よつばと!

 Sorry if this isn't allowed. 

I have YOTSUBA 1-3 FOR $20 SHIPPING INCLUDED IF SOMEONE IS INTERESTED. :) 

I ship from NYC and I have feedback in my journal :) 

( Read more... )

Yen Press has updated their website with descriptions of the first six volumes -- written in the persona of Yotsuba. Volume 6:

Yotsuba’s getting a biiiiike, Yotsuba’s getting a biiiiiike!! Didja know the wheels of a bike go round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and roun — oh, Yotsuba’s getting dizzy ... whoooooa ...

These books are clearly in the hands of people who love them. This makes me feel good.

---L.

The Yen Press website is now listing their editions of the first five volumes in September, in addition to the (new!) volume 6. It's not clear whether these are straight reprints or retranslations.

But still -- they'll be available again yay.

---L.

According to Yen Press's page for Yotsuba&!, they'll be releasing volume 6 in September (as we knew), then volume 7 in December and volume 8 in April 2010.

Nothing there about 1-5 yet. We'll have to see.

---L.

New chapter scan is out. I'm mixed -- it's not much of a story (it's pretty much entirely set-up for the next chapter, which won't be out for two months) but I pretty much giggled the whole way through. And with it as the set-up, we finally get a clue where the currently-being-created volume is headed.

The guests of the title are all three Ayase sisters, btw. I am impressed by Fuka's building skills, even if no one else is.

---L.

Mangablog does an interview with Kurt Hassler, Yen Press publisher.

Contains information on future releases and whether or not previous volumes may be available.

News here: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2009/new-york-comic-con/yen-press

It was announced at New York Comic Con today. Volume 6 will be released in September 2009.

(To editorialize, I haven't noticed any issues with Yen having vast slippage in release dates, so if they say 9/09, it will be out then.)

New chapter out yay! Available in the usual places. Jumbo takes the gang out for yakiniku -- so, yes, lots of Yanda-Yotsuba banter for those who like that. (I swear, that guy's like a kindergartner tugging a girl's pigtails.) Interestingly, Yanda is avoiding alcohol, though why isn't made clear, and so gets stuck as designated driver. The chapter's full chock-full of tangent-filled conversation that sounds like, well, three guys chatting over dinner. Excellent.

Of note to the pedantic, we get a hard date with this one: 10 October. This means my compacted timeline guess from the detailed readthrough was, in fact, correct. Ha.

And in the Yotsuba Developments department: a) Jumbo's right to complement her reading, which has been getting better, and b) Yotsuba's starting to use chopsticks for real. Not that her technique is perfect, but she's using them like tongs instead of a joined pair of sticks she twirls things around. Her actual tong technique needs practice, though.

---L.

In case you were wondering, no, there are no plans to animate Yotsuba&!, but it's not because of friction between Azuma and the Azumanga Daioh anime staff.

So there.

---L.

New chapter's out in the usual places. In which Yotsuba goes next-door to introduce Duralumin to Ena. The through-line of the plot is kinda random -- though I suppose the number of ways Yotsuba gets distracted could be considered a unifying theme -- but there's several laugh-out-loud moments.

In some ways, Yotsuba is right -- coffee is a cruel joke on the world's children.

---L.

Chapter 57 scans are out, available in the usual places -- with another couple firsts for Yotsuba, including one I was not expecting for our little bundle of energy. Complete with picking up a thread that started back in chapter 10. "She'll be carrying that home" -- oh, does Koiwai know his girl.

Also, I love how Ena hijacked the "story so far" summary.

BTW, there's rumors that ADV's volume 6 might finally appear early next year. Rumors as in, appearing in certain sales catalogs -- Amazon hasn't updated their listing, though.

---L.

And available in the usual place.

Not the best chapter ever, but it's got some really fun details. (If you're like me, you'll pay attention to the Yotsubox. And the song. And Bare-Butt-Man.)

