Azumanga Daioh

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Top row, left to right: Sakaki, Kagura. Bottom row: Yomi, Osaka, Chiyo, Tomo.

A comedy manga series and the anime based on it, Azumanga Daioh is the rather disjointed and occasionally surreal story of six high school girls and several of their teachers. Being episodic to the point of resembling sketch comedy, and largely lacking serious conflict or drama, the show has little in the way of conventional storylines, preferring to set up and deliver the animation equivalent of several comic strips per episode. This is because the show is a remarkably faithful translation of the popular monthly Yonkoma.

The title combines the author's name (Kiyohiko Azuma) with the word "manga" and the name of its original publisher (Dengeki Daioh magazine) -- it can be read as the Japanese equivalent of an acronym for "Azuma's Comic Strip For Daioh Magazine" (Dengeki Daioh being a magazine aimed mainly at younger teenage boys, the general theme of the strip was to poke gentle fun at the audience's female classmates -- "Man, teenage girls are weird...").

Azumanga Daioh has been described as "Peanuts on LSD" or Seinfeld in High School. Heavily character-driven, its humor, especially in its manga incarnation, often relies on subtle changes in facial expression, running jokes, references to Japanese culture, and jarring shifts into absurdism.

It's also notable for demonstrating that a manga and anime about high school girls can be popular and profitable by focusing on their personalities instead of their bodies, starting a trend which continued in series such as Lucky Star, Hidamari Sketch, K-On!, A Channel, and Hitohira.

This work has a Character Sheet, Headscratcher, a WMG page, and a Trivia page; in other words, the whole package.

