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Jan 31, 2024
Being regarded as a classic of the slice-of-life comedy genre, I was prepared to enjoy Azumanga Daioh. Unfortunately, it's just not funny.
Where other slice-of-life comedies such as Nichijou and Lucky Star create characters from which comedy can arise, Azumanga tries to make the characters themselves the entire joke, relying on repetitive one-note gags based on character's quirks: Chiyo-chan is cute, Osaka is dumb, Sakaki-san is aloof but likes cute things, etc. And I mean it when I say it's repetitive - the first time Sakaki gets bit by a cat, it's not very funny. The tenth time Sakaki gets bit by a cat, with
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the same set-up and execution, it's...still not very funny.
One of Azumanga's biggest problems is that these characters aren't developed much besides their singular personality quirks. Osaka and Chiyo-Chan are the most popular characters from Azumanga, and my own theory is that this is because they may be the only characters who have more than one personality trait, making them into more than the mere archetypes that make up the other characters. The other characters, especially the ones who were unlucky enough to receive the more forgettable personality quirks such as "straight man" and "has a crush on another character", are incredibly forgettable.
Credit where it's due, Azumanga can be funny sometimes. The anime has a talent for pacing, slow and awkward, letting the comedy slowly set in and allowing each joke time to breathe, something which elevates even the most one-note of one-note gags. The real problem arises when Azumanga attempts to write similar jokes based on characters whose quirks are in-your-face unfunny. Maybe it was funny enough when Yukari, whose only trait is her rivalry with Minamo, forced her way into Minamo's house to sleep on her bed, but now that she's breaking her things and taking her money it's just irritating. The worst offender is the character Kimura, whose one trait is that even though he's a teacher, he's a pervert who's sexually attracted to the high-schoolers he teaches. There's a real disconnect between the anime and the audience as Azumanga seems to regard Kimura as a harmless rascal as he comments on Sakaki's breasts, while the audience is merely uncomfortable. Maybe it'd be funny if the joke weren't merely "wow, this guy sure is a pervert, huh?", but that really is all there is to it. All twenty minutes of episode four are dedicated to repeating this punchline.
All-in-all, while Azumanga Daioh is far from the worst anime I've ever watched, it's one of the ones I find myself most disappointed by, seeing as Azumanga is frequently compared to Nichijou and Lucky Star, which are two of my favourite anime. In my eyes, however, Azumanga fails where those shows succeed, first failing to create good characters from which comedy can arise and then by failing to create much comedy besides.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jan 31, 2024
As you watch K-ON!, you get a real sense that many of the people behind it really don't care about music at all. The instruments are animated correctly (which is less common than one might expect) - there is a clear talent on display from the animation team. As far as the writing is concerned, however, the characters may as well not be in a band together. The band doesn't practice on-screen, the songwriting process is glossed over. The band doesn't even play a song together on-screen until five episodes in. Nothing at all happens in this anime. This isn't merely because the stakes are
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low - as a fan of the slice-of-life genre, I wouldn't mind it if it was - it's a matter of the writers seemingly not knowing how to write interactions within a band.
It feels odd to criticise the soundtrack in an anime for being lackluster, but a band anime does rely on this aspect. K-ON! disappoints in this regard. Never is a live drumkit heard, and the background music choices simply doesn't form a coherent whole - in an anime about rock music, there is something jarring about constantly hearing the same reggae BGM and the same knock-off Kraftwerk track. Not every anime focused around music can have soundtracks as good as the soundtracks in Bocchi the Rock! or Cowboy Bebop, but the music in K-ON! feels like it's merely there, rather than contributing to any particular vibe the anime is going for.
But let me be frank, the plot and the music being lacking are hardly deal-breakers for a slice-of-life anime. Other slice of life anime make up for this with unique, memorable characters and strong comedy. K-ON! doesn't. I did keep a running total of the times I found the comedy funny - the total was at 3 when I dropped the show halfway through. Rather than rely on unique gags or character interactions, the show relies on repeatedly reminding the viewer of the characters' quirks, hoping to get a quick laugh. The most egregious example is the bass player's squeamishness - multiple times per episode, we see her curl up into a ball at the mention of blood, while the drummer torments her. This gag is almost funny the first time, but wears thin very quickly. And, of course, there are the occasional panty-shots and fanservice scenes that are meant to be funny but instead just feel exhausting to watch, especially bearing in mind that the characters are meant to be ~14.
The characters, on the other hand, feel more like dolls than fleshed out people, and are treated much the same - there is tea and cake multiple times per episode, of course. The characters don't have distinct personalities beyond surface-level archetypes. The guitarist is ditzy and lazy, the drummer is energetic, the bassist is shy, and the keyboard player is...wealthy? Even those are inconsistent - you see the personality of the bassist shift into a straight man role and the drummer shift into a ditzy double for the guitarist, different from their portrayals in the first episode.
And yet, despite how much I dislike it on a theoretical level, there is something sickeningly watchable about K-ON!. There's an reality in which I finish it someday, and it's closer than you think. It's easily-digestible, perfectly paced, full of cute moments, occasionally funny, and smoothly animated to boot. But ultimately, the anime is too insubstantial, and lacking in all other aspects.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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