NoaIzumiAnime Review: Azumanga Daioh
February 27th 2009 12:49
Get your recommended daily allotment of cuteness with the girls of Azumanga Daioh! The series follows a very diverse cast of characters through their years in high school. There’s the uber-cute (and uber-smart) Chiyo, athletic Kagura, hyper-energetic Tomo, her long-suffering best friend Yomi, the spacey Osaka, and the quiet Sakaki with her secret passion for all things cute and fuzzy.
Azumanga Daioh is another high school comedy, but it’s rather unusual, since there’s no overall plot. There’s no romance where the boy and girl meet in the beginning and fall in love by the end. There’s no alien invasion, the school isn’t divided into factions that fight each other for control, the girls don’t have super powers and they don’t spend their nights fighting crime. It’s just high school, and the six girls that become friends over three years of it.
The bedrock of a good anime is its characters, and this is AD’s strength as well. Some of them are sweet, some of them are annoying (but sweet in their own way), but no matter who you are, you will be able to say, “I knew this girl in school,” or more likely, “I was this girl in school.” Every fan will find someone they can identify with, which is one reason the anime was so popular.
Yay! It's ready!
But it’s not all about the cute and fuzzy. In spite of her age, Chiyo, in a lot of ways, is the most mature of the group, and the series generally centers around her. She and the others have their trials and tribulations, their joys and disappointments (but no big disappointments; it is a comedy after all). It also shows fairly typical high school life in Japan. And there’s the sports festival every school year, and the cultural festival, and the traditional senior school trip. And of course, there’s a whole story arc at the end when they prepare for and take their college entrance exams.
I'm sure the store will still have copies. Slow down!
The lack of an over-riding plot may put off some people, and there are scenes that feel drawn out, like the filmmakers needed to fill up time. This makes the story feel less like a journey and more like a meandering drive through the country. Male watchers might be leery of the series, because all the main characters are high school girls or female teachers. But no matter where you’re coming from, Azumanga Daioh is diverse enough in characters and storylines that it will have something for almost anyone.
It’s available on DVD, and there are two versions. It was released as individual units, and then ADV came out with the whole series in a thinpak box set. The thinpak is cheaper as a whole, but is missing many of the extras and liner notes that came with the individual releases.
What do you mean, the thinpak set doesn't have any extras?
Great moments: Sakaki meets Maya, the “Ero-Ero” talk, Yukari’s driving.
Extras: Individual discs: Clean opening and closing, trailers, production sketches, Azumanga Daioh mini-movie, liner notes with staff comments and character art, two too cute pins in volumes 3 and 6; highly recommended. Thinpack box set: Trailers only.
Summary: Very character-driven anime, cute and fun. Grade: A
Age rating: 13 and up. Some fan service.
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