Azumanga Daioh is the Trope Namer for:
Tropes used in Azumanga Daioh include:
  • The Abridged Series: Yes, believe it or not, someone managed to abridge this. RyoViga's series can be seen here.
  • After-School Cleaning Duty: Shows up for A Day in The Life of Chiyo. Tomo just plays. Osaka tries, but has some difficulties with the equipment.
  • All Just a Dream:
    • At least part of the movie was Osaka's dream.
    • Episode 8 of the anime combined two manga arcs, both telling stories about the girls' first dreams of the New Year.
  • Ambiguous Disorder: Osaka definitely has something, but exactly what she has is never identified in-universe.
    • There is a lot of speculation over Sakaki's mental condition in the fandom as well.
  • Amusing Injuries: Chiyo and Osaka are on the receiving end of some very comically powerful blows.
  • Animals Hate Her: Sakaki. All she wants is a cat—or at least to get near a cat. Episode 9 shows just how far the universe goes in thwarting her: the entire episode is comprised of incidents where Sakaki tries to get close to a cat or a cat replica, and is denied—someone else gets the last copy of a cat book, a robotic cat breaks down before she can pet it, etc. That's not even getting into Kamineko, whose sole purpose in life, it looks like, is to bite Sakaki and remind her that her favorite animals hate her. Still, she does end up winning two cat plushies from a crane game. Subverted in that a wild cat approaches her without biting her and even saves her.
  • Art Evolution: It took a while for Azuma to perfect the designs of the main characters, and by the time he does his entire style has shifted into a more consistent, rounded appearance. Osaka is perhaps the worst offender during this process, as she doesn't even look like herself until Volume 2 or so. The recent re-release of the manga in Japan has seen Volume 1 substantially redrawn, so that the artwork is much more uniform—albeit reminiscent of something else...
    • The new Extra Lessons chapters serialized for the 10th anniversary of the manga have backgrounds detailed enough to be worthy of Yotsuba&!
    • See also Azumanga Web Daioh.
  • Art Shift: "JAN-KEN!"
  • Aside Glance: "And just like that, before Ah knew it, Ah was nicknamed Osaka."
  • Asleep in Class: Happens a lot in this series, mostly with Osaka. At one point Kagura attempts to wake Kaorin up by poking her with a pencil, only to stab her in the back of the head when she wakes up with a start.
    • Yukari herself sleeps in class sometimes.
  • Banana Peel: Osaka has always wanted to trip on a banana peel and fall on her face.
  • Banging Pots and Pans: Osaka tried to do this, but ended up with the memetic knife scene.
  • Battle Aura: Maya uses one to scare off Kamineko's gang.
  • Beach Episode: Three of them.
  • Beat Panel: Used much in the manga. It also shows in the anime.
  • Berserk Button: Osaka's pretty laid-back and easy-going...but do not split your chopsticks improperly, or you'll get the full brunt of her anger (as Tomo found out).
    • Don't tell Chiyo's "dad" that his face resembles that of former prime minister Mori (or Bill Clinton). Especially don't tell him that he isn't a real cat. Even if he says so himself.
    • Yukari has several of these, but probably her biggest one is her Sitcom Arch Nemesis, Nyamo. Also, don't say that you like ice cream more than Matzusaka Beef, or that you had all the snow crab you could eat.
  • Berserker Tears: When Yomi manages to eat curry noodles without splattering it all over herself, Tomo is pushed over the top and goes on a rampage in the lunchroom with tears in her eyes until she accidentally hits Yukari. Yukari's subsequent reaction must be seen to be believed.
  • Best Beer Ever: Yukari. Nyamo too, during that one summer night...
  • Bifauxnen: Chihiro.
  • Bi the Way: Kaorin is either bisexual, standing in a Transparent Closet or Single-Target Sexuality for Sakaki. She "wouldn't mind" if Sakaki were a man.
  • Big Badass Wolf: Kagura calls Sakaki a "lone wolf" in one scene, although Sakaki would rather imagine herself as a cute lil' doggy.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Mayaa.
