Josh’s Anime Blog

The Essentials

Name: Azumanga Daioh: The Animation
Genre: Comedy
Episodes: 26
Released: April 8, 2002 - September 30, 2002
Based On: Azumanga Daioh comic by Kiyohiko Azuma
Director: Hiroshi Nishikiori
Produced By: Genco, J.C. Staff
US Distribution By: ADV Films

Major Japanese Cast

Chiyo Mihama: Tomoko Kaneda
Ayumu “Osaka” Kasuga: Yuki Matsuoka
Tomo Takino: Chieko Higuchi
Koyomi “Yomi” Mizuhara: Rie Tanaka
Sakaki: Yuu Asakawa
Yukari Tanizaki: Akiko Hiramatsu
Kagura: Houko Kuwashima
Minamo “Nyamo” Kurosawa: Aya Hisakawa
Kaorin: Sakura Nogawa
Kimura: Kouji Ishii
Chiyo-Dad: Norio Wakamoto
Chihiro: Akane Omae

Major English Cast

Chiyo Mihama: Jessica Boone
Ayumu “Osaka” Kasuga: Kira Vincent-Davis
Tomo Takino: Mandy Clark
Koyomi “Yomi” Mizuhara: Nancy Novotny
Sakaki: Christine Auten
Yukari Tanizaki: Luci Christian
Kagura: Allison Sumrall
Minamo “Nyamo” Kurosawa: Monica Rial
Kaorin: Tiffany Grant
Kimura: Andy McAvin
Chiyo-Dad: Jason Douglas
Chihiro: Hilary Haag

Scores

Animation: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Story: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Music: 10/10 (x 4 = 40 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 8/10 (x 2 = 16 pts)
English Dubs: 8/10 (x 1 = 8 pts)
Gut Score: 10/10 (x 5 = 50 pts)

Total: 182/200 (91.0%)

Review

The humor in Azumanga Daioh has been described as appealing to those with a particular taste. I must have been one of those whose tastes it appealed to because I loved this series from start to finish.

Azumanga Daioh seems to almost be the Seinfeld of the anime world: it’s really a show about nothing in particular. It’s about a group of high school girls and their trip through high school. Of course, you have to include trips to a summer house, the annual athletics festival and cultural festival, and nothing would be complete without an insane teacher who is a rival with her friend and fellow teacher.

The teachers aren’t the only ones which are unique, however. Each of the girls the series focuses on have their own quirks. Chiyo is the pre-teen child prodigy who has skipped 5 grades to get into high school, and as a result, doesn’t always relate to the worries of high school girls. Osaka constantly fades in and out of her own inner reality. Tomo is the “wildcat” of the group: overflowing with energy, but lacking in talent, both athletically and academically. Sakaki is tall, and is insecure about her height, but loves anything cute, especially cats - even those which aren’t all that friendly to her. Kaorin is shy, but has a crush on Sakaki, which she can get very jealous over. Kagura is hyper like Tomo, but not as violent, and also has a tendency to be more normal as well, but also has problems with academics and common sense. Yomi is unusual in the sense that she’s the most normal of the group, though even she herself has an issue - obsession over her weight.

You put all these girls together, along with their teachers, and it’s nearly non-stop laughs. There probably isn’t a series I’ve seen which made me laugh out loud as much as this one. And while this series really had no central theme other than the girls’ trip through high school, there were several sub-plots that kept coming up in episodes. There’s the subplot about Yukari being obsessed about defeating Nyamo’s class in the athletic festival. There’s the constant reminder that Yukari’s insanity transfers to driving as well. There’s also the recurrence of Chiyo’s “dad,” a cat like being whom Sakaki is obsessed about, hates the color red, and is apparently Santa Clause.

Overall, it was a highly enjoyable experience, and I’m glad I finally got around to watching it.

As far as technical aspects of the show, the animation was pretty good, though not fantastic, with the animation style being simpler. The music is fantastic though, with a wide array of songs to match just about every character and any mood. ADV also did a fantastic job on the English dubs. As for the story score, while like I said earlier, this show doesn’t have much of a story per se, It follows a comedic philosophy and sticks with it, which in Azumanga’s case, sustains the series good enough that it doesn’t really need a story.

First Watched: February 2007 - April 2007
Do I Own: Yes
Do I Recommend: Yes