Another reviewer compared it to Charles Schulz's classic comic Peanuts, and though this wouldn't have occurred to me, I agree: AD sorta resembles Peanuts in both style and tone. Make no mistake that this is far, far more goofy, Saved By the Bell-type stuff than the pseudo-gravity of 90210. However, this educative value runs very secondary to AD's primary goal of often quite 'random' humor, as many reviewers have described. That is to say, the overall effect of accompanying the group on their scholastic journey, revisiting up to four times the significant annual happenings of their school year (various festivals, exam periods, sports events, school competitions, vacations and field trips), is greater than the sum of its parts. AD tells the story of a group of girlfriends (and their not-much-older but occasionally far more immature and messed-up teachers) traveling through their four years of high school in Tokyo. Thus, it's perhaps not the best for sickbed reading, as I did, hoisting it aloft with my trembling ailing wrists, but its sheer substance would make for a wonderful gift presentation! The omnibus format is also recommended because this manga series, like a couple good chipotle peppers packed in adobo, is characterized by a pleasantly cumulative warming-up effect. This Azumanga Daioh 4-in-1 omnibus is a 750+-page volume that's thicker than a brick - sort of an Infinite Jest of manga. That 'why, this is unlike anything else!' feeling. He is a graduate from Kobe Design University and Hyōgo Prefectural Kakogawa East High School in Kakogawa.Remember the first time you ever ate an unfamiliar food that's since become a dietary staple? - for instance, in my case, sushi, pad Thai, or good authentic hummus or guacamole? Well, that's kind of how I feel having 'discovered' manga: that 'how can this have been in existence all that time without my having known it!' feeling.

The 'Azumanga' in Azumanga Daioh comes from the author's last name, Azuma. He also designed the characters from the anime Magical Play, which was webcast from 2001 to 2002. His doujinshi manga was based on such franchises as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Sailor Moon, Tenchi Muyo!, Battle Athletes Victory and Dragon Ball.

In his younger days Azuma would write doujinshi and hentai manga under the pen names Jōji Jonokuchi and A-ZONE. His current series is Yotsuba&!, also serialized in Dengeki Daioh. In his manga he writes under the hiragana form of his name, which has led some non-Japanese-speakers to confuse him for a woman (as they have mistaken the masculine ending -hiko for the feminine -ko).Īzuma's style of art is easily recognizable, having distinguished itself from common shojo and shonen art styles in the 1990s. He is famous for writing the manga series Azumanga Daioh, serialized from 1999 to 2002 on the Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh magazine. Kiyohiko Azuma (born in Takasago) is a Japanese manga writer and illustrator.

Azumanga Daioh by Kiyohiko Azuma