Ask John: What is Azumanga Daioh?

Question:
What is “Azumanga Daioh?” I hear it is one of the anime in Japan currently. I find the humour very much to my liking. But apparently the TV series currently being shown in Japan is actually the third piece of animation to be produced. Can you tell me more about the Azumanga Daioh Movie and the Azumanga Web Daioh please? Oh, and where can I purchase them?

Answer:
Azuma Kiyohiko’s “4-komi” (4 panel) comic strip Azumanga Daioh premiered in Dengeki Daioh Magazine in February 1999 and was collected into 4 best-selling manga volumes between February 2000 and June 2002. The story achieved popular success in Japan due to its witty writing and entertaining characters. In the truest sense, Azumanga Daioh is a character driven story. It begins with the introduction of a half dozen Japanese high school girls and their classmates and teachers, and follows their lives through their high school graduation. The story has little classical “action” and only the most minimal continuing story. Repeated sight gags and evolving characterization serve to express “story” development. Azumanga’s charm is its pure simplicity and its subtle reversal of expectations. Simple things like uncoordinated girls trying to play volleyball; taking pride in excelling at something, even if that something is failure; odd and eccentric characters, and occasional fantasy daydreams turn everyday occurrences into memorable, charming, and heartwarming comedy.

Azumanga Daioh was first adapted into animation in a 3 minute long vignette titled Azumanga Web Daioh, released to streaming internet broadcast in Japan on December 28, 2000. The following year many of the running gags of the manga, including Kaorin’s crush on Sakaki, Osaka’s obsession with Chiyo’s pigtails, and the “idiot team,” were summarized in a 5 minute long Azumanga Daioh motion picture, released with the Di-Gi-Charat movie, Slayers Premium movie, and Sakura Taisen movie in December 2001. Then on April 8, 2002, the 26 episode Azumanga Daioh TV series premiered on late night Japanese television. Each episode of the anime TV series consists of 5 roughly five minute scenes. While most Japanese TV networks that air the series broadcast one weekly episode every Monday night, the Japanese Sky PerfecTV satellite television network splits up the show and airs one of the five minute segments each weekday.

The Azumanga Web Daioh episode and movie are not available on home video in Japan. The first volume of TV episodes has been scheduled for Japanese release on VHS and DVD on September 25th.

Since the premier of the TV series, the show has reached American fandom and has quickly become a cult hit among American fans. However, there hasn’t been any confirmed word of plans for an official American release yet. It’s questionable how marketable the series may be in America. The Azumanga Daioh animation has already proven its potential as sleeper cult hit among hardcore fans, but the wealth of Japanese cultural references and word jokes in the show make it less than easily accessible to mainstream viewers. And it may be difficult to market the title to mainstream consumers and retailers when, in a nutshell, the show is simply no more exciting or sensationalistic than the daily lives of a half dozen Japanese high school girls.