Earthbound springs to mind as another piece of culture that does something similar to Azumanga Daioh in this regard. The sight gags, visual punch lines, and quirkiness of most of the humour in volume one give it a kind of timeless quality.Īctually, it makes me wonder if there’s some sort of formula for timelessness that involves taking something mundane and adding just the right amount of quirk to it. The bigger question, though is whether or not this comedic manga about nothing still holds up fourteen years after its initial release. Most of the humour is situation based, though there are definitely some jokes that are probably more “Japanese” than “international” or “North American.” The most important label for Azumangah Daioh, though, is comedy.Įvery one of the four panel comics that comprise the book are designed to make you laugh, chuckle, or at the least grin. Though it does take the occasional break for something that spreads over a few pages. It could also be categorized as “slice of life.” That’s fairly accurate, since the series does just present these characters lives in four panel slices. The best way to describe the series and the manga is that it’s Japan’s answer to Seinfeld. There aren’t any interdimensional beings, no magical clubs or magical girls, no aliens, no interstellar origin stories. An omnibus has since been released, but 2000 – that’s 14 years ago!īut what is Azumanga Daioh? It’s a manga (and anime) that follows a group of girls as they make their way through high school under the tutelage of two particular teachers. The year on my edition of the first volume is 2000.

Īzumanga Daioh‘s so much older than I remember it being. The cover for the first volume of Azumanga Daioh.

Azumanga daioh omnibus