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Chiyo Mihama
Chiyomanga
Chiyo in a volume cover from the Azumanga Daioh manga.
Japanese 美浜 ちよ
Romanized Mihama Chiyo
Gender Female
English voice actor Jessica Boone
Japanese voice actor Tomoko Kaneda (Television series/very short movie)
Ayaka Saito (Web short)

Chiyo Mihama (Japanese: 美浜 ちよ), also known as Chiyo-chan, is a child prodigy and the main protagonist of Azumanga Daioh.

Biography[]

Chiyo has skipped five grades to tenth grade (the first grade in Japanese high school) at the start of the series and is still at the top of the class. She is extremely smart and responsible for her age — for example, she was chosen by the other students to be the class representative. However, Chiyo-chan (as she is usually called) still has the naivete, desires, and fears of a child.

She is 10 years old when she first enters high school (and 13 by the time she graduates),[1] but despite the age difference, she gets along with her older classmates. Aside from being seen as impossibly cute, Chiyo is a nice girl — a peacemaker who tries to stop any bickering and who is generous by nature. Her friends sometimes take advantage of her good nature and scholastic abilities. Her biggest weakness is that she is terrible at sports — she is not only five years younger than her peers, but small for her age — which leads to a lack of confidence because she feels she is a burden. Her March birthday parties are an annual celebration for the girls. Chiyo is closest to Osaka, who is most like her in naivete, and Sakaki, with whom she shares an interesting relationship: Sakaki covets Chiyo's small stature, cuteness, and warm relationship with her dog, Mr. Tadakichi, while Chiyo longs for Sakaki's height and imposing air.[2] Chiyo and Sakaki also share an interest for cute things such as Neco Coneco toys. On the other hand, Chiyo does not get along very well with Tomo, who loves teasing her all too much, similar to Yukari. Osaka frequently daydreams about Chiyo's pigtails, imagining that they detach, speak, move on their own, are used to fly, control Chiyo's mind, or even cause her death if removed incorrectly.[3]

Her parents, who are never seen (not counting the strange yellow cat-like creature dreamed by Sakaki and Osaka that claims to be her father), are very wealthy.

Despite her athletic ineptitude, Chiyo is a devoted fan of the Yomiuri Giants and once got into an argument about them with Tomo. She also has a player's signature in her possession. She loves cooking, and also enjoys cleaning because, as she says, it "makes everything pretty." She is very proud of being a high school student and works tirelessly to live up to that status.

In the manga, when seeing a movie with her elementary school friends, she proudly asks for the more expensive high school student admission rate. She also periodically takes a part-time job at a fast-food restaurant with Osaka, because she felt this is something a high school student would do — although some patrons were nonplussed at being served by a 10-year-old girl who could barely see over the counter.[4] Ironically, the restaurant manager gave her the job because he thought that such a young girl must have a very poor family if she's looking for work.

Admittedly, part of Chiyo longs for the carefree fun of being a child in grade school, something which her high school life does not often allow her. Another part of her, however, desires a physical maturity that matches her academic status — and will make others take her seriously.

Early senior year, Chiyo announces plans to attend a university in the United States where students who skip grades have done well.[5] In consequence, she does not take the college entrance exams her friends must deal with. It also leads to some especially bizarre fantasies on Osaka's part, who imagines Chiyo as a kidnap victim, President of the United States, and the original of a series of tiny Chiyo-clones working in every airport. It is unknown whether she plans to return to Japan after her studies.

In other media[]

  • Chiyo-chan-joshiraku

    Chiyo (far left) applauding for Kigurumi in Joshiraku.

    Chiyo briefly appears in Episode 9 of Joshiraku, with her face partially obscured, applauding for Kigurumi after she was crowned "Miss Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinance Regarding the Healthy Development of Youths." Both series were animated by J.C.Staff.

Trivia[]

  • She's 133 cm (about 4’4") tall in the beginning, but she grows by the time the series ends. There was one scene where Osaka led Chiyo to think Sakaki, who is exceptionally tall, had stolen Chiyo's height. Chiyo begins leaping at Sakaki, most likely just for the fun of it, asking for her to return her height.
  • In both the manga and anime, Chiyo has the last line spoken by a character in the series, when Osaka encourages her to come along to Magical Land. In the manga Chiyo's response is "Coming!" while it is translated to "Okay!" (はい Hai — literally "yes") in the anime.
  • Chiyo was born in March 1989.[6]
  • She claims her greatest weakness, aside from having poor athletic abilities, is that she is bad at tongue-twisters.[7]
  • Chiyo is said to have an overactive imagination.[8] Because of this, she hates stories about painful accidents, something Tomo doesn't hesitate to take advantage of.
  • Chiyo is sometimes called "Chiyosuke" by Yukari and Tomo, usually as a way of teasing her.

Quotes[]

  • "I like that in high school we get to bring our own lunches. But it's hard getting up early to make it."
  • "Sakaki, did you take my height? You took it, right? You took it, right? You took it, right?...Give it back!"
  • "Whenever I go to school, sometimes Sakaki joins me on my walks because she lives in the neighborhood. But sometimes she just disappears all of a sudden and I don't know where she went. It's a mystery...."
  • "Yay! My father is Santa!"

Character songs[]

Voice Actors[]

Japanese (television series and movie)

Tomoko Kaneda

Japanese ("Azumanga Web Daioh" short)

Ayaka Saito

English

Jessica Boone

See also[]

Gallery[]

Wiki-wordmark
There is a gallery available on Azumanga Daioh & Yotsuba&! Wiki for Chiyo Mihama.

References[]

  1. The series begins in April 1999 and ends in March 2002. Chiyo's birthday is in March, which means she had or was just about to turn 13 when she graduated.
  2. See Chapter 14.
  3. See Chapter 12.
  4. See Chapter 6.
  5. See Chapter 35.
  6. In Chapter 16, the theme park guide says that the year is 2000, and Chiyo was eleven years old at the time, which would make her birthdate 1989.
  7. See Chapter 1.
  8. See Chapter 30.
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