Azumanga daioh is a very very very silly show with distinctive characters and funny gags. At the core of the show are a lot of running gags, and each individual character would be too much if the show was solely about them, however the show brings them together and alternates characters in a way that doesn't get tiring.
Obviously whether or not the gags get tiring is up to personal taste and I can see people finding it annoying . A lot of the jokes are definitely very childish. I personally found Tomo to be annoying sometimes, especially later on in the show.
The show is great from the beginning but I think it really hits its stride starting around episode 10 or 11 (this is around when they start their second year of high school). Most of the episodes I can remember as my favourite are during their second year.
Early in the second year is an episode about a day in the life of Chiyo. This is really one of the first emotional episodes, and one of my favourites.
The final stretch of episodes that comprise their third year of high school are also quite good. A lot of them are tinged with more emotion and tension surrounding the bittersweetness of graduating and the stress of university entrance exams and their future. One of my favourite episodes is the one right at the end of their second year where all the characters (even Nyamo with talks of her marriage) question and think about their futures.. It's still silly (all the yawning) but is probably the most serious episode of the show. No serious or emotional topics are treated in that much depth (I wouldn't expect them to be) but they are given attention suitable for the type of show AzuDaioh is. It has displays of the sweetness and camaraderie and other things like that that you would expect from a slice of life show.
I've dedicated a lot of words to the "emotional" or "serious" parts of the show, even though they get a relatively small amount of screentime (as well as attention from the fanbase). I did this because I think it's important to appreciate AzuDaioh beyond the clips on TikTok or Instagram. Most episodes have some sort of overarching story and/or emotional point(s) that in my opinion make the show truly a good show. The characters and their relationships do slightly grow over the course of the show, and it's nice to see.
The only real issue I had with the show is that it always did Yomi kinda dirty, and didn't really give her the attention she deserved. I think she was an interesting character, since she was kind of the straight-path/good-head-on-her-shoulders type character. However, even though attention and focused episodes were given to other side characters like Sakaki or Kagura, Yomi didn't really get that.
I say "side characters" even though there's an ensemble cast because in my opinion, Chiyo is the main character, with Osaka close behind. Tomo is not really a main character, but speaks as much as if she was one. Sakaki is a side character but gets a couple of her own special episodes/moments. Kagura doesn't really get much attention at all and Yomi gets even less. I think they could've really fleshed out Yomi the same way they fleshed out Sakaki.
Power rankings:
- Osaka
- Sakaki
- Chiyo
- Yukari
- Yomi
In a few words: Azumanga Daioh is a funny and silly show, but it is also a sweet show.