On not needing monkeys
7 July 2007 05:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
larryhammerFor a couple months, I've been obsessed with Yotsuba&!. Which is one of those technically accurate statements that leaves out so much, but never mind. And now -- bwahaha! -- I have the official translation of volume 4 in my grubby large hands. More of the wonderful same: Yotsuba plays rock-paper-scissors with Dad, is taken fishing by Jumbo, helps cook a "regular-delicious" dinner, tries to understand what a broken heart is, fails to keep a secret, and dreams of being a summer-ending fairy, or possibly a cicada -- she's a little unclear on the distinction. In short, she's still five.*
Mostly wonderful, anyway -- one story is the weakest chapter yet, but the best one is among the strongest.
Many series reviews comment on Yotsuba having an ignorance of the world deeper than normal for her age, but I've yet to see mention that this lasts for only a couple chapters: after learning about swings, doorbells, and air conditioners, she ... well, "settles down" isn't the right phrase -- she shrinks to normal five-year-old naivete. Not that she's quite grasped such school concepts as homework or grade level -- or even school. "[B]ubbly and fearless, and often wrong, and scarily like a real four-year-old," as someone puts it. I suspect Azuma realized he didn't need exaggeration to get comedy. The first couple chapters are hysterically funny, but later volumes are even better. Realism is humor's friend: A five-year-old who doesn't know from a swing set or a doorbell is an alien**; a five-year-old who's never seen a fireworks show or ridden a bus is a slightly sheltered child in a confusing world. A mortal five-year-old can show us the mortal world anew.
And, well, a hyperactively cheerful child navigating the shoals of daily life is comedy gold. Especially when combined with credulous literalism, the well-meaning misunderstandings of the neighbor girls, the deadpan snark of Dad and his childhood friend Jumbo, and slacker Dad's attempts at being a responsible parent.
One revealing moment: When Dad mildly corrects Yotsuba's shameless request for a gift, she says, "I know this! It's that really hard word," and then stumbles the pronunciation of what's given variously as tact (official version) and restraint (scanlation). Dad's reaction is, "Yeah, that," then a bemused, "That's hard?"
This is the sort of manga that people who find and click with become devoted followers. "Reading books like this just makes me happier, dammit," "She's visually cute, of course, but that doesn't begin to explain the concentrated happiness that comes out of this book," "This is about as much precious fun that you can have in a comic without a monkey," and "Printed joy" are all typical comments. If people do find it, that is -- ADV's manga division does hardly any promotion*** and went on near-hiatus for two years. Given the number of complaints from readers and comic book stores about Yutsuba&! 4 gone AWOL, it's not surprising this is one title they're reviving.
And I, for one, am happier.
* She claims to be six, a mistake that isn't corrected till volume 6. Her claim to be from an island that's "to the left," however, remains unexplained.
** In a developed country, at any rate. And most developing ones.
*** Their web site hasn't been updated since 2004, and doesn't mention Yotsuba&! at all.
---L.
Mostly wonderful, anyway -- one story is the weakest chapter yet, but the best one is among the strongest.
Many series reviews comment on Yotsuba having an ignorance of the world deeper than normal for her age, but I've yet to see mention that this lasts for only a couple chapters: after learning about swings, doorbells, and air conditioners, she ... well, "settles down" isn't the right phrase -- she shrinks to normal five-year-old naivete. Not that she's quite grasped such school concepts as homework or grade level -- or even school. "[B]ubbly and fearless, and often wrong, and scarily like a real four-year-old," as someone puts it. I suspect Azuma realized he didn't need exaggeration to get comedy. The first couple chapters are hysterically funny, but later volumes are even better. Realism is humor's friend: A five-year-old who doesn't know from a swing set or a doorbell is an alien**; a five-year-old who's never seen a fireworks show or ridden a bus is a slightly sheltered child in a confusing world. A mortal five-year-old can show us the mortal world anew.
And, well, a hyperactively cheerful child navigating the shoals of daily life is comedy gold. Especially when combined with credulous literalism, the well-meaning misunderstandings of the neighbor girls, the deadpan snark of Dad and his childhood friend Jumbo, and slacker Dad's attempts at being a responsible parent.
One revealing moment: When Dad mildly corrects Yotsuba's shameless request for a gift, she says, "I know this! It's that really hard word," and then stumbles the pronunciation of what's given variously as tact (official version) and restraint (scanlation). Dad's reaction is, "Yeah, that," then a bemused, "That's hard?"
This is the sort of manga that people who find and click with become devoted followers. "Reading books like this just makes me happier, dammit," "She's visually cute, of course, but that doesn't begin to explain the concentrated happiness that comes out of this book," "This is about as much precious fun that you can have in a comic without a monkey," and "Printed joy" are all typical comments. If people do find it, that is -- ADV's manga division does hardly any promotion*** and went on near-hiatus for two years. Given the number of complaints from readers and comic book stores about Yutsuba&! 4 gone AWOL, it's not surprising this is one title they're reviving.
And I, for one, am happier.
* She claims to be six, a mistake that isn't corrected till volume 6. Her claim to be from an island that's "to the left," however, remains unexplained.
** In a developed country, at any rate. And most developing ones.
*** Their web site hasn't been updated since 2004, and doesn't mention Yotsuba&! at all.
---L.