Azumanga Daioh
| Episode Count | 26 |
| Season | Spring 2002 |
| Genres | Comedy, School, Slice of Life |
| Source Material | Manga |
| Rating | TBD |
| Streaming | TBD |
In the realm of slice of life anime, there is none with a stature as grand as Azumanga Daioh. Adapting the manga by Kiyohiko Azuma (Yotsuba&!) for the magazine Dengeki Daioh (hence the title), the anime was produced by J.C. Staff (Excel Saga; Revolutionary Girl Utena) and aired in 2002.
The series follows Chiyo Mihama, a child prodigy who skips grades to high school. Alongside Chiyo is an ensemble of eccentric characters, including the kind but spacey Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga, the introverted cat lover Sakaki (who isn't loved by cats back), the hyperactive and impulsive Tomo Takino, Tomo's more level-headed foil Koyomi "Yomi" Mizuhara, the athletically skilled but academically underachieving Kagura, and Kaorin, who is defined by an unrequited crush for Sakaki and failure to catch a break. The school staff is similarly colorful, with the immature homeroom teacher Yukari Tanizaki, the gym teacher Minamo "Nyamo" Kurosawa who is often the lone voice of reason, and the lecherous Mr. Kimura. Oh, there's also a cat-like creature who might be Chiyo's father.
With its blend of slice of life antics, surreal comedy, and colorful ensemble, Azumanga Daioh did not merely leave an impact on its genre but on anime culture as a whole. On both sides of the Pacific, the show spawned countless remix videos, fan works, and memes on the burgeoning Internet communities of anime fans. In fact, the now ubiquitous term "waifu" originates from a gag revealing that Kimura is inexplicably married to a beautiful woman contrary to his open ephebophilia. On a more significant note, the anime's closing theme "Raspberry Heaven" was the namesake for an anime IRC group within the Something Awful forums, with said community including Christopher Poole. Poole would subsequently found 4chan alongside disgruntled members of SA and the Raspberry Heaven community, a move which would reshape Internet culture in ways still felt today, for better or worse (4chan would also embrace Azuma's follow-up manga Yotsuba&!, owing to both a shared clover motif and the manga's Azumanga connection). In this sense, Azumanga Daioh is the anime that most personifies the online anime fandom, from Something Awful IRC groups to modern-day brain rot TikTok's.
- Pemulis
You know, dang near every anime season, it’s a given that we’ll get a show that features adorably cute dorks in high school living their lives with some gimmick that helps the sale of waifu body pillows. And hey, gimmicks can be great when done right; some shows have gone on to be awesome in their own right and will even make this list. But sometimes, you don’t need a gimmick to create a legendary show. Azumanga Daioh proves this fact and has been doing so for years now. The grandmother of the “Cute Girls doing Cute Things” genre, Azumanga Daioh excels in finding the quirks, humor and comfort in the day to day through the eyes of seven high school girls; whether it’s the adorable child prodigy, the new girl from the sticks who has a…unique outlook on life, or the two best friends who really make you question why they’re even friends in the first place.
- KhakiBlueSocks