Azumanga Daioh - Seniors (Vol. 5)

Rating:
Summary: Okinawa is a highlight, but things slow down a bit
Review: The Azumanga girls are now high school seniors. They are back together but Kaorin gets moved to the homeroom of Mr. Kimura, who isn't exactly her favourite person. Not only that, but Kimura nominated Kaorin to be class rep. Chiyo and Tomo have had some hair alterations in the process.

Chiyo-chan, already ahead in her college plans, decides to go to America, despite the dangers there. After all, she is rich, small, and could be a target for kidnapping. Kagura and Tomo are impressed, and Osaka has a loopy and cute daydream following Tomo's suggestion that Chiyo could become president of America. It involves Osaka disembarking from a plane and being met by many cute Chiyo-chans.

The highlight of this disc is the school trip to Okinawa. They have all sorts of fun. Osaka has fun looking at the lion-like shiisaa statues and practicing her Okinawan with Chiyo, but her smile is cute when she sees the champloo (Okinawan stir fry) and gets all happy. Champloo! On Iriomote Island, Sakaki's first step towards true happiness is realized when she meets a tiny Iriomote mountain kitten that allows her to pat it and carry it during their trip. The farewell is painful to Sakaki as she looks back, tears streaming from her face. However, one scene from the manga I wish had been animated is where the silly Osaka throws sea cucumbers at Chiyo and Yomi. Tomo makes a pest of herself holding out souvenirs and repeating their names before Yomi tells her to shut up.

The final summer vacation at Chiyo's place turns out to be an entrance exam study time. And this time, Kaorin gets to go after having to go with her astronomy club camp in Discs 1 and 3. Yet Ms. Kurosawa suffers a major blow when she is unable to help Kagura with a math question, to which Yukari demonstrates her use of English to demonstrate her superiority. Kurosawa is so humiliated, she is drawn as white with a mere outline. Yet her rewarding side is there. So impressed is she with Chiyo doing morning radio exercises, she gives her a stamp book with a cute bunny stamp for each day, which leads to Sakaki joining Chiyo so she can get a stamp. But Osaka trying to wake up Yukari by pounding a frying pan is a dramatic highlight, only she picks up a different implement by mistake. (Hint, can anyone say Ginsu?) Fortunately, she never uses it, but it definitely took some years off Yukari when she sees it. Osaka also makes some funny and risqué remarks about Kagura's super-tanned complexion.

However, the real downer is the final sports fest. With the winning athletes Kagura and Sakaki on her side, one would think Miss Yukari would be confident of winning, but like Richard Nixon, her lust for winning overrides her sense of ethics. Osaka gets to compete in the bread eating contest. Although she loses, the cute smile of hers as she eats the melon bread is precious. Chiyo demonstrates good sportsmanship when she says the sports fest was fun no matter what. Where both Kagura and Tomo can get rowdy, the difference between the two are seen when they are horsing around and knock down a tent Yomi and Chiyo are setting up. Kagura becomes teary-eyed and contrite, even wondering to herself, "Why am I always so boorish?" She makes amends by offering to reset the tent. Chiyo is forgiving as always and offers to help her reset the tent back up. As for Tomo, well...

Clearly, the series was winding down, and some of the material is unrelated incidental skits, some of which are funny, such as the weight-conscious Yomi getting mad at Kagura and Osaka because the former can eat as much as she can without gaining weight, the latter because she gets full after eating a tiny portion. Others which are filler, such as Tomo's wanting to join Interpol. But Chiyo is still cute, Yomi still has it together, Osaka still loopy, Tomo still rowdy, Kagura still athletic, and Sakaki still the gentle soul.

Bonus art studies are those of Kagura, Miss Yukari, Miss Kurosawa, and Mr. Kimura


Rating:
Summary: A Pleasant Anime Experience
Review: This anime has yet to disappoint me. The plot is set up around several girls attending high school and their experiences together. In this, you have a simplistic form of comedy that very few anime series could ever hope to pull off. The anime also remains true to the manga in some respects, different in others, and altogether new scenes not seen in the manga. In the end if you're looking for an anime that will stimulate you intellectually, or something crude, you're in the wrong place. Now if you are looking for just a good time that doesn't involve a lot of thinking, but a straightforward series about some girls and their comic ventures through high school, go no further.

Rating:
Summary: KEEP EM COMING
Review: Volume 5: Seniors continues one of the funniest and greatest anime of all time. As the dvd opens the girls are starting their last year of high school before they move on to their own seperate lives. There's one snag though, Kaorin is put into the homeroom of the perverted Mr. Kimura who begins to take a creepy interest in her.

After that, it's on to the school trip to Okinawa and a weekend of scuba diving, powerboat cruising, and the visiting of ancient temples. The highlight just might be Sakaki's encounter with the rarely seen and endangered iriomote cat. Will she finally be able to pet a cat without it biting her hand off?

Episode 22 involves the annual vacation at Chiyo-chan's summer beach home. For the first time, Kaorin is along for the ride, but will she survive one of this volume's funniest moments when the Yukari-mobile shows up.

Episode 23 concerns the annual sportsfest and Yukari's constant obsession to defeat her best friend, Minamo. Having Kagura and Sakaki on your team can't hurt your chances, but Yukari's personal involvement in the baton relay might just destroy their chances of first place.

I love this show. You really care about the characters and come to love them over the course of the anime. The actors are first rate. The best thing about this series is that it is so warmhearted in its humor. All of the laughs are playful. Beneath its exterior is a gentle melancholy, in the sense that this is their last year together. It will make me sad to see it end in the next volume, but this series really is something you'll treasure for a lifetime. Buy it!

The usual extras are here with a reversible cover with a ton of informative info about the volume. Also comes with a pin of Chiyo-Chan's dad, production sketches, and opening/closings. One thing I wish they would have put on the volumes would've been some interviews with the Japanese cast and crew.

If you liked this series I would recommend the manga, available now in 4 volumes.

Rating:
Summary: Are shiisaa yaibiimi?
Review: You know how people write reviews and they say, 'Such-and-such just keeps getting better and better!' and you think, 'Yeah, you're just saying that because you don't know what else to say'? Well... Azumanga Daioh just keeps getting better and better! Don't look at me like that.

This volume kicks off the girls' third (and last) year of high school. From a painful separation at the beginning of the year all the way to the very last sports festival of high school, no subject is left untouched (Is it okay for Chiyo to travel? Are shiisaa yaibiimi? What SHOULD we keep our eyes, ears, and noses on?). Also, aside from another summer break (er, excuse me: 'entrance exams study camp'), the girls go on their class trip to Okinawa, resulting in an episode that is probably the most funny and touching thus far.

Besides the usual booklet with the translator's notes and the reversible cover (this time with Kagura), there's also a pin of Chiyo's dad to come flying to your rescue if you ever need it.