Azumanga Daioh Omnibus

Someone recently asked a group I'm in for anime recommendation. I replied, "If you haven't seen Azumanga Daioh, you haven't lived." The same applies to the manga, if not more so. Azumanga Daioh, or "AzuD" as my friend and I referred to it, is the story of a group of high school friends, told almost entirely in 4koma, or 4 panel comic strips. Many people's reactions to things like "manga about high school girls" would be a sigh, or a comment like "What super powers do they have?", but the girls of
Azumanga Daioh are different. They are completely normal. As someone who was once a high school girl, I find this is actually the closest anything comes to representing me and my friends. Azumanga Daioh is a comedy series, and there are jokes show more that still make me laugh every time, despite having read them 10 times. I feel like these girls are my friends as well, and Azumanga Daioh is just a great series all around. Even if you aren't into manga, I would still whole-heartedly recommend Azumanga Daioh to anyone. A funny, cute, light read, Azumanga Daioh is probably my favourite manga of all time. show less

“Azumanga Daioh” is not deep, thought provoking, or complex. However it challenges the reader in the best way possible. It challenges them not to laugh till they cry.
“Azumanga Daioh” is about friendship, growing up, and living with a “all cats bite me” disability. The jokes come fast, loud, and often in this 4-panel compendium work. It is not subtle but it is all the merrier for it. The format helps this rush of gut-busters. Most of the gags are a few panels in a small story that leads up to a punch line. This keeps the pace brisk and even though some of the jokes don’t land, another one is always only moments away.

The characters are the heart amid the insanity. Though none of them are too layered and most of the show more backstory we get are asides and inferences, they are a blast to follow. The enjoyment is in their personalities and the wonderful hi-jinks they get each other into. Whether its surviving a teacher’s spectacularly bad driving or the warfare of “field day” how the characters interact in the ever-change landscape of high school is endearing and nostalgic. Some of the characters can be annoying, but they are balanced out by the other characters who either act as foils to them or show just how ridiculous they are. This manga is a prime example of using a cast of personalities to its fullest.

The art is also well-done. The jokes land because of Kiyohiko Azuma's excellent use of physical comedy and framing. The characters fly off the panels, their kinetic energy and personalities apparent in every line. The reactions are the right amount on the over-the-top scale and the art changes from complex to simple erratically but is expressive in all the right places. Azuma is a master of knowing how far to go and how best to display a joke.

This manga is not without its inconsistencies. Like those old Garfield cartoons, the main draw is following the characters over time. The author creates the illusion that the characters are real, no matter how absurd they act. That means that occasionally, for the sake of a gag, we don't get to follow them on. After some punchlines, you might be left wondering what happens next. There are no distracting subplots and the action is contained to a limited area, but like stage plays, the props and repeated scenery are used well.

It is always about surviving high school and the craziness of certain friendships. This is obviously aimed at fans of lighthearted comedy of the teenage variety. But I hope readers will keep an open mind and remember that doom and gloom are not the only intellectually stimulating literary ingredients. I enjoy artists and writers who know how to take simple situations and find the heart and beauty in them. Grounding this over-the-top comedy is a sense of reality we can all relate to.

“Azumanag Diaoh” is not an existential work of genius, but it doesn’t have to be. Its only concern is entertainment and at this it succeeds. It is a safe avenue for those unfamiliar with manga tropes. While it has many of the usual Japanese comic quirks, the more esoteric references one might find in other titles are largely absent. Anyone interested in physical comedy, comic strips like Calvin and Hobbs and those wishing to refresh their brain after something difficult will find joy between these pages. Then they will split their seams like a teddy bear being hugged too tightly.

Interestingly, Azuma is still writing a subtle, hauntingly beautiful work in the same vein called Yotsuba! (14 volumes). The level of sophistication is still low but the characters are masterful. A must-read if you enjoyed this. show less

I first read Azumanga Daioh back when it was released in four volumes by ADV Manga. Although I had fond memories of it, I probably wouldn’t have gotten Yen Press’s omnibus edition if I hadn’t spotted it in the midst of a “going out of business” sale shopping frenzy. Happily, it made for a really nice reread, even though the ending didn’t affect me quite as strongly this time around.

