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Azumanga Daioh (あずまんが大王 Azumanga Daio) is a manga by Kiyohiko Azuma that was made into an anime in 2002. The anime is published in English by ADV Films, and the manga is published in English by ADV Manga.

The manga consists of four panel comic strips which were published in the magazine "Dengeki Daioh". While Westerners are used to this and similar formats, known as "4-koma" in Japan, a full-length manga series being composed of them is almost unheard of.

The anime was broadcast in five-minute segments every weekday, and as a 25-minute compilation each weekend. Thus there are 130 five-minute episodes which can also be seen as 26 25-minute episodes.

Both the manga and the anime follow the trials and triumphs of everyday life in a Japanese high school. Six schoolgirls and two teachers make up the main cast with a few secondary characters including a creepy male teacher and another girl in the same grade who seems to have a crush on Sakaki, one of the main characters.

We follow Sakaki's obsession with neighborhood cats, Chiyo's struggle to find acceptance in an age group far above her own, Yomi's patience with a rather silly best friend, and get to see yearly accounts of summer vacation, holidays, tests, and athletic events. Although it generally follows everyday life, this series is occasionally marked by bursts of surrealism and absurdity, such as a regular feature showing the characters' New Year's dreams.

Four of the girls made it into Newtype Magazine's top 100 anime heroines of 2002: Osaka came 7th, Chiyo-chan 11th, Sakaki 21st, and Yomi 78th. Together they made Azumanga Daioh the joint 2nd most popular series of 2002 for female characters.

The title has no direct significance; it is simply a portmanteau that includes the title of the magazine it was published in.

1 Main characters

Names are in Western order, with the surname after the given name.

• Yukari Tanizaki (谷崎 ゆかり) — English teacher. She's not your typical English teacher though, she's the kind that goes on vacation with her students! Selfish, irresponsible, miserly, and generally dysfunctional. Her homeroom class is the central focus of this series.

• Minamo Kurosawa, a.k.a. "Nyamo" (黒沢 みなも) — Gym teacher. An old friend and rival of Yukari's. Far more in-control then her, although she has her own faults.

• Chiyo Mihama (美浜 ちよ) — Child prodigy, who has skipped five grades and is still at the top of the class. Has fabulously wealthy parents who never seem to be around. Best friends with Sakaki.

• Tomo Takino (滝野 智) — This girl somehow manages to be extremely driven and a slacker at the same time. She irritates everyone around her to no end.

• Koyomi Mizuhara, a.k.a. "Yomi" (水原 暦) — A grade-school friend and occasional antagonist of Tomo's. Quite mature and serious, diets periodically. Yomi's seriousness is often used as a humorous counterpoint to the other characters' silliness.

• Sakaki (榊) — A tall, quiet girl with a tough exterior through no fault of her own. An incredible athlete, even though she's not particularly interested in sports. Her secret passion is all things cute, especially animals, and very especially cats; unfortunately, cats hate her for some unknown reason.

• Ayumu Kasuga, a.k.a. "Osaka" (春日 歩) — A transfer student from Osaka, as you might guess. Narcoleptic and absent-minded to an extreme, yet an extremely talented lateral thinker. A good friend of Chiyo's.

• Kagura (神楽) — A later acquaintance who devotes most of her life to the swim team. Has a rather one-sided rivalry/friendship with Sakaki.