English Version: Yotsuba loooooves playing games! When Daddy's the counter in hide-and-seek, he can never find Yotsuba, 'cos I'm such a good hider! And when we go to the park, Yotsuba's the bestest at swing-tag-shoe-races. Daddy says Yotsuba's making up the rules as we go along, but Yotsuba thinks Daddy's just a sour loser. But maybe Yotsuba will let him win once in a while...
"Sementara ayahnya bekerja, Yotsuba bermain rumah-rumahan di bawah mejanya.
Kemudian, terinspirasi oleh buku bergambar, Yotsuba pun mulai belajar bagaimana cara membuat pancake.
Kisah-kisah lucu dan menyenangkan dalam keseharian Yotsuba!"
Kiyohiko Azuma (東清彦 or あずまきよひこ Azuma Kiyohiko) is a Japanese manga author and artist. His most well-known work is Azumanga Daioh. His current series is Yotsuba&!, which is serialized monthly in Dengeki Daioh magazine.
wow, if YOTSUBA doesn't make you want to be a kid again, there is something seriously amiss in your psyche.
ok but seriously. YOTSUBA (whom i cannot think about without all caps, cause well, that's just the kind of girl she is) is so beautifully and fully realized in this series. she's a kind of weird kid, but not an unpleasant one, and by manga terms she is probably the epitome of good mental health. well, actually, by almost any terms on the mental health thing. these books are an honest-to-god joy to read.
two things stand out in this series: one, the way she is treated by all the older kids and adults in her world, and how carefully and perfectly little-kid behaviour is observed.
there's something just wonderfully refreshing and charming in how people treat her. they're pretty unfailingly kind and try to shield her (in good ways, not helicopter ways) from disappointments and disillusion. folks not familiar with japanese culture might find this a little unbelievable, but in my experience, it's not at all far from accurate. they are so kind to her! it's a lovely thing to see.
and the author clearly knows her way around little kids. watch YOTSUBA try to make some pancakes in this volume and you will find you cannot disagree. even down to body language and the point of view of many of the drawings, you cannot help but see this world as a kid sees it.
YOTSUBA isn't going to give you zen-like satori. but the books offer a gentle and funny beauty that the world could certainly use more of.
Utterly charmed by the entire chapter that's just Yotsuba learning how to cook pancakes. What a good reminder that fine motor control is a learned skill! I also liked how Yotsuba's dad handled a lie about some broken dishes. This is such a great series.
The dad scaring the pants off of Yotsuba for lying was hysterical. I wish America had stuff like that just so I could drive the point home to my own kids.
My favorite chapter is definitely the one about making pancakes. The way Yotsbua slams them down and keeps missing the pan is hilarious. It's cute how Yanda starts teasing Yotsuba as usual but immediately backtracks when she starts crying.
I also really like the cover. With the colorful shadows, it's so impressionistic.
It's interesting as only Ena's mom is Mommy for Yotsuba...Miura's mom is not called like that for her 🤔 makes me wonder that she had a instantaneous attach to the neighbor. anyway. like always...a cute and super funny volume. I can't get enough of this little girl
I think this is actually the darkest I've seen Yotsuba& go so far - Yotsuba borrows a big ball that people usually use to sit and balance on for their health and realizes how enjoyable it is to bounce around the house - in the course of that she manages to break a whole lot and when her dad asks her about it she starts lying and getting ever more deeper into lies, finally inventing a lying bug which is inside her.
So far so normal for a kid that age - what may surprise and upset some people is that her dad takes her along to a shrine, puts her inside the fenced-off area where the fierce Deva guardian statues are and tells her they enjoy eating lying bugs which scares Yotsuba so much she starts bawling like anything. Not until she admits, loudly crying, that she was the liar herself, does her dad take her out of that fenced area and makes her promise to never lie again. He does hold her in his arms however and later on starts playing with that ball together with her. I'm sure this shock therapy worked a treat for a solution in the short term, but I wonder how much trust Yotsuba lost in her dad with this...
On the other hand the first story showed how incredibly patient her dad is otherwise, when Yotsuba was trying again and again and again to make pancakes just as well as her dad can (and he kept buying ingredients to let her try), so...
We also get treated to what it's like to take Yotsuba to an electronics market and we meet the robot made of cardboard boxes again - Yotsuba still doesn't know he was a homework project for Miura. It's lovely to see Ena and Miura come up with various explanations why only the head lies in her room on its side. And in the end we get the transcendent influence of Yotsuba again when Miura in the robot costume accompanies her to the play ground and all the people who meet them are amazed and amused, from grown-ups to kids.
Side-Note: I really like the way the translator used words to show that Yotsuba has troubles using certain phrases or difficult words.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This one was a little bit darker. It's interesting when Yotsuba acts like a kid (oh man, that part where she lies and has to go see that creepy statue...), but as always, delightful.
Yotsuba is a bubbly 5 year old and lives with her dad. She can be over dramatic at times and has luscious, beautiful lime hair. She lives in Japan and there is Japanese sound affects in there two (converted into English). She has lots of loving family members like Asagi-San and Jumbo. He even bought Yotsuba a book. This book is a graphic novel and would be great for 7-12 year olds. Thank you for reading this review!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
En este volumen he notado a Yotsuba aún más cuqui.
Tambien he tenido la sensación de que otros personajes han tenido más protagonismo o más interacciones no sólo con Yotsuba. En otros volúmenes seguramente salieran igual, pero lo he sentido así. Me ha gustado eso.
Oh Yotsuba, you and your 4 year old ways crack me up. For the longest time I thought there were only going to be 9 volumes, but when I ran across a Japanese version of volume 10, I about fainted. In this volume Yotsuba learns how to make pancakes, gets punished for lying, and is visited by her good friend Danbo the cardboard robot! There's always a good laugh here and there in these stories. Yes, they are simple and childish. But, it's a simple pleasure that makes me smile. When I bought this volume, I saw volume 11 in Japanese! I will have something to look forward to next year :)
I normally don’t review but this volume for some reason was just so nice to read it was just nice seeing Yotsuba being Yotsuba plus the return of Danbo! I want more danbo and just wholesome moments with jumbo and yotsuba's father! It’s funny and adorable!
in which: -yotsuba has the same problem with pancakes that i often do -there is an incident involving jumbo's beard -yotsuba tells a lie and -DANBO RETURNS!!