View Full Version : Licensed Azumanga Daioh Discussion
luckme10
2004-02-29, 20:23
The great Azumanga diaoh DVD release date by ADV has been set to april 28 the standard dvd are 29.95 USD+tax retail price and dvd 1 with box are 49.95 USD! GET READY GET PUMPED! And if you can't wait that long then check out Yotsuba and! by the same creator Azuma Kiyohiko! Its about this hyper active space cadet little girl. In other words.. chia's cuttness, osaka's absentmindedness and Tomo's Hyperactiveness ALL IN ONE! His brand new manga YOu can download scanlations here!
http://home.nc.rr.com/momotato/yotsubato.html Chapters 8 and 9 have just come out!
BanditKing
2004-02-29, 21:06
The great Azumanga diaoh DVD release date by ADV has been set to april 28 the standard dvd are 29.95 USD+tax retail price and dvd 1 with box are 49.95 USD! GET READY GET PUMPED! And if you can't wait that long then check out Yotsuba and! by the same creator Azuma Kiyohiko! Its about this hyper active space cadet little girl. In other words.. chia's cuttness, osaka's absentmindedness and Tomo's Hyperactiveness ALL IN ONE! His brand new manga YOu can download scanlations here!
http://home.nc.rr.com/momotato/yotsubato.html Chapters 8 and 9 have just come out!
DVD + box is 39.99
link (http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=ADV006322)
How many eps per DVD, does anyone know? And wasn't Azumanga Daioh licensed looooooong ago? :confused: You mean the DVDs are only now coming out?
Go-lytely
2004-03-01, 02:27
How many eps per DVD, does anyone know? And wasn't Azumanga Daioh licensed looooooong ago? :confused: You mean the DVDs are only now coming out?
Yeah, Azu was licensed a little over a year ago. ADV is not as fast as Pioneer or Media Blasters.
BanditKing
2004-03-01, 06:14
Yeah, Azu was licensed a little over a year ago. ADV is not as fast as Pioneer or Media Blasters.
you can't blame them for it since it going to have ADVnote on it.
And wasn't Azumanga Daioh licensed looooooong ago?
As mentioned, just over 10 months ago. Announced at AnimeBoston over the Easter weekend last year (which was 18th April 2003).
So, not really long, near enough one year from being announced to the DVDs being available in the shops. Looking forward to this release :)
StarCreator
2004-03-01, 09:01
you can't blame them for it since it going to have ADVnote on it.
Azumanga will NOT have AD Vid Notes on it. They opted to use printed liner notes.
Vid Notes are only really good for obscure, one-shot cultural gags. Azumanga uses more popular cultural references that you're better off learning about in other ways. That's why the Vid Notes are used for shows like Excel Saga or Abenobashi, but not Azumanga.
There's also no room for complaint with ADV's release schedule, considering they still put out more DVDs total per month than every other anime company combined.
BanditKing
2004-03-01, 10:15
Azumanga will NOT have AD Vid Notes on it. They opted to use printed liner notes.
Vid Notes are only really good for obscure, one-shot cultural gags. Azumanga uses more popular cultural references that you're better off learning about in other ways. That's why the Vid Notes are used for shows like Excel Saga or Abenobashi, but not Azumanga.
There's also no room for complaint with ADV's release schedule, considering they still put out more DVDs total per month than every other anime company combined.
I thought I heard on animeondvd.com that they using it for osaka's word and action.oh well i could be wrong.
I agree with you that there should be no complaint about adv's release schedule.They are release alot more than any other company is release.
I'm not complaining. I was just under the impression that the DVDs were already out. I guess this explains why I haven't been able to find it anywhere yet. :heh: And no one answered my question: how many eps per DVD?
Mr_Paper
2004-03-01, 12:38
Does anyone know if they've dubbed Azumanga Daioh?
I was recently watching the previews on my Abenobashi DVD and
noticed that the Azumanga preview used the original Japanese
dialogue. This has made me rather curious as, to the best of my
knowledge and experience, ADV tends to have any and all dialogue
used in their previews in English. Does anyone know anything about
this?
NOTE: I emailed ADV about this but they haven't been very forthcoming
with a response... Almost a month now.:eyebrow:
Does anyone know if they've dubbed Azumanga Daioh?
I was recently watching the previews on my Abenobashi DVD and
noticed that the Azumanga preview used the original Japanese
dialogue. This has made me rather curious as, to the best of my
knowledge and experience, ADV tends to have any and all dialogue
used in their previews in English. Does anyone know anything about
this?
NOTE: I emailed ADV about this but they haven't been very forthcoming
with a response... Almost a month now.:eyebrow:
Since ADV's releasing this, I'm pretty sure both English dub and original audio will be present. And can someone please change the title of the thread? It's Azumanga Daioh, not Diaoh. (Though Azumanga Diaho would make an interesting Photoshop picture ;))
The latest trailer of the show is dubbed.
It's a six-disc release, so I'm guessing it'll have the same episode count as the Japanese release.
BanditKing
2004-03-01, 15:40
The latest trailer of the show is dubbed.
It's a six-disc release, so I'm guessing it'll have the same episode count as the Japanese release.
From what I heard from the stuido reps is that they planning to do one school year for two disc.That make it six disc(three year)
GreenTze
2004-03-02, 02:15
why sis it suddenly dip in price? it went from $39.99 to $23.99. strange
BanditKing
2004-03-02, 06:32
why sis it suddenly dip in price? it went from $39.99 to $23.99. strange
If you look hard enough you get get it less than that.$23.99 is the online prices and 39.99 is the retailer prices.
So i picked up the april edition of newtype yesterday and much the my delight they have included the first ep of Azumanga Daioh on the dvd with both japanese and english audio tracks. I rushed home and placed the disc in my dvd tray, selected the dubbed version from the menu and prepared for the worst.
It started off pretty badly with the guy who was helping Yukari with her bike chain. He had a terribly annoying voice. Fortunately I waited through that and was pleasently surprised by the rest of the episode. All of the dubbing for the main characters does not suck. In fact it is pretty good.
As many people have been predicting, they have given Osaka a souther accent but fortunately its not like the obnoxious one used for Kitsune in the Love Hina dub. Tomo has a pretty good dub actress who captures her energy perfectly....by far my favourite out of all of them. Chiyos cuteness has made a pretty good transition to english and they even kept her tongue twister scene completely intact. I was worried they would go and use rubber baby buggy bumpers or something but they have actually translated the original japanese one to english without butchering it.
I think ADV realized what they were getting into when they licensed this anime and as a result are putting for more effort into the translation of this series. The end result is an enjoyable localization for north american audiences with only a few cultural references being changed up to this point. I would say it is about as good as it could possibly be and many times better than what i was expecting. I may even rewatch the entire series dubbed.
Please understand that this assessment of the dub is based only on the first episode and i am in no way responsible if they mess it upp after the first 5 eps.
BanditKing
2004-03-20, 12:46
So i picked up the april edition of newtype yesterday and much the my delight they have included the first ep of Azumanga Daioh on the dvd with both japanese and english audio tracks. I rushed home and placed the disc in my dvd tray, selected the dubbed version from the menu and prepared for the worst.
It started off pretty badly with the guy who was helping Yukari with her bike chain. He had a terribly annoying voice. Fortunately I waited through that and was pleasently surprised by the rest of the episode. All of the dubbing for the main characters does not suck. In fact it is pretty good.
As many people have been predicting, they have given Osaka a souther accent but fortunately its not like the obnoxious one used for Kitsune in the Love Hina dub. Tomo has a pretty good dub actress who captures her energy perfectly....by far my favourite out of all of them. Chiyos cuteness has made a pretty good transition to english and they even kept her tongue twister scene completely intact. I was worried they would go and use rubber baby buggy bumpers or something but they have actually translated the original japanese one to english without butchering it.
I think ADV realized what they were getting into when they licensed this anime and as a result are putting for more effort into the translation of this series. The end result is an enjoyable localization for north american audiences with only a few cultural references being changed up to this point. I would say it is about as good as it could possibly be and many times better than what i was expecting. I may even rewatch the entire series dubbed.
Please understand that this assessment of the dub is based only on the first episode and i am in no way responsible if they mess it upp after the first 5 eps.
I agree with you that they choose the wrong VA for Yukari.but everyone else was pretty fited their roles.Chiyo-chan sound perfectly when she do the cooking part.I hope they keep up the good work.
The end result is an enjoyable localization for north american audiences with only a few cultural references being changed up to this point.
How were the subs? Did they change the cultural references there?
BanditKing
2004-03-20, 13:21
How were the subs? Did they change the cultural references there?
I don't know about the sub but I know that in the dvd version there is a 12 page color booklet that talk all about cultural references.So who knows
How did they show Yukari is an english teacher. I think in the manga for a while they showed her as a spanish teacher.
ADV borked up the first volume of the Azumanga Daioh manga...it WAS one of their first forays into something with THAT many cultural references...not to mention one of the first manga they ever did.
they got better at least, the last few pages of the 3rd volume are culture notes
I don't know about the sub but I know that in the dvd version there is a 12 page color booklet that talk all about cultural references.So who knows
I haven't had a chance to check out the subs yet but i will definetly do that today some time and write back letting you know what a i think. I will be using the NLA, Ishin & AF subs as a reference.
