1 January 2003: Azumanga Daioh
I've haven't given Azumanga Daioh nearly enough love on this site. To put it quite simply, it is one of the best shows I've ever seen.
Its 26 half-hour episodes are comprised of five-minute clips (130 in all) centered around the lives of six high school girls. Bucking tradition, instead of portraying high school as a metaphor for Hell, Azumanga Daioh portrays high school as rosy, sunny, and bright. It is high school without the angst. In fact, it's Raspberry Heaven. There is no backbiting or bickering or powder room politics or really any drama. Of course, Azumanga Daioh is a comedy, so it can get away with its fairly unrealistic depiction of high school life.
The Yukari-sensei Fake Out.
Well, that description, while technically correct, is really not particularly apt. Sure, technically it's a comedy, but Azumanga Daioh is probably better described as being pure, unbridled hilarity. It is astoundingly funny and always cute while remaining genuinely poignant and even sad at times.
Azumanga Daioh is one of those shows that thrives because of the affection the viewer develops for its characters. The truth of the matter is, I don't see how anyone can possibly pick a favorite character; it can't be done. Whether it be precocious Chiyo, reserved Sakaki, boisterous Tomo, serious Yomi, spacey Osaka, competitive Kagura, heartsick Kaorin, anonymous Chihiro, or any of their teachers (Nyamo, Yukari, and Kimura are the BEST. TEACHERS. EVER. this side of Misato-sensei from the Love Eva alternate universe), you have to love them all.
Nyamo and Yukari.
Because these characters are so endearing, Azumanga Daioh's underlying theme really shines. That is, time and youth are fleeting. The viewer is introduced to the cast during their first year in high school (i.e., 10th grade) and follows their lives through graduation as the 26 episodes quickly whip by.
I don't think I've ever seen 26 episodes go by so fast. The time-worn parental cliche about children growing up so quickly rings true here. The viewer sees the lives of these girls go by at alarming speed, and develops a sense of dread near the final episode. One realizes that all too soon there will be no more Azumanga Daioh to watch, just as these girls realize that their high school days are ending. There's a sense of sadness that it has to pass, as if nothing good ever lasts.
Yomi and Tomo, lifelong friends.
I suspect much of this sadness comes because Azumanga Daioh is so insular. We get to know the core characters, but little else about their world. For example, all of the male students are completely anonymous throughout the series. Likewise, for the most part, their parents are absent from the show kinda like the parents in Peanuts. Even when we're briefly introduced to Chiyo's friends from elementary school, they're dead ringers for characters we already know—the teachers Yukari and Nyamo. Because these elements become familiar to the viewer, as they are familiar to the characters, one is able to empathically sense their trepidation as their high school years come to an end. One realizes, just as they realize, that this can't go on forever, that they will someday have to part their ways, and that the relentless march of time will inevitably change everything they (and we) have ever known.
But it's one Hell of a ride.
