Customer Reviews

Azumanga Daioh: The Animation

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

So many people have said that this anime, like Seinfeld, is a show about nothing. I think that viewpoint misses something. Azumanga Daioh may not have a sustained story arc, or a grand destination in mind, but watching it reminded me of my own days as a high-school student.
Be it Chiyo wishing that people would stop treating her like a kid, or Tomo acting every bit a fool and enjoying every minute of it, or Sakaki being uncomfortable with her towering stature, or Yomi's constant concerns about her weight, or even Osaka's frequent non-sequiters, this is a series about growing up with your friends.
And the characters are all truely likeable, as well. Even those who can be seen as annoying at times can't really be faulted for their personality quirks.
The series is fun and heartfelt.

The show is great. I am not reviewing the show. This a review of the actual disk set. This is why it gets 4 stars and not 5 stars.

This is a set of 5 disks. The first 4 are basically the original individual disk releases with all the extras ripped out. The start up screen is no longer animated but shows a still picture of Sakaki with the cat hanging onto her finger.

The 5th disk concerns me. It contains all the episodes on the original disks 5 and 6. It contains a total of 7 episodes. I worry that they may have increase the compression of the video to fit the episodes in.

You know, considering that they have to change the masters of disks 1 to 4 to rip out the extras, they might as well have redistributed the episodes more evenly to the 5 disks. I mean they have to make new masters anyway right? Damn, I hate sloppy work!

I like the packaging. A thinpak is essentially a box set containing the disks in thin plastic DVD cases instead of the standard thicker ones. It actually saves you shelf space. What you sacrifice are the paper inserts. Considering that I almost never read the inserts anyway, it is no big loss for me.

I first watched this series on my computer. The animation was crisp, the subs were done by fans (and excellently), and the dubbing was great.
The only reason I gave the DVD set a 4 star rating is because the fan sub had so much extra (explaining japanese jokes and culture that otherwise didn't make sense). Everything else was top shelf and I didn't see any bad subs.

As for the story...
The movie takes place in a junior high school in Japan. Following a group of young japanese school girls you get to see their perspective of the world around them, and the way it is told the youths seem more mature than any of the adults. The characters are very developed and and engrossingly likable. You will find yourself laughing at physical humor and nonsense, tearing up when something is sad, and alot of the times just smiling stupidly to yourself at some youthful innocence. It is a story about growing up and friendship that anyone can enjoy.

If you breath air you should buy this set. Anime fan or not. And I have also found that this anime may change some peoples minds about what anime is.

A FANTASTIC anime that developed from a 4 cell comic strip.
A must have.

This is a boxset that contains all the episodes of the Azumanga Daioh series. Those who weren't able or didn't get the discs seperate now can get them in this boxset. I think this is a very good deal for someone who hasn't got the discs. Too bad that I did. Azumanga Daioh is a really great and funny series. It's kinda like the anime equavilent of Senfield but I think Azumanga Daioh is less annoying and actually watchable then that.

I got this boxed set really cheap from Best Buy, I only spent $25 on it, and it's great! All the characters are just so loveable and they have such extreme personalities. Throughout the show it's just a bunch of people running around doing random stuff, and it is just hilarious. There's so many cute random things, and the way the characters repeat stuff in annoying ways makes it so much cuter. I'd definitely give this series a thumbs up. Great for laughs, but if you're looking for serious, thought-provoking anime, don't get this, lol.

This is by far the funniest anime I have ever seen. Azumanga Daioh is different than most anime in that it doesn't feature a continous storyline with over-the-top action and angsty teenage drama. In fact, Azumanga Daioh doesn't have any plot at all. It simply follows the ordinary lives of Japanese school girls Chiyo, Osaka, Yomi, Tomo, Kagura, Kaorin, and Sakaki, as they live their normal, ordinary lives. Every episode is filled with tons of hilarious moments that'll have you laughing at the edge of your seat the entire time. Not once did I ever feel sad when watching this series, expcet possibly when it was over because I didn't want it to end. The show is just all about having fun and enjoying life.

For a series that's so plotless, there's a surprising amount of character development here. Even without the added drama of a complex love triangle that you typically find in most high school-related anime, the characters mature a lot and their friendships grow throughout the series while they still retain their little quirks that made them such a unique cast. Azumanga Daioh suprisingly doesn't cut many corners with the animation like you would normally expect from a comedy like this, but just about everything is animated with rich detail (expect for maybe things like the crowds at school in unimportant scenes) and all the characters have a unique design about them despite not having all the exaggerated features of most anime characters, like bizarre haircolors and styles. The music is always bouncy and catchy, filled with lots of energy. The opening theme song is as random as the show itself and the ending theme is sweet, cute, and relaxing.

Azumanga Daioh is just an overall enjoyable comical show that you just can't help but to love. If there was one thing I could complain about this release is the boxset's lack of extras. While I'm glad ADV re-released this series in a cheaper boxset making it more affordable for me to buy, I really miss not having any extras here. Normally, I don't care much about bonus features on DVDs, especially for anime, but with Azumanga Daioh, I feel like they were important to keep. The main reason being that two of the extras that were only included on the single volume DVDs were two animated shorts: Azumanga Daioh-The Very Short Movie and Azumanga Web Daioh. Being a plotless anime, these shorts aren't neccessary to watch to be able to understand and enjoy the series as a whole, but they're essential in completing any Azumanga Daioh fan's collection.

