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English Version: Yotsuba loooooves playing games! When Daddy's the counter in hide-and-seek, he can never find Yotsuba, 'cos I'm such a good hider! And when we go to the park, Yotsuba's the bestest at swing-tag-shoe-races. Daddy says Yotsuba's making up the rules as we go along, but Yotsuba thinks Daddy's just a sour loser. But maybe Yotsuba will let him win once in a while...


"Sementara ayahnya bekerja, Yotsuba bermain rumah-rumahan di bawah mejanya.

Kemudian, terinspirasi oleh buku bergambar, Yotsuba pun mulai belajar bagaimana cara membuat pancake.

Kisah-kisah lucu dan menyenangkan dalam keseharian Yotsuba!"

232 pages, Paperback

First published November 27, 2010

27 people are currently reading
767 people want to read

About the author

Kiyohiko Azuma

46 books590 followers
Kiyohiko Azuma (東清彦 or あずまきよひこ Azuma Kiyohiko) is a Japanese manga author and artist. His most well-known work is Azumanga Daioh. His current series is Yotsuba&!, which is serialized monthly in Dengeki Daioh magazine.

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5 stars
2,163 (66%)
4 stars
883 (27%)
3 stars
196 (6%)
2 stars
15 (<1%)
1 star
7 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 161 reviews
Profile Image for Ryandake.
405 reviews58 followers
April 17, 2015
wow, if YOTSUBA doesn't make you want to be a kid again, there is something seriously amiss in your psyche.

ok but seriously. YOTSUBA (whom i cannot think about without all caps, cause well, that's just the kind of girl she is) is so beautifully and fully realized in this series. she's a kind of weird kid, but not an unpleasant one, and by manga terms she is probably the epitome of good mental health. well, actually, by almost any terms on the mental health thing. these books are an honest-to-god joy to read.

two things stand out in this series: one, the way she is treated by all the older kids and adults in her world, and how carefully and perfectly little-kid behaviour is observed.

there's something just wonderfully refreshing and charming in how people treat her. they're pretty unfailingly kind and try to shield her (in good ways, not helicopter ways) from disappointments and disillusion. folks not familiar with japanese culture might find this a little unbelievable, but in my experience, it's not at all far from accurate. they are so kind to her! it's a lovely thing to see.

and the author clearly knows her way around little kids. watch YOTSUBA try to make some pancakes in this volume and you will find you cannot disagree. even down to body language and the point of view of many of the drawings, you cannot help but see this world as a kid sees it.

YOTSUBA isn't going to give you zen-like satori. but the books offer a gentle and funny beauty that the world could certainly use more of.
Profile Image for Maia.
Author 31 books3,658 followers
July 11, 2024
Utterly charmed by the entire chapter that's just Yotsuba learning how to cook pancakes. What a good reminder that fine motor control is a learned skill! I also liked how Yotsuba's dad handled a lie about some broken dishes. This is such a great series.
Profile Image for Jhosy.
231 reviews1,146 followers
March 8, 2018
It's interesting as only Ena's mom is Mommy for Yotsuba...Miura's mom is not called like that for her 🤔 makes me wonder that she had a instantaneous attach to the neighbor.
anyway. like always...a cute and super funny volume. I can't get enough of this little girl
Profile Image for Estara.
799 reviews135 followers
October 16, 2011
I think this is actually the darkest I've seen Yotsuba& go so far - Yotsuba borrows a big ball that people usually use to sit and balance on for their health and realizes how enjoyable it is to bounce around the house - in the course of that she manages to break a whole lot and when her dad asks her about it she starts lying and getting ever more deeper into lies, finally inventing a lying bug which is inside her.

So far so normal for a kid that age - what may surprise and upset some people is that her dad takes her along to a shrine, puts her inside the fenced-off area where the fierce Deva guardian statues are and tells her they enjoy eating lying bugs which scares Yotsuba so much she starts bawling like anything. Not until she admits, loudly crying, that she was the liar herself, does her dad take her out of that fenced area and makes her promise to never lie again. He does hold her in his arms however and later on starts playing with that ball together with her. I'm sure this shock therapy worked a treat for a solution in the short term, but I wonder how much trust Yotsuba lost in her dad with this...