  • Big Fancy House: Chiyo-chan's.
  • Big Friendly Dog: Mr. Tadakichi, a "man of character".
  • Big Red Button: Tomo has a dream where she pushes one to kill Chiyo. She could of, y'know, NOT pushed it, but this is Tomo we're talking about.
  • Bilingual Bonus: Only counts if you're watching the Japanese dub, but look at the scene from the first episode in which Osaka's hiccups render her recorder-playing unlistenable. It's implied that the phrase Yukari was partway through writing means "What are you doing" in English.
    • Another for the English speakers: The reason Tomo's repeating the food names over and over again in the Okinawa arc is because They sound like aspects of the human anatomy. Even more so for high-schoolers, who no doubt know someone like that.
  • Bird Run: Subverted; Osaka tries this during a relay race, but it only slows her down. Then again, Osaka isn't a very good runner to start with; she even loses to Chiyo.
  • Bittersweet Ending: With graduation comes the time for all the characters to go their separate ways. Even though they might still stay in contact, the sudden finality accompanying entrance to the "real world" is a tearjerker. It's even more so for the readers/viewers.
  • Blah Blah Blah: Yukari speaks to a foreigner in English, which the viewer isn't supposed to understand anyway. In the English dub, this turns into French.
  • Blank White Eyes: Frequently.
  • Bleached Underpants: While the actual characters and setting are quite different, several of the character designs (most notably Yukari's) were near-identical lifts from some hentai manga Azuma had done previously.
  • Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Tomo and Yomi. In the first episode, when Tomo learns they've got a new transfer student from Osaka, she asks Yomi to be the Tsukkomi to her Boke, despite her protests. Tomo reacts to Yomi's completely unenthusiastic "nandeyanen?" with a What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome? take where she leaps across the room, clearly demonstrating her hyperactive nature.
    • Yukari tries to perform this in class with Osaka. After asking Osaka who should play the Boke and who should play the Tsukkomi, she hits Osaka over the head for saying she (Yukari) should be the Boke.
    • Chiyo unwillingly plays the Tsukkomi to Tomo's Boke, much to her and Osaka's protests.
  • Boobs of Steel: Tomo seems to believe in this to some degree. She starts several jokes pertaining to Sakaki's, Kagura's, and Yomi's figures in relation their ability at sports.
  • Book Dumb: Tomo, Kagura, and Osaka, although she actually scores better than Kagura and Tomo.
    • Note that the latter is only for one test.
  • Breathe on the Fan: Osaka does this while riding with Nyamo to Chiyo-chan's summer home.
  • Brick Joke: After Osaka mentions she can't eat spicy foods in episode 2, Yomi tricks her into eating a croquette flavoured with cayenne pepper. During Yukari's rant about rewards for winning the sports festival in episode 15, Osaka mentions that a cayenne pepper is a type of chili pepper to Kagura. Kagura obviously doesn't get it.
    • In the third Beach Episode, Osaka says she's jealous of Sakaki's large breasts. Tomo responds, saying she's been growing too. Osaka reminds Tomo that she was put in the same chest size group as her and Chiyo by Yomi in episode 4, much to Tomo's dismay.
    • Osaka's little sneeze disrupting the school assembly.
  • Brilliant but Lazy: Tomo, of all people, shows signs of this. After Yomi says Tomo could never get into their somewhat competitive high school, Tomo studies just to piss her off.
  • Broken Record: Just check out the all blue page...
  • Broken Smile: "You took it, didn't you?"
  • Bruce Lee Clone: Blue Three.
  • Bunny Ears Lawyer: Kimura and Yukari are portrayed as competent teachers, but do things in school that would make headline news.
  • Buxom Is Better:
    • Osaka makes a comment about Sakaki's, Kagura's, and Yomi's chest sizes:

