Azuma Kiyohiko | Yotsuba&!

Japanese: よつばと!
English: Yotsuba&!
Synonyms: Yotsuba and!
Type: Manga
Volumes: 13 +
Chapters: 90 +
Status: Publishing
Published: Mar 21, 2003 to ?
Genres: Comedy, Slice of Life
Mangaka: Azuma Kiyohiko (Story & Art)
Serialization: Dengeki Daioh

Synopsis: Yotsuba's daily life is full of adventure. She is energetic, curious, and a bit odd—odd enough to be called strange by her father as well as ignorant of many things that even a five-year-old should know. Because of this, the most ordinary experience can become an adventure for her. As the days progress, she makes new friends and shows those around her that every day can be enjoyable.

Background

In 2006, Yotsuba to! received an Excellence Award in manga category at Japan Media Arts Festival where the jury citation praised the vivid characters and gentle atmosphere the manga has. In 2008, the manga was nominated for the 12th Osamu Tezuka Culture Award and the Eisner Award "Best Publication for Kids" category, but did not win either one. It was also a runner-up for the first annual Manga Taishou award.

Was nominated for the 20th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2016 and won the Grand prize with Hanagami Sharaku manga.

The series was first published in English by ADV Manga as Yotsuba&!. Six volumes were released from June 6, 2005 to October 31, 2007 before publication was discontinued. Yen Press has published the series since September 15, 2009. It is also published in Spanish by Norma Editorial since November 2005.

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Alternative version: Try! Try! Try!, Try! Try! Try! Webcomics

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Licensed in English

YenPress (12 Volumes- Ongoing)

Source: MAL Manga info, Baka updates

Characters

Koiwai Yotsuba (小岩井 四葉)

Yotsuba is drawn as a small girl with green hair done in four pigtails, giving her somewhat the appearance of her namesake, a four-leaf clover. She has a carefree and energetic personality, taking delight in simple matters even as she learns about all manner of things in her daily life. In Japanese, Yotsuba's dialogue is written without kanji, making it seem simpler and more child-like, and in a typeface that gives the impression of speaking with high intensity. Her energy is noted by other characters, especially members of the neighboring Ayase family. Her father says of her carefree nature, "She can find happiness in anything. Nothing in this world can get her down." However, when deeply frightened or upset, she does cry, and she has an unexplained fear of anything resembling a bullseye.

At the start of the series, Yotsuba is shown as having very little knowledge of the world around her, even for a young child. Things such as swings, doorbells, cicadas, and air conditioners all fascinate and confuse her, although she is not perturbed by her ignorance. She occasionally mispronounces new words and creates neologisms, such as "Yotsubox" as a portmanteau of "Yotsuba's Box", and often repeats, in incongruous ways, phrases spoken by adult characters around her. Yotsuba is frequently shown drawing, though she is not as good an artist as she thinks she is, and she is an excellent swimmer.

The series provides few details about her life before its start. She is an adopted child, with her birthplace unknown to the reader, although she claims she's from an island "to the left." Koiwai, Yotsuba's adopted father, says he met her as an orphan in a foreign country and before he knew it he was raising her as his own; she is sometimes taken for a foreigner by strangers. When asked about her mother, she doesn't understand the question, and she gets confused by the concept of having two sets of grandparents. Before moving to her current home, Yotsuba lived in the country with Koiwai and his mother. She initially claims to Fuka Ayase she is six years old, but her father later corrects this, saying she is in fact five years old.

Yotsuba has never attended school, and as of the first chapter does not know what a grade is. In chapter 35, she fails to understand repeated explanations of homework.

Fuuka Ayase (綾瀬 風香)

The middle Ayase sister, Fuka (also romanized as Fuuka) is 16 years old and in her second year at a local high school. She is the most responsible of the sisters, and during Yotsuba's first visit to her school, one student calls her "vice-president." She finds herself frequently helping the Koiwais, even though she does not intend to and is more flustered by their eccentricities than anyone else. Fuuka is often teased by the other characters, especially about her fashion sense and sense of humor. She is fond of making bad puns, which irritates Asagi, and wearing shirts with odd or interesting graphics (such as Chiyo's "father" from Azumanga Daioh, who also appears as a plushie in her room).

かいしゃにいきます | 凌 [pixiv]

Yousuke Koiwai (小岩井 葉介)

Yotsuba's adoptive father. The circumstances of her adoption are obscure—he tells Fuuka that without intending to, he found himself taking care of her while somewhere overseas, but gives no other details. Though he acknowledges Yotsuba is a bit odd, he can be offbeat himself. He is depicted as something of a slacker; he habitually wears an undershirt and boxer shorts when working at home during the summer, and apologizes more than once for being "irresponsible." He works from home as a translator, though what languages and materials he translates is unknown. Regardless of his skills as a parent, Koiwai tries to be a good father to Yotsuba.

Takashi Takeda (竹田 隆; ジャンボ)

A friend of Koiwai and Yotsuba, having known Koiwai since they were childhood classmates. Standing 210 centimeters (6 ft 11 in) tall, he dwarfs the other characters, especially Yotsuba. He is always called by the nickname "Jumbo," and when Fuka learns his real name she calls it "common." He works at his father's flower shop, as Yotsuba discovers when she meets him there. He helps the Koiwais move in and frequently visits their house, where he is more or less treated as a member of the family by Yotsuba.

Jumbo has a dry sense of humor and is prone to deadpan quips, which sometimes confuse members of the Ayase family. At the same time, he is impulsive, and sometimes spontaneously organizes activities for the younger children, such as fishing and star-gazing. As he does this, he enters a bizarre one-sided rivalry with Miura, including spending a single day in Hawai'i after he learns that she will be going abroad. He develops a deep infatuation with Asagi when he first meets her, but is too nervous around women to directly act on it. Instead, he tries to use Yotsuba's friendship with Asagi as a way of getting close to her, though his plans usually backfire.

mangasaurus

Asagi Ayase (綾瀬 あさぎ)

The eldest of the three Ayase sisters, Asagi lives at home while attending a nearby university. She is depicted as an attractive young woman who enjoys teasing people, especially her parents; her friend Torako describes her as a horrible person for teasing Ena. She is the best of her family at managing Yotsuba, and her mother claims she was much like Yotsuba when she was young. Asagi's irreverence may have come from her mother's teasing when she was a child—for example, when Asagi found a four-leaf clover, Mrs. Ayase asked for a five-leaf clover instead, which Asagi could not find.

Ena Ayase (綾瀬 恵那)

The youngest Ayase sister, Ena is a few years older than Yotsuba and her most frequent playmate. She is sensible for her age and tries to be responsible by recycling and limiting her use of air conditioning. Her attempts to spare Yotsuba's feelings sometimes lead her to make little white lies, such as praising Yotsuba's childish sketches or letting her believe that Miura's cardboard costume is a real robot named Cardbo (in ADV's translation) or Danbo (in Yen's translation) (ダンボー, Danbō?), with consequences that rebound on herself and Miura. Ena likes drawing, something at which she is quite skilled, and playing with her teddy bears, either by herself or with Yotsuba. Ena is unsqueamish and even enthusiastic about such things as handling large frogs and gutting live fish.

Source: MAL

Side notes: This is quite fun manga to read and I've not been bored with it. I'm only happy that it's having a success being noticed by Osamu Cultural Grand Prize this year. Art is good and charas well made so I'm not having bigger issues with it. Only problem is that I'm left behind with my reading.XDDD