fun" as well) and I did not really laugh watching this, I've seen comedy animes that are funny so i laugh, hence the comedy, but this one is just amusing I laughed once or twice or just have a smile. It's great that it's not full of fan-serivce like some of the new ones but there's been lots of animes ni the past that is good clean fun as well and funny at the same time. so i'm not that impressed, i've seen anime from the 90's.

I'm a comedy fan and I've seen lots of funnier animes like Dash Kappei (80's anime with horrible animation but way funnier), kodomo no omocha, akazukin cha cha, ichigo mashimaro, jungle wa itsumo hale nochi guu, pretear, school rumble, suzumiya haruhi, ouran high school host club, battle athletes victory!, slayers next, tonde buurin, NG Night Lamune, nurse angel ririka sos, Juni Senshi Bakuretsu Eto Ranger, el hazard: wanderers, honey and clover, gakuen alice, gokujo seitokai, Kaleido Star and many, many more.

If you want an anime with great/lovable characters that is INSANELY FUNNY watch AKAZUKIN CHA CHA instead.

If you hate slow anime you'll probably hate this anime or not make it through the first 5 eps since it's not deep or anything that is rewarding with slow anime.

I would recommend ICHIGO MASHIMARO for a slice of life comedy rather than azumanga daioh about the everyday life of girls presented in a fun/interesting way, which I found much funnier and enjoyable.

It's from 2002 so of course it's got nice animation. The animation is really simple and clean which fits the style of this anime, though I don't like this kind of look.

nothing too impressive about it.

The music in this anime fine, I wasn't too fond of the opening it just sounded irritating with the high pitched voices. The background music started rubbing me the wrong way after a while. I do like the ending song.

But from what I remember it's mostly silence since they have such long silences after a "joke" which I didn't find that funny.

Most of the jokes were lame in my opinion. sometimes it was executed so slowly I knew what it was and even if I didn't predict it it's still not funny. They were just very simple, childish, "lame" jokes like someone getting hit in the head by a ball. It's paced very slowly, there are lots of
silent moments with the characters just standing there and staring after some "joke" and whatnot. I don't know why anyone would laugh hysterically that long at that lame joke. The worst part is that they repeat the same joke that I didn't find funny in the first place!

these formulaic jokes just do not work especially when they repeat it so many times. I mean something happens and then there is such a long pause, and they are nothing really worth laughing over hysterically for that long. The situations they use to make the long pauses just aren't that interseting and I've seen much more random/weirder animes and this was just lame.....

Great characters but it felt wasted since they just did the same things and no plot meaning no character development.

I will probably never watch this show again... I couldn't even finish it. But even so this anime has no plot so there's no point?

A comedy is supposed to be fun and I'm supposed to laugh a lot but this show was just a drag to watch. It was extremely slow since it just showed everyday life in the most oridinary boring way possible.

From the 15 eps I've saw I've probably laughed like twice. I did enjoy a few eps out of the 15 I watched and a few moments then and there that were worth it but overall it was mostly slowness and "lame/slow" jokes. Overall it was just slightly amusing and since there are lots of animes worth watching that are very enjoyable to watch and very fun and actually funny and this anime is just waste of time.

I absolutely loved Azumanga Daioh. It was very funny and very cute. I am more of a sci-fi and action fan but this has to be one of my favorite animes ever. The show contained milk-spewing hilarity to bring smile on your face moments. I wish they made the show 100 episodes. I could not stop watching it (skipped class next day because I stayed up all night watching the show). The animation, OST, seiyus, and comedy all blended in perfectly to create a show that is good from the beginning to end.

Animation:
The animation for this was perfect fit for this anime: Clean and neat and cute. I like animations that are neat (unlike Blue Gender or Berserk - although they are both good shows). The colors were solid but somewhat greyed and not as vivid as Ichigo Marshmallow giving dream like feel. The characters' expressions heightened the comedy. The backgrounds were simple but detailed.

Sound:
The sound was great. I absolutely love the opening theme. Usually on other shows, I'll listen/watch the opening and ending themes once and skip them during the rest of the show but I find myself repeatedly watching the opening theme every time. The Soundtrack is good even when same theme songs were used through out they use different instruments to portray different mood. The seiyus were oustanding. They all portrayed the characters thoughts and feeling well while keeping the characters cute.