Osaka: (to Sakaki and Kagura) You two are American. (to Yomi)You're Hawaiian. (to Tomo) And you're Japanese.

Osaka: In American homes.. (...) You can go inside without your shoes, right?
Yukari-sensei: Yes..
Osaka: Then what if they step on dog poop and go back inside home without noticing. What if the American dad, mom, brothers and sisters step on dog poop and go inside without noticing?

  • Dojikko: Kimura's waifu.
  • Doorstopper: There is an Omnibus of the entire manga series. It is nearly 700 pages long.
  • Double Meaning Title: It can be read as "Azuma's Comic Strip For Daioh Magazine" and "Azumanga the Great King". The latter doesn't have anything to do with the show, but the girls discuss it during the post episode 1 trailer.
  • Doujinshi: There are quite a few Azumanga doujin games around. There's even a fighting game.
  • Dramatic Wind: When Sakaki bids farewell to the Yamamaya she befriended in Okinawa.
  • Drives Like Crazy: Yukari is the queen of this trope. Hands down.
  • Dual-Wielding: Yukari, with lunch trays.
  • End of Series Awareness: In the penultimate episode's Post Episode Trailer.
  • Engaging Conversation: Nyamo, give Chiyo a chance to grow up first, okay?
  • Ephebophile: Kimura states that he became a teacher because he likes high school girls. In fact, Osaka asks him in the manga whether Chiyo really counts as a High School girl since she's so much more a Grade Schooler. He insists: "High School is High School".
  • Epic Fail: Osaka at sports. Osaka at weather prediction. Osaka at drawing pandas. Osaka and about everything else, too. Except word games.
  • Even the Girls Want Her: Sakaki - all the girls in her school think she's "so cool!" Just ask Kaorin.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Her name is Ayumu Kasuga, but everyone starts calling her "Osaka" by the start of Second Year. In the anime, she's Osaka within moments of her first appearance once Tomo decides to nickname her. It's bad enough that the school (or at least Yukari) can't remember her real name, either.
  • Evil Laugh: Tomo, mostly, given her nature, but Yukari can pull off a mean one. See the beginning of the trip to Okinawa arc or mocking the opposing team during the sports festival, for example.
  • Evolution Power-Up: Osaka was under the impression that a matsutake mushroom is the more evolved form of a shiitake mushroom.
  • Eyecatch: A picture of a character/characters saying "A!" (あ!)
  • Faceless Masses: Everyone else in the classroom, especially the boys.
    • It zigzags. sometimes they are faceless, other times they are all uniquely drawn.
  • Face of a Thug: Sakaki only looks Tall, Dark and Bishoujo.
  • Fan Service: Relatively minor, but it's there; Yukari even lampshades this in one episode. Aside from the beach episodes, there's Yomi stripping to her track uniform before the opening credits are even over. Also, some of the "bumper" pages between manga chapters (one of Sakaki in particular) border on pin-ups.
    • Yomi stripping naked at the end of the second athletics episode should count. There's also the picture of Tomo on the beach in the dream episode.
    • Sakaki's yellow bikini.
  • Fear of Thunder: Sakaki and Chiyo. Osaka is scared of it too, but likes it at the same time.
  • Festival Episode: Many.
  • Fist of Enthusiasm: Tomo and Yukari are prone to this. Some boys do this when they express pride and Kimura being so honest about his feelings.
  • Flanderization: Kaorin's crush, Osaka's eccentricity, Tomo's genkiness. Oh, and Kimura's default facial expression.
  • Flight, Strength, Heart: Parodied in one of Tomo's Imagine Spots where she gives herself Chiyo's intelligence and Sakaki's athletic ability, and Osaka offers her forgetfulness. The theoretical super-Tomo shows up late and without her textbook, but does a triple flip into her seat and gives a perfect translation.
  • Flung Clothing: Yomi in the opening credits stripping to her track uniform, and again after the second athletics festival, where she strips completely nude to check her weight - and then takes her glasses off to see if that changes the result.
  • Foil: Yomi to Tomo, Nyamo to Yukari, Sakaki to Chiyo, and Kagura to Sakaki.
  • Foreshadowing: It probably wasn't intentional on her part, but in the first summer vacation arc while the girls are talking about TV show murder cases, Osaka starts describing a situation in which it happens to them, with the murderer ultimately turning out to be Osaka herself. Two summer vacations later, Osaka walks into Yukari's bedroom, holding a knife...
  • Formally-Named Pet: Mr. Tadakichi.
  • For the Funnyz: Tomo has bouts of this. Her most memorable case is throwing the keys to the summer cabin into the forest, that Chiyo mentioned they'd be unable to get in without the keys, for absolutely no reason whatsoever except that it was funny.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: Chiyo and Tomo are sanguine (showing how two people with the same temperament can be very different), Sakaki is either melancholic or supine, Yomi is choleric, and Osaka is phlegmatic.
  • Free-Range Children: It's not so much as implied that more than four of them—Chiyo, Kaori, Tomo, and Sakaki—have even one parent.
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus: In one episode, pausing long enough to read the blackboard behind Yukari reveals that she's decided to teach her class a lesson in introductory physics... in English.
  • Friendship Moment: Plenty of these going on. Yes, even Tomo gets in on the action.
  • Gag Series
  • Genius Bruiser: Implied with Sakaki.
  • Gentle Giant: Sakaki - so very big, so very gentle.
  • Gainaxing: Sakaki, not surprisingly, in the first episode.
  • Genki Girl: Tomo. Yukari is an adult version of this, especially when it comes to challenging Nyamo.
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: Kagura once asked Sakaki if her hand smelled like fish, suspecting it to be the reason Kamineko attacked her so often.
    • And Sakaki actually checks to see if this is the case.
      • Although knowing Kagura, she may have actually believed this to be the case.
  • Girlish Pigtails: Chiyo, Rachel Handelbarz and Yomi in the supplementary lessons.
  • Goldfish Scooping Game: The turtle variant. Osaka is more concerned about what use she would have for turtles, rather than actually playing the game.
  • Goofy Print Underwear: Sakaki is shown wearing panties with a kitty on them.
  • Gratuitous English

