Watching it now at my age, Azumanga definitely strikes the theme of nostalgia really well. The changes in the decades to come are subtler the nearer they are in time to us, but those of us who grew up in that particular moment of time are able to notice the changes more than others. It's why I never understood 80s or 90s nostalgia but 00s nostalgia, a theme yet to be tapped by mainstream popular culture, resonates with me like nothing other. And since Azumanga itself takes place in and was made in the early 2000s, it paints a picture of this bygone time period exceptionally well, watching it in this current era.
Back nearly 6 years ago, before I was into CGDCT, I had the chance to borrow the entire manga tankoubon from a friend and at the time I never thought much of it. And while my tastes in anime have matured over these years, watching Azumanga for the first time still felt like an incredible experience thanks in no small part to the animation and voicework elevating it all. They really lend a lot of life into the anime and makes for a very pleasant watch.
The show is very fond of long drawn out pauses, either for comedic purposes or for iyashikei-ness. It lends the show a very laid-back feel and does make one feel very relaxed in the whole thing. Even at its most frantic moments, the pacing is still nice and easy which makes the show very easygoing and peaceful.
As time goes on and as the CGDCT genre develops, a lot of the standard character archetypes get dropped off entirely; I can tell you someone like Yomi, the always angry straight-faced one of the bunch, can no longer be seen in such shows, while a sensei-chan like Yukari-sensei you no longer see outside of offbeat wacky comedies. And of course, Osaka, cute as a button, herself is entirely unique to Azumanga. Just having her onscreen is a joy to behold for her strange and occasionally surprisingly astute observations is the defining feature of the show. Despite this, being one of the more popular and contemporary CGDCT shows, you can see Azumanga's influence on other shows going forward. Character archetypes, tropes, cliches, whatever you call them, a good chunk of what you'll see in this you'd probably already seen a hundred times in a dozen shows made a decade later, but that doesn't mean it isn't endearing. Azumanga's execution still manages to tie everything neatly together and can still make an impression on me nearly 20 years later, and on several occasions beating contemporary new 20s shows.
I honestly wished the show got on for a bit longer. But who knows. With the current resurgence of older franchises, maybe even Yotsuba will get an anime adaptation one day.
9/10
