yonkoma
is a comic strip format that generally consists of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom. They also sometimes run right-to-left horizontally or use a hybrid 2×2 style, depending on the layout requiremen ...
shōnen manga
is an editorial category of Manga, Japanese comics targeting an audience of both adolescent boys and young men. It is, along with Shōjo manga, manga (targeting adolescent girls and young women), Seinen manga, manga (targeting young adults ...
series by Chama. It was first published on
Niconico
, known before 2012 as , is a Japanese video sharing service based in Tokyo, Japan. "Niconico" or "nikoniko" is the Japanese sound symbolism, Japanese ideophone for smiling. As of 2021, Niconico is the 34th most-visited website in Japan, accordi ...
Seiga and later in
Kadokawa Shoten
, formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...
's ''4-Koma Nano Ace'' magazine. The manga ran between March 2011 and April 2014. An
anime
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
television series adaptation aired between April and June 2013.
Plot
The story centers around Amaya, Iwasawa, and Uehara—three "annoying, spirited high school girls with zero motivation"—and their classmates. Their daily life is "what happens when there is nothing happening."
Characters
;
:
:Kanaka is the moodmaker. She is always looking to tease anyone within running distance, especially Saki and Ayuko. She has a habit of giving nicknames.
;
:
:Saki is the tsukkomi to Kanaka's boke act. She is very tall and is very good at sports and games, but is otherwise unmotivated.
;
:
:Ayuko is the middleman. The frequent butt of Kanaka's jokes and antics, she is constantly teased by Kanaka for being short. Her nickname has evolved from to .
;
:
:Yanase is the class representative. She is very serious about everything. She is very competitive with her friend Manaka. Her nickname is .
;
:Nao is Yanase's friend, who always beats her in tests by a few points. She enjoys Kanaka's teasing of Yanase. Her nickname is .
;
:
:Souta is Kanaka's younger brother. Kanaka and her friends usually hang out at his room since Kanaka's room is uninhabitable.
;
:
:Yamashita is the laid back homeroom teacher of Kanaka's class. She is often late for work and wears odd shirts.
;
:
:Matsuno is a fired up math teacher. He catches tardy students at the gate and challenges them to a game of rock-paper-scissors, where he often throws a game.
;
:
:Misuzu is an English teacher who is constantly mistaken for a schoolgirl. She is the homeroom teacher of class 1.
;
:Izumi is Saki's rival and boke from class 1. She works part time at a convenience store with Saki.
;
:Arisa is Izumi's friend and classmate. She is good in sports and games despite being very small.
;
:Umi is the tsukkomi in class 1. She constantly worries about her weight.
;
:Hiroko is Ayuko's older sister. She works as a manga artist and has a deep sister complex.
Media
Manga
''Aiura'' started as a 4-panel manga series, written and drawn by Chama. It was originally published online on Niconico Seiga, starting from 2 March 2011, and later in
Kadokawa Shoten
, formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...
's ''4-Koma Nano Ace'' magazine, starting from the 4th issue, published on 9 August 2011. Following the end of ''Nano Ace's'' publication, the series resumed serialization in '' Shōnen Ace'' magazine from its November 2013 issue. The manga series ended its run on 23 April 2014, and has been collected in seven compiled volumes between 3 February 2012, and 23 August 2014.
Anime
The anime television series adaptation was produced by Liden Films,
Pony Canyon
, also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966, which distributes music, films, home video, and video games. It is affiliated with the Japanese media group Fujisankei Communications Group. Pony Canyo ...
, and Tohokushinsha Film Corporation. It was directed and written by Ryōsuke Nakamura, with character designs by Mieko Hosoi, and music by Shūsei Murai. The anime is formatted as a series of shorts, with each episode being only a few minutes in length. The series aired on
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network. and was streamed by
Niconico
, known before 2012 as , is a Japanese video sharing service based in Tokyo, Japan. "Niconico" or "nikoniko" is the Japanese sound symbolism, Japanese ideophone for smiling. As of 2021, Niconico is the 34th most-visited website in Japan, accordi ...
and with English subtitles by
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...
. The series was released in its entirety on
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of ...
on 7 August 2013. The opening and ending themes are and , both by Aiu Rabu (Yui Nakajima, Yuko Iida, and Nao Tamura).