Forum - View topicAzumanga Daioh
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Okay, so a million people all told me a million times that I HAVE TO WATCH AZUMANGA DAIOH LOLOLOL SO FUNY IT IZ TEH B357 TH1NG 3V3R!!!!!. So I watched a few episodes. Why do people like this show so much? What am I missing? It's a string of pointless, obvious jokes centered around a bunch of cute girls. There is nothing unpredictable about this show. It seems like just a string of barely connected jokes. Yeah, it's cute, but cute does not a show make. The jokes aren't really even clever.
To quote the great Zorg, as portrayed by Gary Oldman, Anyone care to explain? -Zac |
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keldo7
 Posts: 3 |
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The first 3 or so episodes are kinda underwhelming, but necessary to set up the characters.
It really reminds me of Peanuts. Just one of those shows that you watch just to see what kind of ways the characters can create trouble for each other and themselves. |
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The Spatula
 Posts: 163 |
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I really enjoy Azumanga Daioh, but I wouldn't say that it is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Like any series, there will be fans who like it to the extreme; so you take the best opinions and worst opinions and the truth is somewhere in the middle. I have all of the manga and enjoy it immensely, so I am a bit biased.
It kinda reminds me of Seinfeld - it's a show about nothing. There is no overall plotline, just a bunch of things that happen to these girls. The strong point of the series is that you get to delve deeply into the characters and really get to see what makes them click. Once you have a sense of how they see the world, it enriches the situations that they find themselves in - sure, a lot of it is very ordinary stuff, but the presentation and reaction of the characters is what makes it interesting. Although, I have to agree that the anime series sometimes seems a bit underwhelming. I think that this happens because it originally came from a four panel comic and trying to expand a joke that was originally supposed to strike you in 30 seconds is dragged on for several minutes. |
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cookie
Former ANN Editor in Chief
 Posts: 2460 Location: Do not contact me for support. |
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*potentially spoilerific. you've been warned.* (tho, frankly, i can't see how ANYTHING could seriously be labled a spoiler in this series... but whatever. better to walk on the safe side.) . . . Yes... but it's an intriguing show about nothing, and so the show can spend a lot of time just building up the HOWs and WHYs of the characters. There *is* a plotline, but it's relatively obscure until the end: They all have to grow up and figure out what they're going to do after graduation. The first few episodes (heck, the first three volumes of the manga) are pretty much nothing but fun and happy times... but then, in the end, they realize that their time is almost up, and they have to move on. When they realize they aren't going to be "together forever", is when the series really begins to get intriguing, particularly as the bonds between the characters grow stronger. <sentimentalism> In the end, AzuDai's really not any different than what 'we' typically go through after graduation. We'll see some friends often, while others will head far away. We might lose touch with them or not, but regardless of what happens, we'll always have the memories of the good (and bad) times in high school. </sentimentalism> . . . *end of spoilers* it's a great series. i love it, and am anxiously awaiting the first two R2 DVD sets to ship... :P~~~ |
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Dan42
Chief Encyclopedist
 Posts: 3817 Location: Montreal |
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I'm one of those who looove Azumanga Daioh. Those little girls are just so funny and quirky and borderline insane. And their teachers are no less. It's hilarious to watch them interact.
I have to admit a lot of the jokes are about repetition: kinda like Homer doing somthing stupid, saying "doh", and then repeating again and again. Like Sakaki's cat fetish  . Even after 10 episodes I haven't gotten tired of that kind of joke, but I can understand if it's not to everybody's tastes.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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"Those little girls are just so funny and quirky and borderline insane."
These characters do not do anything that I would even remotely classify as being 'insane'. There is a habit among anime fans to exaggerate *everything*, and this is a perfect example of that. -Zac |
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keldo7
Posts: 3 |
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I'd like to add that the VA's do an excellent job in this series, just one more reason I find it an enjoyable experience overall.
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LordByronius
ANN Columnist
 Posts: 861 Location: Philippe for America! He is five. |
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I think there must be something wrong with me, because I cannot find anime humor funny. I can't.
