| Since there was a topic like this on the Lucky Star board, I thought I'd make one for the Azumanga Daioh board as well. I have to admit, this is is one of the exceedingly rare times where I find myself disliking something that's popular... Usually, it's the other way around. (^.^;) (The following is a slightly modified version of the conversation I had with a Azumanga Daioh fan on ANN.) To begin, I'm actually quite surprised that this show is as popular as it is in the West, when other Slice-of-life shows have failed to make that big of an impact. What is it about Azumanga Daioh that has made it so beloved? I'm a huge, huge, huge fan of Slice-of-life/Comdey shows. However, Azumanga Daioh just never sat well with me. I just don't get it at all. Of course, it's completely subjective, so please don't let me take away from your enjoyment of the show. Likewise, I hope you'll hear me out till the end. (>.<) To me, the show seems very confused. Unlike Nichijou, that's completely absurd, or K-On!, that's grounded in reality, Azumanga Daioh seems to be caught in the middle in terms of both comedy and characters. Maybe that's the point, but personally, it does lead to a rather disjointed experience. Firstly, the characters are odd. However, the characters in the show are too odd for a relaxing Slice-of-life to be relatable and not odd enough for an over-the-top comedy to be genuinely funny. With regard to the immature/perverted teacher characters, in a real-world setting, there is absolutely no way that any of their actions would be tolerated. From a comedic standpoint, there is barely a punchline to their shenanigans to validate their behavior. Mitsudomoe or even YuruYuri has weird characters and the shows revel in that fact. The characters are always placed in bizarre scenarios that result in an over-the-top punchline that gives viewers the necessary catharsis and reminds them that crazy stuff is allowed in that world. Azumanga Daioh's comedy is too slow-paced for payoffs that are just not worth the buildup, anticlimactic or completely predictable. Like the chomping cat joke, some scenes just drag on and on for no determinable reason without any punchline. Where is the expert comedic timing that people have been raving about? Not to mention, there are also a ton of throw-away scenes or sudden cutaways, like dream sequences or Chiyo's cooking that just take us out of the current scene and don't seem to serve any purpose. For other Slice-of-life comedies like Ichigo Mashimaro, every single second is used effectively for something, whether it is for characterization, emotional investment or the buildup of a joke. With reference to the joke of Osaka trying to predict her luck by tossing her shoe in the sky and it landing on a truck, there's a joke with the exact same set-up in Nichijou. Except, instead of just ending with the shoe disappearing, Yukko chases the car down. In another twist, instead of succeeding, she loses her second shoe along the way, having it taken by a dog in the opposite direction, leaving her worse off than she was before. To make things worse, this took up a ton of her recess time, which leads into the next joke. There's consequence. Nichijou takes the joke so much further than Azumanga Daioh where the viewer is constantly left asking... "Okay, now what?". They never make reference to the incident again. In fact, that "Okay, now what?" can be applied to many other situations as well. Take the end of the first school festival episode where they have their own "victory parade" after the festival is over. For this particular scene, again, it's all about not feeling that emotional catharsis at all. Yes, they had a pretty successful display and they celebrated it together with a "victory parade". "Okay, now what?" It didn't come after a defeat (which would have surely made that last scene far more poignant), it didn't come after putting in a ton of hard work or overcoming major obstacles (making the last scene more rewarding). It's just them going through the motions. In fact, the ending of Episode 23 does show them still having their own victory despite losing at the sports festival. And that works. I'm sure other more grounded Slice-of-life shows like Non Non Biyori have also done this kind of alternative victory as well, but with more emotional investment. The joke where everyone was pointing out that there was a ghost in Sasaki's picture is a great example of a joke that dragged on for way too long that ends with another "Okay, now what?". It would have been a great punchline in and of itself if it had cut right after that initial shock. Speaking of ghost pictures, there's a phenomenal sketch in both Mitsudomoe and Lucky Star that has to do with ghost pictures as well. For the sake of brevity, I'll only elaborate on the Lucky Star one that uses the ghost picture as the punchline. Konata's mother, who sadly passed away when she was very young, decides to return to check up on her family. After a phenomenally