Before the smash success of Azumanga Daioh, author Kiyohiko Azuma was a prolific gag manga artist. His early work led to him being hired by Pioneer LDC to create gag manga for some of their anime series, which was printed in some of the series' merchandise. After the success of Azumanga Daioh, his Pioneer-commissioned gag manga were collected into the book Azumanga Recycle. This book features gag manga adaptions of Tenchi Muyo!, Battle Athletes, and Magical Girl Pretty Sammy, all by Kiyohiko Azuma.