Our Grand Tour now takes us to the turn of the century, and the dawn of modern comedy anime, with the classic series Azumanga Daioh: The Animation! Based on the celebrated four-panel manga by Azuma Kiyohiko, which has proven itself one of the most influential series to the last 25 years of comedy manga, the TV series is a landmark in its own right, helping to crack the code of how anime can adopt short, gag-driven, mostly plotless comedy manga, and in so doing helping to birth the ‘slice-of-life’ genre now beloved around the world. Historical import aside, the show is also just a ton of fun, with a memorable group of characters we follow throughout their high school years, and a tremendous vocal cast giving consistently hilarious performances. It makes for an episode where we ourselves can’t stop laughing as we talk about the show – and that’s always a good sign. 

Enjoy, and come back next week as our Grand Tour takes us back out into space for the classic Studio Gainax OVA Gunbuster: Aim for the Top! 

Time Chart:

Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:15

Intro and History: 0:01:15 – 1:01:34

Eyecatch Break: 1:01:34 – 1:02:18

Azumanga Daioh Review: 1:02:18 – 3:01:13

End Theme: 3:01:13 – 3:02:15

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“Welcome to Japanimation Station” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku. “Rolled Into One” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com