Azumanga Daioh

Azumanga Daioh (あずまんが大王 Azumanga Daiō) is a manga by Kiyohiko Azuma that was made into an anime in 2002. The anime is published in English by ADV Films, which aired from April 4-September 30, 2002. The series had 26 episodes, "The Very Short Azumanga Daioh Movie" (which is a 6 minute trailer to promote the show, also known as an episode 00), Azumanga Web Daioh, and 6 volumes of videos released on VHS and DVD. The manga is published in English by ADV Manga, and the soundtrack is published by Geneon.

Related Topics:
Manga - Kiyohiko Azuma - Anime - 2002 - English - ADV Films - April 4 - September 30 - VHS - DVD - ADV Manga - Soundtrack - Geneon

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The manga consists of four panel comic strips which were published in the magazine Dengeki Daioh. While Westerners are used to this and similar formats, known as yonkoma in Japan, a full-length manga series being composed of them is almost unheard of. The anime was broadcast in five-minute segments every weekday, and as a 25-minute compilation each weekend. Thus there are 130 five-minute episodes which can also be seen as 26 25-minute episodes.

Related Topics:
Comic strip - Dengeki Daioh - Yonkoma - Manga

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Both the manga and the anime follow the trials and triumphs of everyday life in a Japanese high school. Six schoolgirls and two teachers make up the main cast alongside a few secondary characters, including a creepy male teacher and another girl in the same grade who seems to have a crush on Sakaki, the most distant of the main characters. The readers and/or viewers follow Sakaki's obsession with neighborhood cats, Chiyo's struggle to find acceptance in an age group far above her own, and Yomi's patience with a rather silly best friend. They get to see yearly accounts of summer vacation, holidays, tests, and athletic events. Although it generally follows everyday life, this series is occasionally marked by bursts of surrealism and absurdity, such as a regular feature showing the characters' New Year's dreams.

Related Topics:
Japan - New Year

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Four of the girls made it into Newtype Magazine's top 100 anime heroines of 2002: Osaka came 7th, Chiyo-chan 11th, Sakaki 21st, and Yomi 78th. Together they made Azumanga Daioh the joint 2nd most popular series of 2002 for female characters.

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The title directly translates to "Great King Azumanga" which is short for "Azuma's manga for Dengeki Daiou magazine" and is simply a portmanteau that includes the title of the magazine it was published in and the name of the artist.

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Although the series has a cast of cute girls and an obvious lack of men for the most part, it is not considered a shoujo series.

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