Azumanga Daioh

Azumanga Daioh (あずまんが大王, Azumanga Daiō ^?) is a manga written and illustrated by Kiyohiko Azuma, which was adapted as an anime in 2002. The manga consists of a series of yonkoma comics in Japan.

The anime was broadcast in five-minute segments every weekday, and as a twenty-five-minute compilation on weekends. Thus, there are one hundred and thirty five-minute episodes that can also be viewed as twenty-six twenty-five-minute episodes. There is also an ONA and a five-minute film.

Source of title

It does not have a literal meaning, nor does it intervene in the story of the series. It is made up of three words:

• Azuma (the name of the sleeve author, Kiyohiko Azuma),
• Manga
• Daiohwhich was the magazine in which it was originally published (Dengeki Daioh).

The full title would be: "Kiyohiko Azuma's Manga in Daioh" (Kiyohiko Azuma's manga in Daioh).

Plot

Both the manga and anime follow the daily lives of six female students and two teachers at a high school in Japan.

In this series we see Sakaki's obsession with the city's cats, child prodigy Chiyo's struggle to gain acceptance from a group much older than her, Yomi's patience with her less lucid better friend Tomo, the crazy ideas of "Osaka" and the extreme competitiveness of Yukari, her teacher, in situations such as summer vacations, fairs, tests and athletic festivals each school year. Although it is mainly based on daily life, this series contains absurd situations with touches of surrealism, such as when the characters' New Year dreams appear.

Characters

Chiyo Mihama (▪, Mihama Chiyo^?)

Seiyū: Tomoko Kaneda

A prodigy girl, at the beginning of the series shows that Chiyo jumped five degrees to reach the tenth (first year of preparatory) and remains the best of the class. Although he is extremely intelligent and responsible for his age (every morning his snack is prepared, or food and is responsible for waking up his parents in the mornings), he still has the innocence, desires and fears of a child. But despite everything, she gets along with her classmates, who are older than her. Besides being sweet, she's an extremely cute girl, and she's always the first to try to stop discussions between her friends. Besides, he's very generous. Their only weakness is that it is bad in sports; besides having 5 years less than their peers, it is small even considering their age, and their attempts in the sports field are both tragic and funny.

His parents are wealthy, but never appear in history (although the strange kind of yellow cat that appears in the series says to be his father in the dreams of Sakaki and Osaka).

When he first enters high school, Chiyo is 10 years old. Chiyo is the only character whose age is explicitly said and their birthday parties are an annual event celebrated by the girls. The girls she's best friends with are Osaka who's almost like a person of her age and Sakaki who sees her as a little sister. (While Sakaki covets the low stature and sweetness of Chiyo, Chiyo yearns for the height and imposing Sakaki) His coletas are often the object of Osaka's fantasies.

Tomo Takino (野の 野。, Takino Tomo^?)

Seiyū: Chieko Higuchi

Tomo is extremely energetic and competitive, though lazy at the same time. He tends to irritate everyone around him, especially Yomi, his partner from primary school. He's a leader of the Bunklers (ラード ラ ラ ラ ラ ラ ラ ラ ラ ラ ラ ラ 。 ラ ラ 。 ラ ラ 。 ラ ラ 。, Bonkurāzu^?, the fools of the class), along with Osaka and Kagura, although he is able in his studies if he tries. As it is known, Tomo was able to pass the exam to be admitted to the prestigious high school he attended when Yomi provoked her to study. The fact that he did it just to irritate Yomi says a lot about Tomo's personality. Moreover: it seems that Tomo spends most of his energy on irritating others. It is naughty in a playful way, though with some irresponsible evil, constantly mocking the rest of the girls; especially Chiyo, for being the smallest. Basically, Tomo expresses his affection for his friends through mockery.

Tomo is also an egocentric that always insists on competing with the other girls who stand out in some facet, losing and claiming silly excuses to see better than the result. Among other things, he challenged Sakaki to a race (which Sakaki wins easily) alleging that he did not lose but that he came second; he also hopes that they will choose her as a student who gives the farewell speech at the end of the course even if he always draws bad notes. On the sleeve, when Chiyo announces that he will fulfill 12 on his next birthday, Tomo says that she (autonomously) already has 17 as if it were an accomplishment. Her personality is very similar to that of her teacher Yukari Tanizaki.

