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Yotsuba&!: Difference between revisions
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Ten volumes have been released thus far in Japan. It was formerly licensed in English by ADV Manga, who brought out five volumes intermittently, but now by Yen Press which picked up with volume six (as well as reprinting the first five). The odd title comes from how [[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming|every chapter]] ([[Odd Name Out|but one]]) is named "Yotsuba & ''Whatever''," where ''whatever'' is the new thing or concept she encounters that day, and the exclamation mark comes from her way of [[Genki Girl|throwing herself full-throttle]] into anything she does. The series has been described by one reviewer as "printed joy" and rightly so. Azuma somehow manages to create a series that's both [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|feel-good happy]] and [[Crowning Moment of Funny|side-splittingly hilarious]]. Not for nothing is the series motto "Enjoy Everything."
Yotsuba's image has been [[Memetic Mutation|appropriated]]<ref>[[Irony|rather inappropriately]]</ref> as the unofficial mascot of [[Image Boards|4chan]], for the simple reason that she is the "Yotsuba" to its Japanese inspiration, Futaba Channel<ref>In addition to the usual counting words ichi, ni, san, shi... the [[Japanese Language]] also has an extra set for small numbers: hitotsu, ''futa''tsu, mittsu, ''yotsu''...</ref>. One can only hope she never has to find that out, though in something of an [[Even Evil Has Standards]] moment, asking for [[Rule
Despite its popularity, no animated adaptation is in the works, and [[Word of God|according to Azuma himself]], Yotsuba [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com.au/news/2008-12-04/yotsuba&creator-kiyohiko-azuma-addresses-anime-rumors isn't well suited to an animated format].
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** Or if you happen to be a dog, take Duralumin from her.
** Jumbo seems to have a few. What triggers them? Well... no one knows really.
* [[Bland
* [[Blank White Eyes]]: Eventually happens to just about everyone around Yotsuba, and to Yotsuba herself, occasionally.
* [[Blue With Shock]]: Well, hatched black lines of shock.
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* [[Cool Big Sis]]: Several, played varying degrees of straight and averted.
** Played straightest with Asagi, who is the [[Odd Name Out|only character to displace Yotsuba]] from a chapter title, and even gets her own [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]].
** Similarly, Yotsuba repeatedly describes Torako as "cool", and more than once seeks her approval for the coolness of things. In Torako's case, she even has the [[Tall, Dark and Bishoujo|cool personality]] to go with the trope.
** Yotsuba treats the other Ayase girls, Fuuka and Ena, as older sisters, to the point of calling their mother "Mom." Ena, however, is more playmate than anything else, and in chapter 66 Yotsuba calls Fuuka "like an ''onee-san''" (a polite, formal address for a "big sister" figure) for knowing "bonjour", which raises her opinion of Fuuka. Fuuka is not pleased to learn she hadn't been thought of as a [[Cool Big Sis]] all this time.
** Miura being a [[Cool Big Sis]] is averted with a [[Lampshaded|lampshade]]: when she asks Yotsuba to be quiet so "nee-san" (a polite, informal address for a "big sister" figure) can study, Yotsuba laughs at the idea of calling her that.
* [[Covers Always Lie]]: The first couple volumes show things that never happen, though they at least indicated the right genre. Averted after that until volumes 9 and 10, at which point it's back to non-canon depictions, this time in watercolors, fitting with the gentler spirit of their content.
* [[Cross
* [[Cuteness Proximity]]: Yotsuba's dad appears to have a mild case at the zoo, around the guinea pigs.
* [[Department of Redundancy Department]]:
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* [[Floating Timeline]]: While each chapter takes place on a specific date, which in 70 chapters has run from mid-July to mid-October, [[Word of God]] is that each chapter is set in the year it's published. This allows Azuma to keep technology and pop-culture references current, instead of stuck back in 2003 when he started.
* [[Four Leaf Clover]]: Yotsuba is named for it, her hair resembles one, and she gives one to Asagi.
* [[Free
** Deconstructed, even. At the [[Festival Episode|fireworks festival]], because Yotsuba hasn't realized the potential dangers of getting lost in a crowd, after she runs off (the panel after being told not to let go of Koiwai's hand, naturally), Koiwai has Jumbo, Ena, and Miura hide to teach her a lesson.
* [[Genki Girl]]: As Asagi puts it, Yotsuba's default mode of travel is "run".
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* [[Inside Shoes]]: When Yotsuba and Dad go to Fuuka's [[School Festival|school's culture festival]].
* [[Iyashikei]]
* [[Rock
* [[Japanese Holidays]]: Yotsuba has so far been involved in O-bon and Respect for the Aged Day. Fuuka's school's [[School Festival|Cultural Festival]] and the autumn Danjiri Festival also sort-of count, though they're not technically ''holidays''.
* [[Jerkass]]: Yanda, who flat-out ''enjoys'' his role as Yotsuba's "[[Sitcom Arch Nemesis|nemesis]]". This is somewhat subverted in that Dad and Jumbo are aware he's a jerk; they seem to put up with him only because he's Dad's ''[[Sempai
** Asagi is a minor example. She doesn't pass up opportunities to mess with her sisters (especially Fuuka) and Yotsuba, although she does realize when she's gone too far -- for example, after seeing Yotsuba's reaction to swiping the strawberry from her cake, Asagi quickly returned it, much to the dismay of her mother, whose strawberry she had already eaten at that point.
