User Reviews

See, there can be a situation comedy basically about nothing but doesn't harp on dating relationships and sex! It's so uproariously funny in many places I got both the manga and the 5 DVD anime.

No one save the lecherous Kimura has a significant other. There's too many American TV shows depicting singles whether there be teen or adult as being perpetually seeking love. In the course of this too short series none of the girl students date. There's only one episode in this series that deals with teachers dating--These characters present us with other concerns to laugh about--Pet Obsessions, hero worship, who is the smarter teacher, petty jealousy, catching a cold, etc. "Daioh" stands out even among it's anime fellow no magical quests, no titanic battles of universal good versus universal evil. The only universal elements is the day to day progress of life and for those who can find humor it's in the characters' a tickling the funny bone.

When you look at the outside cover of the box set of DVDs, you might think this would be one of the most girliest and corniest anime series out on the block. But don't let appearances deceive you, because this was a special show for me to remember, because it was hilarious and cute at the same time.

A friend of mine let me borrow this series two weeks ago, mentioning that despite the fact its a series about Japanese school girls (we're both guys), its for a fact not about girlishness or fan service; the series is just a comedy and its harmless fun. The show's formula turns out to be just that: its a series of episodes about the goofy adventures of a set of school girls trying to get through high school, dealing with interesting (and somewhat crazy) teachers, hard exams, hangouts, summer and winter breaks, and school events.

The collection of personalities is what makes this series special: from the cute yet brilliant Chiyo, next the eccentric and crazy Tomo, then you have the hopeless air-head Osaka, to the shy yet sensitive Sakaki-san, this is a show that lets you have fun in following not just their zany adventures, but their interesting personalities and their character development. Since the show is not really story driven because its intended to be a day by day life progression, the beauty of the anime is the character development. Each girl has their own unique personality to behold while they have a set of goals that lay before them, and each personal adventure you watch them go through unfolds their character before you. Its brilliant.

The humor is hilarious and subtle at the same time, so there's something for everyone, and another aspect of the show worth savoring is the wonderful cultural education you receive about Japan. I've learned a little more about Japanese school life thanks to this series, and Japanese life in general, from language nuances to cultural mores, to traditions.

Overall, this is a fun anime for those who are not seeking something serious or story driven, just fun, and at times, mindless entertainment that also makes you cheer for these young ones as they go through high school. My only gripe would be that sometimes there are some instances where the episode is a little weird and inexplicable, but as a whole, this is one of the most interesting and neat animes I have seen in a long time. Trust me, you'll get hooked after the first episode.

I saw a trailer for Azumanga daioh and thought it was going to be childish nonsense. Admitedly the trailer only showed a modified version of the show's introduction sequence, rather than real footage from the show. Shame on the makers of the trailer, I say! Then I watched an episode of the show and was instantly hooked. This is probably one of the best comedy animes I've seen so far. While shows like Abenobashi or Excel Saga are funny in a zany way, Azumanga is funny in a more realistic way. As other reviewers have noted, there is no plot as such - it's more like a sitcom.

The characters seem very likable and all have their own characteristics. Some of the teachers also feature, and I think this gives the show an interesting perspective as you see that they just as quirky as the kids. (OK, perhaps MORE quirky than some of the kids).

One of the reasons this show has hooked me is that it is consistently funny. Some other shows I've seen have had a few episodes that were hilarious and a few that barely raised a smile. I think every episode of Azumanga has had me laughing out loud.

If you haven't seen this show because the trailer put you off, don't panic! Yes, there's a certain amount of cuteness (especially Chiyo), but the show is a lot of fun. But the Muppets demonstrated that cuteness doesn't mean it's only for kids.

Azumanga may not be suitable for young children because of some cuss words and slightly teenage/adult content (although children see that on TV before the watershed these days). Teenagers aren't likely to be too worried by any of that though.

This 37-year-old male gives Azumanga daioh 5 stars out of 5!

