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REVIEW: Azumanga Daioh The Complete DVD Collection


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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8501
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 11:05 pm Reply with quote
I'm surprise to read the dub getting so much praise. I never cared much for it. It seemed a little too obnoxious.

It is a great, hilarious, fun show to watch, though.

I'm most particularly fond of lazy, "stupid" Tomo, who we find out is actually much smarter than she acts, she just never applies herself. She's sort of the anti-genki, genki girl. She always starts off in something with a lot of energy but runs out. Also of note is her hilarious near-sociopathy. I guess, to me, she was the prototype Haruhi.
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vtnwesley



Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 171
Location: Natrona Heights, PA
PostPosted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 11:53 pm Reply with quote
Outstanding anime, awesome dub. I wouldn't change much, but if I could... They need to replace Japanese puns in the dub. You can't be using puns and word play from another language and just expect people to find it funny when it no longer makes even the tiniest lick of sense.

Outside of that (and a much more minor complaint about the perv teacher not being entirely kosher) I'd say anyone who likes a good slice of life should see this, especially if you prefer funny and cute over extremely dramatic and sad.
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bahamut623



Joined: 23 Jun 2005
Posts: 1463
PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 12:02 am Reply with quote
I've been watching it on Anime Network, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I'll have to disagree on what the review says about the soundtrack. I find it kind of charming, and several of the tunes randomly pop up in my head once in a while.
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Gewürtztraminer



Joined: 14 Nov 2007
Posts: 1028
Location: Texas - Its like whole other country.
PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 12:08 am Reply with quote
I always thought both the dub and sub both excelled at comedic timing. The pauses were perfect for the delivery of the jokes.
I have this rated 5 on Netflix, I think it is due for a rewatch soon to review/validate that.
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MorwenLaicoriel



Joined: 26 Feb 2006
Posts: 1617
Location: Colorado
PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 12:26 am Reply with quote
Aw man, I got the thinpack a few years ago and it doesn't have ANY of those extras! Oh well, I guess that's what I get for not getting the singles originally.

I do love this series, though. It was one of the first manga I owned--someone gave me the first volume as a Christmas gift--and I was really pleased at how it was adapted for the anime.
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4637
PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 12:46 am Reply with quote
I'm not sure exactly why, but I got about halfway before I stopped watching this. I suppose it's mostly that it was going to take awhile to get the next volume from Netflix and I felt more like moving on. What I saw was funny, but not perhaps my cup of tea.
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Seif



Joined: 16 Nov 2004
Posts: 458
PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 1:03 am Reply with quote
I was quite fond of the soundtrack. Centering the background music around a recorder was a genius stroke. It invokes the lulling school day atmosphere so well.
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giascle



Joined: 09 Sep 2008
Posts: 157
Location: Denver
PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 1:30 am Reply with quote
I love the soundtrack. A bit dull, yes, but I could never call it unmemorable.
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DFBTG



Joined: 02 Sep 2007
Posts: 385
Location: Hell
PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 1:49 am Reply with quote
Honestly, I never once thought to apply 'moe' to anything in this show. Aside from that, I agree with everything said here. The music was pretty unforgettable, but the characters are what this is about and as long as they shine (which they do) all's well. And the cat part was over far too quickly...Regardless, comedy gold with a touching...touch as a bonus.
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Cain Highwind



Joined: 08 May 2006
Posts: 315
PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 3:24 am Reply with quote
penguintruth wrote:
I'm surprise to read the dub getting so much praise. I never cared much for it. It seemed a little too obnoxious.


Wow I was going crazy thinking I was the only one. To be fair, most of the dub performances, I don't have a problem with. It's freakin' Chiyo of all people that's so grating on the nerves. In Japanese she's got such a sweet, innocent sounding voice that really makes her character credible, but in English it's all scratchy and nasal, it just wasn't the same for me.

Other than that, fine review of a fine series. I too am sad that as an owner of the Thinkpack, I don't have the same extras. I'll probably double dip in the future. Maybe if there's an ADV sale at Rightstuf.
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pachy_boy



Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 1341
PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 6:17 am Reply with quote
I thought I recalled reading in a ‘Chicks on Anime’ column of Casey saying that Azumanga Diaoh was an uncomfortable expose of cute girls by a male manga-ka or something along those lines, and yet here she seems to genuinely like it; which is a relief.

Quote:
Both the Japanese and English dubs are excellent, though in the case of the latter, Osaka's Osakan accent is adapted into an American southern drawl, which is, as always, a controversial choice.