On the other hand the first story showed how incredibly patient her dad is otherwise, when Yotsuba was trying again and again and again to make pancakes just as well as her dad can (and he kept buying ingredients to let her try), so...

We also get treated to what it's like to take Yotsuba to an electronics market and we meet the robot made of cardboard boxes again - Yotsuba still doesn't know he was a homework project for Miura. It's lovely to see Ena and Miura come up with various explanations why only the head lies in her room on its side. And in the end we get the transcendent influence of Yotsuba again when Miura in the robot costume accompanies her to the play ground and all the people who meet them are amazed and amused, from grown-ups to kids.

Side-Note: I really like the way the translator used words to show that Yotsuba has troubles using certain phrases or difficult words.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Kira.
317 reviews121 followers
March 8, 2021
Hmmm ok wasn’t anything major that stands out apart from some weird parenting techniques. Risks are taken by the creator here
311 reviews11 followers
May 18, 2021
I wish every parent in this world read this manga.
Profile Image for Crystal.
407 reviews
November 8, 2013
This one was a little bit darker. It's interesting when Yotsuba acts like a kid (oh man, that part where she lies and has to go see that creepy statue...), but as always, delightful.
Profile Image for GL00M.
7 reviews2 followers
May 21, 2019
Yotsuba is a bubbly 5 year old and lives with her dad. She can be over dramatic at times and has luscious, beautiful lime hair. She lives in Japan and there is Japanese sound affects in there two (converted into English). She has lots of loving family members like Asagi-San and Jumbo. He even bought Yotsuba a book. This book is a graphic novel and would be great for 7-12 year olds. Thank you for reading this review!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Lau.
45 reviews2 followers
January 14, 2026
En este volumen he notado a Yotsuba aún más cuqui.

Tambien he tenido la sensación de que otros personajes han tenido más protagonismo o más interacciones no sólo con Yotsuba. En otros volúmenes seguramente salieran igual, pero lo he sentido así. Me ha gustado eso.

