Review: Yotsuba&!

Read Yotsuba&! here
Play the dress-up game here :)

Hello folks

Thank you for the (single) comment on my last post. I look forward to more communication. I was actually sort of at a loss about which manga to review this time. There are a lot of manga I like to read, but I wasn't "in the mood" to go over any of them. In the end, I chose one of my all-time favourites. Note that the title is not "Yotsuba" but "Yotsuba&!" because each chapter  is named after a different topic, for example Yotsuba and Shopping! or Yotsuba and TV!. So the title reflects the enthusiasm that Yotsuba has for life and each subject.

In Japanese "yotsuba" is a 4-leaf clover. Since  she has 4 green pigtails the name is fitting

Summary:
Yotsuba&! is a slice-of life* manga about nothing in particular. It details the summer adventures of a 4 year old girl named Yotsuba, who lives with her dad , Koiwai. The cast of characters includes the three sisters who live next door with their mom, Koiwai's friend Jumbo (who lives up to his name), and various other friends and acquaintances. Each chapter spans about 1 day and documents Yotsuba's cheerful life as she encounters various people and circumstances. Although each chapter is a stand-alone story there is some continuity, and events that happened in one story are often referenced in later chapters.

Characters:
Yotsuba is the main character and appears in every story. Usually her dad and at least one girls next next door also appear, but there are a variety of "guest" characters who come and go. If a new character is introduced, though, they will appear again sometime down the road. Since this is a comedic slice-of-life, the characters don't really need a lot of fleshing out. There are no dramatic back-stories, no hidden traumas or secret weaknesses. The only complaint would be that the characters are a little too nice and normal.

Yotsuba and Fuka, the middle sister next door

Yotsuba is very intelligent 4 year-old, and everyone around her is unusually willing to play with her. Imagine if you had a 4 year old sister. Would you willingly spend every day of your summer goofing around with them? Exactly. Now they're usually doing something like visiting a festival or having a picnic, but still, Yotsuba is really too intelligent and reasonable for those experiences to happen in real life. Again, would you take your imaginary 4 year old sister to the amusement park with your friends? That's what I thought.

Story:

Each story features interactions between Yotsuba and the people and objects around her. This sounds boring, sure, but it's just so darn cute -- and also funny. There are no dirty jokes, no swearing, no inappropriate one-liners. There is no romance, although there are cute crushes, and every unhappiness is fleeting. This is a story similar to Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe Stories*. It reminds you of the good old days, when people sat drinking lemonade on their front porches while their kids played in the street, and you knew all of your neighbours by name. The story is set in present-day but the atmosphere is a little nostalgic.
There is, however, one jarring note in the series. The story begins with Yotsuba and Koiwai moving into their house with the help of Jumbo. We don't know where they moved from, and we never find out. But for some reason, it is eventually revealed that Koiwai is actually Yotsuba's adoptive dad (that's not really a spoiler since it doesn't affect the story), and that she used to live with someone named "granny" before he adopted her. As of 10 published volumes (in Japan) we don't hear any more about Yotsuba's past or how she and Koiwai met, and since the manga hasn't yet done any flashbacks I don't know if that reference was foreshadowing for a later story or just a passing mention in order to give the manga a little more depth. If you worry about that sort of thing it might cast a shadow over your enjoyment, but it has so little impact to the main story I wonder why it was included at all.

Overall:
Like I said, this is clean, wholesome comedy. I never worry about someone peeking over my shoulder at the wrong moment, be it my mom, my real 4 year old sister, my teacher or my boss. The stories are stand-alone, but there is enough continuity in the series that I recommend reading them in order if you can. This is one of the 3 manga series that I am actually collecting in physical form instead of just reading online, and since it's been licensed in English it's harder to find the newest chapters online (I am in NO WAY endorsing the current English publisher nor any retailer who sells this manga in any language!).
This isn't the kind of story that leaves you desperate to find out what happens next, but it is cute and funny and lighthearted, and it makes you feel good about yourself and believe in the basic goodness of humankind. Read it if you have a couple minutes or hours to spare.

She's just too cute!

Now that I've injected some warmth into your Monday, please comment on this post!!!! And have a good week ;)


*slice of life: a story about daily life and day-to-day activities. For more explanation, see the tv tropes page here
*Vinyl Cafe: a series of books by a Canadian author that aren't about the wilderness (Gary Paulsen) or weird science-fiction realities (Margaret Atwood). And the author works for CBC, no less! They are actually very cute, but they are not manga so I won't discuss them any further. You can look them up here, and I recommend that you listen to at least one episode if you have the time.