Azumanga Daioh is sweet, soothing relief for the anime fan tired of giant robots, magical girls, angst, and unrequited love. No one is coming to terms with their special abilities, and the Earth is not being saved. Instead, the show offers a fast paced and often hilariously surreal look into the lives of seven high school girls and their teachers as you follow them from the first day of high school until graduation.

However, thanks to the characters, this is by no means your average high school anime. Yukari, the English teacher, is loud, abusive, and competes constantly with her childhood friend, the gym teacher nicknamed Nyamo. Chiyo is a 10 year old genius, and while most series would just dwell on how cute she is, Azumanga Daioh delights in tormenting her with dodgeball, swimming, and having students from lower grades speak down to her. Also tormented is Kaorin, a shy astronomy buff who has a crush on the cool and athletic Sakaki, but who is the unwilling object of affection for Kimura, the classics teacher and only recurring male character. Sakaki may seem cool and detached but all she really wants to do is play with cats. Sadly, the cats don’t enjoy her as much as she enjoys them. Yomi is a smart girl who is sensitive about her weight and has an unlikely friendship with the hyperactive and obnoxious Tomo; the two have some of the most hilarious scenes in the show. Rounding out the cast are the star of the swim team, Kagura, and the airheaded transfer student nicknamed Osaka, both of whom compete with Tomo for the lowest grades in the class. The show introduces the characters slowly, so you get to know them and their personality quirks without feeling overloaded.

Based on a four-panel comic strip, Azumanga Daioh’s format differs from standard anime series. Instead of having one episode-long plot, each episode is set up as five different slice of life stories. While there is progression in the series as the girls move through the seasons, take exams, and graduate to the next grade, there’s no real story being told. Instead, Azumanga is driven entirely by its characters and their antics. Because of this format, each episode feels very full; even if one segment doesn’t make you laugh, it has plenty of other opportunities to entertain you. Since the show is following a time line, certain holidays come around more than once and you get theme episodes that break the format to a certain degree. Each year there is a Cultural Festival, a Sports Festival, Summer Break, and New Years day. These episodes follow different characters’ perspectives for that one day instead of being five separate days.

The music for Azumanga Daioh works extremely well for setting mood, using primarily recorders to really bring you back to school. Most of the music is very upbeat, fitting the tone of the show. Both the opening and ending themes, by Oranges and Lemons, are incredibly catchy and will stay with you for a long time after the show ends. The animation for the series is always high quality, but ranges wildly in style. Some of the more surreal moments, like dream sequences, are shot with incredibly detailed and super smooth motion. Moments when a character is shocked, or during some of the physical comedy, backgrounds disappear and the characters are drawn in a much more simplistic, comic-like style. These transitions are rarely jarring and are used for great effect.

No matter who you are, at least one of Azumanga Daioh’s incredible characters will touch your heart. They are funny, bright, believable, and always amusing to watch. Because there is no traditional storytelling, it’s a series you can come back to again and again without feeling like knowing the end is spoiling the surprise. This is really one of the standout series of the past few years, and one that will remain a cherished classic for years to come. - Angie 'Foodbunny' Dietrich .