De mis volúmenes favoritos de Yotsuba.
Profile Image for Becky.
341 reviews13 followers
July 2, 2018
Creepy statue part was pretty weird, and kinda sad, but otherwise it was delightful Yotsuba as always.
Profile Image for Kentaro.
32 reviews
July 21, 2018
Yotsuba's design become more iconic than the old volume.By the way author shows great drawing in ep67. It looks like a real appliance store.
Profile Image for bean.
84 reviews1 follower
February 18, 2024
probably the best one so far every story was a banger....
Profile Image for Loz.
1,690 reviews22 followers
August 18, 2019
I continue to love and adore this series. So cute and fun and enjoyable. Think a quirkier, looser, less stuffy, not American Daniel Tiger.
Profile Image for Sarah.
52 reviews1 follower
January 15, 2012
Oh Yotsuba, you and your 4 year old ways crack me up. For the longest time I thought there were only going to be 9 volumes, but when I ran across a Japanese version of volume 10, I about fainted.
In this volume Yotsuba learns how to make pancakes, gets punished for lying, and is visited by her good friend Danbo the cardboard robot!
There's always a good laugh here and there in these stories. Yes, they are simple and childish. But, it's a simple pleasure that makes me smile.
When I bought this volume, I saw volume 11 in Japanese! I will have something to look forward to next year :)
Profile Image for Emu.
1 review
April 11, 2025
I normally don’t review but this volume for some reason was just so nice to read it was just nice seeing Yotsuba being Yotsuba plus the return of Danbo! I want more danbo and just wholesome moments with jumbo and yotsuba's father! It’s funny and adorable!
Profile Image for Kricket.
2,333 reviews
October 31, 2011
in which:
-yotsuba has the same problem with pancakes that i often do
-there is an incident involving jumbo's beard
-yotsuba tells a lie
and
-DANBO RETURNS!!
Profile Image for Shirley.
776 reviews3 followers
May 28, 2014
I love Yotsuba. Every time I read these, I just get a huge smile on my face. A gentle but very funny read for young manga readers.
Profile Image for hoyyikozi.
103 reviews
February 9, 2026
sudah selesai membaca. yang ini rasanya lebih seru karena semua tokohnya muncul. pas awal yotsuba bikin pancake jadi pengen coba bikin pancake juga. terus pas jumbo dateng ke rumah dan kasih ensiklopedia, nemenin yotsuba main pas ayahnya lagi kerja juga lucu. menurut aku tuh jadinya ngerasa yotsuba beneran dikelilingi orang dewasa yang baik2. habis itu juga ngeliat foto2 pas ke perlombaan balon udara yang di potret dan di cetak sama tora. rasanya emotional aja gitu entah kenapa. kalo kata fuuka, “foto itu label kenangan”. huhu betull. nextnya mereka (yotsuba, ayah, jumbo, dan fuuka) ke toko elektronik buat cari kamera untuk ayahnya yotsuba. sempet consider beli kamera olympus (ini kamera yang dipake hirayama deh kalo gak salah), tapi gakjadi belii, cmn beli baterai aja. jujur jadi keinget pas kecil suka ikut orang tua belanja2 dan fascinated dengan barang-barang unik. trus bagian lucunya lagi, yotsuba dibolehin bawa bola senam keluarga sebelah (asagi, ena, fuuka) ke rumah. eh pas di rumah malahan ga sengaja mecahin piring. yotsuba bohong.. masa katanya bolanya membenturkan diri sendiri? trus bilang ada cacing pembohong yang masuk ke tubuh yotsuba. dibawa deh sama ayahnya, sore-sore ke kuil dan ketemu patung yang bikin yotsuba ketakutan dan mengakui kesalahan. manis banget sih pas ayahnya bilang gapapa melakukan kesalahan, gapapa nakal, tapi yotsuba jangan bohong ya. baiknyaa. setelah itu, yotsuba diajak ena untuk ketemu miura yang baru pulang dari hawaii. dikasih oleh-oleh. ena juga ngasih baling-baling bambu pas waktu ke perlombaan balon udara. yotsuba gasengaja nemu kardo dan kaget kenapa kardo gak bergerak (yotsuba terlanjur nganggep kardo itu robot betulan. ada di vol. 5) akhirnya dibilangin sama ena kalo bakal ada ritual pembangkitan kembali, yotsuba tunggu luar kamar aja dan berdoa. huhuhu lucu banget deh si bungsu yotsuba ini diturutin imajinasi bocilnya.. pdhl kardo itu robot kardus yang isinya miura. polos banget. eh yotsubanya ketemu ibunya miura dan diajak buat nikmatin camilan. gak lama, ena sama kardo (miura) nyamperin. yotsuba jadi senang banget dan mereka main ke taman. aku sukaaa sekali. happy bacanya. kocaknya juga bikin ketawa betulan. gak pernah nyesel baca yotsuba. apalagi di sini semuanya ada, kecuali ibu (ibunya keluarga sebelah). tapi tetepp sukaa. sangat bersyukur udah dikadoin buku ini.

Ini Masih Imut Selalu Soalnya Yotsuba Orangnya Unfiltered, Apalagi Liat Ena Nurutin Ocehannya :3
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Michael Sorbello.
Author 1 book317 followers
September 10, 2021
This is a review of the entire series!

Yotsuba is an adventurous, green-haired and wide-eyed five-year-old girl moving into a new town with her father. Her energy is off the charts and her curiosity about anything and everything is never satisfied. The daily adventures of Yotsuba and her neighbors turned best pals tackle every subject imaginable from learning to ride bikes, selling flowers, racing at the beach and finding ways to battle against environmental pollution; all the while driving each other crazy and learning to love each others company.

