is a Japanese ''

yonkoma , a comic strip format, generally consists of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom. They also sometimes run right-to-left horizontally or use a hybrid 2×2 style, depending on the layout requirements of ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series written and illustrated by

Kiyohiko Azuma is a Japanese manga artist. From 1999 to 2002, he authored the ''yonkoma'' comedy manga series ''Azumanga Daioh'', which was later adapted as an anime series by J.C.Staff. In 2003, he began ''Yotsuba&!'', a slice-of-life manga series about th ...

. It was serialized from February 1999 to May 2002 in the monthly magazine ''

Dengeki Daioh is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) under the ''Dengeki'' brand. Many manga serialized in ''Dengeki Daioh'' were later published in ''tankōbon'' volumes under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Co ...

'' by MediaWorks; three additional chapters were published in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hit ...

's ''

Monthly Shōnen Sunday , alternately known as , is a monthly '' shōnen'' manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan since May 12, 2009 (the June 2009 issue). The magazine was announced in February 2009, with Hayashi Masato, at that time editor of ''Weekly Shōnen ...

'' in May 2009 to celebrate the manga's tenth anniversary. The manga was first released in English by

ADV Manga A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gree ...

, and later re-issued by

Yen Press Yen Press, LLC is an American manga and graphic novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published ''Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, Yen Press ...

. An

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television adaptation titled ''Azumanga Daioh: the Animation'' was produced by

J.C.Staff , is a Japanese animation studio founded in January 1986 by Tomoyuki Miyata, who previously worked at Tatsunoko Production. The studio's first release was ''Yōtōden'' in 1987. They have produced several well-known anime series, such as '' Food ...

and aired in Japan between April and September 2002, consisting of 130 four-minute segments compiled into 26 episodes. The compiled episodes were released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and

Universal Media Disc The Universal Media Disc (UMD) is a discontinued optical disc medium developed by Sony for use on its PlayStation Portable handheld gaming and multimedia platform. It can hold up to 1.8 gigabytes of data and is capable of storing video games, ...

s (UMDs) by

Starchild Records , commonly known as King Records, is a Japanese record company founded in January 1931 as a division of the Japanese publisher Kodansha. It initially began operating as an independent entity in the 1950s. It later became part of the Otowa Group ...

, and an English-language version was produced by

ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gre ...

. Prior to the series, a theatrical short and an

original net animation An original net animation (ONA), known in Japan as , is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. The name mirrors original video animati ...

were also produced. Several soundtrack albums were released, as well as three ''Azumanga Daioh'' video games. Both the manga and anime have been praised for their humor driven by eccentric characters, with Azuma acclaimed as a "master of the four-panel form" for both his art style and comic timing.

Premise

''Azumanga Daioh'' chronicles the

everyday life Everyday life, daily life or routine life comprises the ways in which people typically act, think, and feel on a daily basis. Everyday life may be described as mundane, routine, natural, habitual, or normal. Human diurnality means most peop ...

in an unnamed Japanese high school of six girls and two of their teachers:

child prodigy A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...

Chiyo Mihama This is a list of characters from the manga series ''Azumanga Daioh'' by Kiyohiko Azuma, later adapted to anime. The main cast consists of six schoolgirls and two teachers, along with a few secondary characters, the latter including Kimura-se ...

and her struggle to fit in with girls five years older; reserved

Sakaki ''Cleyera japonica'' (sakaki) is a flowering evergreen tree native to warm areas of Japan, Taiwan, China, Myanmar, Nepal, and northern India (Min and Bartholomew 2015). It can reach a height of 10 m. The leaves are 6–10 cm long, smooth, ...

and her obsession with the cute animals while certain ones seem to hate her; spacey Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga with a skewed perspective on the world; Koyomi "Yomi" Mizuhara's aggravation at an annoying best friend;

Tomo Takino This is a list of characters from the manga series ''Azumanga Daioh'' by Kiyohiko Azuma, later adapted to anime. The main cast consists of six schoolgirls and two teachers, along with a few secondary characters, the latter including Kimura-sen ...