I could not possibly have the power of words to describe the levels of cute this precious series soars to. I've watched the entire series in fansubs, and when I see it, I smile, and smile, and smile.

Azumanga Daioh covers the lives of six (or seven, if you count Kaorin) girls and three of their teachers as they make their way through high school in modern Japan. Originally adapted from a four-panel comic strip, the series runs for 26 episodes and spans the entire three years for the students.

Possibly made from the sweetest mix of Pixie Stix sugar, the series was made to be kawaii-cute, and it knows it, but it never quite divulges in it (well, the Chiyo-chan penguin skit maybe), rather taking it as just another fact of the series and building deep characters around its premise. There's Chiyo, a privileged girl who entered high school at ten years old and is therefore insanely small comparitively, but is the cutest character from the series. There's Osaka, who is not really named Osaka but came *from* Osaka, and so was named that way; she's a little slow, but charming nonetheless. There's Sakaki, the tall, reticent girl who is fantastic at sports but wants nothing else than to be surrounded by fuzzy kittens all day (but has horrible luck with a homicidal cat), Kaorin, the girl who has an enormous crush on Sakaki but is instead stalked by the creepy Kimura-sensei, the classics teacher with roaming eyes and a continuously slacked jaw, and Kagura, the insanely competitive rival-but-friend of Sakaki and perhaps the most outspokenly athletic one of the group. There's Yomi, sensible and calm but self-conscious about her weight, and Tomo, the overambitious girl who has gone to school with Yomi all her life. And then there are Yukari-sensei and Minami-sensei, the two old schoolmates-turned teachers who lead (or sometimes just provoke) the group.

The episodes mainly just delight in exploring the characters' personalities and seeing what happens. It's very Seinfeld-esque in the way that the show never quite focuses on one theme or storyline as its central plot device; rather, we just catch snippets of the years and watch the girls grow up. I was very sad that there were only 26 episodes... I even found myself getting a little teary-eyed near the end of the last episode. I wish there were more shows like this.

Azumanga Daioh (Hiroshi NISHIKIORI, 2002) (based on Kiyohiko AZUMA's comic strip of the same name)

Take the fundamental sweetness of the best of the "Peanuts" TV specials, mix it with the whacked out humor of "Calvin and Hobbes", add in some stylistic homages to Isao Takahata's films (the memory scenes of "Only Yesterday" and his neglected 1999 masterpiece "Our Neighbors the Yamadas") -- and you have anything but a routine anime series. (It also reminds me a bit of the quirky short-lived TV series "Square Pegs" from many years ago). The show follows the lives of seven girls (including one 10 year old genius who skipped middle school) and three teachers (two highly dysfunctional, one _mostly_ sane) through all three years of high school (that's how the system works in Japan). This is mostly side-splittingly funny, though it managed to evoke a few furtive tears before it ended. The characters are everything in this virtually plotless traversal of three years of school (and vacations). Although this series runs for 26 episodes, it ends all too quickly -- I was far from weary of the charming and loveable characters portrayed here. (The best term to describve the show is, of course, Japanese -- "kawai" which means not only ultra-cute but very loveable). This show was immensely popular in Japan, and has recently been licensed for release in the USA (thank you ADV).

I usually try to avoid hyperbole - I've studied enough English to know how overdone it can be. And in this case I will avoid hyperbole as well. I can quite honestly say that Azumanga Daioh is the best anime I've ever seen, and probably the best show.

Scratch that, actually. The number of *things* of any form which can match Azumanga can be counted on the fingers of both hands.

In every single episode, I found myself laughing out loud, going "Awwww, sooo cute!", and smiling with just... happiness. This is an idiosyncratic show, but also an incredibly poignant and touching one. I can think of nothing else which touches me so deeply that it makes me cry a tenth as often as And does. In that sense, it is the best feel-good panacea I have ever come across, or heard of. It's possible I am forgetting a Norse myth which spoke of something better, but I doubt it.

