Video:

1rst DVD 4,5/5: This is a R2 DVD rip, superb graphic. Only complaint is that there is some white fog on the top of the screen during episode 1 and 2 (outdoor scene) but otherwise, flawless afterward 2nd DVD 5/5: No complaint, R2 DVD rip 3rd DVD 4,5/5: TV ripped (episode 20 to 26), annoying vertical line on the left screen during the opening but otherwise, nice graphic

Audio:

No complaint The music: Opening song - Soramimi Keeki (Cake), It's a silly song but it's very catchy. The opening animation made me laugh a lot like Chiyo flying with her pigtail, Yukari-sensei driving like a lunatic on the road, Chiyo in her blue pinguin suit, Osaka dancing like a mad women. Best opening i've heard in a while Ending song - Rasberry Heaven, cute and catchy song. All the girls are flying in the air reaching for the sky. Too bad there is only 1 opening and ending per DVD. It's rare I liked both opening and ending song on the same anime.

Subtitle:

1rst DVD 4,5/5: Sakaki is mispelled Sasaki, 2 or 3 spelling mistake, translation from japanese to english reduced at times, but it's very minor 2nd DVD 4/5: Same as 1rst DVD, also there is no subtitle for the headline of the mini-episode unlike the first DVD 3rd DVD 4/5: Same as 2nd DVD, also there is many spelling mistake on the last episode especially when they sang the graduation song (old=aulde)

Comment:

This is a 130 mini-episodes of 5 minutes each, many of them are hilarious. This anime is made by Ishii Kouji who made the Excel Saga anime so in Azumanga, he portays a professor who likes seeing the girls in their P.E uniform. If you liked the humor of Excel Saga, you'll definitly loved this wacky anime. Chiyo, is by far, the funniest of all the other girl with her pigtail. Every girl in the anime are all very unique. There is Sakaki, the black haired-girl who blushed everytime she sees something cute. Koyomi, the brown-haired one, who like to study a lot. Osaka is slow and scared the living scrap of the other girl with her fake stories. Tomo, the tomboyish girl, who like to sleep and causes headache to Koyomi then Kagura, Sakaki main rival in sport only want to be better than her in sport. In the teacher department, Yukari, the English teacher reminds me of Misato of NGE because she's lazy and Nyamo, the P.E teacher who is adored by her student but for some reason, Yukari wants to take advantage of her by lending money and more. It was fun to see the development of every girl during the 3 years in high-school before their graduation. The cultural, sport festival were great addition like the real high school in Japan and there were the funniest moment of the anime. Overall, this is an anime that you can watch again and again without getting bored to watch. Highly recommanded

Video:

Really nice DVD rips for episodes 1 through 19. Decent TV rips for epsiodes 20 through 26. No pixilation noted on the DVD episodes, minor on the TV episodes, and the TV episodes have these weird horizontal lines. All in all, it's fine though.

Audio:

No problems noted, except a very minor decrease in overall quality on the TV riped episodes.

Subtitle:

Taken from lazy digisubs or the best damn HK translations I've seen.

Comment:

There's 1 opening and 1 closing per disc (I don't like that.) When you start up the disc, it defaults to the movie and not the menu. Truly a wonderful series. Really funny. Highly reccomneded. Despite being really good HK's, I have to get R1's of this. I just have to. 5/5

Video:

as far as I could tell it was perfect on the first two discs, but starting on the second episode of the third disc it is a tv rip and doesnt have the same crystel clear look as before.

Audio:

again it is perfect on the first two discs but starting on the second episode of the thrid disc when the quality is that of a tv rip, the audio is a little louder and you may hear a bit of ... kind of like a static sound but not most of the time.

Subtitle:

Ok, this is where Azumanga Daioh stays constant. the subtitles are great, I dont know the source but it has perfect english although in the begining there are a few bubbles or something with kanji in them that are not translated but aside from that I understood everything and I think a great job was done in translating the humor and such.

Comment:

absolutly stunning on the first two discs, goes down a little on the third but for the most part this set has nice quality and you should buy it.... NOW!!!

Video:

As already mentioned, the first two discs are 'perfect' rips whilst the third (except for the first episode, which is also a DVD rip) is an exceptional TV rip. Clean and crisp visuals - I had no problems. Tested on: Pioneer 636 (RGB output) + QED RGB Scart (video-only) cable + Hitachi 28" flat-widescreen.

Audio:

Nothing amazing, but no distortions. I suppose the question of volume, which I didn't notice dipping or rising, is subjective. Tested on: basic Sony Dolby amp.

Subtitle:

These are very good, but the nature of the show makes it hard to rate them. Azumanga is steeped in Japanese culture, nature and idiosyncrasies - even when the subs seem to be 'perfect' they sometimes leave you scratching your head. For example, there's a sequence that plays with Japanese homophones - everything is translated well even to the extent of using parantheses to tell you what is happening, but it's not as funny reading it as it would be listening to it. A lot of, but certainly, not all of the titles and info bubbles are subbed - this doesn't detract from the show at all.

Comment:

I'll admit I was sceptical at first, but this happens to be a wonderful and wonderfully funny series. It's not too cute (although Chiyo's penguin suit is undeniably so), not too preachy and not too funny (in that it doesn't go for all-out humour at the expense of everything else). I think the original 4-5 panel strip manga has transferred quite well as anime. Some of the earlier episodes are in this fractured nature, which helps introduce the characters - things start to smoothen out into an almost continuous story soon afterwards. As I said, this is a wonderful show and, I think, a must buy. I don't know if it will ever have an English release, but if it does I wonder how the English voice cast would ever match up. It's a strange thing to say but when it comes to anime featuring Japanese schoolgirls, nothing beats Japanese voice actors. I must add that Tomo-chan is my favourite - I think her joke birthday present was fantastic and I'm tempted to try it out myself.

Video:

Disc 1 and 2 are DVD ripped. Near perfect. I didn't notice any of the 'black line what-ever' that the other reviewers were talking about... not on my TV nor my DVD-Rom. It looked perfect. Disc 3 - The first episode is still DVD ripped, after that they're TV ripped, but actually REALLY GOOD ONES. Probably the best I've ever seen (even better then X TV I'd dare say.)

Audio:

Sounded great, but I thought the third disc was a bit louder then the others. Nothing to worry though.

Subtitle:

Probably fansubs, they're great. They sub the signs, like said, but not all of them. You will miss some of the jokes though, but most get through pretty good.

Comment:

This is an AWESOME series. Mostly I'm not too much into comedy, but this just rocks your socks. There are chapter breaks for every 'episodes' (the small ones, about 5 p/ ep). Check out my screenshots. First 5 are from DVD rip eps, last 4 are from TV rip eps.

Video:

4.33--Discs 1 and 2 get 5's for being crisp, clear, beautiful DVD rips. Disc 3 gets a 3 for being a fine TV rip with some ghosting and grain.

Audio:

5. No probs.

Subtitle:

4.5. Great subs. Either fansub quality originals or copied from fansubs.

Comment:

Chaptering: Each disc only has one opening and closing bookending the content of the DVD. Each episode is divided into 6 chapters, followed by a Next Episode Preview. Everything is subbed.