Azumanga Daioh 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 Azumanga Daioh 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 yonkoma 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. The readers and/or viewers follow Sakaki's obsession with neighborhood cats, Chiyo's struggle to find acceptance in an age group far above her own, and Yomi's patience with a rather silly best friend. They get to see yearly accounts of summer vacation, holidays, tests, and athletic events. Although it generally follows everyday life, Azumanga Daioh 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 and the name of the artist.

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