Azumanga Daioh

Back in 1999, mangaka Kiyohiko Azuma would create a four-panel comic strip (yonkoma) known as “Azumanga Daioh”. A series that would earn its place as one of the fan favorites worldwide for its slice of life and delightful storyline may it be through the manga or anime series, Yen Press will be re-releasing the collected manga as a 672-page omnibus featuring newer translations (different from the ADV Manga release) and translation notes.The yonkama was featured in MediaWorks’ Dengeki Daioh shonen manga magazine from 1999 to 2002 and the storyline focuses on the lives of several female high school students during their three years in high school before graduating. The story tends to feature a school year, may it be the school sports competition, the field trip amongst friends, friends sleeping over each other’s home, friends talking in class or their thoughts about the teachers or how the teachers feel about them.But also panels featuring on each member as Tomo irritates everyone, Sakaki wanting to get close to a neighborhood cat that continually bites her, Chiyo wanting to fit in with her fellow students who are older, Osaka having the wildest imagination and more!JUDGMENT CALL:Prior to reading “Azumanga Daioh”, I watched the anime series which I absolutely loved!Years later, I ended up reading the omnibus and for the money, nearly 700 pages for the price is magnificent. It probably took me about a month and half, off-and-on to read as it is one of those stories that you can read quickly but you want to savor the enjoyment of the series by reading several of the four-panels per day.While there are some chapters that are in manga-like format, the majority of all pages feature a four panel storyline and I can’t help but laugh and just enjoy this magnificent series for its quirky characters.Each have their own charm in their own type of way. Chiyo Mihama is a child prodigy that looks like she has two pigtails attached to her and because she is younger and smart but not as athletic, she is often teased by the older students and put into situations where she is made to look cute but is unaware if she’s being taken for a ride or not. Her naivety and her kind nature makes her a fun character.Sakaki is the tall, athletic student with a hidden soft side. Her love for cats is quite huge and it’s something she doesn’t discuss with others. But as she tries to get close to cats, the keep biting her for some reason.And while I enjoyed every character for their certain personalities, the person that bewilders me and that is why I consider her my favorite is Osaka. She is so unusual, naive and your absolute airhead. Whenever she speaks, you know that only hilarious things come from her mouth.In one strip, she believes that she will pass her college entrance exam if she can break off a chopstick evenly. Each time she does it, she fails and thus, she thinks she will fail her test. Until Chiyo teaches her how.She and also Sakaki have unusual dreams of Chiyo’s father, which looks like an alien cat creature. It’s not really mentioned why the two have these unusual dreams but they are hilarious when they do have them and Chiyo’s father in alien cat form shows up.And then you have the Kimura the pervert who says the most perverted things to his class at the wrong moments or the teachers Yukari and Nyamo often engaged in arguments or some competition, with Yukari nearly as bad as Tomo.But there are so many wonderful but quick four-panel strips in this omnibus. At nearly 700 pages, its thicker than my telephone books and for an omnibus, it’s the largest size that I have ever seen.It’s important to note that while the manga is the same as the ADV Manga release in terms of storyline, the primary difference is the translations and added translation notes and color pages plus an index. So, in many ways, this version is much better for those who want to know more about the Japanese wording featured in the manga series. For example, when the group goes to Okinawa to eat Saataa andagii, at the end of the chapter, one can look it up and find out what it is.The older ADV omnibus is a little taller by half an inch and there is translation notes but not as in detail as the one featured in the Yen Press version.There is a good amount of translation notes that will make those who want to learn about Japanese culture, worth their while.With that being said, in terms of translations, I think it will be subjective. This will be the case with the character of Osaka. In this manga series, it seems that the goal was to make Osaka seem she came from the country by using “ah’m” instead of “I’m”, instead of “I”, it’s typed as “ah” and instead of “them”, she says “‘em”. For me, I don’t think it was necessary to go that far. I do understand the translator trying to show the difference between Kanto and Kansai speakers but while different dialects, it’s almost like comparing someone from California and someone else from Alabama. The Southern twang in my opinion was not necessary. But I can see why it was done, so it’s subjective.And for the most part, not everyone is going to buy both omnibus, so if you were going to purchase the “Azumanga Daioh: Omnibus”, it’s a great value for something this big at $25. And the added translation notes and index make it worth owning even more. But with that being said, the ADV Manga was still good sans the translation notes and because it was released several years ago, that version can be found used for a cheaper price.Otherwise, the Yen Press release of “Azumanga Daioh” is fantastic!An enjoyable series cool and hilarious characters, “Azumanga Daioh” is a manga series that is worth reading. And for its price and its delightful, fun storyline, “Azumanga Daioh: The Omnibus” deserves a 5-star ranking! Highly recommended!

