Someone recently asked a group I'm in for anime recommendation. I replied, "If you haven't seen Azumanga Daioh, you haven't lived." The same applies to the manga, if not more so. Azumanga Daioh, or "AzuD" as my friend and I referred to it, is the story of a group of high school friends, told almost entirely in 4koma, or 4 panel comic strips. Many people's reactions to things like "manga about high school girls" would be a sigh, or a comment like "What super powers do they have?", but the girls of Azumanga Daioh are different. They are completely normal. As someone who was once a high school girl, I find this is actually the closest anything comes to representing me and my friends. Azumanga Daioh is a comedy series, and there are jokes that still make me laugh every time, despite having read them 10+ times. I feel like these girls are my friends as well, and Azumanga Daioh is just a great series all around. Even if you aren't into manga, I would still whole-heartedly recommend Azumanga Daioh to anyone. A funny, cute, light read, Azumanga Daioh is probably my favourite manga of all time.