The show is also, of course, incredibly funny. Whilst there is the occasional joke lost in translation, or which benefits from a little knowledge of Japanese culture, the vast majority of the humor is accessible to anybody who cares to watch it. It has more classic lines than anything except perhaps Monty Python.

Put simply, this show has everything necessary to be a classic. It is for Azumanga Daioh that anime and television and efficient, modern distribution methods exist. If you have any soul, any joy in your body, I cannot recommend this enough. Import it, track it down in stores, do whatever you can to get a hold of it. Well, anything except theft. Everyone involved with the creation of this masterpiece deserves every penny they are paid, and several edifices to their greatness besides.

My teen watches, breaths and lives Anime and Manga. And after hearing about Japanese animation NON-STOP for some time, I thought I'd give it a whirl several years back. As a kid, Japanese animation was synonymous with lousy production values and dull plots. Often this was not the fault of the original production company, but due to American companies cutting the shows to pieces and splicing it all back together in an awful and confusing mess. SPEED RACER is the best example of this. So, despite my predisposition to hate it, I did agree to try some Anime once again.

Some Anime, not matter how much I try, I cannot and never will enjoy--particularly ones featuring exploding giant robots ("mecha" anime)--I'm just not particularly interested in this style. And some I have enjoyed mildly (such as DEATH NOTE), but of all the anime I have tried, by far my favorite is AZUMANGA DAIO. Regardless of where it was made, it is just wonderful entertainment. What I particularly like is that unlike so much of the super-fanciful anime, this is about a bunch of high school girls--and most of their adventures are very mundane--no explosions, no Pokemon battles and no life or death struggles. It's so good because the characters are all so well made and endearing--you really come to love them. Unlike many other Animes I have watched, the girls on the show seem almost like real people (except 'Osaka'--who is just plain weird!). This really surprised me--I thought Anime was pretty boring up until I watched this series! I am a high school teacher and apparently this series is pretty popular among my students as well. For teens and adults not 100% "gung-ho" about anime, this is an excellent series that will surely entertain. If you don't enjoy it, then there really is no hope for you coming to appreciate Anime.

I absolutely adore Azumanga Daioh. The plot line is very simple, yet every episode is a joy to watch. The plot is basically following the everyday life of six (sometimes seven) high-school students. The one thing that stood out to me in this show, is that the characters are deep, and well developed. It feels like you know them in real life. Every character is charming and unique. It is a shame that there was only 26 episodes. Another thing I liked, is that after the last episode, I didn't find it painful to watch the series over again. I'm not that crazy about Anime, but that doesn't matter. I think that you should definitely check out this series. It's something quite memorable.

this is definitely for me, for a long time, I've dwelled in complex & masterpiece anime like Bebop, Ghibi productions, Kenshin OAV, Jin Roh, Grave of Fireflies, Metropolis etc until at some point I realize these shows are "not entertaining" anymore since they make me think, they make me relate so deep into the characters, got emotionally drained even depressed.

Not in the case of azumanga daioh...

For me this show is just great, fun, gorgeous, sweet, cute, you name it. It even brings back some highschool memories, there isn't asingle episode where I can watch and not having a HUGE smile, and another smile, and another smile, and.... It sure is hard to pick any favourite character since they all make the show, but I'll go with Sakaki (the cool one with a soft spot), and the "impossible" bond setting with Kaorin is particularly sweet & hillarious heh heh

Recommended for those who want a change of atmosphere into a cute, funny, lighthearted show

I love anime. I love comedy. I love cute little girls in high schools (Which is cliché and overused). Azumanga was one of the best high school comedy anime I have ever watched in my life!! The first minute into the first episode of the anime, I was already laughing like crazy!! Who would expect Yukari, a teacher, to (kind of) steal a bike from a student?? That first scene was just hilarious!!!! And then, I was officially hooked. The proceeding scenes were never dull and it got my stomach hurting and tears bursting out with laughter. It was late at night when I watched it on the internet, so my parents were quite annoyed, but maybe that's because I was yelling at the computer screen to "Stop!! You're killing me!!!".

