Azumanga Daioh [Azuma Kiyohiko]

Keywords:

High school, comedy

Warnings:

None

Volumes:

4

Publisher:

Dengeki Comics (Mediaworks)

ISBNs:

Volume 1: 4-8402-1467-0

Volume 2: 4-8402-1691-6

Volume 3: 4-8402-1943-5

Volume 4: 4-8402-2128-6

Note: This series is licensed for US release by ADV Manga.

Overview:

Remember those good ol' days in high school? Well, it's time to relive some of the zaniness and laughter in Azumanga Daioh. What happens when you mix a ten-year old genius, a spaced-out Osakan, a silent athletic girl who has a sweet spot for anything fuzzy or cute, a girl perpetually on a diet, and a girl who just can't shut up into one class is anyone's guess. The comic style mostly is "4-Koma" or 4 vertically-placed panels, with occasional manga-style sections, so the pacing is much different from a typical manga story. With a lot of reliance on visual jokes, cultural puns, and a clean and crisp art style, there's probably something for everyone in this series, except a deep and meaningful plot. All you have to do is follow the lives of a number of high school girls (and their equally strange teachers) from their first day of class until graduation.

Personal View:

When Kero first showed me a few scans from this series, I was instantly hooked, and went out to find my own copies. It's one of my favorite comedy series because it's so simple. There's no hidden agendas, nothing deeper than the daily lives of some (not-so) ordinary girls. Makes you remember your own high-school days, doesn't it? It soon was adapted into a popular anime series, which was also great fun, and did a good job of transferring the 4-koma style into a flowing story, with each 30 minute episode broken down into 5 'mini' episodes. I remember at Anime Expo 2002, picking up volume 4 and gushing over Maya. By far, Maya's my favorite. But everyone has their lovable points, even if that point is that you want to smack the character around a few times.

Acquired from:

Asahiya (Little Tokyo), Mandarake (Torrance)

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