MovieChat Forums > Azumanga daiƓ (2002) Discussion > Watching this anime...are you a guy?

Watching this anime...are you a guy?


I'm a guy. A friend of mine, a guy, let me borrow any anime series from his collection the other night, to try out. I'm not a big anime fan at all, and I only watch one anime seriously (IGPX), and I have a few films. But, to try something new, I looked through his collection to see what he had, and I was surprised to see AzuManga Daioh among his sets. Obviously you know why, its a series about all girls.

So I asked him what's it all about, and he told me the premise of the story about a group of high school girls who go through zany adventures. Then he pointed out to me, "Yea, you might think its weird that I have a series like this because I'm a guy." But I told him I didn't care, and in fact, I wanted to give it a try because its something new.

So far, I'm in the middle of watching this series and its not that bad, its kinda funny. I watch it in Japanese, and one of the neat things about this comedy it provides some good cultural points about Japanese school life and culture in general, and I like anime humor, its off the wall and zany (especially with its inherent animations).

If you are a guy, and even though its a series about girls, do you guys care? I even read on wikipedia that the manga first appeared in a magazine for guys, and it indicated that this series is not what they call a "shojo" series (for girl fans). Obviously there are some traits about this show that is geared towards guys (I won't insult your intelligence), yet I can see why there is always an innate curiosity when it comes to a anime series about girls.

So far, I really enjoy the series, even though most of my guy friends would really egg me and make fun of me if they ever saw what I was watching. But hey, weren't we all Sailor Moon fans when we were kids?

reply

im a guy and its one of my favourite anime series

when you think about it the show doesnt really have any girly stuff in it... there's no constant talk about boys and boyfriends or makeup or whatever girls always talk about... the only girly thing is that they are all girls and theres alot of cute things.. but Japanese people like all those cute things... Like when some Japanese students came to our school, a male japanese student had a little pink sqaure pencil case thing with a hello kitty sticker on it...

anyway I like the show because I think its really funny and that its school life in japan..

reply

Yeah, you made some good points. Even though its about girls, there's nothing really too girly about it.

I read an CNN article about the concept of "cute" in Japan, hence in everyday life alot of their products such Hello Kitty dolls, animations, and toys have a cute design to them. Most Japanese like the concept of cute, and many women like to portray that through their hair and make up, but like you said, even boys are into it. Its just culture, different from ours.

So, even though the show has an all-girl cast, it should not be casted out as a girly show. I know my friends would look at me really funny if they saw what I was watching, but they wouldn't understand some of the cultural aspects about anime. But with this show, I learned alot about Japanese school life and especially Japanese culture, things that I never heard about before about Japan (like an Osakan accent, I thought all Japanese was uniformly the same, or the concept of three semesters in a school year, and the whole uniform gig).

reply

[deleted]

Yep, its a funny show indeed. And that's what I like about this show, it avoids that fanservice that you see in some other animes about females. This show is innocent and is just fun, and funny.

reply

yeah, i love this show, and i'ma dude. a lot of my friends that are also guys like this show too. and yeah, the creator and writer of both of em is a guy.

reply

LOL! i love this show!! im a guy

reply

I must say that this Anime is just plain fun. Some things in this Anime are directed towards males though. I watched this series with my sister and when she saw the pedophile teacher she wanted him to be locked away. She didn't find anything he did funny and thought that it was offensive to women for something like that to be thought as as a joke. I thought it was bloody hilarious. I am just saying that some of the actions that the characters display are comprehended differently from males to females.

reply

I just finished the series last night, sadly, but it was a great run. I enjoyed watching it and its one of the best animes I have seen. After watching all 26 episodes, I also can say this anime is not gender specific. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and even though there are many some aspects of the show that could be directed towards guys (PE class and swimming class), this series is not about girly things at all. Its just comedy, and one thing I enjoyed about this, was that it taught me about culture of Japan. I learned so many things about Japenese society. Anyone know of any other animes that are placed in Japan like Azumanga Daioh?

reply

OMG! im a guy and i love this show!!! Although i like sailor moon XD! it good to see other guys watching anime bout girls that arent perverted! XD

reply

OMG, I just got into this Anime, (just watched volume 1 from Netflix), and I love it. (BTW, I'm a guy) I love it cuz it's just so ridiculous. I even found Chiyo-Chan's "cooking is so fun" song insanely cute, and very funny. The best charachters are Osaka, Tomo, and Chiyo-Chan, they are so funny.

reply

This show is hilarious no matter who you are. You've probably met someone -- female or male -- that reminds you of Osaka, Sakaki, Chiyo, or any of the characters.

Also, the original manga appeared in a shonen magazine (comic mag designed for guys).

reply

Funny you mentioned that, cuz my best friends can sometimes reflect the personalities of those chicks on the show, its funny indeed. One of my friends is really energetic but sometimes annoying like Tomo, and I tend to act like Yomi alot (love food or talk about food, mature, less wild, but can get riled up real easily).

reply

no i'm a girl but it was my BOYFRIEND who told me about it. He's Like WATCH IT!! IT'S FUNNY!!! so i did an yesh... it's in my blood now. :D

reply

I'm a dude and this one's within my top 3. I was also able to get my best friend and my roommate into it, both of whom are guys. And in terms of the 'cute' stuff, I think it's all adorable lol. Granted I'm not normally one for 'cuteness', but somethin about anime brings it out in me. Oh well, great series tho. I suppose this one will go to show you not to judge a book by it's cover, eh?

reply

I'm not ashamed to say I'm an avid fan and I'm a guy. I picked it up from the library and I fell in love with it after only the first couple of episodes. I especially love Kimura, the pedophile teacher that watches the girls swim. He cracks me up so.

reply

I'm a guy and I watched from my town's library for the anime club.

Someone brought a DVD in, and we all started crackin' up in only the first episode.

Did I mention it was in Japanese? The way it was meant to be seen!

reply

You do realise that the comic was first printed in a magazine intended for guys right...

This show is targetted towards guys.

reply

I'm a guy and this is one of my favorite animes of all time. I'm the "Osaka" of our group and my best friend is just like Tomo. I'm telling you, he really did take the keys from my other friends hand and chuck them out in the yard.

Me and my friends talk about this all the time and we've figured it out. The target audience is anyone who had ever gone to High School. I don't know how many of you have graduated, but watching the Final episode made me nistalgic for high school.

reply