Azumanga Daioh Volume 1 [Paperback]

Kiyohiko Azuma (Author, Artist)

Book Description

Series: Azumanga Daioh (ADV Manga) | Publication Date: November 10, 2003

It's not manga, it's Azumanga (and it's smart, fun and totally addictive)! Created by the iconoclastic Kiyohiko Azuma (hence the name), Azumanga Daioh is strongly character driven, telling the story of a group of high-school girls and their hilarious daily tribulations.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It's tough to tell the difference between teacher and students in Azuma's comedy. Teacher Yukari Tanizaki is oblivious, immature, emotional and one of the people shaping young minds. Her students face difficulties in school that most never imagined. For example, as one pupil starts to ask a question, Miss Yukari cuts him off, stating she won't talk about her bra size. Another group of students are ready for their lessons, but instead of learning about social studies or science, they learn how Miss Yukari spent her weekend. Maybe that's not so bad, considering Miss Yukari's not the brightest bulb in the bunch and has her students correcting her on many technical points. Her students aren't sure how to react, but their bewilderment is half the charm of this manga. Like the 1980s TV series Head of the Class, Azu has an eclectic mix of pupils ranging from child geniuses to sports enthusiasts to tough girls; each possessing much more than meets the eye. The precocious child genius may be great at academic subjects, but she still draws like a little girl and has the emotions of a kid. The unemotional tough teen melts for tiny animals and longs to have a pet of her own, even if all of the creatures she comes in contact with seem to hate her. The art is simple and minimalistic, but adequately conveys the thought and emotion behind each strip. Azuma's cast has depth, dimension and character, and their story heartily entertains.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: ADV Manga; English Ed edition (November 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1413900003
• ISBN-13: 978-1413900002
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Azumanga the Great, July 31, 2004

By 

Zach "Zach" (Pennsylvania, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Azumanga Daioh Volume 1 (Paperback)

Oh, Azumanga Daiou. Where to begin? How about the plot? Plot? I didn't notice. Azumanga is a story about absolutely nothing that manages to be about absolutely everything under the sun. Get it? How do I describe the humor? Can't. Too hard. Words probably can't describe this series. Maybe they can. So what have we learned? Azumanga Daiou is about nothing and everything and you can't describe the series with adjectives very well. And it's about seven girls and their three teachers. A story about nothing and everything, can't describe with adjectives, and about students and teachers. Particularly odd students and teachers. First up, Osaka: An odd transfer student from Osaka, real name Ayumu Kasuga, but got the nickname Osaka due to her origins. She's extremely odd, crazy, isn't the best student, and deserves an award for her delicate and elegant breaking of chopsticks. Then there's Sakaki: A beautiful high school girl who's body seems to have matured quite a bit faster then everybody else. She plays it cool and never lets her inner emotions show. Well, sometimes. So what are her inner emotions? She's extremely shy about her body, and has an extreme passion for cute things, especially cats. It's too bad every cat she meets (except one) bites her every time she tries to pet them. Then, there's Tomoko Takino: Tomo, Tomo, Tomo...Ugh, Tomo, Tomo, Tomo...the most psychotic and nutty person you can ever hope to meet, but I highly doubt you want to meet her. She has a habit of hitting Chiyo-chan, and competes with Chiyo at tests and with Sakaki at sports (of course, trying isn't winning). The only test she ever beat Chiyo at was a health test that she spent all night studying for, and of course, didn't study at all for the harder, more important test that day. Speaking of Chiyo...Chiyo Mihama: A child genius, started going to high school at age ten, and is still smarter than all of her classmates. She's rich, cute, and has pigtails that scare the hell out of Osaka. Then there's Koyomi Mizuhara: Possibly the sanest of the group, though she does worry a bit too much about her body (which looks fine to me). She and Tomo have been friends since they were kids, and there's nobody better to keep Tomo from going completely insane. There's also Kagura: Self-proclaimed rival to Sakaki, if anyone can beat Sakaki at sports, it's her (though she can't). At times almost equally as crazy and competitive as Tomo, Kagura finishes off the main band of girls with a sharp edge. And finishing off the students, the less-important, appears-every-now-and-then, Kaorin: Kaorin, the cute girl with a mad crush on Sakaki, easily gets jealous, which can cause her to be driven to the point of acting like a rabid dog. And, starting off the teachers, it's Yukari Tanazaki: The least liked teacher at the school, our girls homeroom and English teacher, she gets drunk on a daily basis, has been tardy more than her students, is lazier than a sloth, and she's cheap to boot. Then there's Minamo Kurosawa (Nyamo): The physical education teacher, Ms. Kurosawa seems like the perfect teacher; kids like her, teachers like her, and so on, but through personal visits we can see she might have a rather embarrassing past. Rounding off our cast, it's Mr. Kimura: The perverted classics teacher, he always tries to involve himself in things that are none of his business in order to see some of his pretty students in a way that could give him a bloody nose. So, clearly Azumanga Daiou is one of the funniest mangas you'll ever read, and there's no reason not to love every second of it. My only problem is that ADV has catagorized it as comedy/action. Action? No. I wouldn't consider Tomo punching people action. So anyway, this manga is for anyone with a sence of humor and whose taste is not for action or a deep plot, but rather for anything that's good, since I highly doubt you have a taste for sstuff like Azumanga Daiou, because there's nothing else like it. Also, some reviewer said it was like Love Hina...please, ignore that review. It's nothing like Love Hina. I mean, Azumanga Daiou's a comedy, and the two mangas have a completely different sence of humor! Personally i don't think you can compare Azumanga Daiou to any other series, manga or not. Just because a manga's funny doesn't make it an Azumanga (and I personally don't find Love Hina that funny).