Yukari: (in the pool) "Oh my god! Unbelievable!"

    • "Hallo every-nyan! How-ah you? Fain sank you."
    • "Oh My Gah!"
    • "Ah, I wish I were a BIRD!"
    • "I'MA SOWWYYY!!!"
    • "Mai waifu!"
    • Yukari has an entire monologue full of this in Episode 22, which comes with an incredibly heavy accent.

Yukari: It's said that most Japanese have unique character of shame. Alike their character, and are proud of it very much. Generally, most of Japanese who say that in English, I think their nature of shame prevent them from improving our skill of speaking English. But we stop trying to speak English, are willing to make reading mistake. When we say...

    • "HELPU ME!"
    • There are at least five examples in the opening and closing sequences.
    • In Tomo's dream, she and Yukari have a conversation in Gratuitous English, complete with Japanese subtitles.

Yukari: I HAFF NOTHEEN TO TEECH YOU!
Tomo: SANKS MEES YUKARI!

    • Did anyone notice how many of these examples involve Yukari? And she's supposed to be an English TEACHER for heaven's sake.
      • Lampshaded in the first episode, where she cheers on a student in Gratuitous English, prompting the appearance of a caption pointing to her and reading "Supposedly an English teacher".
    • Kagura: You are a Fool
    • INTERNET TECHNIQUE!
    • "I... like... you."
      • "YOU?!"
  • Growing Up Sucks
  • Hachimaki: Sakaki. Slightly subverted in the last Sports Festival episode. She starts off wearing it as normal around her head then, after hearing a boy from another class make fun of Chiyo's running, she takes it off and uses it to tie her hair in a ponytail.
  • Had the Silly Thing In Reverse: one of Yukari's trips starts out with the car careening all over the yard before returning to its initial position, at which point she notices she was in reverse.
  • Hair Wings: Osaka fantasizes that Chiyo-chan can use her pigtails like this.
  • Hatsuyume: One of the earlier episodes is devoted to the dreams of Osaka, Sakaki, Tomo, and Kaorin.
  • Head Pet: Osaka has a Nekokoneko doll on her head one time in the manga. Sakaki puts one on her head during the second culture festival.
  • Henohenomoheji
  • Heroic BSOD: Nyamo has a massive one the morning after she got totally drunk and gave some extracurricular education to the girls, and again when Yukari one-ups her with her mad Gratuitous English skills.
  • Hero of Another Story: Literally with the cameo of Kokoro Kosaka in the first school festival episode. She is the main character of Wallaby, a short lived manga authored by Azuma. She is the girl looking at the stuffed animals when Osaka tells her that they are buildings and places in Osaka. Wallaby himself appears in her pocket but only in the manga version.
  • Hero Stole My Bike: Yukari in the premiere, while one of her students is trying to fix hers.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: Yukari and Nyamo. It doesn't stop the Les Yay, though.
  • Het Is Ew: With only two regular males in the cast (one of whom is a large yellow cat...thing, while the other is a certified Dirty Old Man Ephebophile), plus lots of Les Yay, this is definitely gonna come up.
  • Hiccup Hijinks: "What causes hiccups anyway?"
  • Horseback Heroism: Kaorin being saved by Sakaki in the dream episode.
  • Hot for Student: Kimura for Kaorin
  • Hotter and Sexier: The revised editions of the manga offer more shots of the girls and teachers in swimwear. It looks as though Nyamo's breasts got bigger!
  • How Can Santa Deliver All Those Toys?: According to Kagura, he can fly at Mach 100.
  • Huge Schoolgirl: Sakaki, in both height and...um...American-ness?
  • The Idiot From Osaka: You'd expect this of Osaka, but she actually subverts the "loud, fast-talking, money-grubbing Osakan" stereotype. Also, she only went to Junior High in Osaka proper.
  • "I Know What We Can Do!" Cut: The Hiccup Hijinks plot in "Osaka's Day".
  • Image Song: Everyone gets two, however, they sometimes share with another. For instance, Yukari and Nyamo share two, with Mr. Kimura being in the latter, Osaka is in three, Tomo is in four and Chiyo is in five!!!
  • Imagine Spot
  • Inherently Funny Words: The Japanese/Okinawan for Sata Andagi is actually "Saataa Andaagii" - Osaka overstresses the long vowels.
  • In My Language, That Sounds Like...: Tomo takes great pleasure in pointing out how many Okinawan dishes sound like crude anatomical references in Japanese.
  • Innocent Prodigy: Chiyo, acing test after test while failing to understand sexual stuff any teenage girl would know by heart already.
  • Insane Troll Logic: Osaka produces enough of this for everyone to go around. Tomo (and, to a lesser extent, Kagura) has her moments as well.
  • In-Series Nickname: Yukari-guruma for Yukari's beat-up Toyota, Kaorin for Kaori, Yomi for Koyomi, Nyamo for Minamo and, of course, Osaka for Osaka... I mean, Ayumu.
  • Inside Shoes
  • Inverted Portrait: In the Title Sequence, it happens with Yukari upside-down and Nyamo right-side up. Then Yukari glares at Nyamo, and their positions are switched.
  • In Vino Veritas: Nyamo's rant about relationships, which is presumed to degenerate into a drunken sex ed lesson.
