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Topic	Tom reads through the Bolo Family Manga Collection (spoilers)
Tom Bombadil 05/21/18 4:25:55 PM #31:	Well thanks, I guess! Azumanga Daioh, Vol. 1 (of 4) Genre: Slice of life, comedy, 4koma By: Kiyohiko Azuma Whose fault is this: Tombolo https://imgur.com/a/HQTIfxQ Ah, Azumanga Daioh. I have been looking forward to this one. It has been my favorite for years and years straight (disclaimer: it might have flipflopped with Rurouni Kenshin once or twice) in both manga and anime. I haven't done much with it recently, so I imagine it'll be like catching up with an old friend you haven't seen in a while. Since there's not much plot, and it's broken up so small, I'm planning to speak more generally instead of my usual plot synopses. 4koma is honestly one of my favorite...genres? Formats? Presentations? For those of you unfamiliar, it's where a manga is organized into a comic-strip like arrangement of four identically-sized panels- however Japan does these vertically instead of horizontally, usually. I'm not sure what exactly draws me to these (other than how much I gravitate towards light comedy and slice of life to start with), but I suspect it has something to do with the familiar format, combined with jokes and pacing you wouldn't commonly find in Western comic strips? I don't see tons of manga like this, but I'm a sucker for it when I do, as we'll see over the course of this topic. As a bonus, there are occasionally extra stories that break from the 4koma format, getting an art upgrade as well as telling more of a long-form story. The first volume does a nice job of setting up all the characters. (except Kagura, who I believe gets only a brief cameo until next book) We get a sports festival, a cultural festival (where we run a stuffed animal show), and a bit of summer vacation. Some of these gags are actually a bit funnier now that I know a lot more about the language and culture! They localized it pretty heavily though, so that gets kinda jarring at times. I'll give you a couple character profiles per book to pad this out: Chiyo Mihama: Still among my all-time faves, Chiyo-chan is a ten-year-old who is smart enough to start high school. As expected, this leads to issues keeping up with everybody in physical activities and life experience, but she's a very nice, very smart, very put together kid. She's a bit timid, and tends to get picked on a bit, but tries hard to get along with everybody, and is the smartest of the bunch. Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga: Another fave. Osaka got stuck with her hometown as a nickname, given the reputation Osakans have for being boisterous and outgoing. That said, she doesn't fit the stereotype at all- she's very slow and spacey. She's not DUMB per se, she just thinks differently and not that quickly. She's good at riddles and stuff. Still, she's usually around to just say something weird that may or may not have any context. It's funny because the manga translation gives her a New York accent and stereotypes to defy, while the dub of the anime equates Osaka with Houston instead. My rating: 10/10 Did nostalgia give Azumanga that last half a point or so? Yep, fight me. I was worried that maybe some of the magic would be gone, but it's not. I remember in the past comparing this series to Peanuts, and upon review I'm inclined to stick with it. Nobody ever really does anything important or dramatic or stressful, and it's just....laid-back and funny. I also feel like the characters and interactions are closer to how people actually behave and talk than a lot of comedy. I see a lot of myself and my wife in these characters. It's not quite on the Aria level of chillness, but it's close. There's no huge overarching plot, it's not about fanservice or shipping, and even when Tomo is doing something hyper, it just feels like hanging out with friends and relaxing. This is what I want in a slice of life, and with one or two exceptions, I've not found anything that delivers quite the same. --- Look at all those chickens There's a hunger in the land, there's a reckoning still to be reckoned <cite>Tom Bombadil posted [p:901743762] in Tom reads ... [t:76586176]...</cite> <quote>Well thanks, I guess! Azumanga Daioh, Vol. 1 (of 4) Genre: Slice of life, comedy, 4koma By: Kiyohiko Azuma Whose fault is this: Tombolo https://imgur.com/a/HQTIfxQ Ah, Azumanga Daioh. I have been looking forward to this one. It has been my favorite for years and years straight (disclaimer: it might have flipflopped with Rurouni Kenshin once or twice) in both manga and anime. I haven't done much with it recently, so I imagine it'll be like catching up with an old friend you haven't seen in a while. Since there's not much plot, and it's broken up so small, I'm planning to speak more generally instead of my usual plot synopses. 4koma is honestly one of my favorite...genres? Formats? Presentations? For those of you unfamiliar, it's where a manga is organized into a comic-strip like arrangement of four identically-sized panels- however Japan does these vertically instead of horizontally, usually. I'm not sure what exactly draws me to these (other than how much I gravitate towards light comedy and slice of life to start with), but I suspect it has something to do with the familiar format, combined with jokes and pacing you wouldn't commonly find in Western comic strips? I don't see tons of manga like this, but I'm a sucker for it when I do, as we'll see over the course of this topic. As a bonus, there are occasionally extra stories that break from the 4koma format, getting an art upgrade as well as telling more of a long-form story. The first volume does a nice job of setting up all the characters. (except Kagura, who I believe gets only a brief cameo until next book) We get a sports festival, a cultural festival (where we run a stuffed animal show), and a bit of summer vacation. Some of these gags are actually a bit funnier now that I know a lot more about the language and culture! They localized it pretty heavily though, so that gets kinda jarring at times. I'll give you a couple character profiles per book to pad this out: Chiyo Mihama: Still among my all-time faves, Chiyo-chan is a ten-year-old who is smart enough to start high school. As expected, this leads to issues keeping up with everybody in physical activities and life experience, but she's a very nice, very smart, very put together kid. She's a bit timid, and tends to get picked on a bit, but tries hard to get along with everybody, and is the smartest of the bunch. Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga: Another fave. Osaka got stuck with her hometown as a nickname, given the reputation Osakans have for being boisterous and outgoing. That said, she doesn't fit the stereotype at all- she's very slow and spacey. She's not DUMB per se, she just thinks differently and not that quickly. She's good at riddles and stuff. Still, she's usually around to just say something weird that may or may not have any context. It's funny because the manga translation gives her a New York accent and stereotypes to defy, while the dub of the anime equates Osaka with Houston instead. My rating: 10/10 Did nostalgia give Azumanga that last half a point or so? Yep, fight me. I was worried that maybe some of the magic would be gone, but it's not. I remember in the past comparing this series to Peanuts, and upon review I'm inclined to stick with it. Nobody ever really does anything important or dramatic or stressful, and it's just....laid-back and funny. I also feel like the characters and interactions are closer to how people actually behave and talk than a lot of comedy. I see a lot of myself and my wife in these characters. It's not quite on the Aria level of chillness, but it's close. There's no huge overarching plot, it's not about fanservice or shipping, and even when Tomo is doing something hyper, it just feels like hanging out with friends and relaxing. This is what I want in a slice of life, and with one or two exceptions, I've not found anything that delivers quite the same. --- Look at all those chickens There's a hunger in the land, there's a reckoning still to be reckoned</quote> ... Copied to Clipboard!
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