Azumanga Daioh: The Very Short Movie (あずまんが大王 劇場短編 Azumanga Daiō Gekijō Tanpen) is a movie of approximately 6 minutes which first aired on December 25, 2001. It was created so as to promote the regular TV series. It played in theatres alongside Slayers Premium and Di Gi Charat: A Trip to the Planet as an opener for Sakura Wars: The Movie. Also, it was released by ADV Films as an extra feature in volume 6 of the DVD collection. However, it was not re-licensed by Sentai Filmworks, which means it's not included on the recent 2016 DVD release as part of the Sentai Selects DVD sets.
After a presentation of Chiyo-chan riding her dog Tadakichi, the movie opens with a normal day in the classroom. Yukari's students get their test results back, with Chiyo getting a perfect 100 as usual. Tomo, Osaka, and Kagura compare their scores with hers: Tomo got a 31, Osaka a 42, and Kagura a 30, making their combined score 103 points. Thus, they announce to Chiyo that the Knuckleheads have won. Yomi asks Chiyo if there is anything she is bad at, and Chiyo replies "tongue-twisters". Chiyo shows her how poor she is at it, and Yomi seems amazed at how Chiyo-chan can still be so cute while doing it. Then we see Sakaki whose hand is in bandages. She recalls the event which hurt her hand, namely, her walking by Kamineko and getting bitten. She says aloud "Maybe ... It was in a bad mood ... It probably ... Got into a fight." Meanwhile, Kaorin has been watching and is overwhelmed with Sakaki-san's coolness. Next, Osaka is sitting in the classroom, fascinated by Chiyo-chan's pigtails, and holds her hands out to touch them. But the next thing she knows, the pigtails fall off Chiyo's head. The whole class is watching as Osaka tries to put Chiyo's pigtails back on, but fails to do so. Chiyo starts crying and her classmates gather around her, wondering who she is and if she's a new transfer student or if she's too small to be one. Yomi offers Chiyo a lollipop, when Yukari comes and says that Chiyo should just go home. Chiyo keeps on crying. Osaka finds Chiyo's pigtails under the desks, but when she tries to take them, they jump away and out the window. Chiyo follows them and Osaka begins imagining a scenario where Chiyo travels across the world in search of her pigtails. Osaka wakes up to find that it was all just a dream, and her classmates are standing all around her, giving her confused looks. Yukari in particular is furious with Osaka for sleeping in class.
Yomi, Kagura, Osaka and Tomo as they appear in the animated short.
Although the short movie has its very own storyline, it is loosely based on several parts that appear in the manga, such as Chiyo showing how bad she is at tongue twisters, The Knuckleheads comparing their scores to Chiyo's, and Sakaki recalling being bitten by Kamineko which makes other people think she is a rough girl.
Kagura is in the movie, and they are wearing their usual uniforms instead of their summer uniforms. This would set the movie between the autumn of the girls' second year and spring of their third year. The look of Tomo's hairstyle supports this.
The voice actors of the movie are the same as in the anime, both in the original Japanese and English dubbed version.
