is an ongoing Japanese comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series by Kiyohiko Azuma

Kiyohiko Azuma

is a Japanese manga author and artist. In his manga he writes under the hiragana form of his name, which has led some non-Japanese-speakers to confuse him for a woman . He used to use the pen name ' in his H manga...

, the creator of Azumanga Daioh

Azumanga Daioh

is a Japanese comedy manga by Kiyohiko Azuma. It was serialized by MediaWorks in the shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Daioh from 1999 to 2002 and collected in four bound volumes...

. It is published in Japan by ASCII Media Works

ASCII Media Works

is a Japanese publishing company in the Kadokawa Group which formed on April 1, 2008 as a result of a merger between ASCII and MediaWorks where MediaWorks legally absorbed ASCII. Despite this, the former president of ASCII, Kiyoshi Takano, became the president of ASCII Media Works. The company...

, formerly MediaWorks

MediaWorks (publisher)

was a Japanese publishing company in the Kadokawa Group known for their brand magazines and book labels. These included such well-known magazines as Dengeki Daioh, and Dengeki G's Magazine, along with MediaWorks' main light novel publishing imprint Dengeki Bunko. The company was merged with ASCII...

, in the monthly magazine Dengeki Daioh

Dengeki Daioh

is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works under the Dengeki brand. Many manga serialized in Dengeki Daioh were later published in tankōbon volumes under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Comics imprint. The magazine is sold every month on the 27th...

and collected in ten tankōbon

Tankobon

, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

volumes . It depicts the everyday adventures of a young girl named Yotsuba

Yotsuba Koiwai

, also known as just , is a fictional character from the comedy manga series Yotsuba&!, as well as the one-shot manga "Try! Try! Try!", both by Kiyohiko Azuma...

 as she learns about the world around her, guided by her father, the neighbors, and their friends. Several characters in Yotsuba&! were previously featured in a one-shot manga called "Try! Try! Try!" The phrase Yotsuba to means "Yotsuba and," a fact reflected in the chapter titles, most of which take the form "Yotsuba and something."

The manga was licensed for English-language distribution by ADV Manga, which released five volumes between 2005 and 2007. Volume six was supposed to have been released in February 2008, but was delayed indefinitely in order to focus on ADV's core business of anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

. At New York Comic Con 2009, Yen Press

Yen Press

Yen Press is the manga and graphic novel imprint of Hachette Book Group. In addition to their regular book releases, Yen Press produces a monthly anthology called Yen Plus. The company's varied list demonstrates an interest in publishing a wide variety of Japanese manga, Korean manhwa, and other...

 announced that it had acquired the North American license for the series; it reprinted the first five volumes with new translations along with volume six in September 2009, and is continuing with later volumes.

Story

Yotsuba&! is centered on Yotsuba Koiwai

Yotsuba Koiwai

, also known as just , is a fictional character from the comedy manga series Yotsuba&!, as well as the one-shot manga "Try! Try! Try!", both by Kiyohiko Azuma...

, a five-year-old adopted girl who is energetic, cheerful, curious, odd, and quirky—so odd and quirky that even her own father calls her strange. She is also initially ignorant about many things a child her age would be expected to know, among them doorbells, escalators, air conditioners, and even playground swings. This naiveté is the premise of humorous stories where she learns about, and frequently misunderstands, everyday things.

At the start of the series, Yotsuba and her adoptive father, Koiwai, relocate to a new city with the help of Koiwai's best friend, an impressively tall man nicknamed Jumbo. Yotsuba makes a strong impression on the three daughters of the neighboring Ayase family, Asagi, Fuuka, and Ena, and many of her misadventures come from her interactions with them.

The series has no continuing plot—the focus of the stories is Yotsuba's daily voyage of discovery. Many chapters take place on successive days (for details, see List of Yotsuba&! chapters), so that the series follows, almost literally, the characters' daily lives. The tone can be summarized by the motto, used on chapter title pages and advertising, .

