Azumanga Daioh, Volume 1

I had read this series before when I was a kid, but revisiting it I think I have a lot greater appreciation for the subtleties of the humor now than then. There were a lot of parts of this that made me laugh super hard, and if I'm being honest most of them were Osaka's lines, I didn't remember anything about her character from the first read through but I think this time she was definitely the funniest, if not my favorite. It's kind of hard to keep track of the characters the first time around, cuz they all have the same face and so you basically have to use hairstyles to tell them apart, but that gives the series high re-read value cuz at this point I'm very familiar with all of them. Sakaki was always my favorite because she's so show more relatable, but honestly so much of this comic is so frank and candid about feminist topics i'm almost surprised it was written by a man. I say almost because the worst part of this were Mr Kimura's parts, I don't really think that he added anything and it's terrifying the way his character normalizes straight up pedophilia. So that's a MAJOR detractor from this series. To end on a positive note though, something I didn't remember as a kid was all the sapphic subtext (or more than subtext!!) between Ms. Yukari/Ms. Kurosawa, and Sakaki/Kaorin. It was cool how much of a non-issue it was, and I can't see books written in 2021 putting lesbian representation in without the author smugly patting themselves on the back for it. So that was absolutely a breath of fresh air! Reading this brought back so many nostalgic feelings and I'm excited to revisit the rest. show less

Cute and funny stories about a group of girls in high school. I'm reading these with my almost 11-year-old daughter. Azuma's use of the four-panel strip format gives the story a fast pace yet still allows it to develop beyond a series of gags. Unlike Yotsuba& this series is for older readers and while most of it is very sweet there is a running subplot about a creepy male teacher that's played for laughs.

This series of (mostly) four panel comics follows a group of girls (and some of their teachers) through a year of high school. The four panel format, similar to a newspaper comic, means that you are getting what amounts to a set of popcorn jokes that blend together into a coherent story, with one "deluxe" chapter in the traditional manga format. Some of the jokes fall flat, some are disturbing (one of the teachers readily admits he has a "thing" for high school girls), but the best are laugh out loud funny and may even draw on elements of earlier strips. The art is excellent at conveying feeling, even if sometimes you can't tell who is who. The not-so-good translation may also cause some confusion. While some of the jokes seem very much show more aimed at a male psyche, females won't be off-put, and will probably feel kinship with at least one of the five main girls. An interesting, funny read for those looking for something a little different. show less

I don't care for this series at all so I'm stopping at volume 1. My older son loaned this book to me saying that he really likes the anime of this series, and I should like this manga because it's really silly. I can't keep the characters straight, except for Chiyo-chan. I like her because she reminds me of five-year-old Yotsuba in another series that I like much better by the same author.

I am missing much of the humor in this book. I don't like the four strips down because some of them carry on to other four-strips, and some four-strips stand alone. It's all very confusing to me.

Mr. Kimura is a despicable and creepy character. He's a high school teacher who gets his kicks by hanging around the teenage girls he is supposed to be show more teaching. Ugh!

I have to add here that this series has an extremely high rating and is mostly loved by other readers. Oh. well! show less

One of my favorite manga series, Azumanga Daioh is absolutely hilarious. It is mostly four panel comics but they all link into an overal storyline that is not only fun but touching.

love it! love it! love it!!! it's more of a western style comic strip than the rest! so perverted!!! my favorite part is when the students ask their teacher why he became a teacher... and he starts crying and yells "because of the teenager girls! i love em!!!" fucking brilliant!!!

It had some cute moments,some funny moments but in the end got so repetive I couldnt see myself reading the rest of the series.