"Azumanga daiô" (2002) TV series

User Rating:

9.1/10   

Director:

Nishikiori Hiroshi

Seasons:

1

Genre:

Animation | Comedy

Tagline:

School goes crazy

Plot:

A humorous and highly unpredictable animated series following a group of high school girls and their teachers.

Plot Keywords:

High School | Love | Manga | Friendship | Emotionally Vulnerable

Cast

Tomoko Kaneda	...	Chiyo Mihama (26 episodes, 2002)
Yuki Matsuoka	...	Ayumu Kasuga / ... (26 episodes, 2002)
Chieko Higuchi	...	Tomo Takino (26 episodes, 2002)
Rie Tanaka	...	Koyomi Mizuhara / ... (26 episodes, 2002)
Yu Asakawa	...	Sakaki (26 episodes, 2002)

(more)

Series Directed by
Hiroshi Nishikiori		(26 episodes, 2002)
Nishikiori Hiroshi		(unknown episodes)

Series Writing credits
Kiyohiko Azuma		(26 episodes, 2002)
Tomoyasu Okubo		(4 episodes, 2002)
Ichiro Okouchi		(3 episodes, 2002)
Aya Yoshinaga		(2 episodes, 2002)

Series Produced by
John Ledford	....	executive producer (unknown episodes)
Mark Williams	....	executive producer (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
Masaki Kurihara		(unknown episodes)

Series Art Direction by
Chikako Shibata		(unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
Cesar Inserny	....	sound designer / sound mixer (26 episodes, 2002)
Yota Tsuruoka	....	sound (unknown episodes)

Series Animation Department
Takashi Wada	....	animation director (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Carole Pavlik	....	production assistant (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• J.C. Staff

Distributors

• ADV Films (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• King Record Co. (2002) (Japan) (video)
• TV Tokyo (2002) (Japan) (TV)
• Universum Film (UFA) (2006) (Germany) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Azumanga Daioh" (International: English title)

Runtime:

Japan:24 min (26 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-PG | Germany:12 (episodes 1-7, 20-26) | Germany:6 (episodes 8-14) | Germany:o.Al. (episodes 15-19) | New Zealand:PG | South Korea:12 | Australia:PG | Canada:PG | UK:12 (part 1) | UK:PG (part 2) | Australia:MA

Company:

J.C. Staff

Trivia:

The family names of Yukari and Nyamo are Tanizaki and Kurosawa respectively. Junichiro Tanizaki was one of the major writers of modern Japanese literature, while Akira Kurosawa was a highly respected and extremely influential motion picture director.

Quotes:

[Osaka has hiccups that won't go away]
Koyomi Mizuhara: From what I seem to recall, hiccups happen because something is convulsing.
Chiyo Mihama: Yeah, that's it! Spasms in the diaphragm.
Ayumu 'Osaka' Kasuga: Where's the diaphragm?
Chiyo Mihama: It's right underneath your lungs.
Tomo Takino: [Figuring she can help out] Riiiiiiiiight... here!
[punches Osaka in the gut]
Chiyo Mihama: Hey! Th-that's the solar plexus!

Movie Connections:

Follows Azumanga daioh (2001)

Soundtrack:

Soramimi Cake

2002's best comedy series came from Japan

Azumanga Daioh (Hiroshi NISHIKIORI, 2002) (based on Kiyohiko AZUMA's comic strip of the same name)

Take the fundamental sweetness of the best of the "Peanuts" TV specials, mix it with the whacked out humor of "Calvin and Hobbes", add in some stylistic homages to Isao Takahata's films (the memory scenes of "Only Yesterday" and his neglected 1999 masterpiece "Our Neighbors the Yamadas") -- and you have anything but a routine anime series. (It also reminds me a bit of the quirky short-lived TV series "Square Pegs" from many years ago). The show follows the lives of seven girls (including one 10 year old genius who skipped middle school) and three teachers (two highly dysfunctional, one _mostly_ sane) through all three years of high school (that's how the system works in Japan). This is mostly side-splittingly funny, though it managed to evoke a few furtive tears before it ended. The characters are everything in this virtually plotless traversal of three years of school (and vacations). Although this series runs for 26 episodes, it ends all too quickly -- I was far from weary of the charming and loveable characters portrayed here. (The best term to describve the show is, of course, Japanese -- "kawai" which means not only ultra-cute but very loveable). This show was immensely popular in Japan, and has recently been licensed for release in the USA (thank you ADV).