You have six (seven if you count Sakaki's fan, Kaorin) main characters, quite a lot of names to remember... They're Chiyo, Sakaki, Kagura, Osaka, Tomo, and Yomi. But their appearances are quite different from each other, and they're usually individually featured in scenes, and their personalities are quite memorable, so you wouldn't have any problems ^^ With the cast introduced, let me delve into the storyline. There is virtually no storyline and it almost felt as if each episode was done on the spot by its producers without any planning. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, it was still crazily funny!!!!!! Who cares about storyline when you're making a sitcom?!!!! Just watch this anime, you wouldn't regret it, I promise you the best moments of laughing from watching this unless you're a person without a sense of humor!!!

This is just Pure genius! Even though I have all the manga of this series, and do not know much about the anime, it is completely perfect. The stories, the art, and the characters! (I <3 Chiyo!!!) If you are looking for a good somehow kid show, you should DEFINITELY watch Azumanga Daioh! <3

Imagine David Lynch writing a high-school coming-of-age series, equal parts 'Peanuts' and 'Achewood.'

Utterly charming and able to break down the resistance of even hardened anime-haters. I went from complete unfamiliarity with the series, to rocketing through the collection of the manga, to devouring the anime within a month. The addiction then spread to my (anime-apathetic) girlfriend; now we even own original production art from the series and a custom-made "Dad hat."

It's my third viewing through the series and my first time watching it in English. The voice acting's pretty good, although it's taking a bit to get used to Osaka's gentle Southern (US) accent. The show's innocent enough to appeal to all ages in almost all demographics. There are some scenes that are a bit frank - the teacher characters are shown to be quite flawed and human - but only Mr. Kimura, a pervy teacher, is likely to raise any objections.

The only reason I didn't rate this a full 10 is because the animation, while clever and expressive, is not quite of the highest quality, and the voice acting and translation in the English dub aren't of the high quality exhibited by the Studio Ghibli feature film imports. Then again, should a limited-run broadcast series set in a high school and not initially meant for export be expected to live up to such standards?

When I started watching anime I mostly only saw what was on Toonami or late night Adult Swim (which might tell you how old I am). But I learned that I could watch anime online and so I watched my first series that I found on my own... and it was School Days.

It didn't get better because I watched Green Green and the incredibly boring Tokimeki Love Memorial. I probably should have given up on anime, but I then watched Azumanga Daioh which had just come to the US at the time (again, says how old I am).

Azumanga Daioh was the first series I ever went out and bought. I still own the DVD box set. It's a slice of life genre (which also became a pet favorite of my) which means there is no real plot, just a group of girls going about their normal school lives. The only weird thing is Chiyo, a ten year old super genius who gets to go to high school (which is not actually allowed in Japan school system). We follow Chiyo, Tomo, Sakaki, Osaka, Yomi, Kagura, their teachers Yukari and Nyamo, and a few others throughout their three years in high school (Japan has three years of middle school and three of high school).

I think what made this work for me was that I felt like I knew these people like the ADHD Tomo, the tomboyish Kagura, the spacey Osaka, and Yomi is basically me. And at ending (which is obviously their graduation) almost made me cry because it was like I was watching close friends eventually have to go their separate ways.

This is a series I love to death and it makes me sad that it's starting to fade from the memories of otaku today. Even worse it was licensed by ADV who went bankrupt so DVDs are out of print. But if you can watch it, do it because it will brighten your day.

Azumanga daioh is a lovely little show with alot of Charm and Charakter the Humor is consistent and Fun and nothing gets to anoying. The music in this Show is also very memeroable and fits really Well.

If i had to citisize anything i would say that the only Male teacher is really anoying the Paicing can be all over the place and that Kaorin is really underused. But Overall its an enjoyable Show.