Koiwai household

Yotsuba is depicted as an energetic five-year-old girl with a child's wonder towards even the most unremarkable of new discoveries. She is shown finding enjoyment in nearly everything, and her constant enthusiasm is infectious. Before moving to her present house, she and Koiwai lived with his mother, then before that on an island that is, according to her, "to the left." Nothing is known about Yotsuba's parentage other than that she was orphan

Orphan

An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...

ed somewhere outside of Japan and subsequently adopted by Koiwai and that she is sometimes taken for a foreigner by strangers. She is an excellent swimmer, but not as good an artist as she thinks she is.

The name can be translated as "four leaves," and is part of the phrase . Her green hair is always worn in four pigtails, giving her somewhat the appearance of her namesake.

Koiwai, given name unknown, is 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

Slacker

The term "slacker" is used to refer to a person who habitually avoids work. Slackers may be regarded as belonging to an antimaterialistic counterculture, though in some cases their behavior may be due to other causes ....

; 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 are unknown. Regardless of his skills as a parent, Koiwai tries to be a good father to Yotsuba.

Ayase household

The Ayases live next-door to the Koiwais.

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

Four-leaf clover

The four-leaf clover is an uncommon variation of the common, three-leaved clover. According to tradition, such leaves bring good luck to their finders, especially if found accidentally...

, Mrs. Ayase asked for a five-leaf clover instead, which Asagi could not find.

The middle Ayase sister, Fuka (also romanized

Romanization of Japanese

The romanization of Japanese is the application of the Latin alphabet to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is known as , less strictly romaji, literally "Roman letters", sometimes incorrectly transliterated as romanji or rōmanji. There are several different romanization systems...

 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

Azumanga Daioh

is a Japanese comedy manga by Kiyohiko Azuma. It was serialized by MediaWorks in the shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Daioh from 1999 to 2002 and collected in four bound volumes...

, who also appears as a plushie

Stuffed animal

A stuffed toy is a toy sewn from cloth, plush, or other textiles, and stuffed with straw, beans, plastic pellets, cotton, synthetic fibres, or other similar materials. Stuffed toys are also known as plush toys A stuffed toy is a toy sewn from cloth, plush, or other textiles, and stuffed with straw,...

 in her room).

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 Yotsuba believe that her friend Miura's cardboard costume is a real robot named , 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

Bullfrog

The American bullfrog , often simply known as the bullfrog in Canada and the United States, is an aquatic frog, a member of the family Ranidae, or “true frogs”, native to much of North America. This is a frog of larger, permanent water bodies, swamps, ponds, and lakes, where it is usually found...

 and gutting live fish.

The mother of the Ayase sisters, who frequently has Yotsuba over as a visitor. Unlike her daughters, she seems unfazed by Yotsuba's habit of calling her "Mom." She is often irritated with Asagi, possibly because, as her husband observes, they have similar personalities. Mrs. Ayase has something of a sweet tooth, with cravings for ice cream, cake, and other desserts.

The father of the Ayase sisters is almost never at home, at least during the workweek. While his profession is not revealed, it appears consistent with the life of a salaryman

Salaryman

refers to someone whose income is salary based; particularly those working for corporations. Its frequent use by Japanese corporations, and its prevalence in Japanese manga and anime has gradually led to its acceptance in English-speaking countries as a noun for a Japanese white-collar...

. Asagi frequently teases him about his constant absence, even sometimes mentioning him in past tense as if he were dead, but he otherwise has good relationships with the rest of the family. He has a very laid-back and sentimental personality.

Friends

A friend of Koiwai and Yotsuba, having known Koiwai since they were childhood classmates. Standing 210 centimetre 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

Deadpan

Deadpan is a form of comic delivery in which humor is presented without a change in emotion or body language, usually speaking in a casual, monotone, solemn, blunt, disgusted or matter-of-fact voice and expressing an unflappably calm, archly insincere or artificially grave demeanor...

 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

Limerence

Limerence is a term coined c. 1977 by the psychologist Dorothy Tennov to describe an involuntary state of mind which seems to result from a romantic attraction to another person combined with an overwhelming, obsessive need to have one's feelings reciprocated...

 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.

A friend and classmate of Ena. She is boyish and brusque, in both her appearance and speech (this is very noticeable in the Japanese version; see gender differences in spoken Japanese

Gender differences in spoken Japanese

The Japanese language is unusual among major languages in the high degree to which the speech of women collectively differs from that of men. Differences in the ways that girls and boys use language have been detected in children as young as three years old ....