Mr_Paper
2004-03-20, 15:58
First I'd like to thank and congratulate Sabin for giving the English an
honest chance and seeing it through to the end of the episode. I know
many people who would have given up on the dub after that one annoying
character. Thank you for an honest and well informed opinion.
Truth be told, I enjoy watching the English dubs. I know some are bad and
make me whince, almost in pain, but there are some that are humorous and
well done. My biggest worry over the Azumanga Daioh dub wasn't over the
quality of the dub itself, I'd watch it anyway, rather I was concerned with
the cultural references. I am throughly gald to hear they weren't changed
or completely removed.
Mr_Paper: here here!
Seriously, dubs have been getting better over the past few years, but people are still stuck in a 1990 sort-of mindset. The people working on them arent always just "faceless ingrates wanting their paycheck forced to read lines for a show they dont care about". Most of them like anime, hence want to do their best. Of course though, nothing is perfect.
But hats off sabin, you were willing to go past the first ten minutes. This is a rarity for most internet anime fans :)
Any chance I can import that copy into the UK?
I'm looking forward to owning the whole series on DVD (may watch it in JPN if it gets unbarable) so I really would like to at least see the first ep.
Any chance I can import that copy into the UK?
I'm looking forward to owning the whole series on DVD (may watch it in JPN if it gets unbarable) so I really would like to at least see the first ep.
A friend of mine in the UK gets newtype at a bookstore but apparently it doesn't come with the DVD since it would be an NTSC disc.
A friend of mine in the UK gets newtype at a bookstore but apparently it doesn't come with the DVD since it would be an NTSC disc.
well, you can buy it at a few places here in leeds and they all sell it with the DVD
Damn you guys are lucky!
I'll have a look in Brighton when I go back but I doubt Canterbury stocks it... :sad:
Could you tell me who the publisher is by any chance?
Mr_Paper
2004-03-22, 11:32
The publisher of NewType USA is ADV.
anthonyxscotland
2004-03-22, 14:14
A friend of mine in the UK gets newtype at a bookstore but apparently it doesn't come with the DVD since it would be an NTSC disc.
I have it on standing order at the local comics shop in Aberdeen, have done now for over 14 months. Got the DVD every time, Region 1 NTSC, works fine on a multi-region player though ^^
Just picked up disc 1 with the box. Comes with two lapel pins. One of Chiyo and another of the black cat that bites Sakaki alot (kameneko i think). Haven't had a chance to watch any of it yet though you can find my thoughuts on the first ep dub that was included with newtype this month a few pages back. The bad news is that i wasn't looking where i was sitting and sat on the box by accident. Good thing i still had the huge chunk of styrofoam that they put in the box for shipping. If only the disc had stil been in there then there would have been no damage at all. :(
Also grabbed disc 6 of super gals. Too bad i was already short on cash before i went and spent all this money.
Huh? What store sent you the disc so early? I thought it wasn't supposed to be out until the 27th, or something.
I have it on order from the Right Stuff, and I see they have it listed as "Reserved for your order", so they must have them in too,.. now if they will just ship it...
I often recive dvds from them a week or two before the release date, so it seems that some shows get shipped out early.
The same for Super Girls #6 & 2, I bought the first disc of that, I wasn't sure if I would like it or not. But I thought it was a very fun and good show, so I ordered the rest of the discs. I now have #'s 3,4, & 5, but no #2. :sad: :mad:
I preordered it through deepdiscountdvd. They sent Kaze no Yojimbo a month early and Narue no Sakai a week early, so maybe Azumanga Daioh will be shipped early too. I hope so!
I just got the box set today. (From Ann Arbor's WizzyWigs, if you were wondering.) I was actually hoping to get Kiddy Grade #2, but it looks like they didn't have that yet.
The booklet in the DVD case has plenty of translation notes. I suspect I'm going to be pausing often and checking up on the references. (At least it seems to be done slightly more professionally than the one for Comic Party, which always gives me the impression that the writers really liked the "Where's Wally" books.)
Kamui4356
2004-04-09, 22:15
Damn you people who preordered. :) I'm going to have to wait until the 27th to get my copy. :sad: Just out of curiosity, what episode does it go up to? I heard the disks will have a strange episode countsince they're dividing it by school years.
BanditKing
2004-04-09, 23:46
if they are following the year it should be
first year=9 ep
second year=10 ep
third year=7 ep
which makes
1st disc = 5 ep
2nd disc = 4 ep
3rd disc = 5 ep
4th disc = 5 ep
5th disc = 4 ep
6th disc = 3 ep
26 ep for 6 disc I say this is pretty good.
I'm not sure what the plan for episode count per disc is, but yeah, the first disc had five episodes. (Up to the first trip to the summer house.)
Incidentally, I didn't pre-order. Just walked into the store and picked up the DVD. ^^ WizzyWigs has a weird release schedule that only seems vaguely related to the one on AnimeOnDVD.
I must say that I am very impressed with the quality of translation. I'm a die-hard sub fan, and this is the very first anime that I watched entirely on the dub track. It sounds as though the Japanese seiyuu were speaking English. Even Kimura-sensei sounded suitably... pervy.
One interesting thing I noticed was that they kind of danced around Yukari being an English teacher. Most of the time, she's referred to as a "language teacher", even if they didn't specify what language.
Also, remember the scene where Yukari converses with the Foreign Guy (and Nyamo watches, confused)? In the original Japanese, he was mostly speaking gibberish (meant to represent complicated English), so they changed it to "blah blah" in the dub. Not that I blame them, of course, but I was interested to see how they would take care of it.
I don't order my anime online so i am able to get it a little faster by actually walking into a store and buying it. Typically the relases listed on animeondvd are just what the publishers tell them though it is never really set in stone. BTW dkellis, you should be bale to get kiddy grade disc 2 by now. I bought it almost three weeks ago already.
Also, if you live in Toronto and are looking for a good place to get anime ahead of schedule you should check out the Game Shack in the atrium on bay at Yonge and Dundas and 1,000,000 comix on Yonge just south of Wellsley. Game Shack is a little cheaper but comix has a much better slection (and a huge selection of manga as well)
BTW dkellis, you should be bale to get kiddy grade disc 2 by now. I bought it almost three weeks ago already.
"Should" is relative. ^^; I don't think they even received it from their supplier yet. Normally I would still be able to see a new disc on the New Rentals shelf even if it was sold out, but they're still advertising Kiddy Grade #1. I'll ask them about it next time.
As for Azumanga Daioh, I get the feeling that it's getting the Mega-Hype treatment. Not complaining, but it presents an interesting scenario.
AvatarADV
2004-04-11, 08:36
Also, remember the scene where Yukari converses with the Foreign Guy (and Nyamo watches, confused)? In the original Japanese, he was mostly speaking gibberish (meant to represent complicated English), so they changed it to "blah blah" in the dub. Not that I blame them, of course, but I was interested to see how they would take care of it.
Well, in the -Japanese- track they had him say "pero pero, pero pero" over and over again, so it's perhaps a better translation there than you think.
But yeah, Shoko's work is as good as you could possibly ask for on this stuff.
Avatar
might have helped on a pun or two
Silver_Scorcher
2004-04-11, 22:40
I don't order my anime online so i am able to get it a little faster by actually walking into a store and buying it. Typically the relases listed on animeondvd are just what the publishers tell them though it is never really set in stone. BTW dkellis, you should be bale to get kiddy grade disc 2 by now. I bought it almost three weeks ago already.
Also, if you live in Toronto and are looking for a good place to get anime ahead of schedule you should check out the Game Shack in the atrium on bay at Yonge and Dundas and 1,000,000 comix on Yonge just south of Wellsley. Game Shack is a little cheaper but comix has a much better slection (and a huge selection of manga as well)
Well, I just got it myself before the Easter weekend as well as Puni Puni Poemy and Abenobashi Vol. 4, from Anime Xtreme in Toronto (On Spadina south of College St.), which is where I get most of my anime and Gundam models. From what they tell me, when it comes to ADV titles, they get them 2 sometimes 3 weeks before the street date release. The titles from other companies come in the day of and sometimes a week after it's supposed to be released. I can't remember getting any titles from Bandai or Geneon coming in earlier than the set date. I guess as long as the store is hooked up with a good distributor, then you can end up getting certain titles before everyone else. Guess there's advantages to living in Canada after all. :)
Thanx for giving out those other locations Sabin :bow: . Before now, I thought that Anime Xtreme, Cyber city comix, and Silver Snail comics were the only good places in Toronto to get anime. I'll definitely check those two out when I get a chance.
The first disc is out on store now, grab your Azumanga DVD. ^^
Mr_Paper
2004-04-29, 11:16
/me is still waiting for his pre-ordered DVD w/ artbox to arrive...
Innotech
2004-05-01, 07:01
I got my copy two days ago. it was definitely worth the wait.
Silver_Scorcher
2004-05-01, 09:57
Who bought Azumanga Daioh with the box? Any idea how many discs it holds? I hope it's 6 and not 7 because recently, I think ADV has stretched out alot of their series unnecessarily. Like FMP. They could have easily done it in 6 volumes (Even 5 if they wanted to), but they stretched it out to 7. Come on! it's 24 eps, and they could have done it in 6 volumes with 4 eps per disc. I hope they don't do the same with Azumanga. I hope Bandit Kings theory about the years in school is right.