, whose energy is rivaled only by her lack of sense; sporty

Kagura is a type of Shinto ritual ceremonial dance. The term is a contraction of the phrase , indicating the presence of gods () in the practice. One major function of is , involving a procession-trance process. Usually a female shaman will perfor ...

and her one-sided athletics rivalry with Sakaki; their homeroom teacher

Yukari Tanizaki This is a list of characters from the manga series ''Azumanga Daioh'' by Kiyohiko Azuma, later adapted to anime. The main cast consists of six schoolgirls and two teachers, along with a few secondary characters, the latter including Kimura-se ...

; and her friend,

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

teacher Minamo "Nyamo" Kurosawa. Secondary characters include Kimura-sensei, a creepy male teacher with an obsession with teenage girls, and Kaorin, a female classmate with a crush on Sakaki. The story covers three years of tests, talking between classes, culture festivals, and athletic events at school, as well as time spent traveling to and from school, studying at Chiyo's house, and vacations at Chiyo's summer beach home and the fictional

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

Magical Land, concluding with the graduation of the main cast. It is generally realistic in tone, marked by occasional bursts of

surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

and absurdity, such as Osaka imagining Chiyo's ponytails being "unscrewed" from her head and an episode featuring the characters'

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

's dreams.

Production

The series title has no particular significance to the story. "Azumanga" is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsmanga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

", while "Daioh" comes from the magazine in which it was originally published, ''

''. In the anime, "''daioh''" is mentioned during the next episode previews, used in context with the meaning "great king". "Azumanga" is also used as a general term for Kiyohiko Azuma's other comics and illustrations. Two previous collections of Azuma's works, including official

tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original prope ...

comics of

Pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...

animations, were published as ''Azumanga'' and ''Azumanga 2'' in 1998 and 2001, respectively. ''Azumanga'' was later republished in a reduced-size edition called ''Azumanga Recycle''.

Media

Manga

''Azumanga Daioh'' was written and illustrated by

, largely in ''

'' (four-panel) format. The unnumbered chapters were serialized by MediaWorks in the monthly magazine ''

'' from February 1999 to May 2002. The series was collected in four ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volumes. Each of the four volumes covers about a year in the characters' lives. A new edition in three volumes was released in Japan by

to commemorate the manga's 10th anniversary, with volume one, covering the first year of high school, being published June 11, 2009. The reprint edition contains three additional 16-page chapters serialized in ''

'' starting in May 2009 under the title . The series was licensed in English in North America and the United Kingdom by

, which released all four volumes between 2003 and 2004. ADV later reprinted the series in an omnibus edition () on November 7, 2007. In 2009, Yen Press acquired the North American and UK license of ''Azumanga Daioh'', and released a new translation in December 2009 in an omnibus volume. In Europe, ''Azumanga Daioh'' is licensed in French by Kurokawa, in German by

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed J ...

, in Spanish by

Norma Editorial Norma Editorial is a Spanish comics publisher, with its headquarters in Barcelona.Home
Norma Editori ...

, in

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

Punainen jättiläinen Punainen jättiläinen ("Red giant") is a Finnish small publisher of Japanese manga and Korean manhwa. It was founded in April 2005 by its CEO, Antti Grönlund. However, the publisher was acquired by Tammi in 2009. Nowadays, Punainen jättiläin ...

and in Russian by Palm Press. In Asia, the series has been licensed in

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

Daiwon C.I. Daewon C.I. (대원씨아이, 大元 C.I., ''Daewon Ssi Ai'', formerly Daiwon C.I.), short for Daewon Culture Industry, is a subsidiary of Daewon Media founded in 1991. This South Korean publisher releases domestic and imported comics, Newtype K ...

, in

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

by Negibose Comics, in Vietnam by TVM Comics, and in Chinese by

Tong Li Publishing Tongli Publishing Co. (Chinese: 東立出版社, Hanyu Pinyin: ''Dōng Lì Chūbǎnshè''), most known as Tong Li Comics, is a publishing company which distributes a variety of domestic and imported comics in Taiwan. History Tong Li was founded ...

. It was also translated into Brazilian Portuguese by NewPOP Editora. It was the first ''yonkoma'' manga translated in France.

