Is the Azumanga Daioh manga the same as the anime? And is it any good?

Anime and Manga difference

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The manga and anime follow the same story line, though there are differences in small details. For example, when Yukari and Nyamo go out for dinner in episode three of the anime, Nyamo tells Yukari she is not holding her chopsticks correctly; in the manga version, it is Mr. Kimura who tells her this. In the first manga volume, Osaka's appearance is noticeably different from in the anime and succeeding manga volumes. This might be because the anime was created when the manga series was nearly finished, and the drawing style had already changed since the beginning. Hence, the anime was drawn in a style more similar to the drawing style of the later manga volumes than the early ones. In the same vein, Sakaki's initial unapproachable demeanor in the manga is downplayed in the anime.

Yeah, and I highly recommend it. The manga and anime were both good!

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A handful of schoolgirls, three of their teachers, and assorted animals have various misadventures in everyday life in modern Japan. That's it.

And yet that's not it.

Interestingly, Azumanga Daioh really doesn't have all that much of a plot. It's even more episodic than Urusei Yatsura, and there's no big overarching storyline or pressing matter to save Tokyo or anything like that. It's not even a soap opera - there's almost no male cast, and only an inkling of romance (but only as a one-sided crush played for laughs).

Azumanga Daioh is not about conflict - it's about mood. The director, Nishikiori Hiroshi, and the creator, Azuma Kiyohiko, intended this show to bring the viewers back to a period in their lives when everything revolved around hanging out with friends: the transition between childhood and adulthood. They also intended the show to depict high school girls as they really are. Not magical super heroines, not romance-obsessed angst bunnies, and not violence-magnet gangster girls. They're just everyday girls with everyday problems.

Instead of being an escapist fantasy like most another anime, Azumanga Daioh thrives on nostalgia and a stellar cast of quirky, but very true-to-life characters played by the best ensemble ever assembled in anime, period. This is a character showcase, and each character gets her time in the sun.

If anyone can be considered the star of the show, it's Mihama Chiyo, Child Genius. Most characters like her are cloying, precocious, and too perfect for their own good. What makes Chiyo-chan so cool is that, while she's incredibly intelligent, she's also downtrodden, a bit obsessive-compulsive, and terrible at athletics (even worse than most girls her age). She is an optimist to a fault, but often foiled by the antics of her teacher and her classmates. She also has mysterious ponytails and purposely messes with people's reality using the Power of Cute. She can be snide, but by and large, she is genuinely likable, and believably her age without being the slightest bit bratty.

I've only read the manga, but I can tell you it's very funny and definately worth reading. I would guess that it's similar enough that you wouldn't have any issues with it.