One Thing tho If you hate the over the top Humor and Animationen Form the early 2000 you will not enjoy this.

Without a single life-altering event, nothing supernatural, nor any science fiction or fantasy elements, and indeed not even a plot, this series of light-hearted, standalone slice-of-life shorts allows you to get to know these characters through memorable five-minute moments over the course of three school years as they naturally become friends.

It's this emulation of the way you actually get to know people as much as the depiction of realistic moments that make you feel a genuine sadness and realize the emotional connection you've developed to these characters when they break the forth wall and say goodbye at the end.

From beginning to end, this animé series is nothing short of charming. Rarely have I given any show a ten out of ten but Azumanga Daioh deserves it unreservedly.

If you can find it, I recommend the original three-volume six-disc DVD release which include a small booklet with each volume that explain certain puns and cultural items to non-Japanese viewers.

Now, this is what I've been waiting for! An anime series without spells, heartless villains and destroyed world. Not that I don't like these either but it was about time to watch a simple, beautiful and amazingly funny story like Azumanga Daioh. There is no plot in this show, instead we get to see the everyday life of six girls with different characters throughout their three high-school years. Sounds boring but believe me, it's not. It's so funny, it's so weird and surreal at times, it's possibly the funniest thing I've ever seen. The voice cast fits perfectly (I prefer the Japanese voices, they are so much cuter!) and it has one of the greatest music scores I 've heard. Really, the music is so unique and distinctive, cheerful harmonicas and flutes, setting a great mood. it's also very touching and sweet at certain episodes. From all the characters I would say Osaka is the best, she will make you laugh hard with her weird personality.

I really hope more anime series like this will come in the near future.

definitely 10/10

It is difficult to fault this anime, I've watched it all the way though several times and it never ceases to make me laugh. Unlike most comedies it isn't full of jokes the laughs are derived from the interaction of the various characters.

There is little plot as such it just shows a group of girls going through high school and various events that happen along the way such as sports days, cultural festivals and Summer breaks by the sea.

Each character is distinctive and fun, apart from the girls there are only three characters that are important enough for us to be told the names of, these are the English and gym teachers and the only male character of note the somewhat perverted classics teacher.

I'm one of the people who decided to watch this after the viral meme "ohmygahh" And trust this is much more hillarious than it seems i love the show, so glad I looked it up. And osuka is so silly aah she's got ADHD or sum so shii gets relatable at times. All the schoolgirls are also hillarious a wide dynamic range of characters in the that will make you laugh till your stomach hurts. You'll never not be laughing watching show. Can't believe it was released in 2002, apart from the classic TV ratio the anime still has good quality animation. The old animes are always the best. Wish I had more of this show.

This is one anime that would have you laughing and cheer you up after a hard, depressing day with lovable characters, funny dialogue, and so much you can get out of something that you normally don't expect.

As in the title, this show in itself was a heavy factor in making an IMDB.

Going into this show I was a HUGE hater of all things anime, especially things that look like they were made with the intent purpose of baiting sales from weird horny dudes in their 20s.

I was not expecting much from a show about high school women, but when I gave it a chance... When I tell you this is one of the most funniest shows that I have ever had the pleasure of watching, with a beautifully crafted atmosphere. Its funny, but everything feels grounded enough to feel real and like it has a good purpose being there. Not only was it a pioneer of its own type of "anime school" type genre, but it has 100% stood the test of time in terms of watchability, and nothing feels dated (besides from certain clichés but to be fair its because this show did them first so you really cannot hold that against it).

The team took the manga series that this show was based on, and not only did it increase the amount of content, but it expanded apon the jokes and scenes without making anything feel too drawn out.

Its not like this show doesn't have any substance either, you get to watch this party of 6 (8 if you count the teachers) slowly bond closer with each other, and growing (metaphorically and literally) along the way.

I mean it when I say that this is a must watch for anybody looking for a good laugh with a side of heartfelt moments, this is truly an exceptional piece of work.