Azumanga Daioh is still worth watching

This may be a weird post, but I’ve been watching Azumanga Daioh here and there over the past week and it’s been great. It’s one of those comfort shows that I’ll never binge, but I’ll always be in the mood to watch an episode of.

The way I came across this one is strange. I’m a big fan of Yotsuba, a manga by Kiyohiko Azuma. I had seen the omnibus for Azumanga Daioh at book stores here and there (I like going to physical stores for manga. I’m weird) and always meant to check it out, but just haven’t yet. I stumbled across a DVD of the show at a secondhand store. Apparently Azuma wasn’t a big fan of the anime, but I was willing to check it out. I actually still haven’t gotten that omnibus yet, but it’s more tempting every time I see it.

For those wondering what this series is, from what I understand, Azumanga Daioh is like THE progenitor of high school anime as we know it today, or at least its prominence in the Western anime culture. I mention this after my story of how I found it to emphasize this show’s impact versus how it’s seen today. It’s only after stumbling upon that DVD that I began to see it everywhere, specifically mentioned by the kinds of people who watched anime back in the late 90s and early 2000s but whose interest in the medium has waned since.

As for how the show itself holds up today, it’s a lot of fun. The show’s aged, but only in the sense that it’s easy to forget one of the show’s main draws was its surreal humor when later anime, such as Nichijou, make it look everyday in comparison. I don’t know if it’s the show itself or the legacy that’s followed it, but while things can get wacky, the show is overall fairly chill and laid back. It’s honestly probably more in line with modern-day slice of life anime as opposed to gag comedy.

The characters of Azumanga Daioh are also pretty great. The only one who doesn’t work for me is the perverted teacher character, as that humor has never landed for me (at least he’s not in too much of the show). My favorite is probably Osaka though. Her scenes usually end up the most surreal and her personality works the best with it. There are just no thoughts going on in her brain and it’s always great. For a show filled with otherwise typical characters for this kind of show, I can’t think of many examples like Osaka or at least ones that have done it as well.

The look of the show may turn some people off from it though. The colors are dull and desaturated, and to my knowledge, there’s no official means to watch the show in high definition. The animation is also fairly lacking, but they use that for some good gags. It’s not as deliriously overproduced as Nichijou, but it channels its more stilted look into some great moments.

Obviously, the entire [“OH MY GAH”](https://youtu.be/UnktCDi-BVs?si=rX3bQjZwrBgvWOFA) scene is fucking gold. Just know most of the show isn’t on the same level of surreal.

This is a show that barely gets mentioned at all in the current anime community, and I wanted to shine a spotlight on it. It’s a cute little show that deserves more of a place in the discussion around anime. I don’t think I like it as much as Nichijou, but that’s mainly because I’ve just spent so much time with Nichijou that I’m just on its wavelength more. I don’t even particularly like a lot of slice of life high school shows, but I think this one is worth checking out.

by willrsauls