And another thing; do they not teach a little thing called "subtlety" to the Japanese screenwriters who write this stuff? I mean, really. After about the umpteenth time a simple joke is followed up with an extreme close-up of some character in SD mode, I start to wonder. Also, the "falling over and facefaulting" bit. I never really quite got that. |
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cookie
Former ANN Editor in Chief
Posts: 2460 Location: Do not contact me for support. |
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It's a good thing, then, that AzuDai uses these methods very rarely ;) In fact, I can't recall even a full face-fault... although sometimes the girls would lean over when someone does something stupid, as if resigning themselves to the fact that it was going to happen anyway.. |
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Gai Super Napalm
 Posts: 148 Location: Hoboken, NJ |
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I was going to write a detailed reply to this thread, outlining why Zac probably didn't like it in a fair, subjective manner; but then I realized he wont listen anyway, because all he really wants to do is ridicule people and toss the ole' fanboy term around a bit. You play the role of obstinant pundit very well. Unfortunately, the way you insult people has become cliche'd as much as the anime that you can't seem to enjoy; in fact the behavior is so common I'm surprised that people haven't started tossing around the term "fanboy-basher." Regardless of the above, I thought a lot about why I liked Azumanga Daioh, and far be it from me to shut up when I say I will. After all, my post hasn't reached its usual length where people groan at how much they need to read and decide to ignore it ^_^ Joke's don't really need a point to be funny; girls can be cute without ruining a series, and things can be expected but still done well. The gripes against the show I've seen so far, combining Zac and LB together are: Its pointless, its not surprising, its not unpredictable, its not even very clever, and I believe the last complaint was that it is anime. Well, I guess I can't say anything about those. Maybe they're true; they probably are; but do they matter? This show is bright, colorful, at times clever, a little odd and at its worst charming. The characters are brought to life by their seiyuu very well, and are for the most part are very loveable. They aren't all that round, really; they are pretty straight forward, but in some ways that made them more likeable. The real problem here is that those things aren't good enough for you, and we both, in fact maybe we all know why. You've seen a ton of stuff, even more than I've seen and I've watched quite a bit of stuff in my day; you are at the point where you can't watch a show that is cliche'd (which i'll get to in a moment) and like it. You are taking the reviewer's stance: game reviewers have to rush through games as fast as they can, and play SO many of them that they eventually play down the fun factor of games and concentrate on what is new and origional about something, because it what catches their eye and breaks the monotony of playing through unorigional game after unorigional game. But to say something like "What has this show have to offer? Its plot is less developed than Patlabor, its animation isn't up to par with GITS:SAC, character A seems stolen from anime X and character B seems borrowed from anime Y" doesn't really say anything in particular about the experience of watching the show. Somehow, I don't think that piece by piece comparative analysis does any show any justice. But still, I would bet that you've seen more anime than I have, and would know better when something borrows from series past. I found AD to be a refreshing foray into the ordinary, a show that takes the stereotypical character styles and inverts them (the big athletic girl likes the cute kittens, the osakan girl is slow and lethargic). I'm sure it's been done before, but what really counts is that here its done well. Finaly, identification with the story plays a big part in how people will like it. I can Identify more with the story of growing up in high school than I can with, say, a lesbian princess who saves the world or a cyborg police-woman that thwarts all kind of terrorism. Finding things you can identify with can change the meaning of a whole story into something more personal; just look at how many people love Catcher in the Rye because they feel something in common with Holden Caulfield. So after all of this evaluation, I hope you can at least see the merits of this show that you dislike. If you didn't enjoy the episodes you saw, don't bother with the rest of the series. You know as well as I do that asking why its good in the forum wasn't going to change your mind. If you can't enjoy Azumanga's charm, then I guess you just can't. Its another 10 hours of enjoyment you sadly wont get. |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Actually, Gai, your post was very helpful. Taking your analysis, I can see why people enjoy the show. You're right about my being incredibly jaded; I'm too jaded to like a lot of what comes out of Japan these days. That having been said, several of this season's shows, like Naruto, Get Backers, Ghost in the Shell, and particularly Haibane Renmei all were series I found very enjoyable.
