Now, I want everybody to remember that these are, um, dreams? As weird as they might be, they're not necessarily indicative of poor mental health or drug use.
Also, in Japanese culture, if I'm remembering correctly, the first dream of the new year is supposed to be predictive or something.
Osaka's New Year's Dream
There's some traditional New Year's decoration, and the Kasuga residence nameplate.
Now we see Osaka herself, asleep under a blanket, with only her head uncovered. The blanket and pillow are purple with lighter flower shapes. We hear wobbly noises.
Osaka talks in her sleep, asking why Chiyo is flying.
Transition into dream. Here's a closeup of a flapping pigtail. Chiyo is laughing. Now we see that she's flying. Osaka is watching her in wonder. Chiyo flies from the right side of the screen to the top, taking different paths to get there. Osaka asks, "Whatcha flyin' for?" After a few more passes, Chiyo says she's 10 years old. A couple of passes later, and the floating cat-thing, only with some kind of ripply pattern going through him, takes a pass. Then Chiyo a few more times as Osaka waves a simplified arm.
A bird is heard as Chiyo lands in front of Osaka, giggling a bit before touching down. She offers Osaka the opportunity to fly. Osaka reiterates the proposition. Chiyo offers to lend Osaka her pigtails for free. She detaches them, and holds them out to Osaka. Osaka reiterates this as a question. She seems like she might go for it, until... the pigtails wiggle and answer: "Yep, as far as y'lahk." (Of course, in the original, this probably indicates that they're speaking Kansai-ben.) This surprises her. The floating yellow purple cat-thing flies overhead. Chiyo figures they'll look good on her. Osaka is unsure. Chiyo seems disappointed by this, and notes that they're popular. She reattaches them, and the right one agrees, asking what Osaka's deal is. Now Osaka is really disturbed. The floating yellow purple color-changing cat-thing flies overhead.
Osaka comes to the conclusion that Chiyo's under the pigtails' control. Chiyo stands against a black background. First the pigtails tell her to turn right, and she does, then faces us again. Next, left. Now, turn. She spins four times clockwise before the pigtails bring her to attention. Osaka looks at her.
The floating yellow-by-default cat-thing rockets from the ground, and Osaka yells to Chiyo that she's coming to save her. She pops Chiyo's pigtails off, which we see three times from different angles. A bird chirps, and Chiyo collapses. Osaka is horrified.
An image of seven takoyaki, with the cat-thing sitting in place of the missing ball.
"Pahpin' hot."
Some other foodstuff... is that okonomiyaki? with the cat-thing partially underneath.
"Sizzlin'."
And... chicken on a skewer with the cat-thing partially inside?
"Crispy."
Back to Osaka's horrified face. She starts crying, and apologizes, saying she didn't take her pigtails off right. Now she puts the pigtails on her own head, figuring she'll just have to fly away. She does, leaving Chiyo on the surface she collapsed on.
In Tomo-chan's Case
Tomo is asleep in bed, but her blanket is down at the bottom of her ribcage. At least, that's where it seems like her ribcage would end. Her arms are "up", her left forearm resting on her head and her right bentat on obtuse angle. Her mouth is open, and soon enough, she's sleep-yelling.
In her dream, it's a full-on yell. She's in winter uniform, carrying her bag, and running at apparently high speed. She flies parallel to the ground, arms perpendicular to her as she passes between us and the sun. Now a tucked multi-flip against a background of green lines, then spinning against a background of blue lines. Now one of those washed-out images with Tomo against a white background with pink blotches and sakura petals falling around. Now there's also yellow and sparkles. Tomo sings, but not well. She strikes some sort of pose against an orange background. On a closeup of her face, she opens her eyes. Then, against a salmon background with some sort of white burst, she says, "Lupin!" and is applauded and wowed over.
