Azumanga Daioh News

What's a Super Duper Mini Review?  Well, since I'm taking a break from written reviews, I decided to put a short list of what I liked and didn't like about the shows I review and put down some notes and fun facts as well.  For a little info about the show, I copy the Plot Summary from the Anime News Network pages and throw them in the review so the reader can be a little bit informed on what the bases of the show is about.  I also borrow some info from Wikipedia as well.

Super Duper Mini Review

  Pani Poni Dash! is an anime series based on the manga of the same name, Pani Poni.  The show was produced by GANSIS and Shaft and it was directed by Akiyuki Shinbo.  The show was aired in Japan in 2005.
 
Pani Poni Dash! is a comedy, parody show.
 
 
 
 
Plot Summary
 

The 11 year old Miyamoto Rebecca becomes the new teacher of a classroom which is full of weirdos. Despite her cute looks she's a little beast and can be pretty sarcastic and offensive. The school is not safe anymore now that she's in charge of a class and her students, Himeko, Ichijou, Rei and a white rabbit who took a liking to Rebecca help her to rough up the school and the neighbour-class with its teacher "ojiichan." 

---  Anime News Network
 

Pros:

• A wacky cast of enjoyable characters that makes this show fun.  From Rebecca to Ichijou, they are all unique.
• Very goofy and insane show.  Reminds me of Hayate the Combat Butler , Lucky Star, and My Bride is a Mermaid, and a little bit of Azumanga Daioh.
  
• Super cute and colorful art style.
• Tons, and tons or references to movies like Planet of the Apes, The Exorcist, to other things like Super Mario Bros. and Dragon Ball.
• Really cool openings and endings.
• Like other Shaft shows, the art style can be very stylish and unique.
  

 
Cons:

• While the show does have a lot of references that are awesome, it's less enjoyable when you don't know them.  There were many that I didn't get and I was like "Ok?" and "I don't get it."  The fansubs I watched helped explain them, but it still would have been more enjoyable if I didn't have to read the little blurb for every reference they make.
  
• Like a lot of comedy shows, there is no ongoing plot.  Most of the show is episodic.
  

 
 

While I didn't get many of the reference in the show, which is many, I still had a blast with Pani Poni Dash.
 
If you enjoyed shows like Lucky Star, Hayate the Combat Butler, My Bride is a Mermaid, or Azumanga Daioh, you will definitely get a kick out of this show.  Be prepared for all the references in the show, there are maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaany.
 

Azumanga Daioh is an anime adaption of the manga of the same name.  There are 26 episodes, animated by J.C. Shaft, and directed by Hiroshi Nishikiori.  Azumanga Daioh is a high school/slice of life/comedy show.
 

Brief Overview

Azumanga Daioh is a show about six high school girls and two high school teachers during the course of three years.  There isn't much of a story since the anime is an adaptation of a 4-panel comic manga.  So instead,  here are six girls and two teachers in the show briefly explained:
 
Students:
Chiyo - A child prodigy who is only 10 years old who and SUPER CUTE!
Sakaki - A shy girl who loves cute things and animals even though that hater her. She's also very athletic as well even though she isn't in sports.
Ayumu aka Osaka - A airhead who things of strange things all the time.
Koyomi aka Yomi - The only normal person out of the group.
Tomo - A super hyper active girl who isn't that bright.
Kagura - An athletic girl
 
Teachers:
Yukari - An easy going and lazy English Teacher.
Minamo aka Nyamo - A gym teacher and a childhood friend of Yukari.
 
There are two side character as well that have big parts:  Kimura, a dirty old man who became a teacher for his lover for school girls, and Kaori, Sakaki's #1 fan.
 
 

My Thoughts

One word: Superb.
 
Since I'm a big fan of slice of life/comedy shows I had to check this one out and I'm glad I did.  Everything about the show is superb.  All the characters where superb.  Chiyo is so cute that you just want to hug her forever.  Sakaki is the kind of person you just want to talk to about cute things.  Ayumu is the biggest and best air head I have ever seen.  Koyomi is so normal that it makes you think how she hangs out with these people.  Tomo is super duper crazy and you just want to challenge her to anything whether it be a race or an arm wrestling contest.  Kagura is the kinda of person you just want to do any kinda of sports with.  Let's not forget about Kimura.  Because of him I want to become a teach now.  Nah, I'm kidding, he is just a goofy old fart who makes you laugh every time you see the guy.
 
Besides the character lets not forget the other part of the show, the comedy.  The comedy is top notch as well.  There lot's of memorable moments through out the show like this:
 
  

 
 
and these:
 
 

 
 
I could make this review full of funny clips, but that should be good.
 
With it's superb cast and odd ball humor, this is a must watch for any one.

My Scrore - 5 out of 5
(If the user review score could go higher then five I would give it a higher score, but I can't.)
 

Blog Thing

IT'S TIME FOR THE ALMIGHTY BLOG THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
With Azumanga Daioh out of the way (I will miss it  :-[  ), I decided to check out Karin.  It looks like a fun show.  School girl vampires, blood, comedy, school?  What else do you want?  I'm still reading Negima as well.  I'm now on chapter 163 so about 100 more chapters and I'm caught up to where the manga is right now.
 
On the video game front I found my new crack and it's called Titan Quest.  Titan Quest is basically Diablo with Greek mythology and it's an awesome game.  I picked the game up for a whole $3475348907534890759034850348589034.  Kidding.  I got Titan Quest: Gold Edition (regular game + expansion pack) for a whopping $5 from a Steam sale.  Steam, you love you oh so very much.
 
I also have a request.  I'm running out of shows to watch so please recommend me some.  The shows that I love the most are slice of life, comedies, and romance shows especially when all three of those are used together. (Ex:  Toradora and My Bride is a Mermaid)
 
One more thing, say happy birthday to my dad.  Crap, I forgot how old he is......
 
 
Jordan
 
 
EDIT:  Now I'm thinking of checking out Lucky Star instead or Karin.  I watched like the first 2 episodes or so last year and I couldn't get into, but I want to try it again.  I always hear great things about the show so I really want to watch it.  Maybe the show gets better starting at episode 5 when the new director of the show came in.
 
Should I give this one a 2nd chance or stick with Karin?

Cosplayers came out in droves to this, my first convention. It was a one-size-fits-all-geeks sort of event, with seemingly no theme. There were anime booths, comic kiosks, action figures, actors, and a cosplay contest. I thoroughly enjoyed it, mostly because of the cosplay. Here are a few of the better cosplayers I saw there today. 

The girl in the purple is my new idea of what the girl of my dreams looks like. I discovered, today, how much I actually love cosplay.