Anime

The

television series, ''Azumanga Daioh: the Animation'', was produced by

and aired from the week of April 8, 2002 until the week of September 30, 2002. It was broadcast on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

TV Aichi JOCI-DTV, branded as , is a television station in Nagoya, Japan operated by the Aichi Television Broadcasting Company, Ltd. (TVA; ja, テレビ愛知株式会社, Terebi Aichi kabushiki gaisha) and is an affiliate of the TX Network. Broadcasti ...

TV Osaka is a television station affiliated with the TX Network in Osaka, Japan. The mascot character is "Takoru-kun" (たこるくん). History Television Osaka, Inc. was founded in 1981 as part of the reorganization of Tokyo Channel 12 Ltd (now TV To ...

, and AT-X in five-minute segments every weekday, then repeated as a 25-minute compilation that weekend, for a total of 130 five-minute segments collected in 26 episodes. For the compilation episodes, the respective opening and ending themes were and "Raspberry Heaven", both performed by Oranges & Lemons. The compilation episodes, which were the only versions to include the title and credits sequences, were released on 6

s in 2003 and 9

s between 2005 and 2006 by Starchild Records, and a DVD box set of all episodes was released on June 24, 2009; (Note Google translate API) the five-minute segments can be distinguished by their individual titles. Besides the anime television series, there have been two other animated adaptations: ''The Very Short Azumanga Daioh Movie'', a six-minute trailer released to movie theaters to publicize the upcoming television series, and ''Azumanga Web Daioh'', a shorter

made available for paid streaming on chara-ani.com beginning from December 28, 2000, then offered as a paid download for a limited time. ''Azumanga Web Daioh'' was originally intended to gauge whether there was enough interest to create a web-released anime adaptation; because of overwhelming demand, the original plan for web-release was changed to a television release. It featured different voice actors, music, and staff from the series. In the United States, the anime television series was released in six DVDs on September 9, 2005, and then later in a five DVD volume "Thinpak" set, both by

. The sixth DVD volume included ''The Very Short Azumanga Daioh Movie''. In 2009, Nokia offered the first five episodes of ''Azumanga Daioh'' on its Ovi phone service.

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatri ...

licensed the series for release in Australia and New Zealand. As of September 1, 2009, all of ADV's former catalog are transferred to AEsir Holdings, with distribution from

Section23 Films SXION 23 LLC, doing business as Section23 Films is an American multimedia distributor based in Houston, Texas specializing in releasing anime and Japanese films. Established in 2009, Section23 is one of five successors to ADV Films; alongside Se ...

. The series was later re-licensed in 2016 by

Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC or just Sentai, is an American entertainment company owned by AMC Networks. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is S ...

Soundtracks

Several soundtrack albums for the anime of ''Azumanga Daioh'' were released by Lantis, including two volumes of the ''Azumanga Daioh Original Soundtrack'', collecting the show's score and themes; two

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

s; and ''Vocal Collection'', collecting character

image song An image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album (often called an image album or character album) for an anime, game, ''dorama'', manga, or commercial product that is sometimes sung by the voice actor or actor of a character ...

s. One single was released for the opening and closing theme of the anime, and eight singles of image songs were released for the main cast members. Most of the releases charted on the Japanese

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

charts, with the highest ranking album being ''Tribute to Azumanga Daioh'' at number 68, and the highest ranking single being ''Soramimi no Cake/Raspberry Heaven'', the opening and closing themes, at 36th. * The opening and closing theme single ''Soramimi no Cake/Raspberry Heaven'' was released on April 22, 2002, and peak ranked 36th on the Oricon singles chart. The two volumes of the soundtrack were released on June 26, 2006 and October 23, 2002, and peak ranked 72nd and 99th on the Oricon albums chart, respectively. The soundtrack albums were re-released as a two-disc set on June 24, 2009 in conjunction with the 10th anniversary release of the DVD box set. ''Azumanga Daioh Original Soundtrack'' Volume 1 was released in the United States by

Geneon (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Tokyo, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo. It is primarily involved in the production and distributi ...

