Yotsuba&! vol. 12

I’ve read elsewhere that a part of this title’s appeal, in Japan at least, isn’t just in seeing what kind of mischief the title character can get up to.  That’s certainly fun in and of itself, but there’s also a fair amount of revisiting childhood memories through Yotsuba’s actions and living vicariously as a parent through her father.  We get to see both sides of that coin in the opening chapter as she finds out about paint and then proceeds to recolor their kitchen table blue.  Watching Yotsuba blissfully paint away, secure in the knowledge that what she’s doing is right and fun only to have those feelings vanish when the color won’t wash away and then daddy walks in to see what she’s done will ring true to anyone who remembers finding themselves in a similar situation as a kid.  Subsequently, seeing her dad let the moment sit for several panels and then respond to his daughter’s fears about the paint not coming off by telling her that’s what happens when she uses paint without permission and now she’ll be blue forever…  Well, it’s every parent’s dream to troll their children at some point.  Isn’t it?  The three panel sequence where he finally loses his cool and starts laughing is also a beautifully staged moment by mangaka Kiyohiko Azuma.

The rest of the volume doesn’t pack the same kind of “emotional resonance,” yet is good fun all around.  Yotsuba hangs out with Torako and learns to tie a butterfly knot, goes shopping for dinner with dad and shows off her blue hands to the neighborhood, and goes camping with friends and family in a rare two-part story.  There’s also a Halloween-themed story where she’s dressed up like a pumpkin and experiences the holiday from a Japanese perspective.  It’s not as funny as you’d expect (nor should you expect any cosplay on the level of the back cover), but is redeemed through the lines, “Is Halloween a Christian holiday?  Did Jesus start it?”  Like that holiday, “Yotsuba&!” is an always-welcome dose of annual fun.