In each of the five categories (Story, Art, Sound, Character(s), Enjoyment), a score can get 2, 4, 8 or 10. 2 for something I find truly bad, 4 for something that just isn't good enough, 8 for fairly good and 10 for outstanding.
The sum of the score is divided by 5 and the score is rounded to the nearest integer (More than or equal to .5 rounds it up, less than .5 rounds it down). However, should everything be given a 2, the resulting score will be 1.
STORY (10):
Each mini-story is either cute, fun or relaxing. It may not seem like much with all the slice of life and moe we get these days, but it fits my tastes very well.
This should be one of the earliest slice of life series you watch to get the most out of it, I reckon. Had I seen it later, the score might have been somewhat lower, but since it earned a special place in my heart, the biased score is 10.
ART (8):
The character designs are rather simple, which is suitable considering that these are supposed to be normal people in a normal school. The animation and art is nothing to write home about, it's pretty standard level. Nothing sticks out in either direction, which means it's more than good enough.
SOUND (10):
Azumanga Daioh has a very pleasant soundtrack and a great ending theme. If you like the series, you can probably sit and listen to the soundtrack and experience bliss. Other than that, the voice actors do a good job. This is also true from my (brief) experience of the English dub. Although I find it a bit discomforting that Osaka is Texan, I find it to be a good attempt at localisation.
Also, Norio Wakamoto as Chiyo's dad.
CHARACTERS (10):
Archetypes. Well-made archetypes. All of the characters feel very distinct, and I don't dislike a single one of them. They all get good amounts of screentime as well.
ENJOYMENT (10):
I've rewatched this show about 7 or so times, I never get bored of it for some reason. That alone is worth a 10. Since each episode consists of several 'minisodes', the content isn't very dragged out (though I'm sure some people would object to this) and we get a couple of different highlighted events each episode.
FINAL SCORE:
48 * 0.2 = 9.6, rounded up to 10.
RECOMMENDATION:
Unless your tastes are very niched, or you've already seen lots of other slice of life anime, I readily suggest this to you, even if you've already seen it once.