  • Iyashikei
  • Japanese Delinquents: Sakaki's unintentionally-intimidating attitude (and frequent hand injuries) cause the girls to mistake her for one of these.
  • Jerkass: Tomo and Yukari. Kagura sometimes counts, though not to the extent of the other two. Let's not forget Yomi, who has her moments as well. The most notable being giving Osaka an extremely spicy dish while promising her it wasn't spicy. She did it just to watch Osaka scream.
  • Ephebophile With A Heart of Gold: Kimura-sensei is into high-school girls, (and possibly Chiyo-chan) and tends to stalk Kaorin more than is healthy... He also frequently donates large sums of money to charity, has a loving wife and family, seems to be a genuinely good teacher, and (to the shock of the girls who witnessed) once prayed for peace on earth as part of a prayer ritual. Could possibly be a deconstruction.
  • Joshikousei: "'Cause I like high school girls, that's why!"
  • Just Shoot Him: When Yukari suddenly decides she'd rather teach PE instead of English the class end up playing dodgeball. When Chiyo is the last person on her team Tomo starts throwing the ball to just barely miss the clearly terrified Chiyo, prompting Yomi to say "Just hit her already".
  • Karaoke Box: Where the girls discover that Sakaki sings beautifully, and that Yomi can't.
  • Keep It Foreign: In the English dub of the anime, Yukari becomes a Spanish instructor. It's the same for the first issue of the translated manga. The second issue got a new localization team and switched to her being an English teacher, though some other English-language gags are inexplicably changed to French and German.
  • Kindhearted Cat Lover: Sakaki loves all animals, but her affinity for cats easily surpasses the rest (even if the love is one-sided)...that is, until the Yamaneko cub she meets in Okinawa starts retributing it.
  • Kotatsu: Osaka has one of the more hilarious dream sequences while sleeping at one.
  • Late for School: Yukari, in pretty much every episode.
  • The Load: Chiyo and Osaka in any athletic competition. Chiyo because she's about three-foot-nothing and fifty pounds soaking-wet, and Osaka because she's, you know...Osaka.
  • Loveable Sex Maniac: Kimura. Yes, he's creepy, yes, he pines after high-schoolers, but he has moments of questionable sanity, he's good for a laugh, he recycles cans and donates large sums of money to charity.
  • Love Bubbles: Kaorin, whenever she thinks of Sakaki. And when she finally gets to dance with her.
  • Loves Me Not: Kaorin pulling the petals off a flower to determine whether she would be in the same class as Sakaki for second year (but the more conventional question is definitely in the subtext). The first flower yields a negative and she starts having a major panic attack, but before she can pull the last petal, Yukari gives her another flower that she can start over with. The same thing happens, except it's Mr. Kimura who offers the flower (to the horror of both Kaorin and Yukari). A pile of stems and petals later, Kaorin decided to just go ahead and look at the roster.
  • Luminescent Blush: The girls' reaction to the Relax-o-vision scene below in the manga; by the fourth panel, their entire faces are bright red.
  • Male Gaze: We get a view of Sakaki's and Yomi's ample chests, courtesy of the crazy Kimura.
  • Man Child: Yukari-sensei is a rare (but emphatic) female example.
  • Maximum Fun Chamber: Yukari's car.
  • Madness Mantra: "Today is the first day of the school term". It's really catchy.
  • Measuring Day
  • Meganekko: Yomi, the Straight Man.
  • Mega Neko: The large floating orange cat that may or may not be Chiyo-chan's father.
  • Moe Couplet: Sakaki and Chiyo, sometimes Osaka and Chiyo.
  • More Teeth Than the Osmond Family: Kamineko.
  • Morning Routine: During a Chiyo-chan centric episode.
  • Ms. Fanservice: With several beach episodes and so many possible candidates this one's a given, but a special mention goes to Sakaki wearing a super skimpy and revealing yellow bikini in the first beach trip.
  • Mundane Made Awesome: Everything.
    • Osaka, Kagura, and Tomo combining their test scores for the sole purpose of beating Chiyo. You'd think they were trying to form Voltron or something.
    • Tomo, because she does not want to pay attention in class at the moment, proclaims herself to be some sort of action girl super spy. She then jumps like 10 feet into the air and flips into a ball. Her friends look up in amazement as she perfectly lands back in her seat exactly as she started. This may have been an Imagine Spot, though.
    • The act of breaking chopsticks is made to look awesome a number of times.
    • Yukari's sea-parting Engrish monologue, raised practically to A God Am I levels.
    • Yomi's reaction to the buffet in the Okinawan hotel. Limiter released!!
    • During the snowball fight in episode 18, Kagura throws a snowball at a petrified Chiyo, only to be caught, juggled, and thrown back at Kagura by Sakaki, moving at ridiculous speeds in a manner that would not have looked out of place in an action series.