Azumanga Daioh follows the day-to-day adventures of a group of Japanese high school girls. There is the brash and excitable Tomo Takino, the tall, soft-spoken cat lover Sakaki, the ten-year-old prodigy Chiyo Mihama, the Osakan transfer student Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga, and the straight man Yomi Mizuhara. Starting in the second year, this group is joined by the athletic Kagura. They are joined by their inattentive English teacher Yukari. The overall story, told in four volumes that are all collected in this omnibus, follows them through their three years of high school and everyday life.Unlike many others who probably read this after seeing the anime adaptation, I had only seen a few clips of the show on YouTube prior to giving this a read. Having gone into this mostly blind, I was pleasantly surprised by this manga and its humor.Azumanga Daioh originally ran in Japan from 1999 to 2002. At its core, it is a yonkoma-style manga which refers to a style of storytelling in which each strip is told in four panels.I found that the artwork in this book was quite good and worked well for the story it is telling. Certainly, the premise of the manga focusing on high school life means that the settings, characters, and backgrounds take on a rather pedestrian look, but it still comes off as good. I especially liked the artwork on the various characters. Befitting the comedy genre, many characters have over-the-top expressions that add to the humor. The great artwork really helps to add to the characterizations from the quiet and reserved nature of Sakaki to the loud-mouthed Tomo.The story and the characters in Azumanga Daioh are great. There is no particular overall story other than the overarching march of time as the girls go through high school over three years. Rather the format is more as a series of vignettes with the longest story arcs taking place over several strips. As stated above, most of this is just the stories of the ordinary with a healthy amount of goofiness. Some examples of the stories found in this include stressing over tests, Sakaki trying (and failing) to get along with the cats that she loves so much, school trips and vacations, and so on.The characters are another strong point with this manga as well. All of the characters are very likable and entertaining. While each of them has their own personality and quirks, they each have their own level of cluelessness to them which really adds to the humor of the story as they sometimes stumble through life.If it is not already obvious, the greatest strength of this manga is its sense of humor. It is a comedy series after all and I found this to be absolutely hilarious. The four-panel format is used very effectively throughout the series to tell rapid-fire jokes. I cannot even begin to count how many times I laughed out loud while reading through this. I was surprised at how many jokes are made while also not veering into, say, blatant fanservice at all. It really is the type of comedy that can be enjoyed by teens and adults for its general hilarity.Also included with this edition is a series of footnotes explaining some of the more cultural aspects that may not always be apparent to a non-Japanese reader. These work well to help the reader understand some Japanese cultural aspects that are inherent in the story.Overall, I found this manga to be an incredibly enjoyable read. It is certainly to be considered one of the defining works of the genre consisting of the everyday lives of schoolgirls and would go on to form one of the staples of anime. Even if you have never watched the anime, this is a great read for anyone that likes manga in particular and comics in general especially for those that like comedy works.

It provides a large amount of content, the most I have seen for being only 20 dollars. It is very funny, with its format like a funny comic. If you are looking for a funny/slice of life manga with lots of content, this is for you. Overall, great character, good value, one of my favorites.

awesome book very funny very cute just as good as the anime also comes in good quality

I had a not so wonderful experience with this item the first time. I bought it used, in Very Good condition I believe. When it arrived, I was extremely excited; Yotsubato! is one of my favourites, so I was really looking forward to reading this one. Alas, the condition of the volume itself wasn't fantastic, it had some weird stains and what looked like crayon on the front. But I was willing to overlook it to avoid the hassle of sending it back. So I went and sat down to read, and I barely make it 20 pages in before I notice one's been ripped out. I was extremely upset, but it was just one of the art pages they put in between some of the stories, and I decided so great was my desire to avoid sending it back that I could overlook that as well. But before I was to page 60, I found an actual page of content ripped out. So anyways, I ended up sending it back. I read it elsewhere in the meantime, and really enjoyed it. So a while ago, I decided to go again. I ordered a new copy, and this one is in great condition. The series itself is fantastic, and this seems to be a good translation. And the price was not too bad, considering it has the equivalent of 4 volumes of manga in it.

