Yotsuba&!, Vol. 10

よつばと! [Yotsuba&!] #10

by Kiyohiko Azuma

Yotsuba loooooves playing games! When Daddy's the counter at hide-and-seek, he can never find Yotsuba, 'cause 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 just 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...

Genres: Manga, Comics, Graphic Novels, Slice Of Life, Fiction, Humor, Comedy

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 27, 2010

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Ryandake · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Maia · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Samantha wickedshizuku Tolleson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dad scaring the pants off of Yotsuba for lying was hysterical. I wish America had stuff like that just so I could drive the point home to my own kids.

[Jhosy · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Estara · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Kira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm ok wasn’t anything major that stands out apart from some weird parenting techniques. Risks are taken by the creator here

[Pinky N.A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish every parent in this world read this manga.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[GL00M · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy statue part was pretty weird, and kinda sad, but otherwise it was delightful Yotsuba as always.

[Kentaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Mar · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 Stars

[Jorie]

The cover looks like a last known photo.

[afton · Rating 5 out of 5]

ugh love yotsuba downnnnnnnn. catching up to the latest release so i need to chill

[bean · Rating 5 out of 5]

probably the best one so far every story was a banger....

[Loz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I continue to love and adore this series. So cute and fun and enjoyable. Think a quirkier, looser, less stuffy, not American Daniel Tiger.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 :)

[Emu · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!

[Kricket · Rating 4 out of 5]

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!!

[Candice M (tinylibrarian) · Rating 4 out of 5]

this series makes me so happy!!! it's like cute overload, but in manga form! squeeeee!

[TheLibraryOfSarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

2013: Omg so freaking funny and cute!!
Reread 2019: 3 stars

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[kim song ng · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

[Utha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Danbo! Kardo! Wuuzzz~

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 5 out of 5]

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...

[Ricki · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[Becky B · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Haniva Zahra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saya semakin menikmati membaca Yotsuba, semakin sering tertawa, dan semakin sering merasa tidak terasa komik ini semakin cepat diselesaikan. Pada edisi ini saya belajar dari Ayah Yotsuba yang ternyata punya kemampuan yang cukup baik dalam menjalankan peran sebagai ayah. Ayah mengajarkan Yostuba membuat pancake dan juga mengajarkan Yotsuba untuk tidak berbohong. Yotsuba mungkin boleh sesekali menjadi anak nakal, tapi tidak pernah boleh untuk berbohong.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another enjoyable volume, which has a much darker chapter (dark for the Yotsuba series...not truly dark in my own estimations...or maybe I just live in a much darker world, ha ha ha) by Kiyohiko Azuma. If your still here at volume 10, you know what to expect and this volume continues to deliver those feelings and vibes. Here are my top 3 favorite stories within this volume:

#1 Pancakes
#2 Electronica
#3 Lies

[Arielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very light hearted and cute manga. I enjoyed how simple and wonderful it was, and it actually made me feel good as a mother of a three-year-old to see into the head of Yotsuba. My only issue is that there were references to things I didn't quite understand, but that's only because I started reading in the middle of the series instead of the beginning.