Azumanga Daioh: An Introduction
Azumanga Daioh is originally a manga series by Kiyohiko Azuma. The manga is written in a series of 4-panel gag strips, much in the same style as traditional American newspaper funnies.
Azumanga Daioh was also turned into an anime television series, broadcast on TV Tokyo from April 8th, 2002 to September 30th, 2002. The anime series was originally a series of 130 5-minute episodes, aired each day of the working week. At the end of each week, five short episodes were compiled together into a 25-minute "true" episode, aired again on the weekend. Overall, the entire series consists of 26 "true" episodes, composed in turn of 130 short episodes.
Both the anime and manga could be described as "slice-of-life bishoujo stories," which have been increasingly popular in Japan over the past couple years. Bishoujo stories center around a cast of female heroines, and focus a lot on each character's emotions and inner psyche, and could easily be mistaken for chick lit (or shoujo, rather), save for the fact that these stories are written for and marketed toward a primarily male audience. "Slice-of-life" anime and manga, of which Azumanga Daioh is a perfect exemplar, are literally that: a glimpse into the everyday life of a normal person. Azumanga Daioh, however, breaks up the monotony of the lives that it portrays by frequently interjecting dream sequences, fantasies, slapstick humor, and other random bizarreness into the narrative flow of each episode.
So, what's this series all about? Nothing much, and therein lies its appeal. The anime and manga basically follow a group of female friends through their three years of high school. There are no melodramatic plot twists, no real romances, no villains, and there's very little dramatic tension. There is plenty of focus on humor and character development, but not much else. The most exciting thing to happen in an entire episode might be Sakaki getting bitten by a cat.
Other things you should know? Okay, the Azumanga Daioh anime and manga have both been licensed by ADV Films. Yes, the Azumanga Daioh manga was the first title that ADV released under their ADV Manga line. You can also buy imported Azumanga Daioh DVDs, manga, artbooks, and CD soundtracks from just about any import dealer, like Sasuga Books.