). Sometimes, she can be too straightforward and insensitive, and she counters aggressively in a tsukkomi-like manner if she feels mistaken or made fun of. Because of this, Miura appears less kind and thoughtful than Ena, but she is aware of others' feelings. For example, she immediately notices Jumbo's infatuation with Asagi and uses it to her advantage. She is also extremely squeamish: when Jumbo takes the younger children fishing, Miura refuses to handle live bait, using salmon roe instead, and hides while Jumbo and Ena clean their catches; she is also terrified by a large frog

Bullfrog

The American bullfrog , often simply known as the bullfrog in Canada and the United States, is an aquatic frog, a member of the family Ranidae, or “true frogs”, native to much of North America. This is a frog of larger, permanent water bodies, swamps, ponds, and lakes, where it is usually found...

 Yotsuba catches. Miura often wears sports-related clothing (such as jerseys of the Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

 and Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...

) and rides a unicycle. Jumbo once teases her by calling her Lamborghini Miura

Lamborghini Miura

The Lamborghini Miura was a sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1966 and 1972. The car is widely considered to have begun the trend of high performance, two-seater, mid-engined sports cars...

.

A friend of Asagi's, surname unknown, who attends the same university. She smokes constantly. She also admits to Koiwai she's not used to being around small children, but that she likes being around Yotsuba because it's "fun." Her name means and Yotsuba frequently calls her just Tora ("tiger"). She is interested in photography, and is the only member of the younger cast with a car.

Yanda, given name unknown, is a friend of Koiwai and Jumbo. Though mentioned in the first and fourth chapters, when Jumbo calls Yanda "no good" for making lame excuses for not helping the Koiwais move, he does not appear until chapter 30. He is somewhat childish, as shown by the tit-for-tat pranks he plays on Yotsuba, including bribing her with candy then taking it back when it does not work, eating her ice cream, and prank-calling

Prank call

A prank call is a form of practical joke committed over the telephone. Prank phone calls began to gain an America-wide following over a period of many years, as they gradually became a staple of the obscure and amusing cassette tapes traded amongst musicians, sound engineers, and media traders...

 her, and is shown enjoying teasing Yotsuba and acting as her "nemesis". Koiwai refers to Yanda as his kōhai, but in what context he is Koiwai's junior is unknown. He is living from paycheck to paycheck, telling Koiwai that he eats instant ramen because he does not get paid until the end of the month, and only eating frozen meals the rest of the time.

A friend of Fuka's, given name unknown, who is in the same homeroom. Her first official appearance is in chapter 45, when she visits Fuka's home and recognizes Yotsuba from her trip to their high school in chapter 40. Hiwatari has a somewhat eccentric personality. She is normally called by her nickname due to a "mistake" she made when she first introduced herself to her class (in Japanese, shimau used as an auxiliary verb

Auxiliary verb

In linguistics, an auxiliary verb is a verb that gives further semantic or syntactic information about a main or full verb. In English, the extra meaning provided by an auxiliary verb alters the basic meaning of the main verb to make it have one or more of the following functions: passive voice,...

 can mean to do something by accident, hence the pun).

Development

In 1998, Azuma published a one-shot manga and two webcomics called "Try! Try! Try!", in which Yotsuba, her father (who is unnamed), Ena, Fuka, and Asagi first appeared. Although some of these characters, including Yotsuba herself, are largely the same as in Yotsuba&!, Fuka has a different character design, a more mischievous personality, and a different spelling of her given name (in "Try! Try! Try!", it is written with the kanji

Kanji

Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

 , meaning "wind-summer"; in Yotsuba&!, it is , meaning "wind-scent").

Media

Despite its popularity and the success of Azumanga Daioh

Azumanga Daioh

is a Japanese comedy manga by Kiyohiko Azuma. It was serialized by MediaWorks in the shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Daioh from 1999 to 2002 and collected in four bound volumes...

, no plans have been announced for an anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 adaptation of Yotsuba&!. In an entry posted on his website on 15 May 2005, Azuma

Kiyohiko Azuma

is a Japanese manga author and artist. In his manga he writes under the hiragana form of his name, which has led some non-Japanese-speakers to confuse him for a woman . He used to use the pen name ' in his H manga...

 said there were no plans for it to be animated; he reiterated this 5 December 2008, claiming that the stories and style of Yotsuba&! are not well-suited for animation.