A woman is upset because Sakaki with a katana, Kaorin, Chiyo with a retro-futuristic rifle, Osaka, and Yomi with another retro-futuristic gun are robbing the bank while wearing hats that we'll see again. But here comes Tomo! A newspaper shows all the robbers knocked out, and Tomo posing with her foot on Yomi, and throwing a V-Sign. Tomo says, "Oh no, it was nothing, really!"
A cute little girl in braids is upset because her kitty is in the median of a busy highway. But it's Tomo to the rescue! Again she gets in the paper for the rescue.
At school, she has the admiration of the girls and the boys. She's won first place in a beauty contest for the tenth time in as many years. (In other words, in her dream world, she's been in beauty contests since she was, what, six?)
In a race against Sakaki, who has to run, she can simply kneel and be propelled forward faster.
At the beach, Tomo is looking good in a pink bikini.
Now one of those lying-on-your-belly, one leg bent, and head propped up in your hands poses in a sleeveless orange shirt and short jean shorts against a background of green foliage.
Now some kind of pink and purple outfit.
Now back in uniform, waving off an unheard compliment.
(Tomo says "A!")
Now we're seeing her in reality, still asleep and saying it was nothing.
In her dreams, they're in class, and it's time to pass back exams. The top score goes to Tomo.
"There is nothing more that I can teach you, grasshopper."
"Thank you, Master Yukari."Chiyo is upset over her big fat 0. Tomo pats her head and says that even though she got a 100, she'll still say she lost. Chiyo thanks her for being so nice. Tomo downplays it. On closer inspection, Tomo got a 100 within one of the zeroes of the larger 100. Chiyo is astounded at this, and says she's incredible, though Tomo denies it. (Yeah, to be truly incredible, you have to have 100s within all the zeroes, even the zeroes that are part of 100s that are already within other zeroes! Exponential recursion, baby!)
So you know know who else got a big fat zero? Yomi. Yukari is calling her, but she's still at her desk. Yukari sings to some tune I've heard before about how Yomi got a 0. Tomo says how Yomi is hopeless, and tells her the teacher is calling. Yomi apologizes, but Tomo says not to worry about it. Yomi wants her mom. Tomo chops her head and says "Why in the heck?" ("Nandeyanen!") 30 times in 34 seconds.
(Yomi says, "Grandma...?", and Tomo says "Why in the heck?" again, though her balloon says "A" again.)
The episode dividers feature Osaka and Kagura.
In Sakaki's Case
Unsurprisingly, Sakaki's pillow cover and blanket are blue with yellow cat silhouettes. She looks like she's holding a stuffed cat. She blushes happily in her sleep.
First thing we see is a purple flower. Sakaki's in uniform. She sees a gray cat on a wall. She goes to pet it, but it bites her and she wakes up runs off. A wind blows, bending the flower and making offscreen windchimes play.
She hears Chiyo's voice, and looks around, finally finding her at ankle height, jumping up and down. Sakaki squats. Chiyo says she has a cute little cat to give her. Even in Sakaki's dream, Sakaki remembers her mother's allergies. Chiyo brings up that he was abandoned.
The cat is yellow, has long thin arms, and has short, pointy legs. It floats down and greets her.
(Sakaki says "A!" while looking at Tadakichi-san.)
Sakaki walks (floats?) the yellow cat-thing. They sit on the grass amongst some plants I don't know.
Now there's a field of purple flowers.
Now some different grass.
He asks her if she likes cats. "Yes." After glowing, changing color, rippling, and changing back, he asks if she said so knowing that he's a cat. "Uh... yes?"
Dragonflies and pink flowers.
Sitting on the edge of a bridge, watching the falling leaves.
Looking at a Neco Snow-neco, surrounded by protected candles, which eventually go out.
The cat-thing says it's goodbye. Sakaki asks a surprised why. The cat-thing says that he's not a real cat. ...ORLY?!? There's a shocker. He reveals himself to be Chiyo's father, and thanks Sakaki for being so good to her. Sakaki says it was her pleasure. He starts floating away.
I'm going to compare the dub & sub (since they say the same thing in this instance) to the manga here.