  • My Life Flashed Before My Eyes: Osaka wants to see her life flash before her, as well as a panda. For a more usual example, this seemed to have happened to Chiyo when she rode in Yukari's car. So much so that when someone brings it up, she seems to relive the life flashback she saw, screaming out for her grandfather among other things as well.
  • My Name Is Not Durwood: Osaka, to the point that almost everyone forgot her actual name.
    • NOBODY calls Kaorin by her real name (Kaori). In the end she's got to deal with it.
  • Narrator All Along: Osaka's story about the girls being murdered on summer break.
  • New Transfer Student: Chiyo and Osaka.
  • New Year, Same Class: And it's not because Yukari-sensei didn't feel like learning new names or anything like that. Slightly subverted in the case of Kagura. She got transferred to Yukari's class in Year 2 because Yukari wants to make sure that, hands down, her class wins the athletic festival.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:Yukari in the third athletics festival tackles Nyamo to prevent her from being first to the finish line. Yukari's team end up last because of it.
  • Nice Kitty...: Inverted: The animal is tiny, not big; the character approaches it while placating it instead of backing away, and instead of it turning out to be nice, it turned out to be exactly as dangerous as it didn't look.
  • Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Osaka again. Kimura's wife also gets a shot at this: "My husband...told me there was this cute, tiny little girl that goes to school here!"
  • Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Done for humor.
  • No Accounting for Taste: The Kimuras.
  • "No. Just... No" Reaction: Sakaki's reaction when Osaka suggests renaming a stuffed cat Sakaki's already given a name, life story, and family tree.
  • Noodle Incident: Love letter!
  • Norio Wakamoto: Wishes he were a bird!
  • Not a Morning Person: Osaka and Yukari.
  • Odd Couple: Tomo and Yomi; almost perfectly paralleled with Yukari and Nyamo, respectively.
  • Oh Crap: Chiyo's are pretty epic. Examples include that time Yukari said the class trip was cancelled and when Chiyo found out Iriomote cats can eat animals as large as her dog, Tadakichi.
  • Obake: Tomo and Yomi imagine Chiyo as a nurikabe in the second culture festival episode. Osaka imagines herself as a karakasa, trying (and failing) to deliver drinks.
  • The Ojou: Chiyo-chan is a type one.
  • Old Maid: Nyamo.
  • The One Guy: Kimura-sensei, and "That One Dude".
  • Only Sane Girl: Yomi. Even Sakaki and Kagura get their weird moments, while both Tomo and Osaka are outright crazy.
  • Overly Long Gag: Lots of them.
  • Pet Baby Wild Animal: Mayaa.
  • Pet the Dog:
    • Parodied when the girls find out Kimura has a kind wife, a cute daughter, voluntarily cleans litter off the streets, and regularly donates to charity...but it doesn't stop them from thinking he's creepy.
    • Played straight with Sakaki's weakness for cute things... Well, almost straight, given her terrible luck with said cute things. Even without that angle, it's actually kind of heartbreaking.
  • Playing Pictionary: Not even Sakaki can identify her own knitted dolls' species.
  • Post Episode Trailer
  • Pungeon Master: Osaka.
  • Puppeteer Parasite: Osaka thinks Chiyo-chan's pigtails are controlling her. To be fair, this was in a dream, and Osaka is... Osaka.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Tomo tries to smack Yomi in the face with a dinner tray, complete with a slow motion jumping attack, but misses, and whacks Yukari in the face. Cue scary music and a slow motion reveal of Yukari's glowing red eyes, then cutting to her whapping the hell out of Tomo with two trays.
  • Reindeer Aren't Real: The Trope Namer. It is revealed in the Christmas Episode that Tomo was under the impression that reindeer were completely fictional, and treats anyone who mentions them as though they had admitted to believing in Santa Claus.
  • Relax-O-Vision: During one stay at the beach, Nyamo has to dispose of all the alcohol Yukari and Tomo brought along, getting completely drunk during the evening. Tomo uses the opportunity to ask her about sex, which gets her into starting a lengthy lecture. As her explainations are replaced by soft music, the audience is shown the fascinated faces of the girls and a number of calming pictures, that'd make for some interesting metaphors. Happens again the next morning when Chiyo approaches her for one more question.
  • Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Well, covered in lots and lots of germs, anyway.
  • Rock-Paper-Scissors: Played by the five main girls at the start of the first beach episode to determine who has to ride with Yukari. Chiyo laments being terrible at it. Later, during the second athletics festival, Tomo, Yomi, Chiyo and Osaka all throw to determine who gets to ride on top during kibasen. Osaka throws late, and still loses.
  • Rubber Hose Limbs
  • Sarashi: In one of the sports festivals in the manga.
  • Satellite Character: Chihiro. Kaorin is fairly satellite too.
  • Scary Shiny Glasses: Yomi when stressed or irritated; Kimura perpetually.
  • Scenery Porn: The Relax-O-Vision scene, as well as the Okinawa episode.

