I recently got into the business of buying Manga, and so I came across a series that has just recently come out called YOTSUBA&!. Pronounced Yotsubato, this is a series created by Kiyohiko Azuma. I was familiar with this artist because of another series that he made: Azumanga Daioh- a four-book series (one for each year of high school- Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior) revolving around seven high-school girls and two teachers in their everyday travels. I own copies of the four books, and loved them, so I figured that I would check this out. It’s just as cute, just as hilarious, and just as good as the others by him.

YOTSUBA&! follows the everyday adventures of Yotsuba, a curious little girl who happens to find wayss to get into mischief or trouble everywhere. The first story intorduces us to Yotsuba when she moves into a new neighborhood, and learns about swings for the first time. Throughout the day, she meets the three sisters next door- Asagi, the oldest (or “pretty one”); Fuka, the high-schooler (or “un-pretty one”); and Ena, the middle-schooler. As she gets accustomed to her new home and the world in general, we learn more about her a little at a time. In the end, it all comes together to make a wonderful little set of stories.

One of the great advantages of ADV Manga is that in the back, it has its “Translator’s Notes” in the back for things that they couldn’t really translate, so they explain it in the back of the book. I really appreciated the note they had about the translation of the title:

“While the title of this manga could aso be transcribed as Yotsubato, the official rendering of the title is in fact YOTSUBA&!, which is the spelling used in the original Japanese editions. Yotsuba actually means “Four-leaf,” as in a four-leaf clover (note the green hair and four pigtails of the manga’s titular character), while to means “with” or “and.” Transpose to with an ampersand, add an exclamation point, and voila, YOTSUBA&!”

As always, feel free to post comments. Until next time…