. * ''Azumanga Daioh: Vocal Collection'' collects the character image songs performed by the voice actors in the personas of the characters they played, and the opening and the closing theme songs. It was released on December 25, 2002 in Japan, Eight image song singles were released as ''Azumanga Daioh Characters Songs'' Volumes 1 through 8, which focused in order on Chiyo, Sakaki, Osaka, Tomo, Kagura, Yomi, Sensei, and Kaorin. Volumes 1 and 2 were released May 22, 2002, Volume 3 on June 26, 2002, Volumes 4 and 5 on July 27, 2002, Volume 6 and 7 on September 4, 2002, and Volume 8 on September 25, 2002. ''Azumanga Daioh Characters Songs'' Volumes 3 through 8 peak ranked 63rd, 80th, 79th, 70th, 75th, and 49th on the Oricon singles chart, respectively. ''Azumanga Daioh: Vocal Collection'' was released in the United States by Geneon on July 5, 2005. * Two tribute albums, ''Tribute to Azumanga Daioh'' and ''Tribute to Live Azumanga Daioh'', were released on October 2, 2002 and December 10, 2003. ''Tribute to Azumanga Daioh'' peak ranked 68th on the Oricon albums chart. ''Tribute to Live Azumanga Daioh'' is the live album of the concert held on October 4, 2003 at the public hall of

Toshima, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the eight central wards of the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Located in the northern area of Tokyo, Toshima is bordered by the wards of Nerima, Itabashi, and Kita in the north and Nakano, Shinjuku, a ...

Other media

Two

art book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects. Overview Artists' books have employed a ...

s for the anime were published under the titles () and () were published by MediaWorks on August 26, 2002 and December 10, 2002, respectively. Three ''Azumanga Daioh''

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s were released. ''Azumanga Donjyara Daioh'', a puzzle game similar to

mahjong Mahjong or mah-jongg (English pronunciation: ) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-play ...

, was released by

Bandai is a Japanese multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and Richmond ...

for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

on April 18, 2002. A crossover game with ''

Puzzle Bobble internationally known as ''Bust-a-Move'', is a 1994 tile-matching puzzle arcade game developed and published by Taito. It is based on the 1986 arcade game ''Bubble Bobble'', featuring characters and themes from that game. Its characteristically ...

'', called ''Azumanga Daioh Puzzle Bobble'', developed by Moss and published by

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. It b ...

, was released on December 13, 2002 for the

Sega NAOMI Sega is a video game developer, publisher, and hardware development company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with multiple offices around the world. The company's involvement in the arcade game industry began as a Japan-based distributor of coin-o ...

GD-ROM GD-ROM (an abbreviation of "Gigabyte Disc Read-Only Memory") is a proprietary optical disc format originally used for the Dreamcast video game console, as well as its arcade counterpart, the Sega NAOMI and select Triforce arcade board titles. It ...

arcade system only in Japan. ''Azumanga Daioh Advance'', a card-playing game, was released by King Records for the

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...

on April 25, 2003.

Reception

In Japan, the ''Azumanga Daioh'' manga was named a jury recommended work of the sixth

Japan Media Arts Festival The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by ...

in 2002. The manga was named as one of the top 25 manga at the 2006 Japan Media Arts Festival. English reviewers have commented positively about ''Azumanga Daioh''. In '' Manga: The Complete Guide'', Jason Thompson refers to it as a "charming comedy" and a "quiet master of the four-panel form", praising the series

comedic timing Comic timing emerges from a performer's joke delivery: they interact with an audience— intonation, rhythm, cadence, tempo, and pausing—to guide the audience's laughter, which then guides the comedic narrative. The pacing of the delivery of ...

and use of

running gags Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

. He felt one of the series' best points was its "character-driven writing", but does warn that its ''

moe Moe, MOE, MoE or m.o.e. may refer to: In arts and entertainment Characters * Moe Szyslak, from the animated television show ''The Simpsons'' * Moe, leader of The Three Stooges, played by Moe Howard * Moe Higurashi, supporting character in ''Yash ...

'' nature and the jokes that revolve around the "vaguely pedophilic teacher" might disturb some newer readers of manga. He later said that ''Azumanga Daioh'' was an "almost totally innocent" kind of ''moe'', centered around "peep ngat the chaste world of girls", in which "adorable girls do adorable things". The French manga dictionary ''Dicomanga'' noted that despite being a ''moe'' series targeted at ''

otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in ''Manga Burikko''. may be used as a pejorativ ...