Koyomi "Yomi" Mizuhara (", Mizuhara "Yomi" Koyomi^?)

Seiyū: Rie Tanaka

A friend of primary and antagonist of Tomo. Yomi behaves as the most mature and sometimes bitter of the group, its stability is often used as a humorous counterpoint of the clumsiness of the other characters. He's almost always looking at his weight, although his appearance is that of a girl in shape and healthy. She's also a horrible singer. It is both smart and sporty: its notes are only surpassed by those of Chiyo-chan and although it is not like Sakaki or Kagura in sport, it is worth it. She's a girl who always looks smart, though she could barely pass the exams to enter college. He was only able to do so in the third attempt, unfortunately with Osaka, Kagura and Tomo.

Sakaki ( , Sakaki^?)

Seiyū: Yuu Asakawa

High, sweet voice, Sakaki does not feel comfortable with her appearance as a strong girl or her voluptuous physicist. As a child, he was accompanied by being more developed and strong than the rest, convinced that he did not possess tender features, making this an obsession that leads him to seek this in other things. As he is very shy, he doesn't talk much, and his reluctance is misinterpreted as that of a strong or mysterious person. Among its goals are to be veterinary, florist or attend to a toy position, as well as having a pet, which has never been able to do since his mother is allergic to animals. After a dream she had with Chiyo, she tends to say that the "yellow cat" is really Chiyo's dad. Sakaki would rather caress a kitten than be mysterious. It's naturally athletic, although he's not too interested in sports. Instead, his passion is that of all the tender things (thing for which he smiles easily), especially teddy animals, Chiyo, Tadakichi and cats. Unfortunately, cats hate her for some unknown reason and it is normal for them to attack her without provocation; in particular, a grey cat known as Kamineko.

Ayumu Osaka Kasuga (日本語 简体字, Kasuga "Osaka" Ayumu^?)

Seiyū: Yuki Matsuoka

Ayumu is an exchange student from Osaka. I take, waiting for her to act as the stereotype of someone from Osaka — accelerating, shouting, exuberant and tasteful of jokes — quickly gives her the nickname of "Osaka", although the behavior of Ayumu differs a lot from someone in that city, since she is slow and reflective to the point of enjoying looking at the dust patterns in the air. Ayumu considers his nickname "too simple" and "no taste" but lacks energy or motivation to discuss it. His nickname is so good that he is immediately known as “Osaka” by his teachers and even on the student list. A while later, no one remembers his real name.

It's slow, little attentive, and absorts your own world. It has a mind that works with quite a difference to that of most people. This makes her dream awake, to be with the lost mind, and to say incoherence one after another, but also makes her unusually good to answer questions of parallel thought. It is very attached to Chiyo, since although intellectually they are very different, both are bad in Physical Education and both seem to confront the world with the same touch of child curiosity and astonishment (although Chiyo is usually managed by common sense and information, Osaka no).

Osaka is the most intelligent group of the "Bunklers" because of the 3 that make it she draws the best notes. One of his most precious fantasies is to be able to fly with the Chiyo-Chan wets. Unlike most of his companions, Osaka is always in a quiet and accessible mood. It's extremely rare to see her in a state of anger or losing control.

Kagura (cancer, Kagura^?)

Seiyū: Houko Kuwashima

The series appears once advanced, joining the Yukari class in the second year (Yukari chooses it as its "number 10" to win the athletic competencies of the school), was originally in the Nyamo class and was the rival of Sakaki at the sports festival. He dedicates most of his time to the swimming team, but he is a very good athlete in general. It has a sort of unilateral rivalry/amistad with Sakaki, and it is similar to Tomo to being pure energy and to having a lack of interest in the study, although it is less likely to have impulsive reactions. Unlike Tomo, Kagura has good intentions and is willing to help her friends. Like Sakaki, it is sometimes embarrassed when Tomo draws attention to his big breasts. She's the third and you could say the leader of the "Bunklers" group because she's the one who gets the worst grades. Although she wants to help her friends doesn't always make it. Despite all Kagura helps a lot and is very sensitive, because by making a serious mistake you can cry because you are convinced to be inept by nature, unlike Tomo you never care what you do.

Yukari Tanizaki (¢Ü ¢Ü ¢Ü, Tanizaki Yukari^?)