Who bought Azumanga Daioh with the box? Any idea how many discs it holds? I hope it's 6 and not 7 because recently, I think ADV has stretched out alot of their series unnecessarily. Like FMP. They could have easily done it in 6 volumes (Even 5 if they wanted to), but they stretched it out to 7. Come on! it's 24 eps, and they could have done it in 6 volumes with 4 eps per disc. I hope they don't do the same with Azumanga. I hope Bandit Kings theory about the years in school is right.
Azumanga is 6 discs. I agree stretching it to 7 is kind of annoying, considering that you know they can fit 5 eps per disc.
Silver_Scorcher
2004-05-01, 10:20
Azumanga is 6 discs. I agree stretching it to 7 is kind of annoying, considering that you know they can fit 5 eps per disc.
Sweet! :) Thanks a lot.
BanditKing
2004-05-01, 12:10
Who bought Azumanga Daioh with the box? Any idea how many discs it holds? I hope it's 6 and not 7 because recently, I think ADV has stretched out alot of their series unnecessarily. Like FMP. They could have easily done it in 6 volumes (Even 5 if they wanted to), but they stretched it out to 7. Come on! it's 24 eps, and they could have done it in 6 volumes with 4 eps per disc. I hope they don't do the same with Azumanga. I hope Bandit Kings theory about the years in school is right.
yea its 6 disc.Yeah last year ADV stretched alot of their title to 7 disc like
Full Metal Panic!(24 ep)
Final Fantasy:Unlimited(but the SRP is $25)(26 ep)
Angelic Layer(26 ep)
RahXephon(26 ep)
but this year they are doing better
Azumanga Daioh 26 ep on 6 disc
Choujuushin Gravion 13 ep on 3 disc(Gonzo series)
Kaleido Star first 26 ep on 6 disc(Gonzo series)
Happy Lesson 13 ep on 3 disc
Nuku Nuku TV 12 ep on 3 disc
Wedding Peach 52 ep on 9 disc(pretty damn good)
BASTof syndrome 26 ep on 6 disc
rumor
Getbacker(at the Anime Boston con ADV rep hint that the first disc of Getbacker will have a high ep count (mostly like 6 ep))
The only exception I can think of is the new Evangelion which they were force to become 7 disc because of extra(and yes the extra are pretty damn big)
Sure hope they kept this up and do 6 disc for Chrno Crusade and Maburaho
luckme10
2004-05-01, 15:51
http://takureihp.hp.infoseek.co.jp/Princess-azumanga.html
Press the start button to start the video
SKoRPioN9x
2004-05-01, 18:20
I saw that a few days ago. It's a great video! I wonder how long it took the creator(s) to make it.
By the way, does anyone know what that song is?
Shinobu_Maehara
2004-05-01, 19:16
There's another one as well, same horible sound quality, same ASCII generator.
These are screen pictures taken from the show mostly run through an ASCII converter and put together.
honestly I don't think it as being " the coolest Azumanga movie." But it's pretty long O.o so i think somebody has been busy for a few days O.o
ARGHHH! That video!! It took me forever to get that song out of my head after I clicked the link somewhere else. Neat video though, I just have to remember not to sing the "Tell me my prince, What can I do for you?" outloud. :heh:
Innotech
2004-05-01, 22:14
Im a bit chuffed about Kiddy Grade being stretched thin to 8 discs too. for 26 eps it takes 8 DISCS?! Screw that! But why did Kiddy Grade have to be so damn fun to watch..now I have to complete it. I might check out Kaleidostar. its a shoujo anime, but I actually enjoyed the change of pace and subjects from other animes in the first episode on the NEWtype disc. I recommend checking it out.
FUNimation's standard is 3 episodes per disc
i remember hearing they lost a lot of money on the Fruits Basket release (which they SHOULD have released AFTER tokyopop began releasing the manga, since it probably would have boosted sales (ADV is using this strategy, mainly with Azumanga Daioh: Build a "new" fanbase with the more economically feasible manga then drop the more expensive anime on them (they seem to be doing this with Chrno Crusade and Full Metal Panic...actually it's the opposite with Full Metal Panic (tho the manga may help sales of FUMOFFU when they license that (c'mon, you know they have the license...they just haven't announced it yet, or if they don't have it, they'll get it)))
Kamui4356
2004-05-02, 00:13
Wow, someone has way too much free time on their hands. Don't these people have school or work or friends or something??? :heh:
boneyjellyfish
2004-05-02, 00:41
Wow, someone has way too much free time on their hands. Don't these people have school or work or friends or something??? :heh:
I think you already know the answer to that.
Ths song is the opening of a bishoujo game, Princess Bride
Ths song is the opening of a bishoujo game, Princess Bride
go figure
the video was pretty funny tho~
TheMongoMania
2004-05-03, 09:55
Man, I am completely obsessed with this song! It's so catchy.
I just want to know how long does it took him to make those pictures and animate them. too amazing. >_<
Mr_Paper
2004-05-03, 14:40
FUNimation's standard is 3 episodes per disc
i remember hearing they lost a lot of money on the Fruits Basket release (which they SHOULD have released AFTER tokyopop began releasing the manga, [...]How were they supposed to do that? There is more than a year difference between the last Fruits Basket DVD coming out and TokyoPop licensing the manga. Or did you want them to sit on it until the manga became licensed? If, at the time, ever?
Ideals are great, but rarely economically feasible.
Soulfang
2004-05-03, 16:39
The song is "Princess Bride!" by KOTOKO.
well, yeah it's an ideal
the execs at funimation probably didn't even know Fruits Basket had a manga
it's just wishful thinking i guess (tho tokyopop even subtly admits that they probably should have picked up the fruits basket manga sooner ^_^)
Mr_Paper
2004-05-03, 17:08
Wow, someone has way too much free time on their hands. Don't these people have school or work or friends or something??? :heh:It's really not that hard to do. With the use of programs such as this one (http://www.imagespro.com/programs/1141/) it only takes a moment to have the ASCII image generated using any image as a source.
I oftentime use that exact image converter to make my own birthday/holiday cards... trust me when I say it saves you tons of time. In any case, when converting it' always important to note that the smaller the image size you specify for it to conert to the less detailed it will be. It sounds like common sense, but it can get on your nerves if you're really picky about which image you want to look cool.
And yet, I'm still hypnotized by the video... I have plenty of images here on my own hard drive, now, if only I knew how to string them together with song and music...
Did anyone find the colour pallet of Azumanga Daioh a bit bland? It looked quite flat to me.
I am a bit confused as to why they did this because I thought the nicely bright pallet used in the Jpn version was quite appropriate to the theme of the anime?
Comments anyone?
Did anyone find the colour pallet of Azumanga Daioh a bit bland? It looked quite flat to me.
I am a bit confused as to why they did this because I thought the nicely bright pallet used in the Jpn version was quite appropriate to the theme of the anime?
Comments anyone?
Can you show us some screenshots? I'm not quite clear as to what you mean. Do you mean that they messed up the color when they created the R1 DVD version but not the R2 DVD version? (Are you comparing the R1 DVD to the fansubs or the R2 DVD itself?)
Mr_Paper
2004-05-04, 12:54
Did anyone find the colour pallet of Azumanga Daioh a bit bland? It looked quite flat to me.
I am a bit confused as to why they did this because I thought the nicely bright pallet used in the Jpn version was quite appropriate to the theme of the anime?
Comments anyone?I have to agree with zalas. Can you provide us with screenshots of scenes from the Region 1 release and the Region 2 release? Or even some more information as to what you're basing this observation on?
From what I've seen, the pallet on the Region 1 disc is fine and looks very much like how I remember it should be.
I meant the R1 DVD's (I had them imported).
Perhaps they were always like this...I just watched a few of my old fansubs and yeh they're the same.
Strange though, I always thought the pallet was alot brighter...maybe it should be. :P
I could be the light in the room, I find that my comp screen looks darker when the sunlight hit the monitor screen.
probably. ^^
I don't know if this has been posted before, but I just found this on the Wonderland message boards. It's pure genius.
You need to be familiar with The Matrix (not Reloaded or Revolutions) to really get this.
Oh, you need to have watched Azumanga Daioh as well :)
http://www.student.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~jthean/Azumatrix.gif
Mr_Paper
2004-05-09, 00:39
That's great! It would be best if it was a flash movie with the vocal tracks editted to fit, but it's really funny. ^_^
My only complaint is that Osaka isn't in it
and here's a Cowboy Bebop + Azumanga crossover
http://users.ntua.gr/el02245/AzumangaBebop.swf
That's great! It would be best if it was a flash movie with the vocal tracks editted to fit, but it's really funny. ^_^
And here is a Witch Hunter Robin + Azumanga cross over:
http://whrobin.at.infoseek.co.jp/
And this one is particulary good:
http://whrobin.at.infoseek.co.jp/robimanga_14.htm
(You need to have seen both Azumanga Daioh, Witch Hunter Robin and Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto
in Japanese [because of the voice actrices] to get this one)
Here are NGE + Azumanga, Sailormoon + Azumanga crossovers
http://www.geocities.com/freespiritmandy/crossovers.html
Pretty funny stuff
And finally, Azumanga + Linux
http://www.io.com/~cwagner/jason/azumanga.html
For some strange reason... I now have a small impulse to get the matrix DVD and rip out those corresponding lines :)
Hello, for some time now I have been looking for something:
In episode 25 of Azumanga, Tomo presents Chiyo with a couple of riddles and she is unable to answer any of them; yet when Osaka is quizzed she gets them all correct. My question is, does anyone remeber what those particular riddles were and what the answers were to each of them? Any help in finding this would be greatly appreciated!
