Really enjoying these now. Timing & repetition really used well. I enjoyed the new character of Yanda, and how enraged he makes Yotsuba. Very funny. ( )

Originally posted here at Anime Radius.

Tsuku-tsuku boshi! It's the end of summer - and spring is right around the corner! Oh, it's not? It's fall that's up next? Okay! As the fifth volume of Yotsuba&! opens, the summer season is drawing to a close. That can only mean one thing: try to fit in as many sunny summer day activities into one book as possible before autumn! This includes everything from ice cream cones to airing out futons in the sun to even the ubiquitous trip to the beach (one that is surprisingly lacking in fanservice, although that's probably due to the fact that Yotsuba is the focus of the series and not the neighbor girls). In usual Yotsuba fashion, she approaches each event with wide eyes, eager to explore what is new and fascinating. Her energy is infectious, and it's hard not to be drawn time after time into her daily adventures. That is the power of Yotsuba&!: the power to make us look at life with different, younger eyes and enjoy everything.

For the first four volumes, the Yotsuba&! series has maintained a stable core cast of characters. There's Yotsuba and her father, their odd friend Jumbo, and the Ayase family next door. The main action of the series has always centered around Yotsuba's interactions with these people, and it has worked tremendously in its favor, giving the series an intimate oddball family feel. In the fifth volume, a brand new character is introduced - Yanda, Koiwai's understudy - and presents a new element into the series' cast. He had been briefly mentioned in throwaway lines earlier in the series, but with this volume we finally meet the infamous Yanda, and he is just as lazy and slacker-like as Jumbo said he was. Despite being in only one chapter, Yanda's introduction has a sizeable effect on young Yotsuba's life - in short, a challenger approaches! He is arrogant and bratty and the showdown between him and Yotsuba is hilarious. Somehow, manga-ka Azuma has done the impossible: introduced a new character that actually fits into the overall feel of the series and is not intrusive. In fact, I look forward to seeing Yanda show up later on in the series to do battle with Yotsuba once more.

Whether she's at the beach or just out in the rain, Yotsuba never fails to bring a smile to readers' faces - and the fifth book of her youthful tales does not disappoint in doing so again. It continues to be a wickedly funny manga, a ray of sunshine captured in the pages of a graphic novel; this is one series that every manga fan should be reading, full stop. If you love to laugh and if you are a child at heart, Yotsuba&! was made for you.
( )

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Title: Yotsuba&! Vol. 5
Series: Yotsuba&! #5
Author: Kiyohiko Azuma
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 210
Words: 8K

Synopsis:

Chapter List:

Yotsuba & Cardbo

Yotsuba & Helping

Yotsuba & Yanda

Yotsuba & Stars

Yotsuba & Rain

Yotsuba & Sunny Skies

Yotsuba & the Beach

My Thoughts:

Another great volume. Yotsuba meets her nemesis, Yanda for the first time. While he's supposed to be a working man, he reacts to Yotsuba at her level. A grown man acting like a 5 year old is amusing for a chapter. Azuma, the manga-ka, realizes when enough is enough and doesn't try to push it more than that one chapter though. Smart man.

The first chapter deals with Ena and Eimura (neighbor girls) doing a class project where they are creating a robot creature out of cardboard. Yotsuba barges in on them and thinks that Eimura is a real robot. I've included the picture that made me laugh the hardest in the volume.

The rest of the chapters were light hearted and fuzzily warm. Perfect to read on a day when it is snowing outside. I have to admit, I am (almost) surprised at just how well this series is standing up to a re-read. Sometimes something is cute because it is new. This is genuinely cute and continues to be so.

★★★★★ ( )

Super cute! I love this series! Adorable art, delightful adventures. ( )

Hilarious! I read this late one night and had to cover my mouth several times to stifle laugher so as not to disturb the neighbors.

I'm continuing my exploration of manga. This series is what's called a "slice of life". To me, it means that the individual chapters are really not stories per se but rather a look at scenes in an individual's daily life. I think this is particularly fun with the Yotsuba series since she is a six-year-old girl, and we can see certain behaviors of young children that often are familiar to us. Some make us laugh, but other behaviors (ex. tantrums, crying to get what's wanted) might make us sigh. However, they are certainly well known to us adults.