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best manga I've read so far, May 30, 2006

By 

Sheldon - See all my reviews

This review is from: Azumanga Daioh Volume 1 (Paperback)

I randomly picked this book off the shelf at my library, not really expecting much, but much I did get. I ordered the other three as quickly as possible, and am currently re-reading volume 1. Anyways....

This series follows the life of 7 high school girls (well, 5. The other two don't really appear very much), each one having special (and some not so special) characteristics.

First off, their's Chiyo-Chan, the child prodigy. She entered high school at the age of 10 and astounds the rest of the class with her knowlede. She's not any good at sports, however.

Then their's Tomo-Chan, the psycho crazy girl who's best skill is annoying everyone with her pointless remarks and actions. It's only ever so often that we see her act somewhat normal (I don't even know if we see that in this volume).

And then there's Osaka, the transfer student from...Osaka. (Her real name is Ayumu something...can't remember). She falls asleep in class alot, get's lousy grades, and is always forgetting books, but overall she's quiet, shy, and my favourite character.

And Sakaki...what can be said about Sakaki? Well, she's the athlete of the bunch, who is admired for her big boobs (by tomo, at least). Although she's the most active of the group, she loves cats, (but wouldn't dare tell anyone), who don't seem to like her. She's one of the sanest of the group.

Yomi is the most "normal" of the group. She has a sarcastic, dry sense of humour, and is always worrying about her weight.

And then Kaorin, who we don't see too often. She has a major crush on Sakaki.

And finally, Kagura, who doen't really show up until volume 2, but she's worth mentioning here. She's kind of like a mix between Sakaki and Tomo-Chan. She's athletic, but can also be somewhat psychotic at times.

And now a word about the teachers.

I don't know how Miss Yukari got her job. She's immature, a drunkard, is late more than her students, and is overall a bad teacher.

Miss Kurosawa, the P.E. teacher, is more normal, however, and the students like her.

And finaly, there's Mr. Kimura, who's mouth you only see closed once. He's a perv who admits the only reason why he's a teacher is because he likes the girls.

Anyways, it's the best, not to mention funniest manga I've ever read before. If you're looking for a manga that has no plot whatsoever, and contains butt-loads of humour, then this is the one for you. Read it, you won't be dissapointed.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Of Course I'd reveiw Azumanga!, June 13, 2005

By 

James Westbrook (Albany, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Azumanga Daioh Volume 1 (Paperback)

This is a great series of books I have to say, this series has influenced me more artisticly that any other manga. As an aspiring Manga-ka, I immediatly adopted some of Azuma's techniques, his Super Deformations are amazing. (laymans terms: Super Deformations = techniques Manga-kas use to exaggerate emotion, like a hanging jaw or angry glare)

But asides from the artistic perspective, Azumanga is a fantastic read as well. It's a high school comedy covering the events surrounding a group of friends as they make their way through their four years (each covered in each of the four books). Everyone can find a character they relate to in this diverse group, for me it was Ms. Sakaki, but regardless of who you associate with it becomes a rewarding experience watching that character grow.

Also, be forewarned, Azumanga does not follow the typical Manga style. It's written in numerous four panel strips reading top to bottom, akin more to american comics like Garfield than manga, albeit much more developed.

So I wholeheartedly reccomend the whole series of Azumanga books for ages 12+ (a wee bit of innuendo, nothing serious), especially since it's only four volumes it's quite a value.