Seiyū: Akiko Hiramatsu

She is an English teacher and the tutor of the girls' course, a teacher with very unconventional methods and a close relationship with the class. Her students are informal enough to call her Yukari-sensei. Depending on the day, time and mood, it can be a tyrant of the worst or one of the sweetest and most affectionate. Her behavior ranges from annoying Chiyo without compassion and beating students with blunt objects, to gently and kindly speaking to students or writing simple and motivating notes to students' tests telling them she believes in them. He is often selfish, irresponsible, petty, and without any kind of plug he expects his friend and colleague, Minamo, not only to tolerate this, but also to do so. She gets jealous when Nyamo gets better birthday gifts from her students, and even gives her students hours of study to get rid of them and go to the school pool. She's also a video game fan.

Yukari's ability to drive is disastrous, without any concern for the street, people, other vehicles, cartels or speed limits. His irresponsible way of driving impacted so much in Chiyo's psyche that caused him a trauma and even caused Sakaki to lose his composure for an instant.

His name comes from the Japanese word ukkari, which means "no care."

Minamo "Nyamo" Kurosawa (¢Ü ¢Ü ¢Ü ¢Ü, Kurosawa "Nyamo" Minamo^?)

Seiyū: Aya Hisakawa

She's a gym teacher. In the first year of girls' high school, she's the tutor of class 5. For the last two years, she's the tutor of class 2. An old friend of Yukari’s high school and rival, have a young woman, though strange relationship between them; Yukari ruthlessly lives at the expense of Nyamo, but Nyamo also messes with her. “Nyamo” is a nickname coined in his days as a student, but Yukari calls her like this, and also does Tomo. The other students call it Kurosawa-sensei.

Popular with students, Nyamo is prettier, less annoying, and much more controlled than Yukari. His weakness is the past romantic relationships with which Yukari jokes. During one of the summer trips that the girls take together, Nyamo gets very drunk and tells the girls everything about the relationships between boys and girls, which makes Sakaki embarrassed and Chiyo confused, but that the other girls are impressed with their experience on the subject.

Accommodations

Manga

Made by Kiyohiko Azuma, originally published in Dengeki Daioh monthly magazine, mostly in Yonkoma style. The chapters are divided by month, starting with April of the first year (the first strip is titled "Yukari-sensei" (ゆかり先生, "Yukari-sensei"^?) ), and ending with his graduation. It consists of 4 volumes, published between 2000 and 2002. The following table shows the named tankobon:

Anime

Made by J.C.Staff studios and directed by Hiroshi Nishikiori, it premiered on April 8, 2002 on TV Tokyo, ending on September 30 of that same year. It was broadcast in five-minute segments every weekday, with a five-episode compilation running on weekends.

It has been licensed in several countries, including South Korea (Tooniverse), China (China Television), the United States (Anime Network), and the United Kingdom (Propeller TV).

A 4-minute ONA was produced, also in 2002 and by the same director of the anime. In this ONA, Chiyo brings a camera to school for a class project, but she's in big trouble when that camera falls into the hands of Tomo.

Prior to the series premiere, a small short was created, called "Azumanga Daioh" (Very short film) (あずまんが大王（劇場短編）, Azumanga Daiō (Gekijō Tanpen)^?), showing in Japanese theaters in 2001 to promote the future series. In this movie featuring the characters of Azumanga Daioh, Osaka has a strange dream where Chiyo's pigtails are possessed.

Episodes

Music Themes

Opening

• "Soramimi Cake" (Manifesto, Soramimi Kēki^?)

Interpreted by: Oranges & Lemons

Ending

• "Raspberry Heaven"

Interpreted by: Oranges & Lemons

Cultural references

Various traditions and stereotypes are shown in this series, especially from Japan.

• During the school trip, small conversations are held Uchinaguchi.
• The Nengajō (▪ delivery, 'Nengajō'^? postcards of new year) by Yukari to his students.
• Chiyo's rejection of his Otoshidama (, 'Otoshidama'^?).
• The hatsuyume (consuming, 'hatsuyume'^? first dream of the year) of the protagonists;
• Use of yukatas during a summer festival.
• School festivals (shown in three years).
• The Hatsumōde (consuming, 'Hatsumōde'^?)among others.