In this volume, I particularly liked "Yotsuba & Danbo" (chapter 28) which tells about Yotsuba's visiting her friend Ena and encountering a robot in Ena's room. The robot was really Ena's friend Miura, but Yotsuba does not know this. The encounter between Yotsuba and the robot was quite amusing.

I also very much liked "Yotsuba & the Beach" (chapter 34) in which Yotsuba's dad takes her and two of her friends by train to the beach. They do just about everything I used to do at the beach when my kids were young. The last picture in the book was of everyone asleep on the train after a tiring day at the beach. I always felt the need for a vacation after a vacation at the beach! ( )

When I'm reading this series, I just find myself smiling. It's no wonder that the neighbours' mom is so tolerant of Yotsuba, always welcoming her, buying ice-cream and cake, making her feel like one of the family.

This is my favourite volume so far, for every chapter seems filled with innocence and excitement. From Yotsuba's meeting with the robot, helping with the laundry and cleaning next door and eating grapes, meeting Yanda (even if that was frustrating for Yotsuba, it's entertaining for us on-lookers), eating noodles under the stars, the video store, and, especially THE BEACH. (I feel certain that Yotsuba would insist on those capitals!)

As an aside, I'm so grateful this series has been translated by Javier Lopez. His notes are also very helpful (for instance, explaining the reason that Fuka says she is the "stars", linked to the characters for "wind" and "scent" that comprise her name), whether explaining language or culture: much appreciated. ( )

A volume to remember. The introduction of the meme-worthy Danbo (Cardbo) and of the infamous ice cream stealing Yanda. ( )

So what makes Yostuba&! #5 stand out from the other volumes? I mean, it's not like it doesn't have the fantastic art and planning of the series, perfect pacing and pauses, or the delightful sense of humour that comes with a five-year-old protagonist.

What makes this one special is the introduction of one of the greatest mascots ever: Danbo. (Cardbo in the ADV translation) This cardboard "robot" got turned into a miniature figure who played mascot for amazon.co.jp, quite popularly, I hear. There's no doubt that the Danbo chapter isn't wonderfully funny, especially since everyone except Yotsuba knows that it is Miura inside the costume, and of course that means more teasing and rivalry between the two.

Speaking of rivalry, another thing that makes volume 5 fantastic: the introduction of Yotsuba's arch-nemesis, Yanda Yasuda. Yanda is Koiwai and Jumbo's kohai (junior) from college and now, unlike those two, he's working in an office. Yotsuba immediately distrusts him (uncharacteristically for her, since she rarely expresses distrust of strangers) when he doesn't know her name. He's a bad guy! And it doesn't help when Koiwai replies to Yotsuba's question "Is he a good guy or a bad guy?!" with "He's a bad guy." Nor does it help when Yanda tricks Yotsuba into letting him in the house by giving her candy, then later taking it from her. Or by showing her his instant ramen and asking if she wants any, then denying her with a "too bad!" Or when Yostuba attempts to do the same thing to him with her ice cream, by biting the top off before she can react.

The Yotsuba-Yanda nemesis relationship is comedy gold (so to speak) and definitely makes volume 5 worth reading.

Also in this volume, Yotsuba helps out with chores at the Ayase house; Jumbo takes the four younger girls stargazing; it rains, and Yotsuba gets her first raincoat; and Koiwai takes three of the girls (no Miura this time) to the beach. The beach chapters are pretty amazing just for the lovely art of the ocean and scenery and sand. ( )

More adorable adventures, including a day at the beach, going to the video store, and a cardboard robot with an impressive grasp of language. ( )

Comedy vom Feinsten.
Was haben Trauben und Hausarbeit miteinander zu tun? Der Ausflug um die Sterne zu betrachten, das Einkaufen beim Regen und der Strandausflug sind schon Extraklasse aber das Kapitel Yanda setzt allem Die Krone auf. ( )