Azumanga Daioh

Title: Azumanga Daioh
Published by: ADV Film|Section23 Films (North America), Madman Entertainment (Australia)
Based on: The Azumanga Daioh manga series by Kiyohiko Azuma
Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life
Audio: English and Japanese Dubs
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Runtime: 650 minutes
Cost: Contact your nearest seller of anime
Special Thanks: A copy of this series was purchased out of my own pocket

You might be wondering why I am doing a review of Azumanga Daioh… an anime series that was originally released in 2002 and become a name-brand anime series? The simple fact of the matter is I am showing my respect for the series and due to a certain event helping those who are new to the anime scene decide if they want to pick up a copy of the series or not while they still can. Madman Entertainment, the Australian distributor of the series recently cut several series from their online store indicating what is likely an end of license which there is a good chance they will not be picking it up again for a while if ever. Therefore, your only real chance of finding it within Australia first-hand now is through your local anime store while their limited stocks last. This is the second series which I began picking up individual volume releases of – and in Australia it has the oddest classification ratings you would see. The first volume (out of 6) was given a classification of MA15+ for “Adult Theme” (On par with series such as High School of the Dead and Elfen Lied, losing only in my anime collection was an initial release of Puni Puni Poemy which was rated R) while the second volume was rated G (General) and then the rest jumped between PG and M. But enough reminiscing, I present to you the first review in my “Anime’s From the Past Review Series”… a review of Azumanga Daioh.

In Miss Yukari’s English class, every day is an adventure. First off, there’s the teacher herself. A bit of an air-head, she may have graduated from high school, but she sure hasn’t left. And with the arrival of not one, but two transfer students – one ten-year-old prodigy and one space cadet – it’s going to be an interesting year!

Okay so you may have heard my rants in previous reviews about how stories should have a good plot and should not be heavy on the “filler” content right? Well this is one of the series that is the exception to this rule as it makes no plot and filler episodes look appealing… most of the time. The storyline is about six high-school girls with their own unique personalities and two of their teachers with even more warped personalities who all end up together after an elementary school student “Chiyo Mihama” joins their class. While we cannot share all the nostalgia of school life with our Japanese counterparts, this series is all about the joys and troubles of three years of High School from the summer holidays to the culture and sports festivals to just lounging around with friends laughing at each others stupidity.

From Chiyo and Yomi who instill the common sense to the group, the battles of Yukari-sensei and Kurosawa-sensei (Aka. Nyamo), the hilarious antics of Osaka, Tomo and Kagura and finally the progressive breaking down of Sakaki’s personality shell through things that are cute all contribute to a plot that even if you don’t have any big incidents happening or an epic final episode – it uses cuteness, nostalgia and comedy to deliver what is without a doubt one of the more memorable anime series on the market. While it would be possible to discuss every little quirky plot – it would take up a several thousand words so I will instead discuss a couple of the “plot’s” that are spread throughout the story. There is a heavy focus on the Classic Literature teacher Kimura in some episodes who boldly professes his admiration of all High School girls (*Hint* MA Rating from One Line *Hint*) while having a loving family and donating hefty sums of money and perhaps the most well known plot – Sakaki versus the cats in the neighborhood who lure her in and trap her hand in their iron jaws. While none of these plots build up to much… I think it offers the viewer the chance to turn off their brains and not think about anything.

However, while it is enjoyable to watch and providing some of the best comedy from the time it was released, it was hard not to notice a couple of flaws in the anime release over the original manga. The series is split into 26 episodes and within that there were three Sports Festival and three summer vacation episodes that each took up one episode. While this is a matter of preference I felt they could have used another episode or two to focus on some more unique plots from the manga or even visiting some further bits and pieces from the source. Fortunately though, outside those episodes there were no real other matters of concern. In terms of Japanese to English translation which does cause confusing scenes in some English dubbed anime releases, there were no real areas for concern and for the most part when something might have become confusing and “assumed knowledge” to Japanese viewers, it was often accompanied by descriptions in the plot.

Overall in terms of the storyline… sure it is filler, but it provided an enjoyable watching experience that you should not miss out on trying. However, while I feel most would enjoy Azumanga Daioh’s quirky and at times eccentric and random humor, upon discussing it with several anime fans I know – most enjoyed it but some found it over the top or bland. So yes, it is not for everyone but should be enjoyable to most.

In terms of the animes design, I think I will have to refer to my recent post for the Anime Bloggers Carnival HERE, especially point #1. The design is overall simplistic, perhaps trying to keep in line with the 4koma nature of the original manga release, but at the same time was well designed and displayed character and environment designs that were cute and creative for the time period in which the anime was released. The thing I liked was that while it was a school anime in which most of the time students would have to wear uniforms, they tried to diversify them through giving them clothing suited to their personality whenever they were outside of school, tried to alternate between school, PE and swim uniform where possible and also attempted to pull out the cuteness of Chiyo with penguin outfits, cat outfits and cosplay for the other characters. Not to mention the delusional dreams Osaka has with Chiyo’s magic detachable and flying pigtails which was design genius.

When it comes to the music element in this series, it features a considerably large song list which includes the normal selection of songs to suit the peaceful and chaotic days of school life… but also some tracks that involve instruments you would not usually expect to find in too many anime series such as songs played by the much loved (*Coff*) primary school musical instrument… the recorder. Irrespective, the instrumental track are those that suit the anime series well. If there were one single component of the anime that will stick in your mind for years to come – it would be the opening theme “Soramimi Cake” by Oranges & Lemons which retains a manga aesthetic to the animation which an upbeat cutesy song to go along with it… something an anime fan shouldn’t miss. The ending theme Raspberry Heaven also by Oranges & Lemons is a less memorable but still enjoyable watch. The English voice cast is also pretty interesting to listen to and contribute well to the comedic element of the series – with Luci Christian as Yukari being the best out of an overall great cast.

While I picked up this series many years ago (I remember as I rented volume 1 before purchasing it – the library had to get my parents okay to let me take it out) and fell in love with it straight away, it will not be to everyone’s taste. Following surveying some people I knew I took to the internet to study why there differences in tastes for this anime classic, and a review of this title by T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews (HERE) I feel hit the nail on the head in terms of this. Younger anime fans might not appreciate this series as it essentially watching the lives of students after they themselves spend five days a week at school, but instead they suggest (to those who do not enjoy it) putting it away for a few months/years and come back to it later on… and you might just fall in love with it – both for a hit of comedy and a hit of nostalgia. It is disappointing that Madman Entertainment has dropped this series from their distribution, however I personally have watched it many times over the years and it still does not get old. Well worth hunting down.