* [[Joshikousei]]: Fuuka and her classmates.
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* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: Yotsuba goes on a truly ''adorable'' one of these (with a water pistol) after Dad lets her watch one too many gangster movies.
* [[Running Gag]]: Fuuka's apparently strange taste in T-shirts
* [[Scare
* [[Scary Scarecrows]]: Yotsuba is ''terrified'' of these, even though the scarecrow in question looks more like a bullseye target than a traditional Western scarecrow. (Given she's also frightened by the [[Owl Be Damned|wide-eyed owl]] at the zoo, it may be the resemblance to a giant eyeball that scares her.) Miura tries to prank Yotsuba by pretending to be one, with results that were, well, let's just say it worked a little ''too'' well.
* [[Scenery Porn]]: Plenty of lavishly-detailed backgrounds of Japanese suburbia.
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* [[Second Face Smoke]]: Torako does this to Yotsuba in their first encounter.
* [[Seinfeldian Conversation]]: Chatting with Yotsuba sometimes turns into this as her energetic little mind bounces from one thing to another.
* [[Sempai
* [[Shout Out]]:
** Multiple ones to ''[[Azumanga Daioh (Manga)|Azumanga Daioh]]'': Fuuka once wears a T-shirt with Chiyo-chichi's picture on it, has a Chiyo-chichi plushie in her room, and a Chiyo-chichi figure among the "weird" things attached to her purse. Also, at the town fireworks show, a Nekokoneko is a prize at a ring-toss booth. The dog at the farm/ranch visited in chapter 48 strongly resembles Tadakichi-san. In chapter 63, Yotsuba and her dad play a game on a swing that involves kicking off one of their shoes as far as they can; which is reminiscent of Osaka's famous weather prediction.
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** Yotsuba makes a sly shoutout to [[Gamera]] in the lead-up to the balloon festival.
* [[Shown Their Work]]: Comes up in the most unusual places. The bears in the teddy-bear shop are based on actual designs. The ridiculously-expensive Steiff one even has the trademark button. (The one Yotsuba chooses to be Juralumin, however, is a generic.)
* [[Shrines and Temples]]: Both of them: Yotsuba visits the grounds of a hilltop shrine a couple times and participates in her town's autumn ''danjiri'' festival, pulling a portable shrine through the streets. Koiwai takes Yotsuba to a temple and uses a guardian ''niō'' statue to [[Scare
* [[Sick Episode]]: Yotsuba, on the day she was supposed to visit a farm, no less. Meltdown ensued.
* [[Sink or Swim Fatherhood]]: And Koiwai has risen ''admirably'' to the task.
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* [[Sleep Cute]]: Yotsuba, Koiwai, Ena, and Fuuka, on the train back home, after a long day at the [[Beach Episode|beach]].
* [[Slice of Life]]: Each chapter is an episode in Yotsuba's literal daily life -- as in taking place on sequential, or nearly sequential, days; [[The Other Wiki]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Yotsuba%26!_chapters details the exact calendar].
* [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]: While not as idealistic as, say, ''[[Aria (Manga)|Aria]]'', the series doesn't even come within sight of cynicism. For one thing, while Japanese children are somewhat more [[Free
* [[Smoking Is Cool]]: Why Yotsuba thinks Torako is awesome, even though her father told her that smoking is bad. Then again, Yotsuba claims that Koiwai used to smoke...
* [[Something Person]]: Koiwai sometimes transforms into Yotsuba's nemesis, Boxerman -- by putting a pair of boxer shorts over his head. His special ability is being unable to tell up from down. "Curse you, Boxerman!" After Yotsuba saw men in fundoshi at a [[Festival Episode|festival]], Boxerman acquired a rival, Barebuttman. Still later, Koiwai becomes yet another foe of Yotsuba's, [[It Makes Sense in Context|Pancake-Loving Man]].
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* [[Vomit Indiscretion Shot]]: In "Yotsuba & Pizza", after she eats too much.
* [[Water Guns and Balloons]]: If a five-year-old and two [[Adult Child|adult children]] house-sit for you, you might end up with an indoor water balloon fight.
* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: See [[Kick the Dog]] above.
* [[Where the Hell Is Springfield?]]: The suburban setting of the series is not clearly defined, being something of a stand-in for suburbs ''everywhere'' in Japan. For what it's worth, the locations are drawn from photographic references taken around the author's home in Hyogo Prefecture, and the presence of a Danjiri Festival in autumn places it pretty concretely in the Kansai region. However, characters generally speak Standard Japanese, though that means little in fictional works not set in a concrete location, and Yotsuba's occasional [[Kansai Regional Accent|Kansai vocabulary]] can be excused via too much TV and [[Rule of Funny]]. Let's just say the question remains open.
** Also, no one has any idea where Yotsuba was born and/or used to live. All she'll say is that it was "an island to the left."
** That Fuuka's use of [[Tohoku Regional Accent|Tohoku dialect]] in chapter 67 confused Yotsuba makes it pretty clear that we're not in northern Japan.
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