CSBG Archive
Danielle Leigh’s Reading Diary — Yotsuba&! vol 6
Our long national nightmare ends now that another volume of our favorite comic, featuring the everyday adventures of a green-haired five year old girl named Yotsuba, has been released.
I always think of Kiyohiko Azuma’s Yotsuba&! as a comic where “nothing happens” (kind of like a kid’s version of Seinfeld, or in manga genre terms “slice of life”), but volume 6 reminds us that a child’s world can be very large and sometimes a little scary. In this volume Yotsuba learns about the joy of recycling, becomes an advocate for the deliciousness of milk, and most importantly is initiated into a significant childhood rite of passage when her dad buys her a bike.
As per usual, Yotsuba is always adorable and gets the best lines of the book but I think it is her eyes that are the real story. They go saucer-like when she makes a strange discovery (KIDS WORK TOO?). They sparkle like diamonds when they see an eclair for the first time (That looks yummy!). Her pupils turn into cat’s slits when defensive (I won’t eat Daddy’s treat!). Or they grow transparent with tears when she discovers the bittersweet nature of parent’s love — Yotsuba wasn’t supposed to bike without her daddy to deliver milk to the neighbor at her school?
I laughed a lot through this entire volume but for the first time this was laughter of recognition — suddenly I remembered what it was like to test the boundaries of my childhood world and experience parental displeasure at my solitary “adventure” out there in grown up land. Yes, Yotsuba is still having adventures but somehow those adventures now seem almost to be leaving a mark of experience on our young protagonist. Or at least gaining the very little wisdom all five year old children should have.
Hats off to Yen Press for not only picking up the title, but also for releasing the first five volumes with a new translation (which is lucky move for us since a number of the later volumes have gone out of print under ADV, I believe). The scripts flows beautifully, and cultural notes are integrated into the page instead of compiled as endnotes at the back of the book (a smart choice that allows for a smooth reading experience). As always, Yotsuba is rendered for maximum adorability with her triumphant, cheerful, attentive expressions, but Azuma also gives us tired, confused, anxious, determined, and brave Yotsuba as well. There a million Yotsubas and the joy of the book is watching her cycle through all those emotions in a single chapter and still come out the other side ready to do it all over again the next day.
Review copy provided by Yen Press.
11 Comments
MarkAndrew
September 21, 2009 at 8:25 am
YOTSUBA!
I didn’t know the last part. Are the new translations better?
Joe
September 21, 2009 at 8:55 am
I’ve said before here that I’m more into action/adventure types of comics and manga, but after not seeing a single negative thing said by The Internet (an entity known mostly for being so negative) about Yotsuba&! at all in the past two years I gave in and bought the first volume Thursday.
I immediately went out and bought volumes 2 and 3 the next day, and will be ordering 4, 5, and 6 soon.
Danielle Leigh
September 21, 2009 at 9:15 am
Mark — I *think* so. Yen Press is pretty serious about cultural accuracy and readability. (but everyone has personal opinions about translations so you’d have to read the volumes side-by-side to really see much of a difference I suspect).
Joe — go you! Sounds like all of us internet folk got it right this time!
Joe
September 21, 2009 at 9:42 am
Yeah, I figured if The Internet was that consistent in its praise then it would at least be worth checking out. Because when was the last time The Internet agreed about anything?
James Moar
September 21, 2009 at 10:20 am
From a few side-by-side pages I’ve seen posted up, the Yen Press translations look just a bit more literal. But they’re pretty close.
Journalista – the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » Sept. 22, 2009: An even worse case
September 22, 2009 at 9:22 am
[...] [Review] Yotsuba&! Vol. 6 Link: Danielle Leigh [...]
Dan Felty
September 22, 2009 at 5:21 pm
I started reading Yotsuba&! because of this column. I’m pleased as punch that the new volumes are getting released!
Danielle Leigh
September 22, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Yea! more converts make me so happy!
Q:?
September 23, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Best comic ever made.
Sydney
September 24, 2009 at 9:26 pm
This is absolutely my favorite manga. I’m soooo thrilled that another company picked up the license. I mean, seriously, what the f was ADV thinking?
Anyway, it’s good to have my Yotsuba&! fix again. It reminds me of my childhood. ^_^
Chargone
September 30, 2009 at 7:40 am
Yen’s translation’s more literal, so combined with their notes, some of the cultural jokes come through better
on the other hand, over all, i found the readability to actually suffer a bit. especially sound effects.
there’s a speech bubble with a buzzer or bell or something sound effect in it. it’s not messing with the art at all. rather than translating it, they leave the Japanese sound effect there [this is in a speech bubble, mind you, not the art] and put a note for what it should say?
that really breaks the flow, and it’s not the only example.
on the other hand, there’s a follow up joke to the ‘what’s koiwai’s job?’ joke that comes up later, that in the ADV version never made sense. the Yen version apparently explains what the heck is going on, context wise. it still needs to refer to the original Japanese for where the joke’s coming from. it just doesn’t work in English.
there’s a lot of little differences. some a noticeable, some not… Yen’s spends a lot more time Explaining the jokes, while ADV’s actually got the jokes to work in the first place…
i dunno. ADV’s translations felt better to me [except getting the names muddled from time to time :S] but Yen’s isn’t bad… and hey, they’re actually Publishing it. hard to say anything against that
ok, wow. this is longer than i intended.
i can honestly say that i don’t think i’ve ever really identified with Yotsuba…. the people Around her on the other hand… heh.
umm… yeah. all done.