Azumanga Daioh was one of my very first forays into the school-life comedy genre of anime – and is a series I have plenty of memories of. I remember back in the days when my anime fix came from the public library, I had a conundrum where I couldn’t borrow out Volume 1 (Azumanga Daioh: Entrance) which was rated MA15+ without parental consent, but had no issue with Volume 2 (Azumanga Daioh: Festivals) which was rated G. Funnily enough, despite for of the six volumes being classified G or PG, it was the MA15+ which has stuck with the series as it has become available as a complete series collection.
But on the topic of home video releases, those in Australia won’t necessarily need to own a DVD copy of Azumanga Daioh to legally watch the series. Australian anime publisher Madman Entertainment have announced that all 26-episodes Azumanga Daioh is now available to watch via their AnimeLab service. Available with only the original Japanese dub, these episodes can be officially streamed through the video-on-demand service by those who is an AnimeLab Premium Member during its first week. These episodes will presumably be made available to everyone next Friday.
Do note that these episodes are only available in Standard Definition (360p and 480p) as of writing.
For those hoping to own a physical copy of Azumanga Daioh, or looking for the entire series with its English dub, you can purchase a copy via the Madman Entertainment Online Store for $39.95 AUD as of writing. Otherwise, check out this classic school-life comedy via AnimeLab HERE.
