Forum - View topicJason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Azumanga Daioh
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redcar
 Posts: 172 Location: Texas |
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I think the most interesting thing about Azumanga Daioh is that I can pick it up anywhere, anytime, and read it for hours. It's cute, it's funny, and the humor somehow doesn't seem to age. Also, while it certainly is big on the moe, I always felt that it wasn't the manga's defining factor. I can think of a number of imitations that had nearly as much or more moe to them, but not half the oddball humor and heart.
Great article, thanks for talking about the original "schoolgirls doing random things" manga 
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malvarez1
Posts: 2119 |
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Wonderful article! I read the whole series just earlier this year, and I really enjoyed it. I thought I wouldn't, since 4-Koma usually don't do a thing for me, but it was actually really funny and sincere.
It's no wonder why there are so many rip-offs now. Imitation is a form of flattery. |
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Saffire
 Posts: 1256 Location: Iowa, USA |
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For me, the most amazing thing about Azumanga Daioh is its ability to make me smile. Heck, I'm grinning like a madman from reading a review of it. Kiyohiko Azuma is a maestro when playing the heartstrings.
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FullTilt
 Posts: 13 Location: Houston, Texas |
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Azumanga Daioh is adorable.
It's so, so funny, the characters are all human, it's genuinely sweet (and sad. I cried at the end ). And my god, if Kimura-sensei isn't the best walking punchline I've ever seen! 
Plus, we have AM to thank for the 'mai waifu' meme
I remember a few years ago, I was sick on my birthday. I had gone out to the store with my mom to get cough drops & medicine, etc. When we were close to our house, I asked her to go to the library so I could get a book to read while I got better. She agreed, and then I was walking around the library, looking for something good (I had little knowledge of many mangas then, but I was an avid anime fan) I came across the Azumanga Daioh omnibus. It looked cute, so I checked it out (and I had vaguely remembered the title from some forums I had read). I snuggled up in bed and broke out the book, and I was laughing from the very first page. I loved it so much (and I still do!).
tl;dr! Fond, fond memories. I actually bought the omnibus last week, too, so weird timing. Very nice article btw. I was smiling and nodding the whole way through. xD (I think that strip about Kimura saying he likes tucked-in shirts is one of my favorites!) 
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Quark
 Posts: 710 Location: British Columbia, Canada |
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This article always has the best timing. I've been eyeing my Azumanga volumes lately, and read the first couple pages yesterday. Unfortunately, the Japanese version doesn't use furigana, so while vocabulary wise, it should be an easy read, it also means I'll be looking at my dictionary every five seconds.
Regarding Azuma's art, has anyone ever compared a later volume of Yotsubato! with Azumanga Daioh? The difference is almost night and day. Azumanga's art is good, but compared to the fine lines, amazing shading, and detail that the last volumes of Yotsubato! has, it's incredible. Admittedly, there's quite a few years between the two, but it's still really cool to see just how much his art has improved over the years. Edit: One thing from Azumanga that has infected my life is Osaka's pride when she gets a clean break with her chopsticks. It's something I've started doing, to the point that I almost did it to my Japanese friend, before I realized she probably wouldn't get it. |
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GloriousMaximus
 Posts: 138 Location: North America |
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Awesomely well written article! I love Azumanga Daioh. Azuma is such a genius when it comes to comedy, and I loved reading the series and seeing his art style evolve. Reading Yotsuba?! definitely shows how much his style has changed, and in my opinion, for the better.
Koyomi is definitely my favourite character in the series, though Osaka and Tomo aren't far behind. Such fond memories from that series. Ironically enough, I'm doing a panel on the series at a local convention next month. |
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Julia-the-Great
 Posts: 328 |
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Love Azumanga Daioh. Bought the anime boxset blind and loved every minute of it. The manga is even better because there are more little story-arcs in it. (A pity the arc about Chiyo and Osaka working at McDonald's didn't get animated)
My favorite characters were Osaka, Sakaki, and Kaorin. |
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FaytLein
 Posts: 1260 Location: Williamsburg, VA |
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Azumanga Daioh was probably one of the very first manga's I ever bought, and silently waited for the final two volumes to appear on store shelves, and it took a couple of years and searched a bunch of stores just to find them. It was pretty darn fun just hunting them down.