Manga

The manga is written and illustrated by Kiyohiko Azuma

Kiyohiko Azuma

is a Japanese manga author and artist. In his manga he writes under the hiragana form of his name, which has led some non-Japanese-speakers to confuse him for a woman . He used to use the pen name ' in his H manga...

, and published by ASCII Media Works

ASCII Media Works

is a Japanese publishing company in the Kadokawa Group which formed on April 1, 2008 as a result of a merger between ASCII and MediaWorks where MediaWorks legally absorbed ASCII. Despite this, the former president of ASCII, Kiyoshi Takano, became the president of ASCII Media Works. The company...

 in the monthly shōnen (aimed at teenage boys) manga magazine Dengeki Daioh

Dengeki Daioh

is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works under the Dengeki brand. Many manga serialized in Dengeki Daioh were later published in tankōbon volumes under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Comics imprint. The magazine is sold every month on the 27th...

since the March 2003 issue, with serialization on-going. Chapters have been collected in ten tankōbon

Tankobon

, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

volumes .

In English, Yotsuba&! was originally licensed by ADV Manga, who published five volumes between 2005 and 2007 before dropping the license. The North American license was picked up by Yen Press

Yen Press

Yen Press is the manga and graphic novel imprint of Hachette Book Group. In addition to their regular book releases, Yen Press produces a monthly anthology called Yen Plus. The company's varied list demonstrates an interest in publishing a wide variety of Japanese manga, Korean manhwa, and other...

, which republished the first five volumes along with the sixth in September 2009; as of October 2011, Yen has released ten volumes. In addition, the series is licensed in France by Kurokawa, in Spain by Norma Editorial

Norma Editorial

Norma Editorial is a Spanish comics publisher, with its headquarters in Barcelona.Founded in 1977 by Rafael Martínez, it publishes both original Spanish comics , Spanish translations of Japanese manga as well as Spanish translations of American or European comics and...

, in Germany by Tokyopop Germany

Tokyopop

Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...

, in Italy by Dynit

Dynit

Dynit SRL is one of the main Italian manga and anime publishers. It was founded in 1995 by Francesco Di Sanzo, Claudia Cangini, Francesco Bombardini, Paolo Nascetti, Saetti SRL and Federico Colpi and its original name was Dynamic Italia SRL. The name was changed following a litigation between Colpi...

, in Finland by Punainen jättiläinen

Punainen jättiläinen

Punainen jättiläinen is a Finnish small publisher of Japanese manga and Korean manwha. It was founded in April 2005 by its CEO, Antti Grönlund. However, the publisher was acquired by Tammi in 2009...

, in Korea by Daiwon C.I.

Daiwon C.I.

Daewon C.I. , short for Daewon Culture Industry, is a subsidiary of Daewon Media founded in 1991. This South Korean publisher releases domestic and imported comics, Newtype Korea Magazine, children's books, and light novels. With Haksan Culture Company and Seoul Cultural Publishers, Daewon C.I...

, in Taiwan by Kadokawa Media

Kadokawa Group Holdings

is a Japanese holding company of the Kadokawa Group under Kadokawa Shoten. The company was founded on April 2, 1954 and is located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan...

, in Vietnam by TVM Comics

TVM Comics

TVM Comics is a publisher in Vietnam, headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City. The company was founded in 2007 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Vietnamese media corporation TVM Corp...

, and in Thailand by NED Comics.

Each chapter of Yotsuba&! takes place on a specific, nearly sequential day of a common year starting on Wednesday

Common year starting on Wednesday

This is the calendar for any common year starting on Wednesday, January 1 . Examples: Gregorian years 1986, 1997, 2003, 2014 and 2025or Julian year 1903 ....

. The year was initially believed to be 2003, coinciding with the date of the manga's serialization, but Azuma has stated that the manga always takes place in the present day. This allows the appearance of products created after 2003, such as the Nintendo DS

Nintendo DS

The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...

 Mr. Ayase plays in chapter forty-two.

