In this thread we rate the azumanga characters. It's a variation on the old 'who is your favourite character thing, only this way you have to include every character. I don't want to see any name lists, you don't have to write essays for each character, or even give reasons for each one, but a little explanation would be nice.
#1 would be Osaka. I think she's the funniest & generally very endearing. I like that while she seems fairly random, there seems to be some bizarre internal logic to most of her comments, and that while they often seem to come out of the blue, other times you get to see how a daft idea gestated itself in her head.
Tomo's a close second. Nearly as funny as Osaka, probably the best for overall character interaction. She might be the only character who interacts with nearly every other character a fair bit(you don't really get any Yomi-Sakaki scenes, or Kagura/Kaorin, etc.). She irritates the hell out of Yomi, picks on Chiyo, has a bit of a love-hate thing with Yukari, varies from antagonising Kagura to being her best mate, and Osaka's her least antagonistic relationship. They're united by wavering attention, a lack of social appropriateness, and some strange mental common ground. While they and Kags form the Bonkuras together, there's always the chance that if Tomo says something stupid, Kagura would shoot it down, but if she's not there Osaka or Tomo can take one another's ridiculous thoughts and run with them.
I'd give third place to Chiyo, as like Tomo she interacts with the rest of the cast a lot, she's funny and down-right adorable. I'd say she's probably the closest thing the series has to a main character, and having a lot of scenes means that just about anyone'll have at least one Chiyo scene they enjoy.
Sakaki's a bit strange for me, because while I like the character, I often have to think hard to remember why. I guess my reasons'd be that her deadpan expression & stoicism lend themselves well to comedy, the schism between how she's perceived and what's she actually like, and that Chiyo's dad came from her imagination.
Yukari goes after her, because her completely unreasonable behaviour is hilarious, she's more of a child than just about any of her students.
Kagura's sixth, a good character but outclassed by the ones I've already mentioned. She is funny and likable, especially as she's got a lot of Tomo's traits but is far more considerate,
Chiyo's Dad gets seventh for sheer surreal appeal, and his mysterious nature(how can Osaka and Sakaki have similar ideas about him without having spoken about him?)
My favourite description of Yomi was that she "carries herself as the most mature member of the group". Not "is the most mature", but "carries herself as". She might very well be, but having it described that way seems more insightful, like it explains why she's Captain Sensible when her friends act foolish, or why she seems to make a point of looking out for Chiyo a little. An odd thing about Yomi I thought is that while she's invariably nice to Chiyo, she also seems to be the only one of the students who doesn't treat her as an equal.
While she's a good character, I don't find Yomi especially funny, though her acting snotty after her trip to Hokkaido was great.
Last time I wrote something like this, I put Kurosawa ahead of Yomi, though now for the life of me I can't remember why. Maybe I should re-read some old issues of the manga or something, as I mostly remember her as Yukari's straight man.
In tenth place I'd have Mr.Tadakichi. He benefits a bit from his dub name, because I find the idea of calling a dog, "mister" funny. But by God, does he deserve it. Stoically loyal, unfalteringly dependable, he is the ultimate epitome of masculine virtue.
And I love his blank little face, it's so cute.
Maya 11th, because while he doesn't do much, he is inherently awesome. He's a stoic, implacable bad-ass who takes no shit, and just seems totally self-assured. He's like the Kenshiro of kittens.
Kaorin goes twelth because I don't, for the most part, like her. She only occasionally made me laugh, and her Japanese voice irritates me. Especially when she squeals.
Kimura should probably go ahead of Kaorin, but I'm too lazy to cut and paste. He can be funny, I suppose.
Chihiro last because she's a total non-entity.
Sorry this shit ended up so long, I really didn't mean to go on like this. Congrats if you could be bothered reading all this shit.