Yotsuba Vol 12 Review

Title: Yotsuba
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy
Publisher: ASCII Media Works (JP), Yen Press (US)
Artist: Kiyohiko Azuma
Serialized In: Dengeki Daioh
Original Release Date: November 19, 2013

Since the moment Yotsuba was welcomed in the US many years ago (after it got printed then reprinted once Yen Press took over), pretty much every volume of the series has been as great as it can possibly be. So it would be terrible if Vol 12 somehow managed to be less than great, but as expected, it’s not. Yotsuba is still one of the few manga series published here that continues to be awesome in every which way.

What ultimately makes the series tick so well is not merely just watching how Yotsuba grows up — ok, it is a factor — but watching how everyone acts towards her, which are genuine, hilarious, and down to earth. And that hasn’t really changed since Vol 1, so of course it won’t change in Vol 12. This time, Yotsuba ends up entertaining and learning how to tie ribbons properly with Asagi’s friend Tora, which ends with Tora looking way too cute for no real reason. We get a two part chapter where Yotsuba ends up discovering paint. Start imagining what would happen if a 5 year old discovered a can of paint and imagine the worst, since that’s pretty much what happens to Yotsuba and the house. You can also imagine getting said paint off wasn’t going to be quick, so Yotsuba has to deal with the aftermath for a day (or two). Next chapter entails Miss Stake and Fuuka taking pictures of a pumpkinized Yotsuba (yes, it’s as adorable as you think it is), then teaching her the ways of Halloween; it involves doing some trick or treating. The rest of the volume has most of the main crew going camping, and brazenly enough, has the decency to mostly be creative with that.

To that creative part, I mean just being about as natural as possible when faced with a unfortunate situation. For example, Jumbo or Koiwai end up forgetting plates for everyone to eat (one of them was supposed to bring it). So what’s the solution? Use every available item instead. So seeing Yotsuba eat curry out of a pan to Jumbo eating out of those big pots was natural, and maybe almost expected. This actually manages to be entertaining, mainly because we’ve gotten a sense of the characters, how they deal with situations, and Yotsuba’s reaction to it is all that mostly matters! If any other series tried this, it would easily fall flat on its face. But as we see Yotsuba learn new things, we learn and see her responses as well. This, combined with the artwork, makes a camping no-no seem exciting and not lifeless.

Only Azuma could get away with this type of scene, as he’s just great at coming up with stories and placing Yotsuba in situations that we can care about. I mean, seriously, would we care about just any 5 year old who ends up wearing her new bike helmet from the time she got it and into dinnertime? Her somehow managing to toss a frisbee nowhere close to Miura? Probably not. It’s hard to come up with that type of character and come up with the best way for her character to shine so we can be entertained and not think it’s nothing but fluff. Yet there’s always something new and refreshing in every volume that makes me pleased. If you still haven’t read Yotsuba, then I’m not sure what to tell you – aside from you continuing to miss out on one of the best manga releases in the US.