Tag Archives: Chiyo-chan

Azumanga Daioh, the Abridged Series: An Episodic Review

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Kinda makes you wonder who's the real brains of the outfit.

Azumanga Daioh, the Abridged Series: An Episodic Review

This is a short (5 eps), sweet (Each less than 5 minutes.) little parody that got more than a few laffs out of me. Azumanga Daioh screams Parody Me! & there are more than a ton of them on You Tube. This has to be one of the best.

1. Day One- We’re introduced to the main characters. High points:

Chiyo: “I’m supposed to tell you I’m a prodigy student but lying makes me feel bad inside.”

We find Osakas’ original nick-name was Xanax at her old school because of episodic reactions. Tomo promises her quite a hazing in the next ep.

Tomo: “Kill ya tomorrow newbie!”

Osaka: “The more things change, ….. the more they suck!”

2. Initiation- Osaka tries to concentrate on avoiding “that hyperactive girl” but is distracted by the posterior of a male student at the blackboard (“Oooo! Osaka likeee!”). Tomo & the others finally latch onto her &: Cafeteria food (Barf!), motor skills (fail), chugging (More barf!), & the old standby, beatings.

Sakaki: “Oh! You guys started without me. Thanks a friggin’ lot!”

Osaka: “If it makes you feel any better, they haven’t broken my spirit! My chest plate maybe ….. but not my spirit!”

Yomi: “I admit. I thought you’d lose conciousness or start crying like a baby ….. like the ten year old.”

Osaka realizes they did it out of love & “….. for everything you’ve done to me, I promise ….. REVENGE!”

3. Spending Time Wasted- Chiyo explains her wealth comes from a school tax exemption. Yukari starts a fire at school so she can leave work early & get drunk.

Minamo: “….. stop dancing in front of children like that. It’s disgraceful!”

Chiyo: “You can start pole dancing for all I care. Just let me go back to my old school!”

4. Master Plan- Chiyo attempts to drown Yukari. The kids find out Kimura’s a pedo & plot to land him in jail but he “buys them off”.

Chiyo: “I’m sure glad I’m not you girls. There’s no way he’d be interested in someone my age ….. right?” (Just goes to show, being a genius doesn’t necessarily mean you’re smart!)

Tomo: “Yomi, you’ve compromised our safety for the next three years. But this ice cream is pretty good.”

Yomi: “Yeah. I’d say it was an even trade.”

5. Excursion- Instead of going to Sea World, the teachers decide to accompany the kids to Chiyos’ summer home instead. Chiyos’ little monologue on how she spends her wealth & spare time is a hoot & and a half.

Yukari: “Who wants to ride with their favorite teacher?”

Osaka: “The scent of death is on this car ….. It’s fresh!”

Osaka: “She tries to play on a Game Boy! While drivin’!”

There are too many more yucks n’ chuckles in this last ep so I’ll leave them to you to experience.

Chiyo: “Osaka tried to kill me with a firecracker! I wanna go home!”

Article copyright © 3-31-2011 Jay Agan

Episode 1: Azumanga Daioh the Abridged Series here on You Tube.

This article originally posted at Jays Tee Vee.

Azumanga Daioh: Too ….. Much ….. Cute

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The Azumanga Daioh kids. L-R: Koyomi "Yomi" Mizuhara, Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga, Chiyo Mihama, Sakaki, Kagura, Tomo Takino. Credit: J C Staff

Azumanga Daioh: Too ….. Much ….. Cute

One of the shows I’ve put off bothering with (Not my kind of anime.) is Azumanga Daioh. On glancing at articles & seeing illustrations in passing, I concluded it was another of those insufferably cute shows for girls. Having just aquired hi-speed internet & nothing better to do, I decided to take this one in. Glad I did.

The show is about several young women going through grades 10-12 & the situations (surreal & otherwise.) they encounter. Summer/winter semesters with their attendant classes, sports/culture fests, holidays/vacations & general “slice of life” high school experience. This story arc is repeated for each grade. While one might think this to be boring, there is more than enough variation keeping this series interesting throughout. The characters themselves keep things moving, lively &, at times, have you busting a gut laughing.

The “cast” members are stories unto themselves:

Excrutiatingly cute child prodigy, Chiyo Mihama: Top scholar in class but still with the mind of a child. Doing her best socializing with classmates five years older. Her “cooking is so fun” segment from episode one almost had me calling the EMS over what I feared was a sugar OD. This seemed to innoculate me for the rest of the series so I was able to continue.

Remote, alienated, Sakaki: Taller than most of the boys at school & quite self concious of it. Everyone misreads her detatchment as “being cool”. Oh yes. She wants a kitty ….. so ….. bad (Can’t have one. Parent allergies.). Cats don’t seem to like her much. One in particular almost always puts the bite on her when she tries to pet it. You’d think it would occure to her the critter might be rabid.

Sadistic, hyperactive, ritalin deprived, Tomo Takino: I’m against drugging children to make them compliant in school, but in this case, maybe they should put this one to sleep! LOUD (!) with a capitol loud & always roughhousing or ranking on someone (Usually Yomi.). Also likes messing with Chiyos’ mind. (“Okinawa! OH KIN AH WAA!” “Oh! Shut up!”)

Studious, sensible, weight concious, Kayomi “Yomi” Mizuhara: A stabilising force in the group. Good for giving an occasional sock to the jaw of the hyperactive one. In spite of her exasperation with Tomo, they’re actually good friends.

Athletic go-getter Kagura: In a one sided sports/coolness competition with Sakaki. Not above participating in some of Tomos’ stunts.

Spacey, other worldly, Ayumu “Osaka” Kasuga: Originally from (Where else?) Osaka. Her mind, from somewhere beyond there.

Whacked language teacher, Yukari Tanizaki: You’d think she was related to Tomo, the way she acts. Likes playing head games with everyone. Her teaching “style” is unique to say the least. Also drives like a freakin’ maniac!

Caring, attentive, phys-ed teacher Minamo Kurosawa: Another stabilising force & guardian of the kids, standing between them an a certain “strange” litt. teacher.

Obsessive, lesbian wannabe, Kaorin: Has a crush on Sakaki (Who is either oblivious or just very good at ignoring it.). Constantly “beating herself over the head” about it. (Geez kid. Get a boyfriend or three. Find out what it’s like on the “other bank of the river”.)

Unsuccessful pedophile, litt. teacher Kimura: This guy needs to be locked up! As the kids know what he is from the start & avoid him like the plague, the character is played for laughs. I had to keep reminding myself that Japanese humor is a little ….. uh ….. different.

The latter two characters would pretty much keep this show off saturday mornings here & on Adult Swim. I admit, I laughed my butt off over some of the situations they were in. Howsomever, the scenes of Kimura focusing his attention on poor Kaorin are creepy to say the least. (Is it any wonder the kid is such an emotional basket case at times?)

While not rushing out to buy the show (Again, not my kind of anime.), I must say I enjoyed watching it & even got a little sad when it concluded. It is, with some reservations, I recommend it to an older crowd.

So. Do Kaorins’ dreams come true? (Oh for cryin’ out loud!) Does Kimura score? (Good Lord! No!) Do the kids graduate high school let alone pass their college entrance exams? And, most importantly, does Sakaki finally reconcile with the little, gray, pirana kitty? (This is what had me follow this series to the end.) See the series & find out!

Article copyright © 2010 Jay Agan

This article originally posted on Jays’ Tee Vee.