Azumanga Daioh: The Animation

this is definitely for me, for a long time, I've dwelled in complex & masterpiece anime like Bebop, Ghibi productions, Kenshin OAV, Jin Roh, Grave of Fireflies, Metropolis etc until at some point I realize these shows are "not entertaining" anymore since they make me think, they make me relate so deep into the characters, got emotionally drained even depressed.

Not in the case of azumanga daioh...

For me this show is just great, fun, gorgeous, sweet, cute, you name it. It even brings back some highschool memories, there isn't asingle episode where I can watch and not having a HUGE smile, and another smile, and another smile, and.... It sure is hard to pick any favourite character since they all make the show, but I'll go with Sakaki (the cool one with a soft spot), and the "impossible" bond setting with Kaorin is particularly sweet & hillarious heh heh

Recommended for those who want a change of atmosphere into a cute, funny, lighthearted show

This animation is based on a Japanese comic strip, kind of like Charles Schulz's "Peanuts" in North America. Like the "Peanuts" cartoon each episode is built on short segments taken from the comic strip. It has been shown at a few Toronto anime clubs and I also have seen it on DVD. It was jarring watching the show at first because the episodes are really just a series of short gags and then suddenly we see the next episode preview. We have some anime stereotypes like the loudmouth Tomo, the dimwitted Osaka and the pushy Yukari but some characters seemed fresh like Chiyo a bright ten-year old girl who was advanced all the way to high school. Since Japanese high school covers 15 to 17 year-olds Chiyo is much shorter and physically underdeveloped compared the rest of the class. This leads to recurring gags like when Chiyo acts like an elementary school student or when she can't keep up with the rest in phys ed class. If you search the Internet you should find a few translated comic strips so you can see if this series is right for you but I give it a "thumbs-up".

My teen watches, breaths and lives Anime and Manga. And after hearing about Japanese animation NON-STOP for some time, I thought I'd give it a whirl several years back. As a kid, Japanese animation was synonymous with lousy production values and dull plots. Often this was not the fault of the original production company, but due to American companies cutting the shows to pieces and splicing it all back together in an awful and confusing mess. SPEED RACER is the best example of this. So, despite my predisposition to hate it, I did agree to try some Anime once again.

Some Anime, not matter how much I try, I cannot and never will enjoy--particularly ones featuring exploding giant robots ("mecha" anime)--I'm just not particularly interested in this style. And some I have enjoyed mildly (such as DEATH NOTE), but of all the anime I have tried, by far my favorite is AZUMANGA DAIO. Regardless of where it was made, it is just wonderful entertainment. What I particularly like is that unlike so much of the super-fanciful anime, this is about a bunch of high school girls--and most of their adventures are very mundane--no explosions, no Pokemon battles and no life or death struggles. It's so good because the characters are all so well made and endearing--you really come to love them. Unlike many other Animes I have watched, the girls on the show seem almost like real people (except 'Osaka'--who is just plain weird!). This really surprised me--I thought Anime was pretty boring up until I watched this series! I am a high school teacher and apparently this series is pretty popular among my students as well. For teens and adults not 100% "gung-ho" about anime, this is an excellent series that will surely entertain. If you don't enjoy it, then there really is no hope for you coming to appreciate Anime.

See, there can be a situation comedy basically about nothing but doesn't harp on dating relationships and sex! It's so uproariously funny in many places I got both the manga and the 5 DVD anime.

No one save the lecherous Kimura has a significant other. There's too many American TV shows depicting singles whether there be teen or adult as being perpetually seeking love. In the course of this too short series none of the girl students date. There's only one episode in this series that deals with teachers dating--These characters present us with other concerns to laugh about--Pet Obsessions, hero worship, who is the smarter teacher, petty jealousy, catching a cold, etc. "Daioh" stands out even among it's anime fellow no magical quests, no titanic battles of universal good versus universal evil. The only universal elements is the day to day progress of life and for those who can find humor it's in the characters' a tickling the funny bone.

Azumanga Daioh (Hiroshi NISHIKIORI, 2002) (based on Kiyohiko AZUMA's comic strip of the same name)

Take the fundamental sweetness of the best of the "Peanuts" TV specials, mix it with the whacked out humor of "Calvin and Hobbes", add in some stylistic homages to Isao Takahata's films (the memory scenes of "Only Yesterday" and his neglected 1999 masterpiece "Our Neighbors the Yamadas") -- and you have anything but a routine anime series. (It also reminds me a bit of the quirky short-lived TV series "Square Pegs" from many years ago). The show follows the lives of seven girls (including one 10 year old genius who skipped middle school) and three teachers (two highly dysfunctional, one _mostly_ sane) through all three years of high school (that's how the system works in Japan). This is mostly side-splittingly funny, though it managed to evoke a few furtive tears before it ended. The characters are everything in this virtually plotless traversal of three years of school (and vacations). Although this series runs for 26 episodes, it ends all too quickly -- I was far from weary of the charming and loveable characters portrayed here. (The best term to describve the show is, of course, Japanese -- "kawai" which means not only ultra-cute but very loveable). This show was immensely popular in Japan, and has recently been licensed for release in the USA (thank you ADV).