+Series Overview+
Clockwise from top left:
Osaka, Chiyo, Mr. Tadakichi, Tomo, Sakaki (with Maya), Kagura, Yomi.
Azumanga Daioh is a four-panel comic manga turned anime created by Kiyohiko Azuma. The focus of the series is on a handful of Tokyo high-school students, their teachers, and a few assorted animals. There is no storyline to speak of; the anime follows the lives of the characters throughout high school. A twenty-six episode anime series with no plot? It works so well that it makes you wonder. Quirky humor, puns, an incredible sense of timing, and cuteness both thriving and being thwacked and poked fun at make for a very entertaining time.
Much of the genius of Azumanga Daioh is in the characters and the way they interact. Chiyo-chan is a ten year old prodigy who skips all the way to high school. She joins up and interacts with the rest of the class. There's Sakaki, a tall, quiet, "cool" girl with a hidden fondness for all things cute. There's Tomo, a hyper, extroverted girl who strives to be the center of attention at all times. There's Yomi, a relatively normal girl with a cynical edge and a perceived weight problem. There's Osaka, another transfer student with a mind that seems to run on a different level than everyone else's. Kagura, an athetlic, competitive tomboy, and Kaorin, a girl with an unhealthy adoration for Sakaki, round out the main cast of students. Throw in the just-as-quirky teachers--Yukari, a self-obsessed, manic loudmouth with a violent streak, Nyamo, a kind teacher who's been friends with Yukari since school (and therefore has lots of issues), and Kimura, a strange man with a special interest in high school girls that he's none too shy about expressing--and you've got one heck of a lot going on. Who needs plot?
Maybe possibly coming soon to this location: an episode guide, a manga guide, and whatever else works.