Yotsuba&!, Vol. 1 (Volume 1)

This is a beautiful series. I was sad when Azumanga Daioh, the author's other series, came to an end. I had fallen in love with the characters, and knew I would miss Kiyohiko Azuma's charming storytelling. If I had known that Yotsuba was coming, I wouldn't have worried. Yotsuba&! gives you a whole new cast of wonderful, funny characters for you to fall in love with, led by the hilarious, almost otherworldly Yotsuba. This is slice-of-life storytelling at its delightful best, and Azuma's sense of humor just shines in his creations. I laughed out loud while reading this book, and others in the series. Yotsuba is a strange young girl. Her role in the story is that of the "Other." Through her eyes, we can see all the ordinary things in our world in a new light. Air conditioners, Cicada, Rain storms...things you wouldn't think twice about suddenly become strange and wonderful. I absolutely loved this book, and every book in this series that I have read after. It's heartwarming and very funny. Also, for those of us who are interested in Japanese culture, Yotsuba provides a fresh pair of eyes to learn about ordinary day-to-day life in Japan. You will learn more about Japanese life and culture here than you will reading other manga, which has a Japanese audience and assumes a certain knowledge of the culture. Yotsuba is an outsider, and needs even basic things explained to her, so you can learn along with her. I wholeheartedly recommend Yotsuba&!. It is pure, innocent fun that absolutely anyone can enjoy!

Such an adorable read. It was so cute and I adored the ending.

This is my first real manga; the other two i got in middle school were kingdom hearts 2, both of the released volumes in English. It's too bad that they stopped localization for the Kingdom Hearts 2 manga. :/ ANYWAYS, BACK TO THE MATTER AT HAND! >:D When i first opened it in the mail, it was new and shiny, and made out of a different cover material than i was used to seeing; a matte finish rather than a glossy one. When starting to read it, it started a bit slow for the first 3 or 4 pages; but that didn't last long! I was surprised that the expressions on the character's faces and what Yotsuba was doing could make me chuckle so much; even laugh at times! That was only the first chapter and it was pretty hard to stop there in order to write this review! :D Great manga, amazing art style, and fantastic humor! I'm handling this very delicately as to not leave bends that i left on the previously stated kingdom hearts 2 manga; and will continue to be hooked on this. Thank goodness there are more volumes; and that this book is so thick! Great all around, shines in humor and character design. I recommend it to anyone who likes manga or wants to get into manga.

This the cute introduction to a funny and entertaining series. Five-year-old Yotsuba and her Daddy have just moved to a new place, and it doesn't take long for her to get into some mischief. The stories follow Yotsuba on her adventures as she discovers new things and meets new people while endearing herself to her new neighbors as well as constantly surprising Daddy with the weird-funny things she says! (Of course, some of the dialogue is weird in this book because some things are lost in translation.) I've read the entire series and I enjoyed it so much that I'm adding it to my permanent manga collection. It's rated all ages, so it makes a good first manga for kids or for anyone who is getting familiar with manga as a genre. I recommend this slice-of-life comedy to anyone and everyone!

This manga is probably the best one ever. I've always loved manga but was always disappointed at some of the perversion that fills the medium. As a Christian, I have the "set no wicked thing before my eyes" mentality, so finding a good manga for me to recommend to my friends and my younger brothers was a bit hard. Yotsuba&! is different. It follows the every day life of a young adopted forien girl living in Japan. She has her oddities, but she finds fascination in every little thing we take for granted. The manga is innocent but isn't something that an adult (I think) wouldn't find humoris. I often find myself laughing at it's pages even after I've read through it like 50-times. If you like a manga that isn't filled with large chested women and soft-managa-pron than this is your book. It's fantastic and I can't recommend it enough.

As a near-perfect portrayal of childhood, this series sometimes gets compared to Calvin and Hobbes, but really they aren't that similar. Where Calvin acts like an adult and criticizes the world around him, Yotsuba, the adorable main character of this book, acts like a total child and runs around getting excited about every little thing. This book is great for all ages, as no matter how old you are it will make you feel like a little kid again. It's funny and cute and also a great look into everyday Japanese life and culture, from morning routines to meeting your neighbors to catching cicadas. The one criticism I have of this book is its translation. The older version was a more literal translation, which made everything sound funnier and more adorable. This new version makes things a little easier to understand but loses a little bit of the humor. The only way in which it's more faithful to the original is that Yotsuba refers to herself in the third person all the time, which is apparently pretty normal in Japan but just makes her seem a little weird and dumb here. It's still hilarious and cute, but I would have gone with the original translation if I could.

Yotsuba written by Azuma Kiyohiko (author of Azumanga) is one of the best mangas you will read. It is mainly focused on Yotsuba and everyday life, but of course if that were the case it wouldn't be interesting. The real reason why life is so much fun in the manga is because of characters such as Yotsuba, her father, the next door neighbors (Asagi, Fuka, Ena), Jumbo and others* (there are side characters but later on they became part of the main story) There are life lessons and there are fun stories that are realistic and that is one of the main reasons why I think readers can relate and connect with the story/character. This volume and in fact the entire series can be enjoyed by everyone and is recommended for anime, manga and even those who have not read any mangas at all! Please do not overlook this manga as it simply one of the best out there. Once you are done with the first volume, you must simply own all of them (which I do currently up to volume 5)

This in one of my favorite manga series. A slice of life manga about a cute little girl who moved to a new town with her dad, and all the adventures and shenanigans she gets up to. It’s slow paced but so endearing, and a great manga to relax with. Highly recommend if that sounds like your type of thing.