Despite the lack of extras, this boxset was still worth it for the chance to finally be able to see this hilarious anime for such a low price. I just hope that ADV will include extras in their future thinpack sets. Azumanga Daioh is definetly one of the zaniest, most hilarious anime series I've ever seen. It never fails to put a smile on your face and it's so unique because it's just so different from most of your average anime. However, I can't really recommend this series to everyone. The show relies a lot on humor you could only understand if you have a general knowledge of Japanese culture. The series also features a lot of slapstick comedy and not everyone enjoys that kind of humor, but if you are the kind of person who does like it and if you at least have a basic knowledge of Japanese culture, Azumanga Daioh is definetly a series that you'll love. If you're looking for a drop-dead hilarious comedy anime that's different from the norm, don't hesistate on checking this series out.

Hey, you know what? I'm almost 30. (UPDATE: I'm now 30, and I still love this series!) I'm also a guy. Know what else? I don't care; I love Azumanga Daioh. This series is fall-out-of-your-seat funny and touching all at once, packed with characters that you can't help but care about even though (or maybe because) they tend to remind the viewer of everybody they knew in high school. Remember that one creepy teacher who liked to ogle the female students and thought he was good at hiding it? Meet Kimura-Sensei. That psycho chick that thought EVERYTHING was a competition? That's Tomo. The girl who thought she was fat even though she was as skinny as everyone else? That's Yomi. And so forth. (In fairness, though, it's not that Kimura's bad at hiding his predilection; he just doesn't care if anyone knows about it or not. No wonder his male students idolize him so...)

There's something oddly reassuring about sitting down to watch this show, and realizing that even though it was produced by a culture whose roots are about as alien to our own as they could possibly be without actually being Martian, it's STILL just like you remember your own high school years. To be sure, there are some jokes that make very little sense to an American audience, a topic I'll be getting to shortly; but by and large, Azumanga Daioh is as hilarious as it is precisely because almost everyone who watches it can relate to it in one way or another. (It's worth noting, though, that none of the girls ever has a boyfriend, and no reason is ever given. Osaka even says as much at one point, although her observation passes almost completely unnoticed by the other girls.) Other reviewers have noted that the show features virtually no plot, and for some, that might be a sticking point. That's fine. Me, I'm not particularly fussed about it; Azumanga Daioh doesn't try to be about plot, after all, but about making you laugh, and sometimes, cry. In this respect, the show is absolutely and wonderfully successful.

Which brings me to my only real gripe against the boxed set. Although they are by no means the majority, there are a fair number of references to Japanese culture, both pop and traditional, that require some explaining for them to make any sense to the American audience, and while the English dub does a fair job of clearing up some of them, there are some places where even that doesn't help and you're left scratching your head. The individually-released discs include translation and cultural notes that clear most of this right up (and are often pretty funny to boot), but the box set, for some bizarre reason, includes none of these. Without them, the viewer will more than likely be baffled as to why everyone is so frustrated with Osaka for referring to the iriomote cat as "pikanyaa," or why Osaka is holding an eggplant and a hawk when she appears in Sakaki's New Year's dream. (Not to say that all of the inexplicable bits center around Osaka; those are just the two that sprang to mind first.) Okay, so it's not earth-shattering; the show can still be watched and enjoyed even with a few gaps in one's knowledge. That doesn't bother some viewers, and it's true, the box set is a good deal cheaper than a complete set of the individual discs. But I'm the kind of person who never passes up an opportunity to learn something, and besides, I have a hard time seeing where an extra bit of literature included with the set would have really increased the price all that much. (I'm also the sort of pedantic viewer who watches each episode in English, then watches it again in the original Japanese with subtitles, just to get the full effect. That's just the kind of guy I am.) Again, if that doesn't bother you, by all means buy the boxed set.

One more thing: When they rated Azumanga Daioh 13 and up, they weren't kidding; there are some fairly blatant references to alcohol consumption and "cup size," shall we say. In fact, Kimura's behavior would warrant the 13-up rating all by itself (not to mention getting him fired and probably investigated by the authorities in real life). So if you're looking for something to entertain the kids, be prepared to answer some fairly uncomfortable questions. Otherwise, give it a look and prepare to fall in love. I can pretty much guarantee you will.

The complete series of Azumanga Daioh. Absolutely amazing, I have never laughed so hard at any other anime series. I watched the entire season in a week with my girlfriend and we both loved it. You grow very attached to the characters and what's going on throughout the series. Definatly worth the purchace price and its way cheaper than buying each season individually.
Azumanga Daioh, Rock, Rock On!

I'm 35 years old... I have a hard time believing this isn't more popular...

This is simply the most humorous anime I have ever watched... I fell in love with every character created...

The end of this series is like saying goodbye to people you love. You know you will see them again but saying goodbye is sad.

For all the fun this anime is, it is moving. It is satisfying at a deep level.

This is soooooo worth the money if you like some good clean "intelligent" fun...

Azumanga Daioh is one of the top anime series on my list. Each character is appealing in their own way (my favorite character is Osaka), and each episode kind of drifts along lazily, like a warm summer's evening or a boat on a calm lake. There really isn't much of a plot to follow along with, but that's ok, it's just fun to listen to the girls talk about nothing and chat about everything. It reminds me of my days in school talking to my friends, and that's why I think I like it so much. ...I even found myself crying while watching the last episode! When a cartoon makes you do that, you KNOW it's good!