Kamui4356
2004-05-24, 20:21
I dont' remember all of them, but one was: if a truck carrying 3 things *forget what they were* goes around a sharp corner, what drops first? the speed
also: if nihongo is nihongo, eigo is? *nihongo=japanese, eigo=english"
nihongo
taken from the manga (thank you ADV for the nice translator notes)
Q: "What is the fruit of summer?"
A: Persimmon ("kaki", a homonym for the summer season)
Q: "What kind of person does nothing but smash cars?"
A: "Ha'isha-san" (a person who works in a scrapyard, enunciated differently it means a dentist)
Q: "What bird doesn't get along with policemen?"
A: "Sagi" (can mean "heron" or "fraud")
Q: "If nihongo (Japanese) is the language of Japan, then eigo (english) is the language of what country?"
A: Japan ("Kotoba" can mean "word" or "language" in the instance of the riddle, it means "word", but others would interpret "language")
Q: A truck is carrying pumpkins, eggplants, and tomatoes, it encounters a sharp turn, what drops?
A: its speed
These may not be in the anime...but these are the ones from the manga. The puns are REALLY language specific in a couple (the last one was left as-is in ADV's translation)
*EDIT* whaddya know, they are in the anime ^_^
if you wanna know the ones ADV replaced the japanese ones with (i would have done the exact same thing, these jokes do NOT work in english except the last one)
Jenichan
2004-05-24, 20:29
The other ones from the anime:
What kind of bird is always fighting the police? Sagi (means heron but also means fraud)
Who built Osaka Castle?
a carpenter
Also the nihongo one already mentioned and the truck one (the items were: pumpkin, eggplant and tomato)
bluemist
2004-05-24, 20:38
Edit: Stuff already was mentioned hehe.
~Sweet Ichigo~
2004-05-25, 10:38
I seen the first DVD and I thought it didn't make any sense. I thought it was kawaii though. ^^
What do you mean, "sense"?
't's just teh comedy.
Holy Knight
2004-05-26, 19:19
I bought the first disc at best buy for $20 yestarday. I popped it in and decided to watch it dubbed. It seemed ok at first and I was starting to get used to it until I heard Osaka's voice.... After an episode of that, I had to switch it back.
Silver_Scorcher
2004-05-26, 23:36
What?? I thought Osaka sounded just fine in the DUB. But to each his own. Anyways, Japanese or English I just don't like Osaka at all. I never saw this fansubbed so I really don't have the Japanese voices etched in my mind. If anything I thought Tomo sounded bad in the DUB. While she is supposed to be very annoying, I found her even more so in the DUB. That doesn't mean that I don't like her acting in the DUB, I just think it's a tad over done. Everyone else (especially Yukari) was pretty much dead on in the DUB, and so far, it's looking good. Can't wait till vol. 2.
Silver_Scorcher
2004-05-28, 14:57
Woohoo!!! :heh: I just got Vol.2 of Azumanga Daioh. It's 4 episodes with a picture of Osaka on the cover and a 12 page translation booklet like the one that came with vol 1.
well, yeah it's an ideal
the execs at funimation probably didn't even know Fruits Basket had a manga
it's just wishful thinking i guess (tho tokyopop even subtly admits that they probably should have picked up the fruits basket manga sooner ^_^)
O_o didn't know it had a manga? Is that a joke? I doubt the execs poorly research their purchases. They might not have known Tokyopop was going to buy the manga. They merely bought the show because they thought it was good and thought it might do well. Is that so wrong for them to do?
luckme10
2004-08-24, 22:11
Since ADV's releasing this, I'm pretty sure both English dub and original audio will be present. And can someone please change the title of the thread? It's Azumanga Daioh, not Diaoh. (Though Azumanga Diaho would make an interesting Photoshop picture ;))
Well if you Must be really picky about the romanji translations .. then it would be あずまんが 大王 Or Azumanga Diaou so :heh:
Anyways on dvd four is set to release on 08/31/04
Just finished the series and loved it.
My top 3 favorite characters are:
1. Osaka
2. Tomo
3. Chiyo
I watched it subbed. I tried dub on a few eps but Osaka and Tomo just didn't sound right to me. Subs all the way.
My top 3:
1. Yukari
2. Osaka
3. Tomo
Honorable shoutout to Kimura-sensei, just for being so crazy :heh:
Red Herring
2007-04-09, 02:34
My top three is:
Sakaki
Yukari
Osaka
They were all great characters though. Osaka just narrowly beats out Tomo IMO. This is one of the best comedies I've seen anime or otherwise.
Yeah, thanks to staying so close to the manga the adaption turned out really well. I wouldn't have had any idea how to animate Azumanga Daioh after having read it but they did a really great job making it into an anime (although I still like many scenes better in the manga^^).
I wouldn't be able to decide on any favorite characters, I love all of them. :D
Yeah! I finally fond a thread on Azumanga Daioh, my ultimate favorite. I watched the animation first before going out and buying the manga and then later the released DVDs. I was also impressed with how they were able to take the manga and string them together into a wondeful anime. Favorite? Mmmm, that would be Osaka, Chiyo, and Sakaki.
Well, if you like Azumanga Daioh, you might also like the author's current Manga --> Yotsuba& (or Yotsubato in japanese). ADV has 4 of the currently 6 volumes translated.
You might also like Ichigo Mashimaro (Strawberry Marshmallow) or Raki*Suta (Lucky Star). They obviously descend from AzuDa but each has their own emphasis and style.
IM has an anime series, 3 OVAs, a manga(JP and EN).
L*S has a manga(JP) and an anime series in progress.
Yeesh... necro double posting... but I noticed a recent article about the legendary Iriomote Cat that Sakaki was just a bit fond of in AzuDa.
The New York Times can be flaky about direct links to articles (this was reached from Google port page) but here goes using their permalink feature:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/world/asia/05wildcat.html?ex=1359867600&en=9dd23ed92f59707a&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
The article ends its two page dissertion with the following sad note:
As an indication of the fragility of the balance, a male wildcat crossing the island’s main road was hit and killed by a car on a rainy evening a few days after the interview with Ms. Okamura. The center had tracked the wildcat for three years and named him Googoo.
I just finished watching Azumanga Daioh. Being 6 years old, the animation is visibly dated, but luckily with this sort of show, it's not detrimental. The basic designs and settings portray the humour of the skits admirably. The humour relies a bit on slapstick, so you probably won't find any clever/witty jokes here, but the comedy is hilarious regardless. The OP and ED are weird, but are still catchy, fitting tunes. The cast of characters is superb, it's hard to find one to dislike, and they play off each other well.
Unlike other comedies like Seto no Hanayome (funny at the start but got old by the end), or Ouran (got serious and emotional at the end), AD kept me laughing from start to finish. The only anime to do so in my memory. A great feat indeed, considering it's 26 eps. Even the ending, which has them graduating and is a bittersweet moment, keeps up the humour. I especially liked Yukari-sensei's final scene. Handled perfectly and kept in character despite the circumstances.
AD is top-shelf comedy and a classic. I can't recommend it enough.
OtseisRagnarok
2008-09-30, 13:37
The best was the new year's dream episode!!
And did anyone know that the creator got his start doing Hentai? Or is that just a rumor?
My favorite would be probably be one of the sports episodes. The dream ep was actually probably my least favorite, since it was so weird.
OtseisRagnarok
2008-09-30, 14:00
My favorite would be probably be one of the sports episodes. The dream ep was actually probably my least favorite, since it was so weird.
That's what made it funny!
Cat: YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THERE ARE REAL CATS AND FAKE ONES?
Sakaki: why are you so angry?
Cat: I'M NOT ANGRY!!!
That scene was hilarious!
Yeah that exchange was funny, but to this day I still don't get the whole "Chiyo's dad is a cat" gag.
OtseisRagnarok
2008-09-30, 14:50
Yeah that exchange was funny, but to this day I still don't get the whole "Chiyo's dad is a cat" gag.
Nothing to get, just random japanese humor.
KimmyChan
2009-04-28, 06:41
OMG Azumanga Daioh! I can't get over the sheer cuteness/sillyness of this screwball high school comedy! :D
I have the complete DVD box set of this anime and thoroughly enjoy it :D
ACSephiroth
2009-06-18, 18:16
Finally found this thread! Anyway, Sakaki is my favorite character as she sort of has the same attitude that I have and we're both cat lovers! :D
Do you think ADV will sell the rights to Funimation, seeing how they're selling most of their licenses lately? Do you think a Funimation dub will be better than the ADV one?
I just don't understand what people see in this show. I like shows with slice of life/comedy type such as this, but this anime isn't even funny. The '' jokes '' supposed to be funny, well.. they're not. The characters are all boring, and they all look the same. Just different hair length or slightly different color and there you have it, the whole cast.
Three episodes was enough, as I could not have been more bored in my life, and I nearly fell asleep atleast twice per each episode.
