Azumanga Daioh tv Review

Azumanga Daioh is a slice of life anime that follows six friends throughout their three years of high school. There is no overarching plot other than following the experiences of these six characters through high school; however, Azumanga Daioh still succeeds on its strong cast of characters and their interactions. The main characters are all female, and the friends - and their teachers - get into some very interesting and hilarious situations. They are: Tomo, the energetic one with no self control, Yomi, Tomo's... "friend" through all their school years, Chiyo, the 10 year old genius, Osaka, the airhead, Sakaki, the tall, athletic and shy one with a thing for cats, and Kagura, the athlete and self-proclaimed rival of Sakaki.

Credits: destati

Story & Characters

First off, this review will only cover Azumanga, The Animation. The manga will be handled in a seperate review. While many of the points will be similar for both, I want to make a few distinctions after experiencing both formats.

Azumanga is a story almost everyone can relate to. Simply put, it's about growing up. It covers the journey of a group of students through high school, from the first day all the way through college entrance exams. The class is pretty far fetched, with very few characters falling into the category "normal." Every stereotype is strongly enforced, from the tall athletic girl, to the super-genious, to the total idiot.

The characters are lovable and hatable at the same time, depending on your personality. If you liked the tall athletic type back in school, you'll probably fall for Sakaki. If you were the class clown, you would most likely identify with Tomo. If your best friend was the class clown, you would probably feel deeply for Yomi.

One common complaint I've heard is the repetitiveness of the series. Some events (like the athletic competition), happen several times. However, in the context of a story about three years of high school, it would almost make sense.

Rating: 7

Art

The anime adaptation of the manga does extremely well in representing the art of the manga. It follows the character designs and art style of the matured manga (about halfway through the first volume).

Azumanga's greatness lies in it's simplicity. There's no CG. There aren't any giant robots. There aren't even that many wide shots of pretty scenery. What is there are a few simple sets (a school, a house, a street, a field, and town). Similarly, character designs are also extremely simple, with each person almost completely distinguishable from the others. Large crowds don't usually have many faces, but rather just outlines of people, for the sake of concentrating on the "important" people in the scene.

For the purposes of Azumanga, simple is good. It helps keep the whole feel of show "down to Earth" and doesn't detract from the overall feeling.

Rating: 7

Sound

Like the art, Azumanga's soundtrack is extremely simple and non-intrusive. The only way to notice the soundtrack is if it were absent. It doesn't overload or call attention to itself, but rather serves as a pleasant background to the visuals and dialog. In a way, it amazes me that the soundtrack contains over 30 tracks. It doesn't suprirse me that there are 6 versions of the same basic theme.

The casting seemed well done, with "normal" voices for each character. My only complaint here is that Chiyo sounds far too cute. While it is in her description to be abnoxiously cute, her voice bordered on annoyingly cute.

Rating: 6

Presentation

For the purpose of this review, I will rename the "presentation" category to the "Aa! factor." Much like the terrior* of a good wine, Azumanga has what I can only call the Aa! factor. Simply put, this trait allows the series to transcend all normal judgement processes, and gives name to the inherant charm of the series. It is very difficult to hate or strongly dislike this series because of Aa!, since almost everyone can identify with at least one (or more) characters or situations. The only reason to really hate Azumanga is for the sake of hating Azumanga.

Azumanga is Azumanga. The only way to describe Azumanga(n.) is by saying it is Azumanga(adj.)

From a personal standpoint, Azumanga reminded me of how I felt when I was going through high school, particularly near the end of the series. It made me remember how I felt during my own experience and how I viewed those around me. Truth be told, Chiyo-chan wasn't the only person getting teary-eyed during the graduation scene.

A series is truly amazing when it can generate that kind of emotion; I felt touched on so many levels. The joy and sadness came naturally to me as I followed the group struggle through school.