Calendars

Both monthly and daily Yotsuba&! calendars have been released every year since 2005, although a monthly calendar for 2009 was not released due to constraints on Azuma's schedule. The 2005 edition of the monthly calendar featured pictures of Yotsuba playing with animals such as lion

Lion

The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...

s, zebra

Zebra

Zebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...

s, and kangaroo

Kangaroo

A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...

s. The 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010 editions feature photographs altered to include Yotsuba doing such things as playing with other children or reaching for a balloon. The photographs were by Miho Kakuta, with drawings by Kiyohiko Azuma. The daily calendars have a mix of original and manga artwork, with occasional captions, as well as other fun items — for example, the 2006 calendar had a game of shiritori

Shiritori

Shiritori is a Japanese word game in which the players are required to say a word which begins with the final kana of the previous word. No distinction is made between hiragana, katakana and kanji...

 ongoing through the year. The daily calendars run from April to March, following the Japanese school year instead of the calendar year.

The 2010 monthly calendar was released in November 2009.

Music

Two Yotsuba&! music CDs have been released, both purely instrumental

Instrumental

An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....

, called "image albums

Image song

An image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album for an anime, game or dorama that is usually sung by the seiyū or actor of a character, in character...

". The music is designed to elicit mental images of events described by the titles. Both albums are composed by Masaki Kurihara

Masaki Kurihara

is a Japanese composer and arranger, including scoring Azumanga Daioh Original Soundtrack, Volume 1 and music CD's for Yotsuba&!. He is also a member of the Kuricorder Quartet.-External links:* retrieved 10:53 UTC 14 September 2011...

 and performed by the Kuricorder Pops Orchestra, who also worked together on the Azumanga Daioh soundtrack

Azumanga Daioh Original Soundtrack, Volume 1

is the first volume of the soundtrack to the Azumanga Daioh TV anime. It was performed by the Kuricorder Pops Orchestra with Oranges & Lemons providing vocals for the intro and ending themes. It was released in the U.S...

.

• The first album, Yotsuba&♪, released in April 2005, follows Yotsuba throughout the course of a typical day.
• The second album, Yotsuba&♪ Music Suite (General Winter), released in November 2006, depicts the season of winter, including Christmas and New Year's celebrations. is a personification of harsh winters, similar to Jack Frost
  Jack Frost
  Jack Frost is a sprite-like character with roots in Viking lore. There, he is known as Jokul Frosti . In Britain and United States, Jack is a variant of Old Man Winter and is held responsible for frosty weather, for nipping the nose and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, and...
  
  .

Picture books

A Yotsuba&! picture book

Picture book

A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. The images in picture books use a range of media such as oil paints, acrylics, watercolor and pencil.Two of the earliest books with something like the format picture books still retain now...

, Yotsuba & Monochrome Animals, was published on 16 December 2006 (ISBN 978-4-8402-3714-7). The book has pictures of Yotsuba playing with various black-and-white colored animals, such as pandas

Giant Panda

The giant panda, or panda is a bear native to central-western and south western China. It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the panda's diet is 99% bamboo...

. The name of each animal is given in Japanese and English, along with the scientific classification of the species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

.

Reception

Yotsuba&! is drawn not in the vertical four-panel

Yonkoma

thumb|right|150px|Traditional Yonkoma layout, a comic-strip format, generally consists of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom...

 strips of Azuma's earlier series, Azumanga Daioh

Azumanga Daioh

is a Japanese comedy manga by Kiyohiko Azuma. It was serialized by MediaWorks in the shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Daioh from 1999 to 2002 and collected in four bound volumes...

, but in a full-page format giving him more artistic scope. Azuma's work on Yotsuba&! has been noted for his clean art, detailed backgrounds, and expressive faces. Azuma is also praised for his joyous tone, slice-of-life storytelling, comedic writing, and eccentric yet realistic characters, especially Yotsuba

Yotsuba Koiwai

, also known as just , is a fictional character from the comedy manga series Yotsuba&!, as well as the one-shot manga "Try! Try! Try!", both by Kiyohiko Azuma...

 herself.