@Dist: you might give it another shot in a few years. Your tastes might change. Sounds like you may still be inclined to 'young boys action' (shounen) anime? It was produced a number of years ago, and many of the tropes/jokes/archetypes in it have been re-used in other more recent series.
As for your comments on the characters, I think you're over-reaching in justifying why you weren't happy with it:
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/9145/azumangadaiohwall1.th.jpg (http://img15.imageshack.us/i/azumangadaiohwall1.jpg/)http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/6559/azumangadaiohwall2.th.jpg (http://img26.imageshack.us/i/azumangadaiohwall2.jpg/)
Yes, they're all japanese school girls but that's about as "the same" as it gets, they aren't "harem rainbow colors" ... Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei characters are also mostly portrayed semi-realistically.
You're on firmer ground with the "bored" comment. Slice-o-daily-life tends to be very subtle in terms of character development and letting it build incrementally. Sometimes it isn't meant to be "funny" so much as "true" or just evoke a mood. That's why its frequently popular with exhausted 20-something-aged salarymen in Japan who want to relax happily.
@et al:
ADV lost the rights to the manga to Yen Press just a few months ago (see the manga thread for AzuDa). The status of the DVD series is kind of shadowy though ADV still appears to own the rights (it was their only cash cow). I don't know if they're still pressing disks or just working off the remaining stock. rightstuf.com does list it as in stock.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azumanga_Daioh
yezhanquan
2009-06-20, 05:18
On the anime, if you don't enjoy your voice actors, it's a thumbs down to enjoying the show. Everytime I hear Tanaka Rie's "Baka to(no?) omae da!!", I laughed like mad. Tanaka Rie as Yomi was probably the highlight of the show, along with Matsuoka Yuki's Osaka. Her screws-loose comments can make you explode with laughter, or go "Huh?"
And so started my voice love for Tanaka Rie.
KimmyChan
2009-06-21, 05:16
Sakaki is my favourite AD character, followed closely second by Chiyo :)
I really must dig this set out & start re-watching it again very soon as I miss it so much! :)
The Chaos
2009-06-21, 05:19
Best Funny anime I'v ever watch...Osaka you are too much Great Character :love:
KimmyChan
2009-06-21, 05:32
Osaka does make me laugh, some of the most randomly hilarious questions that she comes out with :D
The Chaos
2009-06-21, 05:35
Osaka does make me laugh, some of the most randomly hilarious questions that she comes out with :D
lol..The best moment for her when she try to wake up Yukari-sensai with big knife :heh::heh::heh:
KimmyChan
2009-06-21, 05:38
Sakaki reminds me of me so much cos of the fact that she's a massive cat lover :)
@ Vexx.
Mhm, well, I just didn't find jokes in this anime funny, that's all. And the characters personalities didn't match my liking. Though I found it boring, I do like various slice of life animes. For example, I find Lucky Star and Azumanga Daioh often compared, and how AD is supposedly so superior to LS, and this is what I don't understand. Lucky Star is awesome, and it's actually funny.. But this series isnt'. But hey well, it's just my opinion.
And I didn't exactly mean the characters can't be portrayed as semi-realistically, that's not really the problem. And I do like alot of other animes than just shounen =P.
KimmyChan
2009-06-21, 08:24
The 2 female teachers make me laugh so much! :D The way they're forever warring! :D
kenjiharima
2009-06-21, 08:24
AD is more a tuned with real life while on LS tends to reach out to people who know anime. Probably that's the only difference of the 2 since both also uses imaginary things like that yellow NEKO XD XD XD.
KimmyChan
2009-06-21, 08:25
Let's not forget the white & grey Nekos throughout aswell! They're just as fun! :D
kenjiharima
2009-06-21, 08:36
Also don't forget the summer and winter clothes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/Ryomakhunoto/ECT/az_gpa1.jpg
The Chaos
2009-06-21, 08:43
The Summer Cloth are Better ...It have many Crazy moment from them while wearing them :heh::heh:
KimmyChan
2009-06-21, 08:47
That's a great pic :) I like their orange uniform the most :)
kenjiharima
2009-06-21, 08:49
I like Sakaki the most. Also we've NEVER known her last name.
Kinda like Vegeta and Ryu(street fighter canon he has no last name)
KimmyChan
2009-06-21, 08:50
A girl of many mysteries is our Sakaki :) Which is what's most appealing about her :)
The Chaos
2009-06-21, 08:53
I find Sometime Sakaki bit boring with her love for the weird cat...Osaka is the best to me :D
KimmyChan
2009-06-21, 08:54
It's Sakaki's love for cats that has me totally drawn in each time :) But Osaka is still great though ;)
kenjiharima
2009-06-21, 09:19
Gotta love those silent type girls. Though she's no Rei clone and she's got a great body, good at athletics and love for cute animals. Probably the long black hair attracted me plus those eyes.
I really want to see a Azumanga Xover Yotsuba. Chiyo meets Yotsuba and Fuka meets Sakaki. :heh:
KimmyChan
2009-06-21, 10:23
That would be rather entertaining to say the least :D
ACSephiroth
2009-06-21, 11:46
lol..The best moment for her when she try to wake up Yukari-sensai with big knife :heh::heh::heh:
What was censored from the original scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHgPuee4LPs
The Chaos
2009-06-21, 13:22
What was censored from the original scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHgPuee4LPs
yep That the Great moment ...too bad it cut at the end when she say ""Oh,you´re awake...I screwed up" :heh::heh::heh::heh:
@ Vexx.
For example, I find Lucky Star and Azumanga Daioh often compared, and how AD is supposedly so superior to LS, and this is what I don't understand. Lucky Star is awesome, and it's actually funny.. But this series isnt'. But hey well, it's just my opinion.
And I didn't exactly mean the characters can't be portrayed as semi-realistically, that's not really the problem. And I do like alot of other animes than just shounen =P.
AzuDa's major advantage/disadvantage is age - its somewhat unfair to compare L*S and AzuDa when one is, to some extent, only possible because of the success of the other (L*S being a descendant). As others point out, AzuDa is just about 'typical girls' growing up in the "late 20th C." whereas L*S is definitely "21st C." trendy hip. Also the anime version of L*S incorporated all sorts of easter eggs, inside references, and industry gags ... which almost pushes it into Paniponidash territory. AzuDa was able to avoid that sort of commercialization.
I feel like you can safely ignore people who try to compare the two without addressing those points :)
Thanks for elaborating.
kenjiharima
2009-06-21, 23:47
AzuDa is just about 'typical girls' growing up in the "late 20th C." whereas L*S is definitely "21st C." trendy hip
QFT. That is the big difference of LS and AD.
yezhanquan
2009-06-21, 23:52
Well, if you compare the manga, you realise that the gags aren't really that different from each other. As I say before, I watch AzuDai for the seiyu-tachi. Somehow, I can't bear reading the manga.
Aye... I didn't want to get into how much of the L*S anime has very little to do with the manga. Whereas AzuDa anime is an almost too faithful transcription...
The two mangas have very similar flavor outside of the activities and gadgetry differences (as do many other similar 4-koma works)
KimmyChan
2009-06-22, 05:57
I think that both AD & L*S are really great slice-of-slice school comedies in their own ways, except that I've seen many more AD episodes than what I have of L*S lately that's all :)
ACSephiroth
2009-06-22, 08:30
Well, if you compare the manga, you realise that the gags aren't really that different from each other. As I say before, I watch AzuDai for the seiyu-tachi. Somehow, I can't bear reading the manga.
Whats seiyu-tachi?
kenjiharima
2009-06-22, 08:36
I think that both AD & L*S are really great slice-of-slice school comedies in their own ways
Another QFT.
Both animes are slice of life the story, the only difference is how the comedy is presented and the life the school girls are presented. AD has more of a "NORMAL" school life, while LS does has it's share of references to "REAL LIFE".
yezhanquan
2009-06-22, 20:14
Whats seiyu-tachi?
The voice cast.
This is an unfunny show that isn't very good, and I can't see what the appeal is...
Wait... this thread's about Azumanga Daioh!? :p Heck, in that case, Azumanga Daioh is one of my favorite anime ever. In fact, it's currently in the #2 spot, and it gets there by doing two things very well: the obvious one is the comedy, the less obvious being the way it pulls off a light, but still very significant mood. Two of my favorite scenes from the entire show are the snowball fight and the episode where the girls play jump rope against the sunset. Neither of them are extraordinarily humorous, but the sheer warmth they engender is rarely matched in any other anime (or many other media for that matter). Aside from the first episode and the dream episode, I can reliable count on just popping in an Azumanga Daioh DVD and getting a barrel full of laughs. I wish that there were more anime like it.
Mhm, well, I just didn't find jokes in this anime funny, that's all. And the characters personalities didn't match my liking. Though I found it boring, I do like various slice of life animes. For example, I find Lucky Star and Azumanga Daioh often compared, and how AD is supposedly so superior to LS, and this is what I don't understand. Lucky Star is awesome, and it's actually funny.. But this series isnt'. But hey well, it's just my opinion.
You can chalk most of that down to a matter of personal taste and perhaps being slightly outside of the preferred demographic. Humor is obviously going to differ from person to person - for example, my favorite forms of humor tend to come from British comedy and based on largely irony. Azumanga Daioh plays very well to my tastes, especially with the extra-long timing pauses, and the derived gag. How this works is that it will present most of a gag, and let the audience fill in the rest of the punchline - thereby involving the audience and making it more of an interactive experience. While this is right up my alley, it's obviously not going to be to everyone's taste. In contrast, Lucky Star tends to make its jokes more interactive by relying on in-jokes - this is obviously effective for bigger anime fans, but I tend to find a large amount of it unfunny.
