Customer Reviews

Yotsuba&! Volume 4 (v. 4)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As summer vacation winds down, Fuka, the neighbor next door, makes a big mistake by telling Yotsuba about a heartbreak she is experiencing with a guy she likes. She tells Yotsuba to keep it a secret but I don't think Yotsuba even knows what a secret is. The kid is just totally mind blowing in the wind truthful and proceeds to tell everyone in both households, even publishing a self-made newspaper with a single headline "Fuka Knows Heartbreak"! Fuka isn't the only one going through hard times. Miura laments that her entire summer is going to be uneventful so she's not going to have any good memories. Jumbo takes it upon himself to give the girl a good time by taking her, Ena, and Yotsuba on a fishing trip. Yotsuba also takes on the looming crisis of global warming by herself and also decides to advance the seasons with fairy magic!

After almost a two year hiatus, ADV manga has finally put out the fourth volume of Yotsuba&! Will miracles never cease? Don't worry if its been a while since you read Volume 3 since Yotsuba doesn't really have a plot per se anyway. Instead it merely chronicles Yotsuba's perceptions of the world, her encounters with the people around her, and the situations she finds herself in during a normal day. Because she is so clueless, things we take for granted are a major intellectual effort for her to grasp, which makes for most of the manga's humor. If you don't find such jokes very funny, you probably won't like this book. I think ADV's publishing of this volume almost two years after the last one a shameful disgrace. If this hadn't been one of my favorite titles, I wouldn't have picked it up simply out of protest. I still haven't picked up the fourth volume of Gunslinger Girl, a title that was similarly placed in oblivion by ADV. Hopefully, this very funny and warm-hearted series will be completed without any further interruptions by a incompetent company.

This is one of those mangas that will keep you coming back for more. Instead of robot girls or demonspawn, this is just a delightful look at the world through the eyes of a six year old girl who gives the word "naive" a whole new meaning. Yotsuba continues to work so well in this volume because nothing changes, and as you read you find yourself chuckling at how her persception can be validated more than those thought to be mature around her. She is cute and witty, but her unawareness is what keeps you reading on. Overall, this is the best manga I have ever read and it will keep me reading because I can share it with anyone and get a chuckle or two out of them.

Another great volume of Yotsuba is upon us, this time readers are able to see Yotsuba and friends going on a trip, preparing meals, relationships, and writing a newspaper. Each story is filled with many humorous moments and as I stated with almost all of my reviews for Yotsuba, it does not get repetitive or tiresome. My favorite story is when Fuka gets her heartbroken and is feeling depressed, while Yotsuba is trying to console her (a 4 year old trying to console a 16 year old is just mind boggling).

Anyway, I am glad that ADV decided to continue releasing the series (I think if this series was discontinued it would be bad business for ADV and for the readers, pretty much it's bad for everyone). Do yourself a favor and pick this volume up if your a fan of the series or simply want something fun to read.

School is around the corner for the Ayase sisters, but summer is still going strong and little girl Yotsuba has many things to enjoy like fishing, cooking, publishing newspapers and joining radio exercise. (Many school children are encouraged to attend this morning workout held at a nearby park.) Like the previous volumes, Kiyohiko Azuma's long-running comic captures everyday life in Japan through the eye of a five-year-old girl, and the results are often funny and joyful.

For me the best episode of the volume would be "Newspapers," in which Yotsuba unwittingly discloses a big secret of her friend teenage girl Fuka. Also, a boyish girl Miura gets terrified while fishing with Jumbo. The nice contrast between Miura and her schoolmate Ena is always fun to see, as seen in the "Danbo" ("Cardbo" in ADV translation) episode in the following volume (and Volume 10).

The fourth volume is unique in that this is the only installment (so far) that has seven-page "intermission" part. The brief section employs a style of four-panel comic, the same as the creator's hit "Azumanga Daioh."

The original English publisher ADV discontinued "Yotsuba&!" after publishing only five volumes, but fortunately the series has been taken up and published by Yen Press, which commissioned a new translation. The new edition of Volume 4 has brief notes that are helpful to understand some of the cultural references as well as puns the jokes, and why Fuka thinks (mistakenly) Yotsuba's "Daddy" makes "konnyaku."

The fourth volume is a bit slow at times, but the comic is as charming as before, and after.

I've loved Yotsuba from the very beginning. I found out about this series because I also love Azumanga Daioh by the same creator, and this has that same quirky humor. I would highly recommend the whole series.

In this volume, I especially liked the fishing adventure and Yotsuba going grocery shopping with her dad. All of them are funny really!

Well, I had to buy it since my fourth volume disappeared...

Excellence though.