I've been dealing with a lot of stress and depression in my personal life lately, so I thought it would be a nice change of pace to read something funny, cute and wholesome for a change. I went into this series expecting it to be corny or cringeworthy compared to what I'm used to, but was surprised by how genuinely charming, hilarious and heartwarming it is. You can tell the author has a lot of experience being a parent as he captures all the specific mannerisms, speech patterns and chaotic behavior of curious little kids better than most stories I've ever watched or read. Sometimes she's funny and sweet, sometimes she's bratty and annoying, sometimes she's an incoherent babbler that fascinates everyone around her with her insanely creative ideas and the unpredictably wacky shenanigans she constantly cooks up.

All the characters are lovable, each chapter is a fun self-contained story and it has the perfect balance of comedy, adventure and wholesome familial bonding. Yotsuba is a wonderful character. Her mischievous curiosity and her chaotic positive energy are dangerously infectious, both to the reader and to everyone's lives she becomes a part of. I definitely felt cheered up every time I read a chapter from this series and was surprised to find myself constantly smiling and laughing. I think it's impossible to read this manga and not feel uplifted in one way or another.

***

If you're looking for some nice ambient music that's perfect for listening to while reading books, comics and manga, look no further than my YouTube channel Nightmarish Compositions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPs...
Profile Image for Ricki.
822 reviews15 followers
March 18, 2022
Annnd that's it. My kids (8 to 4) and I are all very disappointed to find that this is the last volume of Yotsuba we will be reading.

In this volume, Yotsuba tells a series of lies... so her dad decides to traumatize his 5yo adopted daughter with spiritual abuse.

Yotsuba says she has a "lying bug" inside her, so Koiwai takes her to a huge, fierce, scary statue of a god in an enclosure who he says will eat the lying bug. He then traps Yotsuba INSIDE the enclosure while she sobs that she doesn't want to "get feasted on." The episode has a super serious, creepy vibe, and there are many images of the god's angry face. After a long while, he deems she has sobbed long enough, so he lifts her out and gives her a hug.

Wowww.

Obviously I skipped that whole section when I saw where it was going. We learned some great lessons:
-sometimes stories can make us feel yucky inside
-we can skip those parts and not read or watch them
-if stories make us feel yucky, we don't have to continue with them

My kids agreed that due to this episode, being done with reading Yotsuba&! was the right decision. This helped them also discuss that they were very uncomfortable with the way Koiwai hits Yotsuba on the head when she has done something particularly naughty. They knew that was abuse too and wanted to talk about it.

(For my part, although this is a negative part of the series my kids didn't pick up on, it's worth noting that slender 16yo Fuuka has her weight made fun of once again, this time by her mom to Yotsuba.)

Farewell, Yotsuba! There were some truly excellent parts in this series, which is what I say of a whole lot of mangas that cross lines so I can't share them with my kids.
Profile Image for Becky B.
9,399 reviews186 followers
November 1, 2019
In this book Yotsuba comes up with creative ways to play by herself and with Daddy at home and at the park, Yotsuba learns how to make pancakes, Jumbo babysits, Yotsuba & Fuuka & Daddy & Jumbo go to the electronics store so Daddy can shop for a camera, Yotsuba is given an exercise ball by the neighbors which results in an accident that she lies about and Daddy comes up with a very creative punishment to teach her not to lie again, Ena and Yotsuba go to Muira's house where Danbo the box robot is brought back to life.

This book had some great comic moments. There's the incident with the shaver and Jumbo's chin hair at the electronics store, Daddy's punishment for Yotsuba made me laugh so hard, and the hoops that Ena and Muira jump through to keep up the facade of Danbo being alive for Yotsuba were very entertaining. Yotsuba never disappoints. If you're looking for a consistently fun and entertaining manga that's safe for all ages, read Yotsuba. Highly recommended.

Notes on content: No language issues that I remember. No sexual content. No violence.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 161 reviews

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