あずまんが大王 THE ANIMATION (Azumanga Daioh: The Animation)
The daily life of a high school student cannot get any better than being one in Tanizaki Yukari's class: not only she can teach, but she may has yet to move on from her time in high school. There is Mihama Chiyo, the 10-year genius with 200% cuteness packed together. Then there is the slow and absent-minded Kasuga Ayumu, whose name is now just "Osaka". There is Sakaki, the coolest tall girl in the class, who has a soft spot when it comes to "neko". There is the loud-mouth, hyperactive Takino Tomo, always ready to stir up troubles. Then there is Tomo's longtime friend Mizuhara "Yomi" Koyomi, who has issues when it comes to her weight (ahem...). Throws in Kurosawa "Nyamo" Minamo, the "the teacher next class is always better than ours" teacher (yes, we really mean it!), Kagura, the "baka" who is good at sports, Kaorin, who has a secret crush on Sakaki, and of course, it is never complete without a "student swimsuit-loving" teacher in Kimura... It will be fun for everyone for the next 3 years...
あずまんが大王, created by Azuma Kiyohiko, is originally a manga serialized in Dengeki Daioh, hence the title of the manga (Azuma Kiyohiko's manga in Dengeki Daioh...). Each story in the manga is done in a short 4-panel format, with one to 2 stories done in the regular, multi-panel format from time to time. The TV series adaptation was released in 2002.
Links:
Azumanga.tv (Japanese)
ADV site
J.C. Staff (Japanese)
Azuma's Official Site on Mediaworks (Japanese)
At first I had second thoughts on picking up this title, but I am glad that I did. I had so much fun with it I cannot get enough! The jokes are so good it is refreshing, and the characters are just well defined to make it all work.
Highly recommended to all ages and genders!!
Note: There is a short preview movie (劇場短編, 5 minutes) released to promote the TV series back in Dec. 2001, it was included in DVD volume 6 as released by ADV (not with the thinpak boxset though...). Also, there is a online release of 1 episode, known as あずまんが WEB 大王. However, the CV for this 1-shot release are totally different from the original cast for the TV series, and I do not have it nor I have watched it...
Dino's Rating: 10
Will Girls Like It: GO FOR IT!!!
あずまんが大王 (2000 - 2002)
4 volume manga
If you watched the TV already, you will know how the manga goes, and vice versa. The four-panel style does make it enjoyable most of the time... there were a few misses, but lots of head on hits make this series a good read! Just don't look for high quality drawings...
Dino's Rating: 6
Will Girls Like It: Possible