AZUMANGA DAIOH

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ADV FILMS ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF ?AZUMANGA DAIOH?

SWIRLING RUMORS AT LAST PROVE TRUE; ADV FILMS PLANS MULTI-VOLUME DVD RELEASE FOR CAPTIVATING JAPANESE ANIMATED SERIES

HOUSTON April 28 2003?ADV Films today formally announced the acquisition for stateside release of ?Azumanga Daioh? an acclaimed Japanese animated series that premiered in early 2002 in Japan. ?Azumanga Daioh? was produced by Genco (?Serial Experiments Lain?) and JC Staff (?Excel Saga?) and is based on the manga (serialized in the Japanese magazine Dengeki Daioh) by Kiyohiko Azuma. ADV plans an Anime Network? debut followed by a DVD-only release for this comedy title.

About ?Azumanga Daioh?
?Azumanga Daioh? follows the day-to-day adventures of a comical group of high school girls and their equally eccentric friends and teachers. The manga by Kiyohiko Azuma was published as a series of four-panel strips much like the traditional comic strips published in American newspapers. To reflect the concept of the manga each episode of the ?Azumanga Daioh? anime consists of several loosely related character-driven segments many of which adapt Azuma?s original strips.

ADV Films leadership praised the title. ??Azumanga Daioh? is one of the most inventive and clever anime series to come out of Japan in the last few years? ADV Films President CEO and Co-Founder John Ledford said. ?The original manga was a master stroke of originality and the anime is very much in keeping with it. I think fans are going to be thrilled.?

Release Plans
ADV has not yet announced specific release plans for ?Azumanga Daioh? but Ledford expects the title to debut sometime later this year.

Posted on Monday, April 28, 2003 (Archive on Wednesday, May 28, 2003)