thor123

Trying to describe Azumanga Daioh is like trying to describe a cake to someone who has never had cake: it's kind of impossible, and strongly advised to just give them a bite - otherwise they will never believe that those random ingredients will create something that's actually good. Since it's a 4-koma manga, it's quite easy to give it a shot without a big time investment anyway. If you don't want to do that yet, I hope my review below  can convince you to try it anyway.

Story and characters

There isn't much to say about the story of this manga: it's literally just the daily lives of a bunch of highschool girls, and sometimes some teachers are thrown into the mix too. The manga follows the girls through their 3 years before college, as they follow classes, go on vacation, take part in school events and almost get killed because their teacher is nuts. It's truly a "slice of life" in the sense that all you get is that part of their lives - which is all too short. Having to put down the book because I finished it was somehow sad...

Now I've only been talking about the slice of life part, but of course this is also a comedy manga. And the comedy is carried entirely by the characters in this case: not only is the cast adorable and likeable, but they're also a tad eccentric. For those of you who think of Cromartie High School when I say "eccentric", I have to warn you that the girls are eccentric in a more "believable" way. (That's also how the comedy in general works in this manga: by using a lot of natural elements like pranks. )But still, they're all memorable: the airhead Osaka, the hyperactive Tomo, the lolicon Kimura... none of them took long to grow on me, and I kinda miss them already.

Art

It's quite typical for 4-koma that the artstyle is more "bare bones", and this is also true for Azumanga Daioh. However, there are still enough details to make it look good, and the style fits the manga well.

Overall

This is a fun, short series which is just relaxing at times and hilarious at others. Don't pick this up if you want a deep story, but if you're looking for a soothing comedy then you'll have a great time with this one.