Kiyohiko Azuma

Someone recently asked a group I'm in for anime recommendation. I replied, "If you haven't seen Azumanga Daioh, you haven't lived." The same applies to the manga, if not more so. Azumanga Daioh, or "AzuD" as my friend and I referred to it, is the story of a group of high school friends, told almost entirely in 4koma, or 4 panel comic strips. Many people's reactions to things like "manga about high school girls" would be a sigh, or a comment like "What super powers do they have?", but the show more girls of
Azumanga Daioh are different. They are completely normal. As someone who was once a high school girl, I find this is actually the closest anything comes to representing me and my friends. Azumanga Daioh is a comedy series, and there are jokes that still make me laugh every time, despite having read them 10 times. I feel like these girls are my friends as well, and Azumanga Daioh is just a great series all around. Even if you aren't into manga, I would still whole-heartedly recommend Azumanga Daioh to anyone. A funny, cute, light read, Azumanga Daioh is probably my favourite manga of all time. show less

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 show more 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. show less

The 13th installment in the Yotsuba&! series keeps up the gentle humor (and occasional slapstick) of childhood, this time featuring a visit from Yotsuba's grandmother, her dad's mom. Grandma was a little bit scary in spots for me, which I think reflects her sternness and expectations of her son. She clearly loves both him and Yotsuba, but isn't really the soft, coddling type of grandma. She comes in ready to clean - after all, she can't trust Dad to do it - and eventually convinces Yotsuba show more to help with dishes and waxing the living room floor, despite Yotsuba's protests that cleaning is annoying.

It's been a long gap since the last book, 2.5 years, and I hadn't reread any of the series recently. I was a little surprised by how young Yotsuba skews at times, though she is described as being five or six years old and about ready to start school. In fact, Dad and Grandma talk about her growing up and going to school soon (this takes place in November, so it is about 5 months until the school year starts). It was nice to get more tidbits of backstory, such as Grandma knowing Yanda from before, and mention of Dad's first name and Yotsuba living with Grandma when she was little.

The publication/editing details of the book were a bit disappointing. Some of the Japanese cultural notes felt a little too heavy, and I would have preferred more of a cultural translation for those words (or just using a straight translation and letting the cultural aspect pass unnoticed) - I think those couple of notes made it feel less friendly for the young readers I would have shared the book with. Also, more irritating, there were many pages were text was right up against the spine of the book, so that I had to pry it open to read, or else guessed what it said. Hopefully the spacing will be improved in reprints. show less

Every time I read a volume of Yotsuba&!, that volume is my number-one top favorite of the series. This one, the sixth, is no exception. I've read it twice since it arrived on my doorstep today, plus I read it two or three times before I had my own copy — like the rest of the series, it holds up quite well to rereads.

In this volume, Yotsuba gets her very first bicycle. She is five years old and a bicycle is SUPER exciting, so the bike provides a theme for the following chapters. But that's show more not the only thing we see as we follow her through the days. The book starts with a chapter where she learns about recycling, sort of. She doesn't quite understand the concept, and the result is pretty hilarious. Another story aspect is milk, that is, the expensive and very tasty milk that her dad buys and which she takes to the neighbors' for sharing - but Fuuka doesn't get to have any, so Yotsuba plays deliveryman and takes it to Fuuka's school the next morning. I don't really know how she found the school, since it's a good deal farther from home than she's ever been on her own before, but she managed, and the adventure of getting there is worth reading. Finally, there's a bit of a story about building a new bookshelf with Jumbo, which features Yotsuba's arch-nemesis Yanda.

One thing I like that I noticed for the first time in the chapters about the bicycle, but not so much at other points in the series, is the way Yotsuba is starting to get into trouble for her behavior, which in a young child is cute and funny, but in an older one is a bit obnoxious or dangerous. It's not serious trouble - she's only five years old, after all - but she learns the meaning of "grounded" in this volume, and there's an amusing series of panels where the entire house is covered with "post-it notes" that make quite obvious all the things she gets scolded for ("do not run!" "close the door!", for example, and also a five-year-old's humor: "poop goes here").

As usual, there's nothing serious or dramatic going on in this book, unless it only seems that way to a kid. What we have in Yostuba&! volume 6 is more great story with careful attention to detail and lots and lots of awesome visual storytelling.

I probably wouldn't recommend anyone start with this volume. It feels like it requires too much knowledge of Yotsuba's past adventures to really understand what some of the subtext is, though since I am familiar with the rest of the series, I might be underestimating it. show less