Azumanga Daioh is a comedy series consisting primarily of 4-panel comic strips. It doesn’t really have what I’d call a plot. Instead, it follows the high school years of several girls in the same class from beginning to end, as well as the daily lives of some of their teachers. A few of the characters:

- Sakaki: A cool-looking, quiet, and show more athletic girl who secretly loves animals and other cute things.
- Chiyo: An adorable and smart 10-year-old who skipped a few grades.
- Yomi: A girl who worries too much about her weight, but who also doesn’t let that stop her from eating the foods she loves.
- Tomo: An energetic and annoying girl who tends to do things without thinking them through first.
- Osaka: A transfer student who has a weird way of viewing the world and tends to live life at a slower pace than everyone else around her.
- Kaorin: A girl with a huge crush on Sakaki.
- Yukari: The class’s homeroom teacher. She’s so immature and lazy that it’s surprising she hasn’t been fired.
- Kurosawa (aka Nyamo): The physical education teacher, and Yukari’s best friend.

The strips deal with everything from lunch, to hay fever, to several students’ bizarre dreams. It’s pretty light-hearted and fluffy throughout, although there’s one male teacher who’s extremely creepy.

I enjoyed revisiting this series. The humor didn’t always work for me, but there were still lots of moments that made me laugh out loud. My absolute favorite character was Sakaki, who wanted to become a veterinarian and who dreamed of one day moving out of her parents’ house so that she could have a pet cat (her mom was allergic). Unfortunately, she seemed doomed to be hated by the animals she loved - every time she approached a cat it bit her. However, one of the nice things about this series was that the situations and jokes evolved. Sakaki encountered a couple animals that didn’t hate her, and one of the loveliest moments in the series involved Sakaki meeting an animal who loved her and who she’d be able to live with after graduation (you just have to ignore a few things, like the animal technically being wild).

My other favorite character was Chiyo. She was not only ridiculously cute, she was also a good friend and supportive classmate. It was via Chiyo that Sakaki got to meet the first animal that didn’t hate her. I also loved her various ways of wishing her classmates good luck during their college entrance exams.

Things occasionally got a little weird, what with the dreams about Chiyo’s pigtails and her “father” (a weird and kind of creepy cat thing), but I still loved most of it. The things I could have done without: Yomi’s constant worrying about her weight, the moments when Chiyo’s cat-thing “father” turned vaguely threatening, and creepy Kimura-sensei and his love for teen girls wearing gym shorts or swimsuits. I felt a little bad for Kaorin. Not only did she get separated from Sakaki later on in the series, she also ended up in Kimura’s class (and then he took a shine to her, ew). While it was nice that she got a post-graduation picture with Sakaki, her crush on Sakaki was so obvious that it would have been even better if she’d been given a chance to tell Sakaki how she felt. ::sigh::

Well, complaints aside, I enjoyed revisiting this series. There’s a warmth to it that just sort of creeps up on you. I particularly liked the very end, as everyone prepared to go their separate ways, and the sweet little “You belong” drawings.

Extras:

- Translation notes. These were located at the end of every volume in the omnibus. I really wish they had all been put at the end of the omnibus instead - I hated having to hunt for the right translation notes section, especially since the notes were pretty helpful.

- An index. I can’t imagine ever using this, since it’s only helpful if you remember the title of a particular strip.

- Full-color pages at the beginnings of each of the four volumes.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

I'm not entirely sure that I understand the appeal of this series. I suppose I can see why it's popular - the caricatures that comprise the main cast has something for everyone and in addition to several lovable, cute girls, it's often funny, too. But just knowing why the elements that help its popularity doesn't let me understand the appeal for myself.

I was utterly bored when I saw an episode of the anime adaptation, and when I saw a few of the 4-koma in isolation, I had no desire to read more, so I never went out of my way to read the full Azumanga Daioh series until now, when I had the chance to read the omnibus version without exerting any effort to obtain it. I probably would not have even opened the cover, except that I have show more enjoyed Yotsuba&! so much and grew hopeful that maybe Azumanga Daioh was equally good.

It isn't.

It's not a bad series, but it is uneven, and it swiftly devolved into a Pink Shoujo Ghetto (thanks for the phrase, TV Tropes). Some of the characters, such as loud-mouthed Tomo and idiot teacher Yukari, wore very thin within the first few chapters, while others I had trouble telling apart - in retrospect, I think that I probably thought many of the appearances of Kaori, Tomo, and the athletic girl (Kugara? Mugara?) were from the same person, unless they were in the panel together.