heart-warming scene with both Konata's father and mother reflecting on their relationship and why they love each other, Konata's mother decides to join in the family portrait. However, our expectations are subverted when Konata and her father decide to burn the camera after rightly deducing that it's a ghost photo. Why does this joke work? Firstly, it lightens up the mood, but still retains the bitter-sweet feeling instead of completely ruining it. In fact, I'd say it builds upon and adds to the mood because we are reminded that her mother can never actually truly be with them anymore. Secondly, it reaffirms the bond between father and daughter, which is what her mother was worried about to begin with. It's the perfect punchline as it caps off the scene instead of beginning the scene and achieves more than just an simple laugh. To be able to successfully make fun of mundane situations, I contest that it is necessary to go big or go home. Take another Nichijou sketch for example. In this one, we see Annaka at a shooting gallery game stand. How do they parody it? Firstly, the prizes are all nonsensical items. Not only that, after Annaka fails to shoot any of them down, she suspects that the stall owner is cheating. By sheer luck, she discovers that... he actually was cheating! The prizes are all nailed down. However, the stall owner, instead of apologizing, becomes angry that she revealed his trick! Our expectations are not only subverted once, but three times! The rubbish prizes, the fact that there was cheating involved and the fact that the stall owner got upset instead of apologetic. Again, the bizarre setting and world they reside in allows for this kind of comedy to play out flawlessly. Well, that's my take on the series. I've heard so many times that Azumanga Daioh is the best when it comes to Slice-of-life shows. I've watched it almost a decade ago and I'm still trying to understand the appeal today, especially when there are shows out there with more charm, wit, humor, self-awareness or even cynicism. So, why do you like Azumanga Daioh? I'd love to hear your opinions. (^.^) |
| So, I got here from you posting a link to this on the ANN thread about the recent negative Lucky Star Blu-ray review. I've rated Azumanga Daioh at a 10. It has been a long time favorite of mine since I first watched it over 10 year ago and I have watched the entire series at least four times total. Even in rewatching it, the series is still hanging strong as my number 10 favorite overall series. Lucky Star, on the other hand, I've rated at a 7 on here and if I were to judge just the first half of the series, I'd probably end up rating it a 5 (which is a VERY low score for me to give on here as my ratings tend to be pretty forgiving for the most part). So yeah, I think I'm more-or-less the target audience for this post. So, where to start? I guess I'll start with your first point: Actar said: Firstly, the characters are odd. However, the characters in the show are too odd for a relaxing Slice-of-life to be relatable and not odd enough for an over-the-top comedy to be genuinely funny. So I will have to totally disagree with this point. My belief of the contrary, that Azumanga Daioh strikes a perfect balance between the two extremes, is one of the main reasons that I really love the series. So yes, I completely disagree with your assessment of the "oddness level" of the characters in Azumanga Daioh. I personally feel that they strike a great balance between being relatable, sweet characters and being weird enough for effective comedy. I find that the world of Azumanga Daioh gives off a very real feel, but is whimsical enough to make it so the completely silly moments don't feel out of place. I see almost no difference in the oddness levels of the characters and settings of Azumanga Daioh and YuruYuri; both shows give off a very similar feeling, striking a very similar balance, though I think Azumanga Daioh does it better. For me, Azumanga Daioh is first and foremost a warm, feel-good series to relax to and second a comedy with some good genuine laughs. Maybe my enjoyment of the comedy included in Azumanga Daioh stems from my enjoyment of Seinfeld and (especially) Mitch Hedberg-style stand-up comedy. I don't know if you'd understand this reference (don't know how into stand-up comedy you are), but the way you compare Azumanga Daioh to Nichijou is like comparing Mitch Hedberg to Dane Cook. I'm not saying that either is better than the other; I'm just saying that they are very different styles that hit home with different people and/or different moods. (Disclaimer: I've only ever watched the Nichijou OVA that came out right before the TV series, so my assessment of Nichijou in relation to this comparison is mostly based on how you described it and what I've seen in AMVs) So Azumanga Daioh and Mitch Hedberg are both very laid back. They use pretty subtle observations (although they can also jump out and be really wacky at times), have a weird charm about