"You must go in search of a real cat, but it will be impossible for you the way you are now."
"But wait! What should I do?"
"You cannot ask me. Goodbye."
Sounds like a quest with a test of character, doesn't it?
REWIND!
"You've gotta go find yourself a real cat. I don't think you can, though."
"Well what should I do?"
"Hey, don't ask me."
That version sounds more like an observation.
Anyway, Sakaki reaches for him, but he's already too far away.
A brief sight of her in reality...
("Chiyo's father" says "A!" whilst flying amongst birds.)
Welcome
...and we're back in dreamland, amongst flowers. Sakaki appears in front of them, and as she's looking away, Chiyo flies behind her. When she turns around, however, it's the Mihama residence instead of flowers. She recognizes it. Chiyo flies behind her, then rapidly grows to her real-life height, welcoming her. The doors open. It's bright inside.
Chiyo has Sakaki follow her. They pass a penguin. Sakaki notices it standing amongst ice, and is dumbfounded. The ice behind Sakaki shakes. She moves her hands in confusion. She's about to point out the penguin, but Chiyo introduces it as their maid. Traditional (French) maid outfit coloration, penguins... yeah, I see the connection. Anyway, the penguin tips the bucket of water over, which Chiyo, after a long pause, explains as an example of how the maid sometimes gets brain freeze on the job. She wants Sakaki to continue following. Sakaki does, after looking at the penguin a couple more times. The image of the penguin shakes.
Two A tones sound, followed by one at twice the Hz. For the first tone, we see a closeup of "Chiyo's father"'s eye, then for the second, a full-body shot of him on the stairs. At the sound of the third tone, we see the two standing at the foot of the stairs as the father is still there. He greets her. Sakaki wonders, "Now what?" He asks Chiyo if she's a friend of hers. Chiyo says yes, and introduces her. He welcomes her, and thanks her again for being good to his daughter. He invites her to dinner. She would decline, but Chiyo tells her she doesn't have to be so polite. The cat-thing changes from yellow to red as he says there will be red things included, but asks her not to stand on ceremony. Sakaki repeats the "red things" part questioningly.
It's Chiyo hanging upside-down and saying "A!"
(A shot of the light fixture. There's a Neco Coneco in it.) The cat-thing asks what's popular at school. (A shot of a vase of flowers. The biting cat is in it.) Chiyo guesses gin rummy. (A shot of a wall phone. A sticker depicting the head of Tadakichi-san is on it.) The cat-thing asks if "Gin" (Jenn?) is still single. (A salad with tomato slices.) Chiyo relates that her boyfriend dumped her. The penguin spills... tea? The cat-thing tells Chiyo to eat her tomatos. Chiyo says she loves them. With a real-life picture of a halved tomato in the background (hey, I forgot it did that!), he says that's not the issue, and tells her again. She does, and he asks "Is it good? Is the tomato good?!" Chiyo says it's delicious. The cat-thing holds a tomato and examines it, pondering the apparent paradox that it's so red, and yet, Chiyo says it's delicious. (Myself, I like things that tomatoes are made into, like sauces and... catsup, but not so much tomatoes themselves. If given them, I'll go ahead and eat them, but I won't go out of my way to have them.)
Sakaki says "A!"
Sakaki asks the cat-thing where she can find a real cat. The cat-thing, glows, changes colors, and asks if she's saying he's a fake cat, she apologizes, and he changes back. He says it's not that he's angry, but asks if she means to say that there are real and unreal cats. He glows, changes color, and shakes. Sakaki asks if he's sure he's not angry.
The shaking stops, and Chiyo announces another visitor. The cat-thing tells her to invites her in. (Presumably, she used the feminine term.) It's Osaka! She says "Hello again!" which he responds to with a "Yet hello!" She tells Sakaki she's there to wake he up. She says "Hawk!", holding one up, "Eggplant!" holding one up, and "Arise, Miss Sakaki!" as Mt. Fuji arises against a backdrop of white and red stripes radiating from a distant point. (A hawk, an eggplant, and Mt. Fuji are said to be the three luckiest things to see in a New Year's dream. No mention of the expanded list in Azumanga Daioh.)
