Yotsuba&! is a manga written and drawn by Kiyohiko Azuma, and published in Japan by ASCII Media Works in the monthly magazine Dengeki Daioh. Since 2003, 76 chapters have been published; 69 of these have been collected in ten tankōbon volumes as of November 2010[update]; further chapters appearing in Dengeki Daioh will be collected in tankōbon format over time, with volume 11 slated to be released in late November 2011. The series was licensed in English by ADV Manga, with five volumes published;[1] volume six was scheduled to be published February 2008 but was delayed indefinitely.[2][3] Yen Press announced at New York Comic Con 2009 that they had acquired the North American license for the English release of the manga;[4] volume six was released in September 2009 along with new translations of the first five volumes,[5] with later volumes to follow. The series has been licensed in France by Kurokawa,[6] in Spain by Norma Editorial,[7] in Germany by Tokyopop Germany,[8] in Italy by Dynit,[9] in Finland by Punainen jättiläinen,[10] in Korea by Daiwon C.I.,[11] in Taiwan by Kadokawa Media,[12] in Vietnam by TVM Comics,[13] and in Thailand by NED Comics.[14]
Yotsuba&! follows the daily life of a young girl named Yotsuba Koiwai and her adoptive father,[15] with each chapter taking place on a specific, nearly sequential day of a common year starting on Wednesday. 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.[16] This allows the appearance of products created after 2003, such as the Nintendo DS Mr. Ayase plays in chapter forty-two.
Official story dates through volume five are given by a small artbook, Yotsuba&! Illustrations and Materials, distributed in Japan with volume six and Yotsuba & Monochrome Animals;[17] dates from volume six on are established by evidence within the series, such as statements by characters, and by statements by Azuma. The collected volumes have seven chapters each, spanning about a week in series time. The first five volumes cover a summer vacation period.
Contents |
Note: This list uses official English-translated titles through volume 9, unofficial Japanese translations thereafter.
| No. | Japanese | English | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Release date | ISBN | Release date | ISBN | |
| 1 | 27 August 2003[18] | ISBN 978-4-8402-2466-6 | 6 June 2005 (ADV) September 2009[5] (Yen) |
ISBN 978-1-4139-0317-1 (ADV) ISBN 978-0-316-07387-5 (Yen) |
Chapter list:
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Story date:[17]
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| On the last day of the spring semester, Yotsuba and her father Koiwai move into their new house and meet the neighboring Ayase girls, Asagi, Fuka, and Ena. As the Koiwais settle in, they encounter problems, including a broken bathroom lock and Yotsuba needing to learn about polite greetings, air conditioners, and the proper uses of doorbells. Fuka offers the Koiwais her family's old television, and when Koiwai's friend Jumbo helps carry it, the Ayases are impressed by his height. For other household goods, Koiwai takes Yotsuba shopping at a department store for the first time. Jumbo takes Yotsuba and Ena cicada-catching, and they return to show off their catch to Mrs. Ayase. The next day, after Fuka helps Yotsuba bring in the Koiwais' forgotten laundry, Yotsuba plays in the rain. | ||||
| 2 | 27 April 2004[19] | ISBN 978-4-8402-2674-5 | 1 August 2005 (ADV) September 2009[5] (Yen) |
ISBN 978-1-4139-0318-8 (ADV) ISBN 978-0-316-07389-9 (Yen) |
Chapter list:
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Story date:[17]
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| Yotsuba tags along when Ena and her friend Miura go drawing in the park. After watching a gangster movie, Yotsuba takes revenge on the Ayases with her water pistol. The next day, Mrs. Ayase sends Ena, Miura, and Yotsuba to buy cake from a bakery. After working all night on a deadline, Koiwai falls asleep, leaving Yotsuba to watch the house on her own. In a failed attempt to get closer to Asagi, Jumbo takes Yotsuba, Fuka, and Ena swimming at the pool. When Yotsuba catches a bullfrog, Ena adores it but Miura is frightened of it. Asagi returns from an Okinawa vacation with souvenirs for her family—and leftover sata andagi for Yotsuba. | ||||