* Terrior: a French word describing the land, climate, soild, etc. of a vineyard (or group of vineyards) and is often associated with the taste and quality of the wine. The word does not have a proper English translation, as the French want to be exclusive, claiming that many of the signature French grapes cannot be grown outside of France because they lack the proper terrior. The French can be rather snobbish about their wine.

Rating: 8

Final Verdict

7.1667 (above average)

Reviewed by kawaiiguy, Nov 14, 2005

Comments

juppu-kun Nov 14, 2005

a pretty nice review.You well described azumanga indeed ! ;) keep it up
lilabyssinian Banned Member Nov 14, 2005

i thought this anime was funny...though the time breeze fast...4 years have gone by haha
raptorfb Nov 15, 2005

I found the show quite.. interesting....
Your review is quite interesting, as now I can see it thru someone elses' eyes...
kre Nov 16, 2005

I'm still watching this anime and i gotta say it's great. Nearly every scene makes me laugh. The one thing thats a bit annoying is when nothing happens for like a minute, just silence. Sometimes funny when it happens though.
fireflywishes Retired Moderator Nov 16, 2005

that's pretty much how i found the anime... tho some of the episodes have that "wtf" factor in them... my friends and i started watching the first dvd at 3 AM... we thought it was hilarious! we now call it the "Crack Anime" because it's like a drug (so feel good) and if you were 'on something' it'd be the funniest thing in the world... ^_^'

nice review! :D
kuroimisa Retired Moderator Nov 16, 2005

lol I love how you described Azumanga as Azumanga... there truly is no other way of describing it... I enjoyed it a lot myself... it really does have the "Aa~!" - we always say that every time Sakaki gets bitten for the umpteenth time ;) Wonderful review :)
merelie Nov 16, 2005

you've done such a great job of reviewing the show here. the zaniness that is azumanga ought to be shared with everyone. :D
renki Nov 16, 2005

I like this animation.
tareren Nov 16, 2005

Nice review... ^^ I watched this anime already, but I do not find it that funny or enjoyable ...
School Rumble is definitely funnier :D
phlyingpenguin Nov 16, 2005

Good review. I do like the end paragraphs because it's too true that you've got to describe Azumanga as being Azumanga. And you haven't lived till you see myself and all my friends watching the ending all getting teary at graduation. Every single time I watch it too!

I do think it's worth saying how many jokes are very Japanese. That's something a lot of people say about the show, but easy to see in action. When I've shown the series to my mother or folks that don't watch a whole lot of anime, they generally aren't as apt to try and understand some of the jokes that are fairly good. And because of that, I can't talk to any of them about hemroids anymore.
ozezno Nov 16, 2005

a mi se me hiso una serie muy graciosa y me da mucho aire a la serie de love hina
RainnSnow Nov 17, 2005

I never got to watch it yet, but I did read the first book and it was funny.
Good review...if I had done one, my review would be not so detail XP
ImaginaryBuddie Nov 18, 2005

Easily one of my favorite animes. It's an anime ALL can enjoy. I realized this after I went to anime convention in Texas (I live in Los Angeles). Two large rooms filled with all kinds of people. I think it was the loudest room filled with laughter ever for an anime.
Zerosyb Nov 19, 2005

i thought this anime was funny...
kouta84 Nov 19, 2005

a crazy story but funny ^^v
gearshifter Nov 25, 2005

Azumanga is awesome, and was extremely entertaining for me. Good review, Tomo>all! Just cant help but smile when I see her, hilarious.
kingmakoto718 Dec 01, 2005

this anime is awsome, so freakin funny. soooooooo freeeeeeeeeakin funny
Toshie Dec 12, 2005

Quite a nice review, Azumanga is absolute a relaxing n entertaining anime!
MegasXLRFanX85 Dec 20, 2005

Strangley adorable, very cute, allways funny. I must watch it again
!
howtwosave May 29, 2007

this anime is so boring and overrated, it's definitely not the funniest anime in the world (whoever said that needs to watch more anime)

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