Adorable kitties aren’t the only critters in anime that I’m a sucker for; other furry, fuzzy, cuddly creatures also up the kawaii factor for me and elicit many drawn out “Awwwwww! Isn’t it a cuddly wuddly, what-ever-the-hell-it-is?” I have no idea why I get absolutely stupid when I see cute animals (cute human children don’t register on the Kawaii-O-Meter™) but if an anime or manga has a cutesy, well-designed animal character, it gets extra points from me.

Cool creature designs are always a plus in anime, and the diverse nature of the medium always promises that fantastical creatures of inhuman origin will be a matter of course in certain genres rather than the exception. Aside from the cutesy pet-characters, there are characters who are part critter/ part human, all critter, and all human/ all critter at different times (human during the day, critter by night).

My fave anime animals are cats, followed by anything small, fuzzy and cute. Is there a certain type of critter that makes you temporarily lose brain function? Which anime creatures make you sigh in admiration (one way or another)? What’s your fave critter in anime?

• ACTION!!!
• ROMANCE!!!
• MAGIC!!!
• NON-STOP VIOLENCE!!!
• BLOOD AND GORE!!!
• MECHS!!!!
• ENOURMOUS BREASTS THAT DEFY THE LAWS OF GRAVITY!!!!
• NINJAS!!!
• SAMURAI!!!
• HOT AND HORNY HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS!!!!

Check out this SUPER COOL anime that has none of the ABOVE and be pleasantly surprised as how an anime about ordinary high school girls can be so good!!!

The girls in Azumanga Daioh can’t fly, fight or perform feats of magic and wonder, but they can entertain you with just their everyday lives. Azumanga Daioh follows the day-to-day doings of six girls as they go through high school in Japan.

Azuma Kiyohiko based the series on his comic of the same name. Kiyohiko’s manga is drawn much like the cartoons we have in the Sunday paper, with four or more panels and many installments. The episodes of the anime are planned loosely with these panels, and have no real plot, leaving room for the insanity that fills every episode. The opening to the anime gives a great sneak -peek at the bizarreness of the series, and it’s super cute!

What makes Azumanga Daioh so much fun is the insight we get into each characters’ very well developed personalities. For example; one of the characters, Osaka, is a bit of a flake and is constantly imagining the strangest things about her classmates and life in general. In the anime, all her odd thoughts are thrown up on the screen in all their animated glory.

Every character adds their own unique weirdness to the anime. Sakaki is one of my favorite characters after Osaka. Her secret obsession with all things cute is hilarious as she imagines a back-story for every stuffed animal she comes in contact with, but everyone in Azumanga Daioh is fantastic!

I have to say though, that my absolute favorite character in the anime is Kamineko, loosely translated as god or spirit cat (there’s some debate as to whether the name is Kami or Kamu; kamu means biting while kami is god. Both are apropos.) This cat is a real @$$-hole of an animal and is one tuff kitty.

After watching Azumanga Daioh, you’ll have a greater appreciation of Japanese high school-ers and how very different life is for them. Seems like high school in Japan is loads of fun after watching this series!

Rating

Azumanga Daioh gets 3.5 outta 4 Hammies!