|
R4 DVD Reviews
|
|
Written by maehara
|
|
Friday, 15 July 2005 12:43 |
 It's the final volume of Azumanga Daioh, and
the girls are graduating and going their separate ways. No more
Kamineko, Chiyo-chan, Osaka-san... Some of the girls get their
wishes, while others don't, but the comedy that's been the real
backbone of the series is still there despite the parting of the ways...
24 - Yamamayaa
Sakaki's been searching the internet for Iriomote
cats, and finds a news story about one that was killed in a road
accident. She thinks it was the mother of the cat she befriended
during their school trip - and whaddya know, her feline friend has come
to find her in its hour of need. Meanwhile, there are career path
surveys to fill in ("If I do something where I can live on my own, I
can keep a pet" - good thinking, Sakaki), while every cat in the
neighbourhood seems to be following Kamineko's example in wanting to
take a bite out of Sakaki - until Mayaa turns up to protect her...
25 - Onwards, Entrance Exams!
College
entrance exams are approaching fast, and the only person who doesn't
seem to be worried about them is Tomo - she's more concerned about
testing Chiyo-chan and Osaka with trick questions. Osaka's decided she
wants to be a teacher - it was Chiyo's idea, and Yukari-sensei isn't at
all happy at the idea - surely Chiyo's not suggesting teachers are
stupid? A trip to the local shrine is called for over New Year, just
to make sure the omens are good for the entrance exams (but for
carefree Tomo, it's bad news) before getting down to the serious
business of studying...
26 - Graduation Ceremony
It's
Graduation day for the girls - the last time they'll be at school
together. Osaka's come prepared with her box of high-class tissues
(just for her hay-fever, honest..). Once the ceremonies are out of the
way, Tomo's gotten over the fact that she hasn't won any awards, and
Yukari-sensei's finished torturing her students for one last time, it's
time for the goodbyes to the school, and Chiyo's arranged one last
outing with the gang - to the theme park, since Yomi missed it last
time. All that's left is for Yomi to find out if she's passed her
entrance exam...
Azumanga Daioh Mini-Movie
It's exam
results day - and as usual, Chiyo-chan's got top marks, Is there
anything the child genius can't do? Well yes, there is - tongue
twisters. Meanwhile, Osaka's obsessing over Chiyo's pigtails - she
just can't resist the urge to pull them off - while Kaorin's obessing
over Sakaki as usual. The thing with Chiyo's pigtails is that they're
detachable and seem to have a life of their own - or is that just in
Osaka's daydreams..?
The mini-movie looks absolutely stunning - talk about your lavish
animation. I'mglad I saved it to last, or the remaining TV
episodes just wouldn't have been the same. The humour in the
movie is no different, though.
Nice touches: the whole Mayaa episode, and Chiyo-chan's floods of tears
at the graduation ceremony - been there, seen that (I'm a guy - I
didn't do the tears myself), and it brought back some highschool
memories to me. Kamineko stayed evil until the end - it wouldn't
have been right if he went all soft on us.
While there's a certain whistful feel to these episodes - all the girls
know that 'the end is near' in a way - they're still great fun to watch
as they comic element is still there, just in a slightly different
way. This was my second time through Azumanga Daioh,
and I can safely say it didn't lose any of its appeal - there's
definitely replay value here. One of the funniest recent shows -
while other series have tried to catch the same feel, none of them
quite have, and that makes this series highly recommended.
|
