this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2024
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chapotraphouse

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago (1 children)

To me the style always seemed less sexualized and more "the animators don't know how to a booby"

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

if you look up the manga/DVD covers there's definitely some sexualization going on. but I haven't seen the show so idk if that extends too much to the actual content.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Well, how do you count "too much"?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

yeah, I mean its not like a moral condemnation exactly, just that as an adult I'm not interested in sexualized high schoolers and am uncomfortable with the extent to which they are used to market to adult men. The cover being a character in just a swimsuit or with her skirt blowing up is at least a bit questionable. Honestly devoid of context maybe I wouldn't take as much issue, but I know how skeevy or worse outright pedophilic anime and manga sometimes are, so I have a hard time giving the benefit of the doubt when I see anything questionable. I definitely didn't get the vibe that ""the animators don't know how to [draw] a booby""

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Really the only thing that I personally find offensive in Azumanga Daioh is this widely reviled recurring character called Mr. Kimura, who "became a teacher because he likes high school girls". He appears in episodes 1, 4, 6, 7, 10-17, 20, 21, 23, and 26, I think in most of these episodes exactly once — but obviously with a character description like that, even a very brief appearance would leave a bad taste in my mouth. Kimura also briefly appears in the intro — the intro is incidentally also where that "skirt getting blown up" picture is from, that's actually the character getting launched into the air and falling.

Nevertheless, Azumanga Daioh is rated G~PG in most jurisdictions around the world. I've watched the show cap-a-pie with my boomer mom, a bit with my brother, and my mom even wanted to show Azumanga Daioh to an even older relative of ours, too. So Azumanga Daioh is, like the planet Earth, mostly harmless. I have sometimes thought about torrenting Azumanga Daioh just to give Mr. Kimura the ol' purge-2 treatment, because without him, the worst the show gets is just a few eyeroll moments or maybe specific triggers for some people. You can check IMDb's parents' guide or DoesTheDogDie for more information.

By the way, the "manga cover" I think you're referring to is actually the cover of Dengeki Daioh magazine's August 2001 issue. Probably specifically the picture used at the top of the Wikipedia article for "Dengeki Daioh". So while it is plenty gross that that is in fact official artwork, it is not actually one of the manga covers. Those covers look like so (from eBay):

Covers of Azumanga Daioh volumes one through four in Japanese. Each volume depicts the logo of Dengeki Comics in black in the upper right. Volume 1 depicts Sakaki, Chiyo, Tomo, Yomi, and Osaka in winter uniforms walking with their bags; a black speech bubble bearing the Azumanga Daioh logo in red and white points to Tomo's head; a golden speech bubble with a black numeral 1 points to Yomi's head; a black speech bubble reading "Kiyohiko Azuma" points to Osaka's head. The background is white with a gradient to a greenish yellow near the bottom. Volume 2 depicts Chiyo in a summer uniform waving against a white background. A black speech bubble is above her head, with the Azumanga Daioh logo in blue and white. A golden circle is on the left-hand side of the speech bubble and bears a black numeral 2. In the lower right corner is a black cartouche-like shape bearing the name "Kiyohiko Azuma" in white. Volume 3 depicts Sakaki in black trousers and an orange sweater with a high neck against a white background. A black speech bubble is to the right of her head bearing the Azumanga Daioh logo in orange and white. In the lower right of the speech bubble is a golden circle bearing the numeral 3. In the lower right corner of the cover is a black cartouche-like shape bearing the name "Kiyohiko Azuma" in white. Volume 4 depicts Tomo, Yomi, and Osaka in various summer clothes, each also carrying a bag; Osaka also holds in her hands sata andagi. A black speech bubble in the upper left points to Tomo's head, and it bears the Azumanga Daioh logo in yellow and white. A golden speech bubble bearing the numeral 4 points to Yomi's head. A black cartouche-like shape in the lower right corner bears the name "Kiyohiko Azuma".

Edit: removed a gif in case it's an epilepsy trigger