---L.

And I gotta say, the cover has to be the cutest yet. Happy in a happi, indeed

---L.

After working through the series to date, I am more than ever wondering what's next. What chapters are you looking forward to? What incidents do you think have been set up? In the near future, anyway -- it'll be a decade our time, at the rate things are going, before she starts school in April.

My list:

• The Jumbo-led outing demanded by Miura, which should be with the next couple chapters. (Presumably also we'll get souveniers from her on her return from Hawaii.)
  
• That we'll get "& Halloween" has been signaled.
  
• "Yotsuba & Autumn Leaves"
  
• Eventually Yotsuba'll graduate from velcro shoes and need to learn how to tie shoelaces, but I don't know how soon that will be. (The title I'm hoping for is "Yotsuba & the Really Big Shoelace Knot," but that's not likely.)
  
• Similarly, someday she'll learn how to ride without training wheels.
  
• At some point, she'll need to meet and deal with boys her own age - though I kinda hope we don't get "Yotsuba & Bullies."
  
• Given her nature documentary fascination, is she too young to get a dinosaur obsession going?
  
• Or maybe we can take care of a a rescued bird/other animal overnight.
  
• "Yotsuba & Airplanes" - including paper airplanes, the last of the summer dragonflies, and some other flying object.
  
• "Yotsuba & Boats"

While I'd like to see a chapter "Yotsuba & the Kotatsu" that's spent with her never leaving it a la that episode in Kamichu!, I admit it's not likely that she'd sit still that long.

---L.

Splash page of Dad and Yotsuba on bikes, apparently from some indefinite point during or after the chapter. I like how they're riding away from the reader, into the middle distance.

( Yotsuba & Acorns )

That wraps up this series of chapter posts. Dunno 'bout you guys, but I've learned a lot. Yotsuba&! is a work that pays close reading.

One thing that strikes me, these last chapters, is that we have hardly anything in the way of continuing story arcs: Yotsuba's obsession with milk production was successfully resolved; the Jumbo/Miura rivalry has more or less evaporated, though her trip is mentioned during the festival; Jumbo's crush on Asagi wasn't even mentioned for several volumes, and the one recent touch upon it hasn't really revived it. It doesn't help that, since school started, the older girls haven't been around as much to play with (and off). Bringing Yanda in more often hasn't really replaced them, especially since he's pretty much only a foil, not a friend.

In short, I'm still interested to see where Azuma is taking this, but I hope something comes up to make the chapters more than just random incidents in a life -- much like some chapters are random incidents in a place. At the moment, the series feels kinda directionless.

---L.

No splash page, but titles on top of the establishing shot on page one. More structural variation!

( Yotsuba & the Festival )

ETA: I've edited the subject to reflect that in the tankobon, Yotsuba says it's Saturday.

---L.

I'm going to follow the serialization and treat the two parts separately -- after all, some earlier two-part episodes, such as "& Sunny Skies"/"& the Beach," the halves are no less dependent on each other. I'm also going to disagree with the scanner's translation of the title.

After a three-page prologue of bad puns, the splash page continues the action with an establishing shot of the neighborhood decorated for the local shrine's festival.

( Yotsuba & Festivals )

ETA: I've edited the above to reflect that in the tankobon, Yotsuba says it's Saturday. Yay harder date.

---L.

Splash page of Yotsuba in the living room holding her hands over her eyes, which turns out to be an establishing shot of her counting for a game of hide-and-seek.

( Yotsuba & House-Sitting )

---L.

A one-page prologue of establishing shots closing in on Yotsuba looking out the door at the storm, with a splash page continuing the progression.

( Yotsuba & the Typhoon )

---L.

A three-page prologue of riding the bus, followed by a splash page that's a frame of the action/transition to the main story. I really need a term for that sort of use. FWIW, I rather like the composition of the splash page.

( Yotsuba & the Cultural Festival )

---L.