'', it also appealed to female readers for celebrating "friendships between girls as well as tscomedy". Marc Hairston describes ''Azumanga Daioh'' as being "slightly disjointed", with "frequently oblique" and "culturally biased" humour, and says it is both "lighter" and "more wry" than ''

Maria-sama ga Miteru , often shortened to , is a Japanese light novel series written by with illustrations by Reine Hibiki. Originally written as a short story in 1997, Shueisha published 37 light novel volumes from April 1998 to April 2012. The story f ...

''. He describes the characters of ''Azumanga'' as being "individuals with slightly offbeat personalities". Mark Thomas, writing for Mania.com, says that each character has "a defining personality trait that is ramped up to abnormal levels" and that each has a

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

, which highlights these traits and prevents them from becoming too annoying or unbelievable as characters. Thomas said that the yonkoma format does not lend itself to "complex story arcs", and the story is presented as "quick snapshots of random moments in their daily routines", noting that the narrative is character-driven. Patrick King, writing for Anime Fringe, considered it to be "one of the funniest, most adorable manga series I've read". IGN noted the lack of background art, but said that the expressive faces of the characters made up for it. Fred Patton of ''Animation World Magazine'' described the anime as "delightfully witty and even an educational window onto what Japanese high school life is really like". Chris Beveridge of ''Anime on DVD'', stated that "There's a lot to laugh with here and a cast of characters that grow quickly on you as you start finding those you favor and those you don't." Andrew Shelton from Anime Meta explains that "The character of the girls is extremely well brought out. The superb observation, and ability to capture expression, makes the anime incredibly fun to watch in addition to meeting the story requirements. The action, and very rich comedy, are also wonderfully represented. There is just so much meaning, and charm, in even the most minor of expressions." The reviewers of

THEM Anime Reviews THEM Anime Reviews, otherwise known as THEM or T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews, is an Anime, anime Review, review website that writes about current and past anime in any form, including Original video animation, OVAs and Original net animation, ONAs. The ...

and

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...

felt that fans who had already graduated high school would feel nostalgic at times while watching ''Azumanga Daioh''. Lauren Bryant of Art Decko Magazine, noted that the series is "filled with silly gags and hijinks", having a "lighthearted humor", but said that the animation is "very minimalist" and that the show makes Kaori "overtly gay" as she has a crush on Sakaki. However, Bryant criticized the series for having a character, Mr. Kimura, who seems to be a

pedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...

, even as she called the series, on the whole "very wholesome and hilarious". The licensed manga had sales that reached top 100 lists on occasions and was included in the top 25 manga recommended by International Correspondence in ''Retailers Guide to Anime/Manga''. and The English dub for the show was well received, earning six ADR Awards from fans voting on AnimeonDVD.com and Dubreview.com. Four of the girls were included in ''

Newtype is a monthly magazine publication originating from Japan, covering anime (and to a lesser extent, tokusatsu, manga, Japanese science fiction, seiyuu, and video games). It was launched by publishing company Kadokawa Shoten on March 8, 1985, with i ...

''s top 100 anime heroines of 2002:

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

was awarded 7th, Chiyo 11th,

21st, and

Yomi is the Japanese word for the land of the dead (World of Darkness). According to Shinto mythology as related in ''Kojiki'', this is where the dead go in the afterlife. Once one has eaten at the hearth of Yomi it is (mostly) impossible to return ...

78th. Together, they made ''Azumanga Daioh'' the second most popular series of 2002 for female characters.

References

External links

* *
Kiyohiko Azuma's ''Azumanga Daioh'' website
*
Azumanga Daioh website
at

(Archive) * {{Authority control 1999 manga 2001 anime films 2002 Japanese television series endings 2002 anime television series debuts ADV Films ADV Manga ASCII Media Works manga Animated television series about teenagers 2000 anime ONAs Anime series based on manga Dengeki Comics Dengeki Daioh J.C.Staff Japanese animated films Japanese high school television series Madman Entertainment anime Manga adapted into television series School life in anime and manga Sentai Filmworks Shogakukan franchises Shōnen manga Slice of life anime and manga Surreal comedy anime and manga Television shows written by Ichirō Ōkouchi TV Tokyo original programming Yen Press titles Yonkoma