I honestly don't believe I could say anything that hasn't already been said by other reviewers. Really, go read them.Anyways, this manga could easily be summarized as "cute girls doing cute things", because that's all there is to it. Azumanga Daioh chronicles the life of a group of Japanese schoolgirls as they make their way through high school. Yomi, the straight man, Tomo, the hyper goofball, Sasaki, an intimidating girl who's outer appearance contains her sweet nature, Kagura, a competitive sportsman, Osaka, an airheaded transfer student, and Chiyo, a 10-year-old child prodigy, as well as their teachers the child-like Yukari, and their gym-teacher Nyamo.There's no overarching plot for the manga, as its delivered through gags in the form of yokoma, a 4-panel strip that could be compared to the Western Sunday Funnies. For the most part, Azumanga Daioh keeps a light-hearted humor that everyone can appreciate, although there might be times where it jumps into questionable territory, especially with the side-characters Kaorin, a girl with a huge crush on Sasaki, and Kimura, a teacher with an affinity for high school girls. Other stories include the bizarre dreams of our students.I have to warn anyone who buys this that a lot of the humor is intended for the Japanese, and although the translators did an amazing job at bringing this to the masses, some gags and jokes may simply go over our heads. This is properly handled, however, in that after each volume (the book is a compilation of 4 volumes), there's translator notes fully explaining the jokes and gags that Westerners may have a hard time understanding. Even if some of the humor doesn't get you, it's still worth going over eveyrthing, if only to appreciate the adorable and simplistic art-style Azumanga Daioh has to offer.As I said before, I may not be able to do this product justice, as the other reviewers have already done a great job at it. All I can say is that Azumanga Daioh is timeless, and it's an amusing read no matter how many times one goes through it. Due to it's plotless format, one can sit down, open any page, and get a kick out of it. From the moments you get introduced to our colorful characters, to the tear-jerking finale, Azumanga is a must-read for most, if not all, manga fans. I'm sure even people who have no interest in anime could learn to appreciate the book.

Fantastic book

I bought the book for my daughter for her to share with her Asian club at high school, but I read it myself to mark sure the content was appropriate. It is a very nice collection of daily comic strips about a group of girls and their journey through high school. As far as I am concern, it was very appropriate for any junior high student on up though it is intended for young girls (it may even be considered lame by today standards).The book provide some wonderful insights, plenty of laughs, and the wish for memories like these.

Pas aussi bien que yotsuba&! mais reste dans mon top 5 manga/anime

Tutto bene.

Me hace muy feliz ser poseedor de esta obra. Es comicamnete grande, son como 4 tomos en 1. Lo único malo que puedo decir es que vino maltratado por la paquetería, pero muy poco destacable y algo que tomar en consideración es que este manga apesta a papel periódico por alguna razón, por lo demás todo muy bien

Having the whole azumanga daioh in one book is great, the front and back cover have a nice finish to themThe whole book isn't overly big either for the full manga so it can fit on a shelf or in a draw pretty easily as is great for when you want some light reading if your a fan of the series

Having really enjoyed the anime series, I figured I should probably get the manga, and when I saw the omnibus edition being re-released, I didn't have any hesitations buying it.Firstly, I'll say that the release date on this page is wrong. It was released December '09, not February '10. I was pleasantly surprised to have it delivered to me about two months earlier than I was expecting to have it.Secondly, I'll say that there's a lot more book than I was expecting for the price. I know it's an omnibus and 600 pages, but I wasn't quite expecting it to be as chunky as it was. Given the standard price of manga volumes, this is very good value for money in terms of quantity.It's also excellent value for money in terms of quality. It's just as funny, if not more so, than the TV series. The characters are portrayed really well, and Azuma does a great job of bringing the reader into the manga and connecting the reader emotionally with the characters. As with his Yotsuba&! series, it's extremely funny, and it's a really great book to have for a little bit of light-hearted humour every day. You can really just open it at a random page, read for a a few minutes, and find yourself laughing out loud and in a good mood for the next few hours.Must-buy for anyone who enjoys the anime series and doesn't already own the manga, and I'd strongly recommend it to anyone who wants a bit of humour and isn't put off by the cutesy appearance, because this is definitely funny for adults and not aimed at children.