Maybe I’m in the minority, but I for one have always found Osaka’s English voice to be very charming, and really fits when I watch it the dub.

Quote:
Opening and ending themes are of the tedious, helium-inspired female Japanese vocal sort and add precisely nothing to this otherwise strong production.


I actually think the opening theme is really catchy, enough to make me feel like dancing my head to it.

Quote:
Do not expect much in the way of bonus material—besides the usual textless opening and ending themes, production sketches, and one bonus short animation included with the final disc—there aren't any


That’s actually a relief, considering the entertaining and high-quality animated short is gone from prior thinkpaks.

The only part of the show I never liked was the male teacher (his name’s Kimura? I forget), who was more creepy and disturbing than funny, although it was funny to find out he has a(n airheaded) wife and daughter despite his creepiness.

Aside from that, watching this show I felt like I was on a journey with the girls through their high school years, so the ending did leave an impact. As was said, the characters are unforgettable without a single favorite one. The manga is great too, since it contains a variety of images of the girls looking their most photogenic.


Last edited by pachy_boy on Fri Sep 04, 2009 6:19 am; edited 1 time in total
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PetrifiedJello



Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 3782
PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 6:17 am Reply with quote
One day, while surfing the web, I ran across the scan of the manga and read it. It amazed me how well the anime portrayed the manga and both were very well done.

But I have to ask, Casey, did ADV finally fix some of the episode issues which ran differently than the manga?

For example: the scene which they were playing volleyball. Osaka quipped at wanting to "aim" for Sukaki. The manga had this quip after Tomo nailed Chiyo, which made the remark stand out. But in the anime, these scenes were reversed.

There were a few other scenes which were out of place against the manga as well.

I wish ADV (et al) would release extras not on previous releases on a separate DVD. To think these companies think I'm going to shell out money for a duplicate series is laughable just for the two extras it has.

Now, queue the jaws-like tuba-esque theme while Osaka gives off her contemplations for the day.
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pparker



Joined: 13 Oct 2007
Posts: 1185
Location: Florida
PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 7:46 am Reply with quote
One of my first anime, and still one of my favorites. I, too, like the OP. It's fun, and it just fits. Sometimes blending with the rest of the work is a good thing. The show being so organic is one if its selling points.

Happened to get a copy of the manga with a used buy of the singles box set, and I have to say, I prefer the anime. Not the case in the few other instances where I've read the manga afterward. The one-shots were so fluidly integrated, it never occurred to me that it was a 4-panel the first time I watched it. Of course, I'd already seen the jokes by then, so that's one thing.

Having started in anime on DVD, I defaulted to the dub the first time and still prefer it. There's nothing to complain about in it. Being from the South, Osaka was actually a treat for me.

In fact, that makes me think that part of the problem with my burn-out on English dubs is because the directors always go for the standard "accent" that has "no accent". Besides using the same 20 actors, they rarely vary from the "39 sounds" of Standard American English, which was BTW developed for the stage, not the screen. Abenobashi would have been far less entertaining without the Southern accents, for instance, and live action usually abandons SAE for regionality to increase interest in characters.
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Zin5ki



Joined: 06 Jan 2008
Posts: 6680
Location: London, UK
PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 8:56 am Reply with quote
pachy_boy wrote:
Quote:
Opening and ending themes are of the tedious, helium-inspired female Japanese vocal sort and add precisely nothing to this otherwise strong production.


I actually think the opening theme is really catchy, enough to make me feel like dancing my head to it.

I too agree that there is indeed plenty of merit to the theme tunes. Energetic whilst also cheerful and innocent, they're practically as peculiarly charming as the cast members. Certainly, they're not the best musical arrangements I've ever listened to, but many a viewer considers them as synonymous with AzuDai itself as the strange yellow cat.
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Julia-the-Great



Joined: 14 May 2005
Posts: 328
PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 10:12 am Reply with quote
This is going to be a strange question, but what is the box like? I have one of the previous thin-packs, and although it doesn't have any extras at all (I'm bummed that it didn't have the really short movie on there), but I have to say, the box it came in is one of the best thin-pack boxes I've ever seen. It's thick and sturdy, not like those thin cardboard things you get with FUNimation thin-packs. So how is the box for the new thin-pack? I don't think I'll rebuy the series, but if I WERE to rebuy it, I'd want it in as nice a box as the previous one...
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