Ranked #54

Azumanga Daioh (Manga)

I'm surprised that there are no reviews written for Azumanga Daioh, although there are many for the anime.

Story

I adore slice-of-life manga, which would be the genre that suits Azumanga Daioh best. It's plot is nothing heavy, certainly nothing dramatic or romantic, and sometimes it doesn't even make sense. Yet it's amazing. The humor is random and strange at times, but that makes it all the more funny.

Art

Although I can't say I like the art as much in the first volume, the art in Azumanga Daioh is rendered well in most of it. Since it mostly consists of four-panel strips, the art is not detailed, but simple. Kiyohiko does a better job with the art in Yotsuba&!, even though the art in Azumanga Daioh is also pretty well done. Azuma obviously improves throughout the series, and cause the artwork to be a bit inconsistent (as you'll notice with Chiyo-chan's pigtails!).

Characters

The characters, I'd have to say, are the strong point. Tomo is the wacky and annoying hyper-energetic girl, there's Yomi, who is level-headed and even a bit of a cynic, there's Osaka, who is the spacy girl with logic no one understands, there is Sakaki, painfully shy with a seemingly hidden love for cute things, there's Kagura, athletic and blunt, and finally, there is Chiyo-chan, an adorable naive 10-year-old genius.

Then there are the teachers as well, the irresponsible Yukari, the reliable Miss Kurosawa (aka Nyamo) and the perverted Mr. Kimura. Each character has interesting personality traits that make them unique.

Azumanga Daioh is one of my favorite manga, I own all four volumes, and would greatly advise anyone to pick it up and give it a try. read more

I'm not an anime or manga buff. I don't know everything. I may or may not have good taste. I'm just a person who enjoys anime and manga. However, I hope this review helps anyone with deciding whether to read it or not.

PLUSES:
I have the Azumanga Daioh Omnibus and I have read the whole thing. I love Azumanga Daioh. It never fails to cheer me up. I love the antics of everyone in the group. I laughed at the crazy things they did. My stomach would hurt from the hilarious moments I shared with my brother reading this. I cried when it was done. No really, I cried. I really like Azuma's style of humor. The art was very basic and clean, which suited well.

This manga was one of the things that helped me get through my grandfather's death. Nothing like reading AD to cheer you up on the car trips to and from the cemetery and funeral home.

MINUSES:
I wish that it was longer or had a sequel. Or maybe not, because in my opinion, some things are better left to the imagination. The story... well, there's no story really. And the style of humor is definitely not for everyone. It is sort of a random, lol-ish, absurdity type of humor.

I would recommend this manga to anyone who needs a laugh and some cheering up. Nothing fancy, drawn-out, philosophical, or deep. It's just plain fun to read. read more