Tomo:"THE SKY IS BLUE IN OKINAWA!!!!

Yukari: Oh, and don't change the seating either.

    • And in the Supplementary Materials: "The correct term is lesbian! Uh, not that I'm a lesbian..."
  • Sweet Dreams Fuel
  • Symbolic Blood: After Yukari lets loose a bizarre scream when she spots the knife in Osaka's hand, the show cuts to a HUGE amount of tomato sauce being splattered on food by Tomo, spraying some on Kagura in the process.
  • Talking Animal: Chiyo-Dad.
  • Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Sakaki, though her apparently aloof attitude is actually because she's a Shrinking Violet.
  • The Talk: While on holiday, a completely-demolished Nyamo ends up giving said talk to the girls; given their reactions the next day, it would seem she went above and beyond the call of duty.
  • Tareme Eyes: Osaka.
  • Teen Genius: Well, pre-teen: Chiyo-chan.
    • Sakaki seems to qualify for this judging by her grades, despite her quiet nature.
    • Yomi might be even smarter than her, though.
  • Terrible Artist: Sakaki, Chiyo and Osaka are all poor at drawing. This is lampshaded a few times.
  • Thememobile: Yukari-Mobile.
  • Theme Tune Cameo: Yomi "singing" the theme from the short movie in the series proper.
    • Tomo's ringtone is one of her image songs, one of Sakaki's is played on the radio in Yomi's room, and both Sakaki and Osaka sing one of their image songs when the girls go to karaoke.
  • Throw the Dog a Bone: For Kaorin, the dance after the first sports festival, which is immediately yanked away. Also, the 3-legged race in the second sports festival.
  • Thunder Shock: Sakaki, overwhelmed by the cuteness of a photo of kittens.
  • Title Drop: In the first episode of the anime, the logo appears, but then is cut off as it is hit by a baseball and flung out of frame. In another episode, Chiyo is tackled by Mr. Tadakichi (her dog) and then the logo and title are shown/heard, for no clear reason.
  • Token Loli: Chiyo, though lampshaded and played for laughs.
  • Token Yuri Girls: Kaorin has an immediately obvious crush on Sakaki that seems one-sided; however, considering Sakaki's addiction to cute things, it's possible that it would be reciprocated (or at least not minded) if she wasn't entirely oblivious. According to the newest manga, Kaorin is either in denial or in denial and in the closet. As if we didn't get the hints.
  • Transparent Closet: Kaorin... Again...
  • Trust-Building Blunder
  • Tsurime Eyes: Sakaki and Kagura.
  • Two-Teacher School: Four Teacher School, technically, with Kimura. No one wants to remember that one teacher who only appeared in one scene in Week/Episode 1 and made Chiyo freak out.
    • What about the music teacher in episode 2, and that gym teacher that yells at the boys to keep running in episode 17?
  • Ugly Guy Hot Waifu: Kimura is pretty damn creepy, but he still managed to find himself an extremely cute wife.
  • Uncanny Family Resemblance: While we never get to see for ourselves, it's said that Tomo looks and acts exactly like her father. Yomi is not pleased. Also, Kaorin and her mom look exactly alike.
  • Vomit Discretion Shot: When Yukari throws up after getting really drunk in one episode, the Eyecatch hides the act, although we still hear her retching.
  • Wacky Homeroom
  • Wants the Work Done for Them: During the second-year summer vacation, the summer-house key is accidentally-on-purpose lost in tall grass. Yukari - the only person who doesn't help look for the key - complains when it hasn't been found as quickly as she wants.
  • Why Did It Have To Be Cicadas: The new chapters show that Yomi ardently hates cicadas, and is totally paralyzed when Tomo puts one on her back.
  • Widget Series: This series is random enough to fit nicely in this category.
  • With Friends Like These...: Yukari and Nyamo. Tomo with pretty much everyone, but particularly Yomi.
  • Xtreme Kool Letterz: Discussed with the misspelling of じ (ji, hemorrhoids) as ぢ(same reading, derived from chi rather than shi.). By Osaka, naturally.
  • Yonkoma: The normal format of the manga.
  • You Say Tomato: Chiyo-chichi pronounces it "to-mah-to"
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