I'm glad that the series had the constraint of being told only within the three years that the girls are in high school, because two chapters of about 20 strips for each month was more than enough. Of the three characters that I liked the most (Chiyo-chan, Sakaki, and Osaka), two of them were more-or-less combined into Yotsuba, who is a much more interesting and developed character. I think that the traits of Osaka that got transferred also work better in the form of a 5-year-old than in a 17-year-old.

I don't feel that I wasted my time reading Azumangah Daioh. It was entertaining, after all. But I don't have any desire to buy a copy for myself or to one day reread it, the way I do with my Yotsuba&! books. It's probably also good that I at least read it so that I'm more familiar with one of the more popular series.

If you're looking to read it, the Yen Press omnibus is probably the best option, though it's a bit unwieldy. Luckily, because of the 4koma format (4-panel strips), it's not as troublesome as with a series whose format takes the pictures and text right to the edges of the pages. On the other hand, the translation is a bit annoying in that it uses a version of American Southern dialect for Osaka, which means we get "Ah" instead of "I" every time. I don't know if other translations do that, but it's also strange to me because part of what makes Osaka a comedic character is that she's slow and a little bit dumb, but her accent has connotations more like a Bronx or Boston accent, from what I understand. show less

One of the best examples of a completely character driven series ever. It takes a few strips to start to sink it, but if you give it a chance, it really grows on you. The characters are all well drawn (in all senses of the word) and the situations are funny, tender, and insightful. I've read this many times, and always enjoyed it. Highly recommended, though not the best first manga for the unititiated.

Last summer my husband started watching the Azumanga Daioh anime about a group of girls going through high school. The anime was an instant hit with both children. In fact it was our daughter who spotted the Azumanga Daioh Omnibus by Kiyohiko Azuma and insisted that Ian buy it.

This manga is a panel comic, more similar to the traditional North American comic strips. As it has a plot that changes over time, it's most like For Better or Worse. The Omnibus covers all four books, one book for each year of high school.

The youngest girl, the extremely gifted Chiyo-Chan, is elementary school aged but has been bumped to high school. She is by far our favorite character in the series. Along with the developing friendships, there is an on going show more rivalry between the English teacher and PE coach. There is tall Sakaki who wants nothing more than to befriend a neighborhood cat. Then there is a transfer student who is almost immediately nicknamed for her place of origin, Osaka. To show her distinct accent, she's given sort of a southern drawl in the translation (both the omnibus and anime).

Although the book is huge it's a quick read. The four panel format plays for gags and sometimes physical humor. It took me two days to read the book but I probably could have done it in one setting. show less

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer Title: Azumanga Daioh Omnibus Series: Azumanga Daioh Author & Artist: Kiyohiko Azuma Rating: 5 of 5 Stars Genre: Manga Pages: 688 Synopsis: Follows the highschool years of a group of young girls. Slice of Life type manga, with everything from humor to sadness to absolute saccharine sweetness. The majority of the manga is the 4Koma style, ie, 4 single panel drawings one atop the other, which lends itself to very show more brief, intense one shots. However, there are times where Azuma breaks away from this format to tell a slightly more connected story and then you get the typical manga layout. My Thoughts: Loved this, hence the favorite designation. It is light, comedic, fun, easy to digest and just generally a delight to read. The omnibus collection collects all 4 volumes of the original manga and it is one monster book. I read a copy from the library and they used that special reinforcing clear tape on the spine and on the insides of the front and back cover, to keep it from cracking. It seemed to work and if I ever buy this volume, I'd definitely want something like that, as this is just too big for simple glue binding to handle. I have to admit, if you had suggested that I would love a manga [and anime, which I do one, by the way] about highschool girls, I would have been very suspicious of you. But the comedy and lack of angsty pathos made this a series that I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone looking to try out this new fangled fad thingy called manga. The format also lends itself to easing a newb into the whole right to left reading of panels. Good practice for when you're trying to figure out some of those other more complicated series. If you've read Yotsuba&! and liked it, you'll definitely enjoy this ancestor of it. And if you like this, you'll definitely want to read Yotsuba&! next. " show less