My other point about the target demographic is that Azumanga Daioh is ideal for viewers who have been out of high school for a number of years. It's not too surprising if younger viewers are less enamoured about the show because there's less proximity between their own experience and the show itself, and hence a lot of that mood that I wrote about is lost or becomes less entertaining.
I think that both AD & L*S are really great slice-of-slice school comedies in their own ways, except that I've seen many more AD episodes than what I have of L*S lately that's all :)
It's a bit of a nitpick, but I don't really see either show as a slice-of-life (I don't see slice-of-life intersecting with any other genre). About the only thing that they share with that genre is that they don't have much in the way of an over-arching plot. If I had to choose, I'd have to say that Azumanga Daioh has more slice-of-life elements, but it's still firmly in the comedy genre.
KimmyChan
2009-06-24, 06:53
I see that I stand corrected :p But yes, you're right, when you put it that way :)
I've decided to rewatch my favorite shows and share I liked about them on an episode to episode basis. The second on my list is Azumanga Daioh, my favorite anime comedy (the first being Twelve Kindoms). I hope to cover about an episode a day. Please feel free to interject or comment or correct me on the show. (Otherwise, I'll just be posting a lot to myself :heh:)
A note about the title: "Azumanga Daioh" is a concatenation of three things, the mangaka's name "Azuma", the fact that it started life as a manga: "manga", and the magazine it was published in: Degenki "Daioh". Otherwise, the name is just gibberish.
OP
The OP for Azumanga Daioh is "Soramimi Cake", and it's one purposefully weird piece. On the face of it, it's just a wacky tune with wacky lyrics set to wacky visuals. And that's really what it is, except that the visuals basically lay out the entire show in about a minute and a half, and that the song is very exemplary of the show's overall mood and tone (uh, sort of). It's not exactly the kind of piece to show people who have started exploring anime recently, but this show isn't really for that audience either. Overall, I like it for what it accomplishes, but it's not quite what I would put into my playlist outside of the show.
Main Episode
Structurally, every episode of Azumanga Daioh is made up of five five-minute segment, some of which are tied together thematically. The first episode is the introduction episode, and so we see the main characters being introduced and featured in each segment - Yukari, Chiyo, Sakaki, Tomo and Ayumu. Each of these characters' personality quirks are brought out quite nicely with Yukari being the selfish and obsessive teacher, Chiyo as the 10-year old prodigy who's been advanced to high school (grade 10), Sakaki as the tall and dark girl whose appearance belies her shyness and love for cute things, Tomo as the energetic girl whose bark is a lot louder than her bite, and Ayumu as the spaced-out girl who isn't stereotypically Osakan, but is given the unfortunate monicker of Osaka (her real name being quickly forgotten).
These segments are all quite funny and fun, but as they are mostly introductions, they lack the kind of characters playing off one another that the later episodes show. But from the very beginning, we can see a lot of the different elements that make Azumanga Daioh stand out as much as it does: the music, the comic timing and repetition, and the very style of comedy itself.
Tackling these elements in order, the music is perhaps one of the most underappreciated things about Azumanga Daioh. Dominated by recorder strains, the music is extremely whimsical, and almost all of it is used to either serve the overall mood or to emphasize certain comedic moments. The comedic timings of the show are unusual in that a gag will often be started, and the music is brought out to build up anticipation for the punchline - a punchline that's often delayed several seconds. This is even more apparent when comedic repetition is used - like when Sakaki goes to pet Kamineko the second time. All of this is used to increase the comedic tension of the gags, and it's a technique that I find to be very effective. It's especially important for rewatches since the viewer would be already familiar with the gag.
Last on the list is the style of comedy. What Azumanga Daioh relies on for its gags is a lot of old staple comedic elements: from physical humor, to strong ironic tones, to the offset of anticipation and result. The only major unusual comedic element that is a bit more unique to the show is the use of repetition. Having said that, I find that this kind of humor is very effective, and that it is infinitely superior to the proliferation of reliance on parody.
The other core element that Azumanga Daioh brings to the table is a very strong sense of tone and mood. It's one of the most exemplary anime at delivering the flavor of what it's like to be in high school. In fact, it's so successful at this that I'm at a loss to think of any other show to bring up in the same sentence. And I think that it's this very feel that makes Azumanga Daioh fit more for adults than for teenagers (or even those recently out of high school). Anyone who isn't in high school yet probably won't get the references or the feel yet, and those still in high school won't be able to get the nostalgic feel (real or otherwise :)) that the show so strongly evokes. This last bit isn't entirely there in the first episode, but one can see little inklings of it - from Tomo's "punishment" and her silly little outbursts, to stuff like forgetting to do one's homework, to how the friends play off one another.
Overall, episode 1 of Azumanga Daioh is quite good, and I laughed out loud in several places. All of the elements that make up the show are more or less in place, even if they aren't completely developed yet. It's still a long ways from reaching the show's potential, but it's a decent start. As an aside, I regard this as one of the weakest episodes in the whole show.
ED
The ED for Azumanga Daioh is "Raspberry Heaven", and it's a more conventional song than the OP is. There's still a lot more oddness in the visuals, but the song feels a lot more placid than the show itself is (even though it still sounds a bit unusual). On closer inspection, this is not only entirely purposefully done by the creative staff, but "Raspberry Heaven" fits extremely well with the show's overarching tone and mood. Taken together, the OP and ED take the discordant pieces of Azumanga Daioh and sets them aside quite nicely.
andyjay729
2009-08-17, 07:57
Yeah, I kinda think LS was mainly intended as an otaku satire (esp. the anime), while Azumanga was more of a general high school satire. Azumanga doesn't seem THAT old to me, but then I remember it's been 7 years now... Hard to believe. Well, I'd say that gives it something of a timeless appeal. A decade from now, will LS still hold the same appeal?
For those who don't frequent the manga thread for AzuDa.... the author is re-releasing the series with his current style - much of the artwork is new/redone. Same strips, same gags - but with a style more like the current style he uses for Yotsubato. Its more rounded and has lost most of the angularity. He has also gone to a much thinner lighter stroke, not so many dark lines.
My opinion is that sometimes the new style works better and sometimes it doesn't. For example, when we initially meet Sakaki in the manga -- the dark lines really give her supposed glare presence... for me that gets lost in the redraw...
But anyway --> if you have any comments, swing your posts over to the manga thread. http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=4792&page=5
I've decided to rewatch my favorite shows and share I liked about them on an episode to episode basis. The second on my list is Azumanga Daioh, my favorite anime comedy (the first being Twelve Kindoms). I hope to cover about an episode a day.
That's a pretty detailed review for just the first episode!
Although the first episode of this great series was perhaps weak, I think it depicts the feel of the anime (and general slice of life story line to come) and, from what I remember from all those years ago, really drew people in to continue watching the series. And not because of some shamelessly employed "moe moe kyun" marketing ploy (yes Kyoto Animation and your K-On).
Well, I'll be keeping up with thread for now (and probably re-watch AzuDaioh when I can).
Yeah, I kinda think LS was mainly intended as an otaku satire (esp. the anime), while Azumanga was more of a general high school satire.
A satire of a subject or a group is to make fun of it by exaggerating its follies; as such, I don't think that either Lucky Star or Azumanga Daioh intend to satirize its subjects. I don't really want to get too in-depth into Lucky Star, but it's really a big in-joke for otaku, and so it doesn't make fun of them. Azumanga Daioh, on the other hand, is so in love with High School (or more accurately, in love with the idea of High School as a conceptual mindspace) that it would be absurd to think that it's getting mocked.
Azumanga doesn't seem THAT old to me, but then I remember it's been 7 years now... Hard to believe. Well, I'd say that gives it something of a timeless appeal. A decade from now, will LS still hold the same appeal?
Lucky Star appeals only to otaku viewers, and so its automatically more constrained than Azumanga Daioh is. Even now, if a new school comedy is released, then it will be compared to Azumanga Daioh unless it bears a striking resemblence to one of: Lucky Star, Hidamari Sketch/Sketchbook Full Colors', School Rumble, or if it is some sort of romantic comedy (which is really in a different genre). Anything else will use Azumanga Daioh as a reference, which just speaks to its longevity.
The four factors that give Azumanga Daioh that longevity is perhaps also the reason why these other shows won't have it. They are: the evocativeness of the characters and situations (which I'll probably touch on in a post on a later episode), the twin struts of comedy and nostalgic mood (which I wrote about above), the accessibility of the humor, and a lack of topicality. Of the last two factors, both have to do with the fact that just about everyone has the potential to get the jokes without needing any special knowledge (aside from the Japanese cultural bits). This in turn increases the potential audience to the entire Japanese family - and by all accounts Azumanga Daioh was very popular when it first aired.
For those who don't frequent the manga thread for AzuDa.... the author is re-releasing the series with his current style - much of the artwork is new/redone.
It's really too bad that I don't read manga :(. Still, who knows? Maybe we'll get an animated version of Yotsubato with the same staff.
That's a pretty detailed review for just the first episode!