| 3 | 27 November 2004[20] | ISBN 978-4-8402-2895-4 | 3 October 2005 (ADV) September 2009[5] (Yen) |
ISBN 978-1-4139-0329-4 (ADV) ISBN 978-0-316-07390-5 (Yen) |
Chapter list:
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Story date:[17]
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| To thank Asagi, Yotsuba travels to the playground for a souvenir for her and her friend Torako. In return, Asagi buys Yotsuba a package of fireworks. While helping Fuka shop at Jumbo's flower shop, Yotsuba buys all the leftover stock for ¥10. The next day, during Obon, Koiwai sends Yotsuba, dressed as the "Flower Cupid," to give away excess flowers. The next day, Koiwai takes Yotsuba on her first visit to a zoo to see an elephant. In another attempt to get close to Asagi, Jumbo takes Yotsuba, Ena, and Miura to a fireworks show, where Yotsuba learns that crowds can be scary and that display fireworks are more impressive than firecrackers. | ||||
| 4 | 27 August 2005[21] | ISBN 978-4-8402-3163-3 | 27 June 2007 (ADV) September 2009[5] (Yen) |
ISBN 978-1-4139-0345-4 (ADV) ISBN 978-0-316-07391-2 (Yen) |
Chapter list:
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Story date:[17]
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| To give Miura a "summer vacation memory," Jumbo takes her, Yotsuba, and Ena fishing. Koiwai and Yotsuba go shopping for dinner, but he forgets his wallet and they must borrow money from Fuka. When Fuka sees the boy she likes with another girl, Yotsuba tries to understand, then console, her broken heart. After Ena takes Yotsuba to radio exercises for the first time, she invites Yotsuba over for breakfast, where Yotsuba decides to become a newspaperman. Her career ends, however, when The Yotsuba Times publishes the secret of Fuka's heartbreak to the rest of the family. After dreaming of being a tsukutsukubōshi, Yotsuba dresses up as one, only to learn that they are not summer-ending fairies but a type of cicada.[22] | ||||
| 5 | 28 April 2006[23] | ISBN 978-4-8402-3441-2 | 31 October 2007 (ADV) September 2009[5] (Yen) |
ISBN 978-1-4139-0349-2 (ADV) ISBN 978-0-316-07392-9 (Yen) |
Chapter list:
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Story date:[17]
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| When Ena and Miura make a robot costume out of cardboard boxes, Yotsuba believes is a real robot, and Ena refuses to let Miura crush her dreams by telling her the truth. Yotsuba helps Mrs. Ayase with household chores and then meets Koiwai's kōhai, Yanda, whom she instantly dislikes. To help with Ena's homework, Jumbo takes her, Miura, Yotsuba, and Fuka stargazing. During rainy day errands, Yotsuba misinterprets Koiwai's excuse for not going to the ocean, "There'll be jellyfish!" as a promise to go see the jellyfish, and invites Ena and Fuka along. When she throws a tantrum, he gives in and the four spend the afternoon at the beach. | ||||
| 6 | 16 December 2006[25] | ISBN 978-4-8402-3702-4 | September 2009[5] | ISBN 978-0-316-07324-0 |
Chapter list:
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Story date: | |||
| On the last day of summer vacation, as Miura desperately finishes her homework, Yotsuba gives herself the assignment of constructing a utility shirt out of recycled materials. Koiwai takes Yotsuba shopping for a bicycle. After a few falls, she learns to ride it and uses it to accompany Asagi and Torako on an errand. Yotsuba tries out more careers, first as an office worker by writing memos, then as a milkman, delivering a bottle of milk to Fuka at her high school. For riding off without permission, Koiwai takes away her bicycle privileges, but after she helps him and Jumbo build some bookshelves, he restores them. | ||||
| 7 | 27 September 2007[33] | ISBN 978-4-8402-4053-6 | 15 December 2009[5][34] | ISBN 978-0-316-07325-7 |
Chapter list:
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Story date: | |||
| Ena and Miura show Yotsuba how to make a paper-cup telephone, which they string between Koiwai's office and Fuka's bedroom, and then take her on a bike ride to the playground of their elementary school. Because of Yotsuba's continuing interest in how milk is produced, Koiwai plans a trip to a farm, but this is put off when she gets a fever. Yotsuba helps Fuka and a classmate bake an elaborate cake as practice for their school cultural festival. When Koiwai wants instant ramen for lunch, Yotsuba insists on running the errand by herself for the first time. Koiwai, Jumbo, and Yanda take Yotsuba on her long-delayed farm visit, where she meets sheep and learns how to milk a cow. | ||||
