History Fridge / AzumangaDaioh

* As pointed out by a [=YouTube=] comment, the seemingly GratuitousEnglish phrases Chiyo's dad spouts in Osaka's dream make sense if you read into them more closely. He's practicing his English because Chiyo is going to America; he wishes he was a bird so that he could fly overseas to see her. "I wish I were a bird" is also a line from a famous commercial for a Japanese ESL school, suggesting that it might be Osaka's English lessons [[CrashingDreams seeping into her dreams]].

* As pointed out by a [=YouTube=] comment, the seemingly GratuitousEnglish phrases Chiyo's dad spouts in Osaka's dream make sense if you read into them more closely. He's practicing his English because Chiyo is going to America; he wishes he was a bird so that he could fly overseas to see her. "I wish I were a bird" is also a line from a famous commercial for a Japanese ESL school, suggesting that it might be Osaka's English lessons [[CrashingDream seeping into her dreams]].

* Osaka's idea about breaking chopsticks neatly as a prediction of luck seems to be another act of her {{Cloudcuckoolander}}y, nothing but superstition, but it actually has realistic merit. For comparison, other girls of Azumanga also believe in some degree of superstition, such as by praying for their exams at the Shinto shrines in episode 23. It's a simple and common act of wishing for good fortune. Osaka's personal ritual is fundamentally different, though, and has genuine human psychology backing it: It's a basic fact that success in any task, particularly those of personal significance, influence confidence in future successes. In other words, success breeds future success, due primarily to the rise in self-esteem. Unlike the shrines, which are based on an external locus of control (i.e., they're asking a higher power for help), Osaka's ritual is based on her own skills, and founded on her own belief that she can overcome personal obstacles. Typically, Osaka suffers from clumsiness and an inability to focus, among other personal faults of which she's aware. But through the act of breaking chopsticks neatly, she demonstrates to herself--or from Osaka's perspective, possibly even to a higher power--that she is not always as incapable as she is often made out to be. The luck for which she asks is based on an internal locus of control, her own abilities. That's what makes the ritual inherently valuable. While to others it may seem insignificant, to Osaka it is genuinely meaningful, and is an observable, empirical demonstration that she is capable of overcoming her own personal challenges in her life.

* Osaka's idea about breaking chopsticks neatly as a prediction of luck seems to be another act of her {{Cloudcuckoolander}}y, nothing but superstition, but it actually has realistic merit. For comparison, other girls of Azumanga also believe in some degree of superstition, such as by praying for their exams at the Shinto shrines in episode 23. It's a simple act of wishing for good fortune, and at first look their beliefs appear no more logical then Osaka's. Osaka's personal ritual is fundamentally different, though, and has genuine human psychology backing it: It's a basic fact that success in any task, particularly those of personal significance, influence confidence in future successes. In other words, success breeds future success, due primarily to the rise in self-esteem. Unlike the shrines, which are impersonal, luck-based, and are based on an external locus of control (i.e., they're asking a higher power for help), Osaka's ritual is based on her own skills, and founded on her own belief that she can overcome personal obstacles. Typically, Osaka suffers from clumsiness and an inability to focus, among other personal faults of which she's aware. But through the act of breaking chopsticks neatly, she demonstrates to herself--or from Osaka's perspective, possibly even to a higher power--that she is not always as incapable as she is often made out to be. The luck for which she asks is based on an internal locus of control, her own abilities. That's what makes the ritual inherently valuable. While to others it may seem insignificant, to Osaka it is genuinely meaningful, and is an observable demonstration that she can overcome her own personal challenges in her life.

* Osaka's idea about breaking chopsticks neatly as a prediction of luck seems to be another act of her {{Cloudcuckoolander}}y, nothing but superstition, but it actually has realistic merit. For comparison, other girls of Azumanga also believe in some degree of superstition, such as by praying for their exams at the Shinto shrines in episode 23. It's a simple act of wishing for good fortune, and at first look their beliefs appear no more logical then Osaka's. Osaka's personal ritual is fundamentally different, though, and has genuine human psychology backing it: It's a basic fact that success in any task, particularly those of personal significant, influence confidence in future successes. In other words, success breeds future success, due primarily to the rise in self-esteem. Unlike the shrines, which are impersonal, luck-based, and are based on an external locus of control (i.e., they're asking a higher power for help), Osaka's ritual is based on her own skills, and founded on her own belief that she can overcome personal obstacles. Typically, Osaka suffers from clumsiness and an inability to focus, among other personal faults of which she's aware. But through the act of breaking chopsticks neatly, she demonstrates to herself--or from Osaka's perspective, possibly even to a higher power--that she is not always as incapable as she is often made out to be. The luck for which she asks is based on an internal locus of control, her own abilities. That's what makes the ritual inherently valuable. While to others it may seem insignificant, to Osaka it is genuinely meaningful, and is an observable demonstration that she can overcome her own personal challenges in her life.

* Osaka's idea about breaking chopsticks neatly as a prediction of luck seems to be another act of her {{Cloudcuckoolander}}y, nothing but superstition, but it actually has realistic merit. For comparison, other girls of Azumanga also believe in some degree of superstition, such as by praying for their exams at the Shinto shrines in episode 23. It's a simple act of wishing for good fortune, and at first look their beliefs appear no more logical then Osaka's. Osaka's personal ritual is fundamentally different, though, and has genuine human psychology backing it: It's a basic fact that success in any task, particularly those of personal significant, influence confidence in future successes. In other words, success breeds future success, due primarily to the rise in self-esteem. Unlike the shrines, which are impersonal, luck-based, and are based on an external locus of control (i.e., they're asking a higher power for help), Osaka's ritual is based on her own skills, and founded on her own belief that she can overcome personal obstacles. Typically, Osaka suffers from clumsiness and an inability to focus, among other personal faults of which she's aware. But through the act of breaking chopsticks neatly, she demonstrates to herself--or from Osaka's perspective, possibly even to a higher power--that she is not always as incapable as she is often made out to be. The luck for which she asks is based on an internal locus of control, her own abilities. That's what makes the ritual inherently valuable.

While to others it may seem insignificant, to Osaka it is genuinely meaningful, and is an observable demonstration that she can overcome her own personal challenges in life. She prepares herself for future challenges, starting simply with the ability to cleanly break chopsticks.

* Osaka's idea about breaking chopsticks neatly being a prediction of luck seems to be another act of her {{Cloudcuckoolander}}y, but it actually makes perfect sense. First of all, other girls of Azumanga bunch belive in superstitions too(like praying for their exams at Shinto shrines in episode 23), and their beliefs are no more rational then Osaka's. But since superstitions are equally irrational, Osaka guesses that those that were invented by her will work just as well as those that were invented by other people. Secondly, it is copletely rational in another aspect. Osaka suffers from clumsiness and inability to focus. By breaking chopsticks neatly she shows herself that she is not as clumsy as she seems to be and she is able to focus on something, even if "something" is a pair of chopsticks.

** If Osaka had gone through with what she was going to do with the knife, she would have stabbed her own hand or wrist.