Although the first episode of this great series was perhaps week, I think it depicts the feel of the anime (and general slice of life story line to come) and, from what I remember from all those years ago, really drew people in to continue watching the series. And not because of some shamelessly employed "moe moe kyun" marketing ploy (yes Kyoto Animation and your K-On).
Heh. I figured that since I already write a lot about shows that I like a fair bit and whatnot, why not write a lot about my favorites? Since I don't have to cover the OP and ED, and some of Azumanga Daioh's salient points, I imagine that the post length for future episodes will go down (although I get the feeling that the ones for Twelve Kingdoms will balloon :heh:).
Oh, by the way, while I wrote that the first episode was on the weak side, I meant that it's weak in relation to the rest of the show. Taken on its own that episode still had more laugh-out-loud moments than any anime I saw in the last year or so. And that's even though I know every single one of the jokes (After all, who can forget Yukari stealing the poor kid's bike, or Sakaki getting bitten by Kamineko, or Osaka's utter failure to "get it together"?).
andyjay729
2009-08-17, 23:52
LS fans seem to be annoyed by people comparing Azumanga with that show. I think it's practially inevitable (yes, I'm a fan of both), right down to some character archetypes. Would you call Yomi a tsundere? (She's often compared to Kagami...and Tomo to Konata occasionally...) If so, does Azumanga predate mass usage of the term in anime and manga? Yomi certainly isn't as easily embarrassed as Kagami, but she does kinda let her cool and collected facade down a bit at the end, when she's worried that she didn't pass her college entrance exams. And then when she's reading that brochure for the amusement park, she seems truly happy for one of the few times in the series. Of course we know what happens the next day...
Glad to see there's an Azumanga section at this site. I actually like comparing and contrasting these two "rival" shows, and I've written some crossover fanfiction stories.
I view L*S as one of the many descendants of AzuDa... I liked them both though I had some real problems with the anime adaptation choices KyoAni made (burying the show in anime-only cultural references, anime-only Lucky*Channel time budget burn, etc). Yes, these were the very things some folks liked -- I refer them to PaniPoniDash, a manga/anime replete in cultural references or even Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (more easter eggs than countable). I was just glad that AzuDa was released long before anime adapters had gone over-board in this kind of stuff.
Oh, by the way, while I wrote that the first episode was on the weak side, I meant that it's weak in relation to the rest of the show. Taken on its own that episode still had more laugh-out-loud moments than any anime I saw in the last year or so. And that's even though I know every single one of the jokes (After all, who can forget Yukari stealing the poor kid's bike, or Sakaki getting bitten by Kamineko, or Osaka's utter failure to "get it together"?).
Ah, that brings back memories. :p
What I forgot to mention in my last post was that compared to other anime pilots (or whatever you want to call the first episode), AzuDaioh's got me interested and made me want to watch more.
Lucky Star and Pani Poni Dash (mentioned above) on the other hand, put me off completely after the first episode. I laboured to watch through those shows with a friend who loves those series to bits (and doesn't share my tastes in anime at all it seems).
But yes, just like Vexx said, I'm glad AzuDaioh managed to avoid all the KyoAni crap and was animated by JC staff.
Haven't seen Zetsubou Sensei yet, though said friend above also loves that series, so I have my doubts...
You pretty much have to love "Where's Waldo?" types of things and perhaps a bit of Monty Python "spot the satire" for PPD & SZS (or the anime adaption of L*S). Both SZS and PPD are stuffed to over-flowing with references to japanese culture (pop and traditional), industry insider gags, fanbase memes, and the like. SZS in particular is satirical to the core - which means you're pretty much lost without some understanding of Japan's cultural subtext.
Both have funny moments that don't *require* such knowledge -- but those fans miss so much you wonder why they're wasting their time.
The manga L*S is much more simply human comedy type stuff -- I'm interested to see how fans of the L*S KyoAni-altered anime are going to receive the manga now that its in translation.
AzuDa is about 90% universal human comedy with a minor bit of Japan subtext (like the stereotypes of Kansai folks or the chronology of the japanese school year). The only problems I encounter when showing it to "newbies" are:
1) the pacing -- most people seem to used to 'bangbangbang' humor rather than the more leisurely humor of George Burns or the Marx Brothers that AzuDa has.
2) the surreal episodes -- those simply leave many people in a 'wtf was that?' mood.
I'm going to jump into the Azumanga post first as the Twelve Kingdoms one is running longer than I anticipated.
Main Cast
Mihama Chiyo - a cute 10-year old girl who has been advanced to high school because of her intelligence;
Kasuga Ayumu - a physically weak girl who is a bit slow, a bit clumsy, and who is prone to losing focus; known as "Osaka", her real name is quickly forgotten.
Takino Tomo - the hot-headed attention-seeker of the group; she's usually the one to get everyone else into trouble.
Mizuhara Koyomi - the straight-man of the group; known as "Yomi".
Sakaki - a tall, athletic girl whose shyness and love for cute things belie her appearance; known as "Sakaki-san".
Tanizaki Yukari - the homeroom and English teacher; she's impulsive and selfish.
Plot
Are you kidding me? This show doesn't have any :). This whole episode just follows Osaka as she goes through a day at school, and nothing of note actually happens.
Instead, I'll just touch on a few of the prominent gags in the episode. The three that spring to mind are actually meta-gags as they are concepts that encompass entire sketches: Osaka's physical ineptness, the eye-bubble/cockroach incident, and hiccups. These are brilliant in both their simplicity and universality.
Gags
The physical gag is fairly straight-forward. Osaka is uncoordinated and has poor fitness, and so all of the jokes stem from that: she fumbles with soap while washing her hands, she's even slower than the 10-year old Chiyo in a race, and every time she tries to set a volleyball, it smacks her in the face. There's nothing special when these jokes are described, but in action, it comes across as much more funny - as it's the comic timing and the music that deliver the goods.
The eye-bubble gag is a lot more elaborate: during class, Osaka starts to look side-to-side, and bobbing her head. One of her classmates (the seldom-seen Chihiro) asks her what she's doing, and Osaka responds with "Do you know those little bubbles you see out of the corner of your eye? I'm following them." At once, this tells us just about all we need to know about Osaka, and it describes an activity that's easy to relate to. Later during the class, someone screams out, and the class discovers that there's a cockroach in the classroom. There's the standard bit of panic, and then Tomo goes overboard in killing it, but the bit that I notice more is that at the end of it, someone asks, "who screamed to begin with?" The show doesn't directly answer, but the screen cuts to a shot of Sakaki quietly looking out the window. The entire sketch ends with a shot of Osaka still following her eye-bubbles, completely oblivious to all the commotion.
The hiccup gag is just a classic: Osaka is given hot food, and she gets hiccups as a result. The hiccups don't go away, and so the girls use a bunch of different "cures" to try to get rid of it. This gag is so simple that I ended up watching it with someone who doesn't watch anime, and doesn't know either English or Japanese, but with a bit of narration, she still had no trouble getting the humor. The reason is obvious: everyone in the world has had hiccups and we've all tried to get rid of them at one point or another. Thus, it's remarkably easy to step into Osaka's shoes and to empathize with her. And here is one of the true strengths of Azumanga Daioh - not only do we get to enjoy what the characters go through, but their antics in turn are based on our own experiences and so they serve to remind us of our own inanities.
To compare, in the last sketch, Osaka makes a pun (english translation: "grains of truth"), but it doesn't work anywhere nearly as well. It's not because the pun is lame either (the pun was supposed to be lame to begin with); it's because of the lack of familiarity of the original meaning that a non-Japanese speaker brings to the equation. Osaka's later observations on Chiyo's pigtails is better because it doesn't depend on any kind of special knowledge.
Characters
Obviously, the character who stood out the most in this episode is Osaka. What we see is an extension of her character that showed up in the first episode, and the details are as amusing as they are insightful. The way that she focuses in on singular activities to the expense of all else is particularly telling; especially since we find out that this often happens because she's distracted by certain thoughts that don't come to other people. She tries to fit in at times, but she's doomed to failure because of how odd she is. Luckily for her, she has found a group of ready friends who have no problems with that.
We see a little from the other cast members, but the only one to stand out much in this episode was Sakaki. We see two different aspects from her: the cool and athletic girl that everyone else sees, and the girl who likes cute things - which is the way she sees herself. Her reaction to the cockroach is a great glimpse into the latter.
Overview
Episode 2 of Azumanga Daioh is a lot better than I remembered it being. Pretty much all of the elements of the show are present, and the chemistry between the characters is strong sooner than I expected. Already, the girls are starting to find their own niche although, as this was an Osaka-centered episode, there wasn't that much opportunity for them to shine.
As usual, the music for the show is just stellar - the individual pieces aren't much to listen to on their own, but they do a remarkable of accentuating the humor of the jokes and contributing greatly to the comic timings. If the scene of Chiyo and Osaka practicing volleyball had been absent the music (or if it had a less-fitting soundtrack), it probably wouldn't have been funny, but as it is, I can watch it all day.
Azumanga Daioh is a comedy, and comedies are judged primarily by how funny they are. This episode gave me more laugh-out-loud moments (at least 10) than anything other anime I've watched in a long time. This is certainly an episode I can come back to over and over again (admittedly, Azumanga Daioh is one of the most rewatchable anime ever made).
andyjay729
2009-08-18, 21:12
2) the surreal episodes -- those simply leave many people in a 'wtf was that?' mood.