As for the 4-koma manga taking off....I wouldn't be opposed to that thing becoming more prevalent, since it kind of distills everything down to just four sparse little squares. No distractions, just the quality of writing and simple artwork working together to make a (hopefully) good read. I still like the sweeping epics, but a good 4-koma will never fail to make me chuckle. |
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trilaan
 Posts: 1081 Location: Texas |
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"...in the future everyone will be a girl or Hetalia-style bishounen" ?
Well, either way my penchant for crossplaying is satisfied. |
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pachy_boy
Posts: 1341 |
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I always liked Sasami, but I find knowing that rather disturbing. Kimura is clearly meant to be a reflection of the magazine's target audience, something they relate to and find 'funny,' which he really isn't at all. In fact, I consider him this series's only weakness. Some say that for all his creepness he's harmless enough--except his behavior toward the girls, especially in the anime, borders on sexual harassment. I'd hardly call that 'harmless' at all. The only thing that was ever funny about him was knowing that he's married with a daughter, and finding out what kind of person his wife is (of course she's a major flake). If he is the best this series can do as far as re-occuring male characters go, it still would have been just that much better without him. Nitpick aside, Azumanga Diaoh is a true classic, unparalleled in its genre and format. It may have come out before all the other similar 4-panel from later on, but I think it's both that and its very heart, soul and character comedy/drama that successfully makes it continue standing out even today. I really don't have a single favorite characer because they're all distinctly charming, and I felt like I was journeying along with them to the very end of their high school days, leaving off with the bittersweet feelings of parting with friends. Having just read this column, I feel like watching the anime again for the first time in a long while, and dance my head a little to that infectious OP theme song. |
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Raja
 Posts: 68 Location: Tottori |
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Anyone have any thoughts as to the old ADV version vs. the Yen Press version? Apart from Osaka speaking Brooklyn, any other big differences in translation?
Azuma did a bunch of 4-koma and other short stories for Tenchi Muyo and Battle Athletes DVDs, much of which were collected in "Azumanga Recycle"...time for me to haul out my dictionaries... |
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tangytangerine
 Posts: 439 |
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Weird timing that I just started buying the manga & DVDs of this series earlier this week. I have to say that is probably the easiest of the 4-koma shows anyone could get into. Unlike Lucky Star, this one keeps the humor simple without obscure references you have to check every minute or so.
I haven't checked the Yen Press one out, but it sounds like that's what the article took as the source. Because the part mentioning one of the students asking Yukari to talk to a foreigner is different. In the ADV version it's someone speaking german that she runs away from, not english. But it looks like from few lines being altered, there's not much difference. |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14889 |
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Bring back Sunday comics!
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Lightning Leo
Posts: 311 Location: Earth |
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Azumanga Daioh is an excellent series of quirky vignettes, I can pick it up anytime and enjoy it off the bat. It really lets the characters come alive into their own, at their own pace and on their own terms, without over-objectifying or pigeonholing them into staid, stereotypical fetish shells. Most of all it's a lighthearted, silly slice-of-life romp fashioned in a smart way, never missing a beat of tasteful hilarity from beginning to end. I highly recommend it, I've got my huge ADV omnibus happily tucked away in my collection waiting to be re-read.
Not sure I could warm up to the accent Yen Press seems to have given Osaka, though... it may convey a similarly unlettered, bumpkin disposition as the original, but there are unavoidable nuances a Southern drawl carries that I'd find difficult to overlook. It makes her sound like a Bible-belt Dixie belle or a farmer's daughter, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but definitely colors the perception of the character in a manner somewhat inconsistent with the original. Translation is an unforgiving mistress! @FullTilt - That's a great story. I find whenever I get sick, there's nothing quite as comforting as watching some classic anime or reading some good manga, after a good bowl of chicken soup or hot cocoa. @enurtsol - Sunday comics sure ain't what they used to be... there are plenty of good webcomics out there worth reading, though. |
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prime_pm
 Posts: 2372 Location: Your Mother's Bedroom |
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My long-time favorite anime and manga! As should be apparent from looking to the left. I'd like them to bring over the special editions they did in Japan featuring the "lost chapters."
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