them, and can be rather random and disjointed (the joke is done, let's move on!). Some of the jokes might fall flat, but it's still a fun experience because it's so damn charming and pleasant to be around. You just want to chill and be the characters' friends. Nichijou and Dane Cook, on the other hand, are LOUD! They are full-throttle with elaborate setups for the jokes that build up into bigger jokes (the "what's next" factor that you mentioned). They're forceful and crazy. It's a bit of a wild ride and can amount to some good dumb fun. It can be relatable at times, but is usually so out-there and larger-than-life that it feels kind of unapproachable. Now, a quick side-note about Nichijou and one of your big complaints about Azumanga Daioh dragging too long with some jokes. Again, I've only watched the Nichijou OVA, but man, I was just bored out of my skull watching that thing. If I remember correctly, there were two jokes that just dragged on forever and didn't really do much of anything. They dragged on far worse than any single joke in Azumanga Daioh, even when Osaka and Chiyo-chan were passing the volleyball for what seemed like two solid minutes. Yes, some Azumanga Daioh jokes drag on a bit, but I don't think any of them are all that bad. I don't know, maybe the Nichijou OVA was an anomaly and the TV series is a lot better and maybe I should give it a shot. Some of the stuff I've seen on AMVs look like it could be pretty amusing. (okay, that wasn't much of a "quick side-note" at all; sorry) Anyway, back to the section of your post that I quoted from, as far as the teachers go, I don't really think Kimura-sensei was all that bad. Yes, he said some very off-color things at times, but he didn't really do much else. He's probably the most ridiculous character in the series and as a side-character he usually felt more like a gag-delivery element than a real person. The ridiculous way he's drawn alone takes him out of the realm of realism. He's basically one step away from the daydream version of Chiyo-chan's Dad. Again, with the exception of those two characters (and maybe also Biting Cat), I think the cast is very grounded and relatable with just the right amount of silliness. The other teachers (especially Yukari) can get a little crazy at times, but they also have softer, very grounded moments as well. Actually, even Kimura-sensei is humanized to good comedic effect at times. And actually, between my talk of what I feel about the characters and the Mitch Hedberg vs. Dane Cook comparison, I think that actually covers the two basic arguments you posed. While yes, there are likely to be shows which individually outperform Azumanga Daioh in the categories of charm, wit, humor, self-awareness, or cynicism (off the top of my head, K-On! may just barely edge out Azumanga Daioh in charm and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei probably does a better job at just about all of the other categories most of the time), I haven't found a single slice-of-life or gag comedy show that provides a better blend of these elements (well, aside from cynicism as I don't think that was anywhere close to being a goal of the series). Sorry for rambling on so much. Hopefully you were able to understand what I was getting at and where I am coming from. In the end it really is just a matter of taste and sometimes things don't strike the same cord with different people. I will say, though, a while back I used to do anime screenings where I would show a bunch of different series, one episode of each series each night, once a week. I remember that during one of the biggest crowds we ever had, the episode of Azumanga Daioh that was on that night was a HUGE hit. Even as a big fan of the series, I was really surprised by this as there were a number of casual anime fans or even first-time viewers in the audience. I did not expect Azumanga Daioh to have such mass appeal. I guess regardless of your background, the innate charm of the series and simple observational and gag humor is pretty universal. Anyway, I'll end it there before I start rambling again. Thanks for posing this question and helping me alleviate some boredom! ^_^ |
 My Collection: Anime/Animation | My Manga and Such | Figures My Top 100 Anime/Manga Series |
| I'm not even going to bother to read all that. Azumanga is funny, that's why people like it. |
 |
| The main reason I'm so fond of this show is due to how it gives off a nostalgic feeling. It's relaxing, has a cast that you can easily attach to and a great soundtrack. Basically a mellow version of Nichijou, although this was published and animated first so I guess you could say Nichijou is a more energetic version of Azumanga Daioh. In the end, it's just a matter of taste/preference. Sometimes a show just won't click with you no matter how popular it is. |
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| because it is funny |
