One more hit out of the ballpark and we round to home with the fourth review… last for now since I haven’t gone purchasing either DVD V. 5 or 6 yet, go figure.

One more time, for old time’s sake.
The Seinfeld of Japanese Anime/Manga, Azumanga Daioh is an experience for the senses in both formats you must see, read, and experience for yourself.
Experience three years in the life of a special class of girls from Miss Yukari’s English class, their quirks and up and downs, and their lives as you get to know them better until graduation day.
The manga is a bit of four panel refinement. The four panel format, best known from some of the classics like Peanuts, Garfield or Hagar the Horrible, works well here with an easy to get into format that readers can easily pick up and get into from the first minute the reader starts flipping the pages.
The anime is a cult classic in it’s own right. The loving work of it’s staff from Director Hiroshi Nishikiori right down the production line, a sure hit with viewers. The results? A superbly crafted and designed adaptation which is true to the series and takes it steps beyond which makes it solid viewing.
And yes, I am still sticking to my reversal of opinion on the English Dub and still think it’s good.
Now the notes and then the DVD.

NOTES TO NOTE
FOR ADVFILMS
This is a Region 1 review, covering the release of Azumanga Daioh in North America (and wherever else the Region 1 of DVDs cover). This means only those in Region 1 can watch this… or anyone who owns a Region Free DVD Player, they can watch it too! This may (by the way) include the upcoming release of the PS3 which is supposed to have a region free DVD playing option. We’ll see.

FOR

LANGUAGE
The entire review is on the English language version, just so you know that I do watch those from time to time when I do my reviewing.

Volume 4
Episode 15
Year two brings the second year of the Sports Fest, and once again there’s no “bread” eating contest… well, it’s technically not bread but forget about that for now.
Once again it’s the usual smathering of events from last year and a new one like Cavalry Battle (not seen before), the ball roll thing (aka the “Let’s Run Chiyo-chan over with a Giant Ball” thing), the “Idiot” seeking scavenger contest, Osaka the Mime and the cross country event which DIDN’T take place originally during the Sports Festival but, well, apparently nobody wanted to dedicate an entire episode just to the Cross Country run. Oh, and Yomi weights in…

Episode 16
Since we just had the Sports Fest we come in on year 2 of the Culture Fest and the “birth” of the Morgan Freeman narration free event known as the March of the Chiyo-chan!
Oh, and Sakaki creates the fashion accessory of the year, the “Father” (Dad) Cap as the girls of Class Yukari create the Stuffed Animal Café.

Episode 17
As Christmas is coming closer and closer questions begin to surface.
Who is Santa Claus, and does he really exist or is he Chiyo-chan’s alien cat father?
What is the deal with that red nosed reindeer? And why does his nose glow so red as it does?
Can the English dubbed ladies of the cast actually sing Karaoke (which doesn’t always work out in some English dubs of series… remember Tenchi Muyo TV?) or do they fall… oh, heck, yes they can sing which may surprise you but not only does Osaka sing well enough but Sakaki’s English actress can actually belt out a damn good song which is solid.

Episode 18
Yomi seems to be

having a bad day.
New Year has come and gone and Yomi has just come back from a trip to Hokkaido, which turns into a mistake in that she attempts to brag at school only to get on the bad side of her lifelong friend Tomo who slowly sinks down the long road of madness and despair… which really doesn’t last really long since she hits rock bottom at lunchtime and goes ballistic all over everyone.

But Tomo’s time comes quicklys as Osaka inspires a trip to “Magical Land” which becomes her time to shine when Yomi unexpectedly falls ill and has to sit out the trip… boy, Yomi looks hot in pajamas.
Uh… I mean… never mind. Moving on.

Episode 19
Sometime ago I did an interview concerning Azumanga Daioh, and this was noted as the only original episode of the series… now you’ll know why.
What starts out as a challenge to Nyamo concerning whether or not she’ll look into an arranged marriage, and the teachings of Osaka the Yawn Master, turns into a questionable future for all the girls.
They’re headed towards the final year (next DVD) and they have to begin studying for exams, but do they really know what they want to do with their lives? In one night some of them will ask that question.
The question of the future is asked as Nyamo goes with Yukari to go “cherry blossom viewing” at a hotel bar… eh?
The question of the future is asked as Tomo stops by to visit Yomi and talk about the future.
The question of the future is asked as Chiyo-chan stalks the dark streets of Tokyo, questing for the eraser to fill her need for convenience stores… uh… anyway she runs into somebody and…
We end Year 2 and look towards the finale and… eh? What’s with the episode count!
Let’s wrap up.

Azumanga Breakdown the

4th
What’s Hot?
Fourth verse continues where the others left off.
Once once once once again It goes without saying that ADVFilms is going to pull a pajama clad Yomi -- ECK!! … uh, sorry… (gulp)… cold shower cold shower cold shower… uh… a marching Chiyo-penguin out of a hat by delivering a quality series worth raving about, worth talking about, and worth forming two dozen fanclubs and organizations over. Oh, and once again don’t forget that it’s also worth owning in your collection regardless of whether you live in R1 or R2 land.
Without a doubt Azumanga Daioh is one of those home runs that hit’s the mark and scores high for the home team, which makes it worth checking out.
Anyone knows about the Azumanga Daioh thinpack yet? Is that available yet in R2? Do you think Nyamo got her copy of Anyone You Can… (-_-) … and yes, that was the same spiel as last time, mostly because nothing has changed since last time… it’s all good and all the same.

What’s Not?
The extras are still not extra enough, and that’s it for my few complaints.
Why can’t the extras be more extra like in Princess Tutu?

Moments to Remember?
Once again just about everything is good. Fourth time in a row I said that, and I mean that.

What to Ignore?
The English voice acting is going solid now so I have no complaints about it, so ignore me.
No, no, I mean it. Ignore me. After I go off ranting up there you can please ignore me. Thanks.

Overall?
Here we go again, but I have three words to say to you about Azumanga Daioh the Anime series.
Buy-this-series. Nuff said. Own it, watch it, enjoy it. You’ll be glad you did. See you next time!
Now when and if I ever roll over to get the final reviews done… well… bye for now.