Friday, March 23, 2007

Azumanga Daioh: Entrance - Vol 1 + Box


"Azumanga Daioh" is a whimsical comedy based on the antics of a group of schoolgirls, beginning when they start high school. Although the series is based off of a manga (Japanese comic, typically serialized like American comic books), this manga is a collection of daily, four-panel comic strips. In that spirit, the TV series was initially divided into five-minutes episodes, collected five at a time into one full, half-hour program. There are a total of twenty-six, half-hour programs. The first DVD contains five episodes: "Miss Yukari", "Osaka´s Day", "Nyamo", "Pool, Pool, Pool", and "Summer Break".

There are six main girls to the story. The first is Chiyo, a ten-year-old girl who was smart enough to skip five grades to get into high school. The second is Sakaki, a tall girl whose discomfort with her height, athletic ability, and physical development renders her shy and standoffish. Yomi is generally the voice of reason, especially to her friend Tomo´s thoughtless antics. The fifth, Kagura, doesn´t appear until later in the series.

The final character is Ayumu Kasuga, although one could be forgiven for not remembering her name. Her classmates almost immediately nickname her "Osaka", as that´s the region of Japan she´s from. Unlike a typical Osakan, Ayumu is not loud or boorish. On the contrary, she´s quiet, spaces out almost continuously, and loves complicated puns. Although Ayumu doesn´t like her nickname, she´s simply too out of touch to fight it. Even the teachers call her Osaka.

If there is a main character to this series, it´s Osaka. She´s most often involved directly in the hijinks, or standing obliviously on the outside. In one particularly memorable moment, Tomo tears the classroom apart trying to kill a cockroach, while Osaka slowly tries to follow some floating spots in her eyes.

This first volume initially focuses on introducing the characters. We see how poor Chiyo struggles to understand and fit in with kids who are five years older than her. Ayumu (Osaka, remember?) wants to make a fresh start at her new high school, but just can´t fight her scatter-brained nature. There is continuity to the series, as time passes rapidly through the girls´ first semester. Several bits have a continuing plot, but overall, the series is just for laughs.

There are boys in "Azumanga Daioh", it´s just that none of them are central to any plot. Whatever other good qualities they might have, the boys uniformly worship Mr. Kimura, a lecherous teacher. In spite of the many good deeds he commits outside of school, Mr. Kimura openly plots to get into the girls´ swim practice and bemoans his inability to get into their locker room. Luckily, the girls don´t have much trouble keeping Mr. Kimura contained.

Because of the show´s roots, laughs come hard and fast. The beginning of each five-minute bit has its own title. I think each bit contains somewhere between 1-3 strips, judging by the number of punch lines.

I would most directly compare "Azumanga Daioh" to "Peanuts", another comic that I love. There´s a medium-sized cast of children, each with exaggerated personalities. Much like Charlie Brown´s never-ending quest to kick a football, Sakura always tries to pet cats, even though they uniformly bite her. Although there is a main character, several strips don´t use him/her. What makes these two comics the most alike in my mind, however, is the way they both capture what it´s like to be a kid.

"Azumanga Daioh" is a whimsical comedy based on the antics of a group of schoolgirls, beginning when they start high school. Although the series is based off of a manga (Japanese comic, typically serialized like American comic books), this manga is a collection of daily, four-panel comic strips. In that spirit, the TV series was initially divided into five-minutes episodes, collected five at a time into one full, half-hour program. There are a total of twenty-six, half-hour programs. The first DVD contains five episodes: "Miss Yukari", "Osaka´s Day", "Nyamo", "Pool, Pool, Pool", and "Summer Break".

There are six main girls to the story. The first is Chiyo, a ten-year-old girl who was smart enough to skip five grades to get into high school. The second is Sakaki, a tall girl whose discomfort with her height, athletic ability, and physical development renders her shy and standoffish. Yomi is generally the voice of reason, especially to her friend Tomo´s thoughtless antics. The fifth, Kagura, doesn´t appear until later in the series.

The final character is Ayumu Kasuga, although one could be forgiven for not remembering her name. Her classmates almost immediately nickname her "Osaka", as that´s the region of Japan she´s from. Unlike a typical Osakan, Ayumu is not loud or boorish. On the contrary, she´s quiet, spaces out almost continuously, and loves complicated puns. Although Ayumu doesn´t like her nickname, she´s simply too out of touch to fight it. Even the teachers call her Osaka.

If there is a main character to this series, it´s Osaka. She´s most often involved directly in the hijinks, or standing obliviously on the outside. In one particularly memorable moment, Tomo tears the classroom apart trying to kill a cockroach, while Osaka slowly tries to follow some floating spots in her eyes.

This first volume initially focuses on introducing the characters. We see how poor Chiyo struggles to understand and fit in with kids who are five years older than her. Ayumu (Osaka, remember?) wants to make a fresh start at her new high school, but just can´t fight her scatter-brained nature. There is continuity to the series, as time passes rapidly through the girls´ first semester. Several bits have a continuing plot, but overall, the series is just for laughs.

There are boys in "Azumanga Daioh", it´s just that none of them are central to any plot. Whatever other good qualities they might have, the boys uniformly worship Mr. Kimura, a lecherous teacher. In spite of the many good deeds he commits outside of school, Mr. Kimura openly plots to get into the girls´ swim practice and bemoans his inability to get into their locker room. Luckily, the girls don´t have much trouble keeping Mr. Kimura contained.

Because of the show´s roots, laughs come hard and fast. The beginning of each five-minute bit has its own title. I think each bit contains somewhere between 1-3 strips, judging by the number of punch lines.

I would most directly compare "Azumanga Daioh" to "Peanuts", another comic that I love. There´s a medium-sized cast of children, each with exaggerated personalities. Much like Charlie Brown´s never-ending quest to kick a football, Sakura always tries to pet cats, even though they uniformly bite her. Although there is a main character, several strips don´t use him/her. What makes these two comics the most alike in my mind, however, is the way they both capture what it´s like to be a kid.

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