| Oldie post but I just found it so whatever. Actar said: To begin, I'm actually quite surprised that this show is as popular as it is in the West, when other Slice-of-life shows have failed to make that big of an impact. What is it about Azumanga Daioh that has made it so beloved? I'm a huge, huge, huge fan of Slice-of-life/Comdey shows. However, Azumanga Daioh just never sat well with me. I just don't get it at all. Of course, it's completely subjective, so please don't let me take away from your enjoyment of the show. Likewise, I hope you'll hear me out till the end. (>.<) Azumanga Daioh could be considered the first of its kind. It's a classic, and at the time it really was the only reference for "cute girls doing cute things at school". This also means that it is favored by people who saw this subgenre as a novelty at the time, and a lot of the praise it still gets is from veteran fans. Actar said: To me, the show seems very confused. Unlike Nichijou, that's completely absurd, or K-On!, that's grounded in reality, Azumanga Daioh seems to be caught in the middle in terms of both comedy and characters. Maybe that's the point, but personally, it does lead to a rather disjointed experience. Uh, I think Azumanga actually comes with a very unique flavor in terms of comedy and characters, precisely because it doesn't completely fall in either side. It's far more K-On! than Nichijou, though. Nichijou is not a conventional CGDCT at all. Actar said: Firstly, the characters are odd. However, the characters in the show are too odd for a relaxing Slice-of-life to be relatable and not odd enough for an over-the-top comedy to be genuinely funny. With regard to the immature/perverted teacher characters, in a real-world setting, there is absolutely no way that any of their actions would be tolerated. From a comedic standpoint, there is barely a punchline to their shenanigans to validate their behavior. Mitsudomoe or even YuruYuri has weird characters and the shows revel in that fact. The characters are always placed in bizarre scenarios that result in an over-the-top punchline that gives viewers the necessary catharsis and reminds them that crazy stuff is allowed in that world. Uh, I don't know if you watched the same series I did because in this show characters constantly revel on the fact that Yukari is aggressive and immature or that Kimura is a creep and a pervert. There is another teacher whose entire existence is to make a contrast with how odd and out of place these teachers seem. And sorry but "in a real world setting" is a low jab at any fiction, particularly at any comedic fiction. "There is barely a punchline to their shenanigans". I can think of many, constantly, throughout. Kimura creeps the girls out and makes random non-sequitur statements about his obsessions, Yukari similarly makes bratty comments and remarks that are treated as jokes by the series. Your point about the characters being in a sort of unsatisfying middle ground is more approachable, though. But also one I plainly disagree with. I think this middle ground is satisfying, because the characters acting odd create an inviting environment towards them. Though of course this is, like, my favorite series ever. Actar said: Azumanga Daioh's comedy is too slow-paced for payoffs that are just not worth the buildup, anticlimactic or completely predictable. Like the chomping cat joke, some scenes just drag on and on for no determinable reason without any punchline. Where is the expert comedic timing that people have been raving about? Not to mention, there are also a ton of throw-away scenes or sudden cutaways, like dream sequences or Chiyo's cooking that just take us out of the current scene and don't seem to serve any purpose. For other Slice-of-life comedies like Ichigo Mashimaro, every single second is used effectively for something, whether it is for characterization, emotional investment or the buildup of a joke. No determinable reason? Timing is always a reason, it changes the meaning of the joke. Azumanga is not a series particularly devoted to packing punches, it is first and firemost focused on spacing out the dialogue. And there's a reason for that. Sakaki hugs Tadakichi for more than a minute because it's the way her world flows. Osaka stares at a window for ten seconds with the same face because she is just that slow. Yomi is fast and her retorts are immediate. What I like most about the comedy of this show is actually how it deals with timing, and I think it's its most distinct trait. It does a lot to emphasize that in every gesture and every line of dialogue and each character has their own distinct way to react and communicate. I never thought that the jokes of this series would be as funny on paper as they are under the strict rules that apply to the little quirks of the characters. Actar said: With reference to the joke of Osaka trying to predict her luck by tossing her shoe in the sky and it landing on a truck, there's a joke with the exact same set-up in Nichijou. Except, instead of just ending with the shoe disappearing, Yukko chases the