Well, the surrealism is one of my favorite elements of Azumanga, especially since I'm from a family that loves our Escher, Gaudi, and Miro. Some of it can be a bit spooky, such as Osaka's scenes during the first beach trip episode. Remember how when she turns around it's like she's kinda rotating on a revolving pedestal, not visibly moving her legs (almost Exorcist-style)? And then later on she says some kinda weird things which are punctuated by the sounds of car horns and ambulance sirens, all with her never-changing, open-mouthed smile. When I first saw the anime, I honestly wondered if this is what it's like to be stoned. Just with the easygoing pacing, the kinda washed-out background colors, and eventually that episode that ends with them surrounded by clouds and laughingTAO. Yeah, people say that for a lot of weird anime, but I just had to wonder at times with this one. That's not a put-down, BTW. :)
andyjay729
2009-08-18, 21:21
"But yes, just like Vexx said, I'm glad AzuDaioh managed to avoid all the KyoAni crap and was animated by JC staff."
Yeah, and now, unfortunately, JC Staff has mainly moved on to Rie Kugimiya loli tsundere ventures. Hey, I think Rie is quite talented and dedicated, but you'd think she'd want to try something new and avoid rampant typecasting. Also, back in 2002, wasn't KyoAni still basically a contractor for Sunrise?
And correct me if I'm wrong (I just got this from hearsay), but is it true that Azuma-san didn't like Azumanga's anime adaptation (and is that why there won't be a Yotsuba anime)?
But seriously, I would like everyone's opinion. Do you think Yomi is a tsundere?
yezhanquan
2009-08-18, 21:37
The AzuDai anime shines in its vocal cast. Almost every seiyu of the main cast is already a non-rookie when they took the role. Kudos to Matsuoka Yuki. Her Osaka is just weird XD.
And correct me if I'm wrong (I just got this from hearsay), but is it true that Azuma-san didn't like Azumanga's anime adaptation (and is that why there won't be a Yotsuba anime)?
But seriously, I would like everyone's opinion. Do you think Yomi is a tsundere?
I've only heard that he doesn't think anyone can properly handle Yotsubato. Personally, I think he simply wants artistic control that perhaps the studios are loathe to give. I've not heard that he disliked AzuDa as such and if he did, I really can't see why as its probably one of the cleanest manga-to-anime adaptations I've ever seen.
I'm hesitant to label any of the girls.... they subvert the easy archetypes so much it would be misleading. I will say Yomi might trend towards the tsundere region.
yezhanquan
2009-08-18, 22:02
Tension between the creator and the studio: cannot be underestimated, that.
You pretty much have to love "Where's Waldo?" types of things and perhaps a bit of Monty Python "spot the satire" for PPD & SZS (or the anime adaption of L*S). Both SZS and PPD are stuffed to over-flowing with references to japanese culture (pop and traditional), industry insider gags, fanbase memes, and the like.
Bonus trivia: Pani Poni Dash exhibits the "Xanth syndrome": a number of the parody/reference bits were drawn from the fans. I have the feeling that that's pretty much where all that blackboard material came from.
One of the reasons that shows like this hold their power by rewarding viewers for their special knowledge. The degree to this can differ greatly though, and I have a great deal of respect where the pay off is lessened, but not by a great degree if the viewer doesn't catch the reference. One good example is the Haruhi "Age of Sagittarius" episode: the reward is greater if you caught the Legend of Galactic Heroes refences, but it's not greatly lessened otherwise. In the case of little or no pay off for not catching the reference, then I feel that it's punishment instead.
AzuDa is about 90% universal human comedy with a minor bit of Japan subtext (like the stereotypes of Kansai folks or the chronology of the japanese school year). The only problems I encounter when showing it to "newbies" are:
1) the pacing -- most people seem to used to 'bangbangbang' humor rather than the more leisurely humor of George Burns or the Marx Brothers that AzuDa has.
Exactly. Most of the people who say that they don't find Azumanga Daioh very funny do so because they don't like the comic timings and the use of repetition. For my money though, it's precisely what appeals to me, and I'd trade five solid laughs an episode for any number of zany jokes that only register a smile.
2) the surreal episodes -- those simply leave many people in a 'wtf was that?' mood.
I'm sort of in this category. It only really affected me in the dream episode, but I haven't watched it in years. I wonder if it'll work better this time 'round?
"But yes, just like Vexx said, I'm glad AzuDaioh managed to avoid all the KyoAni crap and was animated by JC staff."
Yeah, and now, unfortunately, JC Staff has mainly moved on to Rie Kugimiya loli tsundere ventures.
JC Staff is a very diverse animation studio, having encompassed everything from Azumanga Daioh and Utena. Even recently, they're currently responsible for the excellent Aoi Hana and the wonderfully fun Taishou Yakyuu Musume. As some posters have said, it's perhaps more useful to track the work of individuals and creative staff teams than to do so on the basis of the animation studio.
And correct me if I'm wrong (I just got this from hearsay), but is it true that Azuma-san didn't like Azumanga's anime adaptation (and is that why there won't be a Yotsuba anime)?
While that rumor has been swirling around for a long time, I don't think that there's a lot of truth to it - there certainly hasn't been any supporting evidence. Azuma himself struck it down last December: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-12-04/yotsuba&creator-kiyohiko-azuma-addresses-anime-rumors. A choice quote from the link:
People have been asking Azuma about rumors that friction between him and the Azumanga Daioh anime staff is the reason why a Yotsuba&! anime has never been green-lit. Azuma emphatically states that the new rumors are false, and laughs at the notion that there is friction between him and director Hiroshi Nishikiori or voice actress Tomoko "Kane-Tomo" Kaneda (Chiyo). Still, he acknowledges it is not good to have two people competing for control of an anime production.
But seriously, I would like everyone's opinion. Do you think Yomi is a tsundere?
I don't think that it really matters. The term "tsundere"'s purpose is to serve as a shorthand; but Yomi never fit it very well. It's possible to call her a "tsundere", but you'd just end up spending more time defending that label than you would simply describing her character.
The AzuDai anime shines in its vocal cast. Almost every seiyu of the main cast is already a non-rookie when they took the role. Kudos to Matsuoka Yuki. Her Osaka is just weird XD.
Absolutely correct. The quality of the voice acting is something I'll definitely address in a later episode.
yezhanquan
2009-08-18, 22:21
Yeah, a studio has many teams, each with its strengths and faults. It's indeed better to look at the men behind the work than the studio.
Hey 4Tran, will you be posting any more detailed reviews on AzuDaioh?
That said, I haven't even looked for my AzuDaioh dvds... But I know they're around somewhere...
Sorry, I've been tied up mainly watching old films (criteria: must be good, and at least 20 years old), so it might be a while before I get back to my rewatch.
Daniel E.
2009-09-04, 01:36
I have never posted in this thread before, but.... :p
Azumanga Daioh will always have a special place in my heart. With one of the best cast of characters I have ever seen, it quickly become one of my all time favorites. :)
And god knows how much I love the opening! :D :D :D
That lilting flute piece that sounds almost like a sea chanty (maya to ita Kisetsu?) is my default ring tone and has been for years...
Its great when it goes off and someone in the crowd gets that look of recognition...
Sorry, I've been tied up mainly watching old films (criteria: must be good, and at least 20 years old), so it might be a while before I get back to my rewatch.
No need for apologies mate. I truly understand what you mean by being tied up watching old films etc. :p
I've got heaps (as the Aussies would say) of dvds, books, games and other things that I simply haven't found the time to go through (despite buying more each year... :heh: ).
And yeah, the Azu opener is a tune that has remained in my head... Not because of especially love it... but it's probably an ear worm, or whatever they call tunes that are catchy enough to have you remember them vividly enough to hum/whistle it rather accurately.
And "out of the blue" comes a couple of AzuDa pvc figures in swimsuit mode -
Osaka with other-worldly expression: http://www.hlj.com/product/KBYPP-386
Sasaki in her jaw-dropping splendour: http://www.hlj.com/product/KBYPP-385
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/4496/kbypp386.th.jpg (http://img193.imageshack.us/i/kbypp386.jpg/)http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/6173/kbypp385.th.jpg (http://img31.imageshack.us/i/kbypp385.jpg/)
The appearance of these new figures associated with the new versions of the manga series has me wondering what else is up....
Daniel E.
2009-10-27, 20:10
Those are some cool figures alright. :)
And while the Sasaki one is cool, hawt and awesome, I actually find myself prefering the moeness of the Osaka one. :)
Isn't the mangaka doing a 1 off this month?
Adding to the recent spate of *new* Azumanga Daioh figure releases is one of my favorite characters - Kagura. Another swimsuit figure:
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10105589
http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/189/kagura.th.jpg (http://img685.imageshack.us/i/kagura.jpg/)
Just as a info jog ... the Azu Da manga series was redrawn and expanded recently in a new 3 volume collection (one for each school year). It has new eyecatches for each chapter and the artwork is subtly more in tune with the author's modern Yotsubato style. No word on whether anyone will pick it up for translation/distribution.
Manga thread here: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=4792&highlight=azumanga+daioh
Kagura looks nice :naughty: .
vBulletin® v3.8.4, Copyright ©2000-2010, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.