As for Azumanga Daioh, while your analysis was very succinct, I think the main selling point of the show is humor and unfortunately I just didn't find it funny. I can see all the qualities you point out, and much of it makes sense to me now; but that doesn't make the humor any less trite or predictable to me. Unfortunately, most of the time, humor DOES need to be either clever or unpredictable to be funny, in my eyes; AzuDai has neither of these qualities. As a matter of fact, there are very very few anime series out there that actually have humor I'd consider funny (I fall in line with Byronius on this point), hence why I stick to dramatic shows. As for your points about my tendency to "insult" people, there are a few problems with your accusation. I accuse fandom in general of doing a lot of really irritating things. There are few who would argue that fandom has a tendency to exaggerate things, like the quality of a series. I'm not attacking anyone on this board; my statement of distaste for Azumanga Daioh is an attack on the show itself, not on the people who like it. If you can't accept it as purely my opinion and take every criticism lobbied at something you enjoy as a personal insult, I reccomend you consider being slightly less sensitive. You strike me as the type of person who enjoys a film, then reads a negative review and writes a leter to the critic chastizing them for insulting your taste. They aren't writing to you or about you, they're writing about the work. Critical dissemination breaks down with attitudes like yours, because people can't keep their personal feelings out of it. Regardless of whatever personal problems you have with me, your post was appreciated. I understand the show a bit better now. -Zac |
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Gai Super Napalm
Posts: 148 Location: Hoboken, NJ |
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Wow; its surprising for me to hear I was helpful.. Anyway, its not that I'm sensitive; i was actually refering to your reply to Dan42 but also to a lot of your answers in your Answerman collumn. I could really care less if you like the same shows I do; I personally think that some of the shows I like a lot are crap ^_^ I've lived to learn with the fact that we have completely different tastes the first time I read your Utena-laden compliments.. AzuDai's main selling point *was* humor, but humor is a peculiar thing; it either hits you or doesn't... AzuDai would be impossible to enjoy if you found nothing humerous about it. Of course there are reasons behind finding humor or not; and that was more the point of my post.. Its true that you accuse fandom in general, but the way you do it seems to more often than not make examples of specfic people; whether its dan in this case or an anonymous questioner who OMG LUVS COWBOY BEBOP & TRIGUNN!!!! Believe me, I find fandom's annoying behavior as stupid as you do, I just don't point it out so often, thats all. I tried to keep my post as impersonal as possible before; taking a subjective view at the show and the reasons I liked it rather than trying to defend myself. Theres no need to defend my tastes; but apparently trying to explain them actually did do some good ^_^ As an ironic aside, I've actually been dissapointed with Naruto and Get Backers (Naruto TV < Naruto Manga, Get Backers is kind of silly and generic in the ways that *I* am jaded towards): GITS:SAC seems pretty good but its more successful in making me yearn for more patlabor TV series DVD's than making me yearn for more GITS:SAC.. Now Haibane Renmei; theres an interesting show with about 700 million possibilities. I love the character design and the mystique. The pacing kind of reminded me of To Heart; I hope it doesn't become as boring as Kokoro Toshokan. Well now that people know the merits of Azumanga Daioh, I guess this thread is pretty much over. |
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Kain
Posts: 34 |
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Zac, from one old hat to another:
I, too, felt the sting of jadedness (or perhaps it's curmudgeonry) with a lot of recent titles. I cling to and reminisce of anime of old, and in my time I learned to listen to hype with a grain of salt. The comedy in Azumanga Daioh is an acquired taste. In many ways, the timing of its jokes is reminiscent of My Neighbors the Yamadas. It took me a few episodes to really get into the swing of things. In retrospect, looking at the jokes in a vacuum would probably lead one to scratch his head over what makes them so funny. As with many things, however, Azumanga Daioh is more than the sum of its parts. When you follow the escapades of the characters for a while, your emotional attachment to them magnifies the comedy, akin to adding fuel to a fire. Give it time. After the 26th episode, it may very well still not be the cat's meow for you. I am glad I gave it a chance before passing judgment too early, however. |
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hakootoko
Posts: 74 |
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Those who like Azumanga may also like Atashi n Chi.
But AnC is ugly 
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dakameleon
Posts: 8 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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... wow... people take anime pretty damn seriously here. *tips hat* kudos, that's a wondeful analysis.
And if you like Azumanga, chances are you'll like Jungle wa Itsumo Hale nochi Guu - it's completely left field and does not fit into any real genre, other than comic hilarity 
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