car down. In another twist, instead of succeeding, she loses her second shoe along the way, having it taken by a dog in the opposite direction, leaving her worse off than she was before. To make things worse, this took up a ton of her recess time, which leads into the next joke. There's consequence. Nichijou takes the joke so much further than Azumanga Daioh where the viewer is constantly left asking... "Okay, now what?". They never make reference to the incident again. Uh, Nichijou is a completely different style of comedy. It's not just crazier. It's cumulative. Azumanga is not. As simple as that. If that's your preference of comedy, go on. I just don't think it deserves to be treated as a flaw. Actar said: In fact, that "Okay, now what?" can be applied to many other situations as well. Take the end of the first school festival episode where they have their own "victory parade" after the festival is over. For this particular scene, again, it's all about not feeling that emotional catharsis at all. Yes, they had a pretty successful display and they celebrated it together with a "victory parade". "Okay, now what?" It didn't come after a defeat (which would have surely made that last scene far more poignant), it didn't come after putting in a ton of hard work or overcoming major obstacles (making the last scene more rewarding). It's just them going through the motions. In fact, the ending of Episode 23 does show them still having their own victory despite losing at the sports festival. And that works. I'm sure other more grounded Slice-of-life shows like Non Non Biyori have also done this kind of alternative victory as well, but with more emotional investment. Really? Do you think the victory parade would have been better if it came after a defeat or after overcoming major obstacles? I'm not sure you got the point of the scene, really. Nowhere in this sequence there is a feeling of relief or venting frustrations. It's a feeling of longing. It's preceded by a conversation of the characters wondering if they'll ever have another festival like this because it was a really fun time, but also one that reminds them of the transience of their high school life. Actar said: The joke where everyone was pointing out that there was a ghost in Sasaki's picture is a great example of a joke that dragged on for way too long that ends with another "Okay, now what?". It would have been a great punchline in and of itself if it had cut right after that initial shock. And you would have left out with how different characters react to that same information, which is part of the joke. But that aside, you seem to love certain kinds of elaboration in comedy and it's okay but from your counterexamples I think you overpraise textual complexity ("this joke has various layers") when it's just another way to write comedy. It's difficult to make rules over comedy of course but for that same reason it's completely uncalled for to ask for the same standards in different shows that value different things. |
| The characters are all developed, the comedy lands well, it does have some issues with pacing, but overall the characters are way too strong for me to rate it anything less than a 9. |
ShadowSun89 said: Just a quick question, is this anime/humor dated? I know series like this and Lucky Star were super funny back in the day, but I have a hard time getting into those most of the time. I really wish I had watched those back back in the day. Well, I'm still getting notifications for this thread, so I figure I'll go ahead and answer the question. Personally, I don't think Azumanga Daioh is dated at all, in its humor or in general. Unlike Lucky Star, pop culture references aren't really a thing in Azumanga Daioh. There are a good number of general cultural references and observational references/gags related to everyday life, but I don't recall anything referencing other popular TV shows, comics, games, etc. Really, I would consider Azumanga Daioh to be a rather timeless series. But hey, it's still my #10 favorite anime/manga of all time and I am literally able to fill a Top 100 of series consisting of nothing but things I've rated 9s or 10s, so I've watched/read a ton of stuff over the years and have pretty broad tastes, so take my overall praise with a grain of salt. |
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| Azumanga Daioh may be just simple high school comedy anime, but it's really entertaining and memorable. The main characters in Azumanga Daioh are one of most unforgettable casts in any anime i've watched. |
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| It's a brainless comedy that has a cute and calm vibe, and is one of the first. It drowns you in odd cuteness. If you don't find it oddly cute, then you're just not going to enjoy it. It places odd cuteness over comedy. It is the main appeal of the show. |
| Because it's simply awesome with a hilarious cast. I love this show. |
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