Story:
There really isn't much of story. The show revolves around the high school girls lives from when they are freshmen through their graduation. Most of the story takes place actually in the classrooms and school activities. Main focus of this show is zeny comedy and cuteness.

Character:
Each characters have their one main personality to make the group unique and fun to watch. There is smart one, stupid one, atheletic one and so on. I loved every character even the weird male teacher. Unlike Ichigo Marshmallow where without Miu, the show wouldn't work, everyone of Azumanga's character contributes to the overall enjoyment of the show. There isn't large amound of character development, but the characters do develop little at a time through out the show. We find more interesting things about them as the show progresses except Osaka. Osaka is Osaka and she'll always be Osaka.

Another added point for this show is its value. When I feel like laughing and have a good mood, I like to rewatch my favorite episodes. Because of Azumanga's main driving force lie in its comedy and no plot, you can jump into any episodes and enjoy it over and over again.

Overall the anime is so funny and lovable I don't know how anyone can hate it. Especially if you enjoy the stupid comedies and cute things. Especially I've seen so many weird and depressing and same animes I really felt that this show refreshed my love for anime.

Following the lives of 6 young girls and 2 teachers through three years of high school in Japan, Azumanga Daioh probably does not deserve its place on this site as one of the best 15 anime ever made. While there are some amusing scenes, and some scenes that made me laugh out loud, the anime is not hilarious enough to keep me completely interested for all 26 episodes. However, despite these flaws, it is a unique anime which accomplishes what it set out to do: amuse its' watchers.

The animation is fairly basic; you won't find Ghost in the Shell-esque character models or special effects in this anime. The character models are, however, unique enough among the main characters to distinguish them, but still similar enough to make it noticeable (especially Kagura and Tomo).

Much of the comedy (or attempted comedy) in this anime is visually-based, with outrageous faces and over-the-top emoticions and actions. In this aspect, the animation succeeds in its' goal; though the animation is not technically spectacular, it serves its purpose: to accentuate the comedic aspect of the anime.

The soundtrack, while at first a bit annoying and over-the-top, will grow on you. By the end of the series, I really enjoyed the opening song, and it got stuck in my head everytime I listened to it. The ending song wasn't half-bad either.

As for the voice-actors, they played their parts perfectly; this anime bases its' comedy on the emotions and dialogue of the voice-actors, and without convincing and amusing performances by the voice-actors, the anime would not have been amusing at all.

The story for this anime, being of tertiary importance compared to the comedy and characters of the anime, was very underdeveloped and simple. While this is to be expected of a semi-realistic "school-life" story, that does not make the story any more interesting.

The story's only purpose in this anime is to put the characters in the position to do amusing things; they go on trips in order to spice up the comedy and provide new scenery for the comedy. The transition between years serves for comedy in and of itself (the athletic competition each year, etc). Even the graduation is more of an oppurtunity for graduation-related comedy than it is a resolution of the story.

The main aspect of the story, however, is the many situations and random actions of the characters that occur each episode. Each of these "mini-stories" may focus on a different character or set of characters, including any of the 6 students or the 2 teachers.

As to the characters, they lack a bit in development, depth, and background due to their primary purpose being merely comedy. All of the characters retain their personalities and mannerisms throughout the series; the most development shown is probably Sasaki being a bit more friendly and besides that there is really no development. We find out nothing about any of their backgrounds besides sprase things (Yomi and Tomo knew each other since they were kids, "Osaka" is from Osaka, Chiyo is rich, Sasaki's mother is allergic to cats, etc).

However, despite this lack of depth and development, Yomi, "Osaka", Chiyo, Sasaki, Tomo, Kagura, and the teachers (Yukari, and Nyamo) are all funny in their own way; each brings a different aspect of comedy to the series. Without these interesting and unique characters, the series would have been a complete flop.

I probably will not rewatch this series; it was plenty long enough that I think I have had my fill of this type of comedy for awhile. While not as zany as FLCL or as amusing, this anime was worth watching and I would reccomend it to fans of this type of anime.