Azumanga Daioh

[Valkyrie]

Has anyone other than myself here seen Azumanga? It's like an anime with absolutly no plot, but manages to be an awesome show non-the-less.

What it is, is a bunch of highschoolers and thier abnormal english teacher and its all really funny.

Here's a picture of one of the many scenes in which Ayumu is being crazy...


I would say more, but I would give away the whole story! 

[BurkeWorld]

Uh oh! Get Kyo in here!

Burkey

[Marurun]

I've seen two episodes of this series and absolutely adored it! I should go buy the anime, or better yet, the manga! I love the intro song to the show

[adam808]

I read one of the mangas. I liked it
"Osaka" hehe.

[ApacheMan2K]

i've seen the first OVA volume myself, and i have to say, it was quite entertaining  shame i haven't seen it in a year, though.

[Violet]

Yes, watched them all, loved it.

[Valkyrie]

Awesome bus!
But I don't think that Chiyo is the one people come to see for the show,
it's all about Osaka. How can a 10 year old beat a dilusional mastermind?
(and you thought I was going to say Sakaki)

[Violet]

OK then, here's the Osaka Bus

[adam808]

Osaka rules 

[KyoZaber]

I've greatly enjoyed Azumanga Daioh since I first started reading the manga. ^_^
The anime isn't that bad either. If anything, moments are close.

^_^ I've really got to get more of the DVD's.

[Methid Man]

OK then, here's the Osaka Bus

They have buses for every anime character, don't they?

-- Sam the Methid Man

[Valkyrie]

Woooo Yeah, Osaka!

Why does Japan have all the cool stuff? And why does North America have crap?

[Violet]

OK then, here's the Osaka Bus

They have buses for every anime character, don't they?

I don't think so, those are the only 2 I have.

[KyoZaber]

Woooo Yeah, Osaka!

Why does Japan have all the cool stuff? And why does North America have crap?

In my opinion, it's because America's really loosing touch with its creative side.
Japan I think is a more nurturing arena for comics, and animated series.

Their stories usually are quite clear and easy to follow, or at least catch up on. For some reason, shows based on comics are just hard to make here. It may be just me, but it seems like 95-99% of all North American shows never start from the beginning. We always get thrown right into the action, and are left to either wait for a flash-back episode, or just plain guess what has happened.

Also, the shows always seem to just drag out and get bland. Some shows I feel deserve either an ending that brings everything to a close, or at least an ending that leaves things open. Instead if ratings aren't good, the shows are just dropped like a bad habit.

Edit:

Also, for some reason folks would rather read about their local news-casters, or some crappy sit-com on their busses. It takes real appreciation to appreciate an Osaka bus...

[Methid Man]

Much of what you said, Kyo, is quite true. I'd like to add that one of the main reasons why NA cartoons start right where the action is stems from the fact that NA children tend to have shorter attention spans than Japanese children so NA producers try their best to make their shows as attention-getting as possible. Even dubbed anime in the past have suffered under the hands of producers that try to Americanize everything in order to obtain as much of an audience as possible.

Another reason is profit. An American bus with Osaka or Chiyo would draw a lot of attention from American anime fans, but with the vast majority of our society being geared towards other things it just wouldn't come close to making enough money. It just wouldn't be as profitable here as it would be over there.

-- Sam the Methid Man

[Violet]

I agree with you partly, but I don't think American/Canadian kids are any dumber than kids in the rest of the world.  At least, they don't start out that way...

The problem here is cartoons=commercials.  Its all about making a quick buck selling toys or at least commercial time.  Creativity takes the back seat to marketing. 
That's why Japan has Azumanga and we get Loonatics. 
That's why when the occasional good North American cartoon comes along, it's doomed to fail.  It's not that a show like Invader Zim didn't have fans, it just wasn't what marketing was looking for. 
Most of all, North American studios (TV and Movies) are afraid to try anything new.  They'd rather stick to the sort of thing they've done before than take any risks.  (That's why there are so many sequals.  That's why "That 70s Show" spawns "That 80s Show", and "Cheers" leads to "Cramer") Everything is done by committee.

[Supersonic]

I agree with you partly, but I don't think American/Canadian kids are any dumber than kids in the rest of the world.  At least, they don't start out that way...

The problem here is cartoons=commercials.  Its all about making a quick buck selling toys or at least commercial time.  Creativity takes the back seat to marketing. 
That's why Japan has Azumanga and we get Loonatics. 
That's why when the occasional good North American cartoon comes along, it's doomed to fail.  It's not that a show like Invader Zim didn't have fans, it just wasn't what marketing was looking for. 
Most of all, North American studios (TV and Movies) are afraid to try anything new.  They'd rather stick to the sort of thing they've done before than take any risks.  (That's why there are so many sequals.  That's why "That 70s Show" spawns "That 80s Show", and "Cheers" leads to "Cramer") Everything is done by committee.

Certainly you mean "Frasier"?

Anyways, there was only one spinoff that was done well, Good Times, which was actually a spinoff of a spinoff of All in the Family. (The best TV show of the 70's).

[Violet]

Certainly you mean "Frasier"?

Yeah that's it.  I don't actually watch any of these shows.  I gave up on network TV long ago.

[Supersonic]

Certainly you mean "Frasier"?

Yeah that's it.  I don't actually watch any of these shows.  I gave up on network TV long ago.

Good choice. The only thing I ever watch anymore is TV Land or Family Guy.

[Valkyrie]

NA tv sucks, minus the cool stuff
like family guy, and american dad, and the simpsons and stuff like Robot Chicken (who could forget Linus perfoming occult rituals?) and Harvey Birdman.

NA tv is going down the drain, and Japan is there to enlighten the world with new ideas.

Yay for American political correctness. 

EDIT:
Oh yeah, to stay on topic,

What was your favorite scene in Azumanga Daioh, (manga or Anime)

Mine's when Ms. Yukari, Sakaki, Kaorin and Tomo fly down the road in the yukarimobile, and make the faces at the Ms. Kurosawa car.