The Comics Reporter described the series as "read[ing] like a love letter to the way kids can be at the age of 2-5," and a reviewer at Anime News Network

Anime News Network

Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...

 compared Azuma's ability to capture "the wonder of childhood" to Bill Watterson

Bill Watterson

William Boyd Watterson II , known as Bill Watterson, is an American cartoonist and the author of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes...

's in Calvin and Hobbes

Calvin and Hobbes

Calvin and Hobbes is a syndicated daily comic strip that was written and illustrated by American cartoonist Bill Watterson, and syndicated from November 18, 1985, to December 31, 1995. It follows the humorous antics of Calvin, a precocious and adventurous six-year-old boy, and Hobbes, his...

. Manga: The Complete Guide

Manga: The Complete Guide

Manga: The Complete Guide is a 2007 encyclopedia written by Jason Thompson and published by Del Rey which provides basic details and short reviews of over 1000 Japanese manga titles that have been translated and released in English in North America...

described it as "a light, feel-good manga, like an endless summer day." Nicholas Penedo of Animeland said "with Yotsuba, we find ourselves plunged into the wonderful world of childhood," calling the French edition of volume eight, "A beautiful manga for children and adults." BD Gest praised Azuma's skill in making distinct secondary characters, calling them "immediately recognisable", and saying that they each spice up the story in their own ways. However, Azuma has been criticized for creating characters that are "too clean, too perfectly functional," for overusing "outrageous expressions and reactions," and for dragging out jokes too long.

Yotsuba&! has been popular with readers as well as reviewers. For example, on Amazon.co.jp, volume six was the third best-selling comic in Japan for the first half of 2007 and volume eight was the second best-selling comic in Japan for 2008; volumes seven and eight both were number two on the Tohan comics chart the week they debuted. Volume eight sold more than 450,000 copies in 2008, making it one of the top 50 bestselling manga volumes on the Oricon

Oricon

, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...

 chart for the year. The first five volumes of the English translation were each among the top 100 selling graphic novels in the United States in the month of release. Volume six of the English edition reached number 3 on the New York Times best seller list for manga, and it stayed on the list for four weeks. Volume 8 debuted at #2 on the manga best seller list.

Awards and recognitions

Yotsuba&! received an Excellence Award for Manga at the 2006 Japan Media Arts Festival

Japan Media Arts Festival

The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs since 1997. The festival for a nominal year was usually held during February or March next year, rather than at the end of the nominal year. For instance, the 2010 Japan Media Arts Festival, where...

, where the jury citation praised the vivid characters and gentle atmosphere. In 2008 Yotsuba&! was nominated for the 12th Osamu Tezuka Culture Award

Osamu Tezuka Culture Award

Named after Osamu Tezuka, the is a yearly comic book prize awarded to manga artists or their works that follow the Osamu Tezuka manga approach founded and sponsored by Asahi Shimbun...

 and the Eisner Award

Eisner Award

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...

 "Best Publication for Kids" category, but did not win either, and was runner-up for the first annual Manga Taishō

Manga Taishō

The is an annual Japanese manga award.-First iteration:In the inaugural edition of the award in 2008, twelve manga were nominated and the winner was Gaku, by Shinichi Ishizuka.*Winner: Gaku, by Shinichi Ishizuka*Nominees:...

 award. The English translation was listed as one of the best 20 comics of 2005 by Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...

, one of the best comics of 2006 by the staff of The Comics Journal

The Comics Journal

The Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels...

, and one of the top graphic novels for teens in 2008 by YALSA

Young Adult Library Services Association

The Young Adult Library Services Association , established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. The mission of YALSA is to advocate, promote and strengthen service to young adults as part of the continuum of total library service, and to support those who provide service to...

. Volume one was named Book of the Month in the June 2005 issue of Newtype USA.

There was an exhibit of Yotsuba&! artwork at the Gallery of Fantastic Art in Tokyo from 2–17 December 2006. The lead article of the May 2009 issue of the Japanese design

Design

Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...

magazine Idea was a study of Yotsuba&!, focusing on book design, interior layout, and how translated editions were handled.

External links

Official websites

• ASCII Media Works website
• Yotsuba Studio, Kiyohiko Azuma's studio website
• azumakiyohiko.com, Kiyohiko Azuma's personal website
• Yen Press website

Other

• Momotato Daioh