Sakaki awakens, then sits up, realizing it had been a dream.
Osaka holds up a hawk and an eggplant with a (cardboard) Mt. Fuji strapped to her. "A!"
In Kaorin's Case
Kaorin is in the winter uniform. She says, "What?" as she sees Tomo with a cloth mask over her mouth and nose and an ankle-length skirt, Yomi with a mask and obtuse triangle shades and an ankle-length skirt, Osaka with a "Don't mess with me!" ("nanonna"?) headband, glasses with spirals an a red nose cover, and a purple long-sleeved jacket, and Chiyo with a black fuzzy cap with brim, a long black jacket, and a bicycle with training wheels and... the cat-thing on it. Chiyo tells Kaorin to keep them company for a bit. She wonders what they're doing. Tomo says not to talk back to their boss, and Yomi says that if she doesn't do as they say, Osaka says she'll get stunk. They threaten her with the smell.
Approaching hoofbeats! The four yakuza turn around, but before they do, we can very briefly (but thanks to pause) see that Chiyo's jacket says "I am my own Lord..." on the back. (There's kanji this time, so I'll let those who know read it. Yomi wonders who it is. Osaka notices the horse. The white horse is rearing up on the edge of a cliff and whinnying. It carries Sakaki, not in uniform. Tomo asks who she is, and Osaka says not to let her through, but Kaorin pushes them aside and identifies the rider. The horse leaps, and Kaorin makes adoring noises. Kaorin and Sakaki ride away through the grass at the top of the screen, while the lion's share is Sakaki dealing with the yakuza versions of her classmates against a black background. Tomo, Yomi, and Osaka are thwacked, but Chiyo is now in... a penguin costume. Verrrry interesting. Sakaki asks if she's all right; Kaorin thinks she is, but Sakaki notices that Kaorin's knees is bleeding, and decides to hurry to the nurse's office. Kaorin says her rescue was more that enough, but Sakaki says she'd do anything for her. Kaorin asks her if she'd call her Kaori. (Dropping all honorifics and honorific-likes is usually a sign of a relationship upgrade.) Sakaki understands, and says it a few times...
...as Kaorin wakes up. It was her mother's voice. (Note she calls her Kaori, because family can do that.) Kaori's mother lets the light stream in. Kaori sits up. Her mother, who apparently does her hair the same way, asks if she isn't going to the shrine with her friends, and asks how long she was planning on staying in bed, and wonders about the drooling, and the kind of New Year's dream she had. It takes a few seconds to register, still, but when it hits her, she wants to go back to it... but her mother pulls on her sheets, reminding her of her promise.
(It's too bad this is all we see of her. I'm sure that in their 'verse they have some nice mother-daughter moments as well, but in the entire series, all we see is one scene with her.)
At the shrine, Kaorin sighs, disappointed that she can't live in her dream world. Her reverie is broken by New Year's greetings from Sakaki, which she returns. She starts looking around, and says "The horse!" Sakaki says it's the year of the rabbit. Kaorin is referring to the white steed.
Now joining them: Chiyo, Tomo, and Osaka, who give greetings in 2-1-3 order. Tomo asks what they're talking about. Kaorin says New Year's dreams. Chiyo is mildly disappointed that she didn't have one, but she's still in high spirits nonetheless. They all remark that she was in their dreams. Chiyo finds this amazing, and wonders what she was like. Tomo looks smug, Osaka worried, Sakaki confused, and Kaorin afraid. None say anything. Chiyo wonders what the matter is.
Yomi approaches, and spots them... Chiyo begging them to tell her what she was like.
The final image is of Kaorin blushing as she gazes at Sakaki in the distance, riding the white horse. "A!"
Next time: Episode 9!
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