Azumanga Daioh was one of my first manga, one that I obsessed over two years ago- and now, I am still reading and re-reading whenever I need cheering up.

Why?

Because AD is a clever series filled with laughter, good characters and interesting layout of panels. I think you should read it too.

*Before I start: You may not agree with my points, which is fine.*

*Some parts of this review contain spoilers, which are marked by *SPOILER ALERT* and *SPOILER END**

Story: Thumbs up to Azuma Sensei for making AD one of, if not, the best comedy manga out there. In fact, I’ve never read anything as hilarious as it. AD is mainly comedy, so it would be sad if the comedic element weren’t memorable- I haven’t actually read a lot of comedy for the reason that the humor is usually crude, shallow, and overall poorly done. Not AD. Never AD.

As for the ‘story’ itself, in a sense, it doesn’t exist. There’s no dramatic structure or conflicts. Azumanga Daioh is simply a slice of life, following the school lives of our cast from year one to graduation. This doesn’t mean the story is flat or one dimensional, quite the contrary. Note: The premise isn’t all that interesting. ‘Six high school girls basically doing nothing.’ However, because the idea is so simple, we get to explore the characters and their surroundings really well. I personally also feel that the simplicity of the premise is why AD does so well as a comedy manga. And the pacing is excellent. There are no too-fast, too-slow, too-much-of-the-same-setting moments. Or maybe I was too busy laughing to notice if there were.

Characters: The characters at a first glance might seem stereotypical but are surprisingly complex. If not the most original characters ever, most of them are relatable-

*SPOILER ALERT* For example, Chiyo is perfect in every aspect except PE. Not being good at physical education is not a flaw. Being ticked off at Tomo for flaunting a higher grade than hers is. True, her reaction is slight, but while we cannot relate to Chiyo’s prodigal ability, we can relate to that irritation. Guess what! Chiyo Mihama is human like us.

Also, Sakaki is the mysterious athletic beauty- wait, not to herself she isn’t. To make a long story short, some people misunderstand her. A lot of us can relate to situations in which ours and people’s thoughts are on totally different wavelengths when we’re talking to each other.

Okay, individual characters are done amazingly but character relationships are constructed beautifully as well. My favorite is that of Yukari and Kurosawa sensei’s. Yukari is selfish, loud, and immature. You can definitely tell that Kurosawa is often really peeved and at Yukari; who wouldn’t be? Kurosawa even drives her colleague to school and puts up with her. Despite all this, they are best friends; Kurosawa doesn’t let herself get walked over by Yukari. Their friendship is realistic. *SPOILER END*

So, in case you skipped the above three paragraphs, characters in AD are relatable, likeable, and the relationships portrayed between them are realistic.

Art and layout: Azuma Sensei’s art style here matches and contributes so much to the atmosphere. The character designs are each unique, and the background drawings are also well done. I particularly loved the layout of the panels. It gave so much to the series’ whimsy: Two columns, four panels each. The column on the right is read first, up to down. Watching the anime, I really missed this layout.

Anyway! I’m nearly done. I just want to mention something that will probably get a lot of eyebrow raises but moving on… Whenever I read or watch animanga, I try to censor it.
Azumanga Daioh is relatively very clean. There is a certain creep but he’s a creep so that you can laugh at him. It’s comedy; he only ever says weird things. Other than that, there’s nothing explicit. You’re welcome to interpret stuff your own way.

I’ve rambled on long enough. Azumanga Daioh is amongst the best of its genres. Light, happy, fun, comedy, school; slice of life. If you don’t like these, AD just might turn you around. If you do, you’re in for a fun ride.