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, and the manga is published in English by ADV Manga.

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.

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.

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.

The title has no direct significance; it is simply a portmanteau that includes the title of the magazine it was published in and the name of the artist.

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

Main characters

Names are in Western order, with the surname after the given name.

• Chiyo Mihama, a.k.a. Chiyo-chan (美浜 ちよ Mihama Chiyo) -- A child prodigy, Chiyo has skipped five grades and is still at the top of the class. Although extremely smart and responsible for her age, she still has the naïvete, desires, and especially fears of a child. Her parents are fabulously wealthy, but are never seen in the story. She is best friends with Sakaki.

• Tomo Takino (滝野 智 Takino Tomo) -- Tomo is extremely energetic and competitive, and yet a slacker at the same time. She tends to irritate everyone around her, affecting Yomi most of all.

• Koyomi Mizuhara (水原 暦 Mizuhara Koyomi), a.k.a. "Yomi" -- A grade-school friend and occasional antagonist of Tomo's, Yomi is possibly the most mature and serious of the group. She has a low self-image, and diets periodically. Yomi's seriousness and stability is often used as a humorous counterpoint to the other characters' silliness.

• Sakaki (榊 Sakaki) -- Sakaki is tall, quiet and mysterious with a tough exterior; however, she would much rather trade her cool demeanor with the cuteness Chiyo demonstrates. She is a talented athlete, even though she's not particularly interested in sports. Her secret passion is all things cute, especially animals, and very especially cats; unfortunately, cats hate her for some unknown reason. Best friends with Chiyo, and her dog (Mr. Tadakichi).

• Ayumu Kasuga (春日 歩 Kasuga Ayumu) -- Ayumu is a transfer student from Osaka; she was given the de facto nickname "Osaka" （大阪 Ōsaka） because she was expected to act very stereotypically like a "typical Osakan". However, her behavior is the complete opposite of the common stereotype of Osakans as loud, exuberant, and fond of cracking bawdy jokes. Although she seems slow and easily distracted, she merely has a mind that works quite differently than most people; although this makes her prone to daydreaming, absentmindedness, and non-sequiturs, she's unusually good at answering trick questions. She is closest friends with Chiyo, but good friends with the other girls.

The English dub done by ADV Films equates her Osakan accent to a Southern one from around Houston, "which shares the business-oriented attitude with Osaka as well as the country image that color both the Southern and Osaka accents." (as said by ADV translator notes.)

• Kagura (神楽 Kagura) -- Kagura is a later acquaintance, who devotes most of her time to the swim team but is an all-around good athlete. She has a rather one-sided rivalry/friendship with Sakaki, and is similar to Tomo in sheer energy.

• Yukari Tanizaki (谷崎 ゆかり Tanizaki Yukari) -- The girls' English teacher, but a teacher with very unconventional methods and a rather close relationship with the class. She is selfish, irresponsible, miserly, and generally dysfunctional. She drives without concern for the rules of the road, running into people, cars and signs along the way and going way over the speed limit. Her homeroom class is the central focus of this series.

• Minamo Kurosawa (黒沢 みなも Kurosawa Minamo), a.k.a. "Nyamo" -- Gym teacher. An old high school friend and rival of Yukari's. Far more in-control than her, although she has her own faults. Yukari's and Nyamo's relationship is often compared to Tomo's and Yomi's, respectively.

Minor characters

• Mr. Kimura (木村) - Creepy classics teacher who openly admits to his students that the reason he became a teacher was because of the high-school girls; he especially likes Kaorin, much to her chagrin. His eyes cannot be seen behind his glasses, and his mouth hangs open almost constantly. He has a wife and daughter, who love him despite his strange obsession. Oddly enough, he seems to be a perfectly good person aside from his obsession.

• Kaori a.k.a. "Kaorin" - A girl with a major infatuation for Sakaki. In her senior year, Kimura transferred her into his class, much to Kaorin's dismay. Some fans maintain that Kaori's surname is "Aida", but this is based only on a single and inconclusive reference in one panel of the original comic books. Officially her surname remains unknown.

• Chihiro - A classmate and friend of Kaorin. Nothing is known except her name.

• Chiyo-chichi - A strange looking and even stranger acting cat-like creature which appears in Sakaki's dreams, claiming to be Chiyo's dad. Polite but taken to fits of uneasing anger, he may be bullet-proof, a great baseball player, and/or Santa Claus.

• Miruchi and Yuka - Chiyo's friends from grade school. For some unknown reason, they bear disturbing physical resemblances to Minamo Kurosawa and Yukari Tanizaki, respectively.

• Kamineko (噛み猫, literally "biting cat") - A cute grey cat that Sakaki occasionally sees on the way to and from school. Having a great soft spot for cats, Sakaki tries to pet it, but it ends up latching its huge, bear-trap mouth onto her hand. This becomes one of the series' biggest running gags.

• Tadakichi-san - Chiyo's pet dog. A Great Pyrenees, he is mild mannered and gentle, and is large enough for Chiyo to ride on his back. Sakaki particularly likes him, as he allows her to pet him without biting her.

• Maya - Sakaki's pet cat. An Iriomote Mountain Cat, he followed Sakaki home from Okinawa.

External links

• Everyone's goin', "What in the heck?", the official English site by ADV Films
• Azumanga TV Daioh, the official Japanese site
• Wonderland, an Azumanga Daioh fansite
• Azumanga Daioh Joy, a new Azumanga Daioh fansite
• Great King Shezotaku's Episode Guide, an Azumanga episode guide