| 8 | 27 August 2008[44] | ISBN 978-4-04-867151-4 | 20 April 2010[5][45] | ISBN 978-0-316-07327-1 |
Chapter list:
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Story date: | |||
| Still excited from her trip to the dairy farm, Yotsuba brings the Ayases a souvenir of butter toffees and is fascinated by Mrs. Ayase's mail-order catalog. The next day, Mrs. Ayase tells Koiwai about the cart-pulling festival the following week, while Yotsuba confuses him with her "opposites game." When he takes Yotsuba out for lunch, Yotsuba runs into Torako and manages to order for herself. Yotsuba and Koiwai attend the cultural festival at Fuka's high school, where Yotsuba is disappointed with the plain pound cake her class serves. Yotsuba is excited by her first typhoon, and insists on going next door in the torrential downpour. When Fuka warns her that she will fly away in the wind, Yotsuba goes back outside to test this. Jumbo babysits Yotsuba while Koiwai is out, and when Yanda shows up to eat his instant ramen, he helps Yotsuba defends the house from the "intruder". Yotsuba and Ena help pull a children's cart in the aforementioned festival, where Yotsuba is visibly impressed by the happi, the taiko drum, Jumbo's tengu costume, exposed butts, and the amount of candy she receives. Koiwai takes Yotsuba shopping for autumn clothes, but when they pass a park she insists on collecting as many acorns as she can. | ||||
| 9 | 27 November 2009[52] | ISBN 978-4-04-868247-3 | 21 December 2010[5][53] | ISBN 978-0-316-12679-3 |
Chapter list:
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Story date: | |||
| While Koiwai works, Yotsuba plans out a schedule for the day, but immediately falls behind and plays with her acorns instead. The next day, Dad takes Yotsuba shopping for a coffee maker at a mall, and while there buys Yotsuba her first teddy bear, which she names Juralumin. The next day, she shows Juralumin to the Ayases, who give Yotsuba Ena's old wagon to carry it in. To help Fuka study, Yotsuba brings her a mug of her father's coffee, but spills it on the table. One of Jumbo's customers invites him to her yakiniku shop's half-off night, and he brings Yanda and Koiwai along. When Yotsuba again drops the coffee she tries to bring to Fuka, the Ayase sisters visit her house. While there, they clean up and Asagi invites Yotsuba and Koiwai along to a hot air balloon festival the next day. The Koiwais, Asagi, Ena, and Torako get up before dawn to drive to the festival, where they watch the balloons inflate and take off on a race. After breakfast, they ride in a balloon, play with hand helicopters, and collect candy thrown by a paraglider. | ||||
| 10 | 27 November 2010[63] | ISBN 978-4-04-870143-3 | 25 October 2011[5][64] | ISBN 978-0-316-19033-6 |
Chapter list:
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Story date: | |||
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While Koiwai works, Yotsuba plays house with her wooden blocks, then talks her father into a game of hide and seek and playing on the swings in the park. Inspired by a picture book, Yotsuba learns how to cook pancakes from her father, with assistance from Yanda. That evening, the Koiwais show Jumbo photographs from the hot air balloon festival. While her father finishes an assignment, Jumbo babysits Yotsuba and gives her a book about animals. The next day, Jumbo takes the Koiwais shopping for a digital camera. While the adults compare cameras, Yotsuba explores the electronics store with Fuuka. When Yotsuba lies about breaking some dishes, Koiwai takes her to a guardian Niō statue at a Buddhist temple to scare the "lying bug" out of her. When Yotsuba and Ena visit Miura's apartment, Yotsuba is upset when she sees the her cardboard robot costume. To reassure her that the robot is not dead, Miura puts the costume on and plays with her in the park. |
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The following chapters published in Dengeki Daioh have not yet been collected in a tankōbon volume.