Yotsuba Koiwai
Encyclopedia
, also known as just , is a fictional character
from the comedy
manga
series Yotsuba&!
, as well as the one-shot manga "Try! Try! Try!", both by Kiyohiko Azuma
. As the title character of the series and almost every chapter, Yotsuba is usually the focus of each episode; most stories revolve around her meeting, and often childishly misunderstanding, a new concept or activity indicated in the chapter title. She is noted for her childish energy, unusual naiveté, and iconic appearance.
, giving her somewhat the appearance of her namesake, a . She has a carefree and energetic personality, taking delight in simple matters even as she learns about all manner of things in her daily life. In Japanese
, Yotsuba's dialogue is written without kanji
, making it seem simpler and more child-like, and in a typeface
that gives the impression of speaking with high intensity. Her energy is noted by other characters, especially members of the neighboring Ayase family. Her father says of her carefree nature, "She can find happiness in anything. Nothing in this world can get her down." However, when deeply frightened or upset, she does cry, and she has an unexplained fear of anything resembling a bullseye
.
At the start of the series, Yotsuba is shown as having very little knowledge of the world around her, even for a young child. Things such as swings, doorbells, cicadas, and air conditioners all fascinate and confuse her, although she is not perturbed by her ignorance. She occasionally mispronounces new words and creates neologisms, such as as a portmanteau of "Yotsuba's Box", and often repeats, in incongruous ways, phrases spoken by adult characters around her. Yotsuba is able to slowly sound out writing in hiragana
, and is praised for this by her father's friend Jumbo, but cannot correctly read a clock. She is frequently shown drawing, though she is not as good an artist as she thinks she is, and she is an excellent swimmer.
The series provides few details about her life before its start. She is an adopted
child, with her birthplace unknown to the reader, although she claims she's from an island "to the left." Koiwai, Yotsuba's adopted father, says he met her as an orphan
in a foreign country and before he knew it he was raising her as his own; she is sometimes taken for a foreigner by strangers. When asked about her mother, she doesn't understand the question, and she gets confused by the concept of having two sets of grandparents. Before moving to her current home, Yotsuba lived in the country with Koiwai and his mother. She initially claims to Fuka Ayase she is six years old, but her father later corrects this, saying she is in fact five years old.
Yotsuba has never attended school
, and as of the first chapter does not know what a grade is. In chapter 35, she fails to understand repeated explanations of homework
.
wrote, "What is really special about Yotsuba, though, is that newness with which she, as a child, sees the world. That the manga allows us to glimpse the world through those same eager eyes is what gives it appeal far beyond its humor." Johanna Draper Carlson, long-time comics reviewer for Publishers Weekly
, said that "Yotsuba is a sponge of a character, with infinite possibility as she learns about life. Watching her do so is both fun and funny, and the way she finds enjoyment in everything is inspirational. It creates an infectious feeling of shared joy in the reader." Another claimed that "Yotsuba Koiwai's adventures are ... a lucid and charming look at the world through a child's eyes, as she gets into scrapes that remind us all of our own childhoods (if only through manga-tinted glasses)."
Reviewers often describe Azuma's depiction of her as realistic, especially compared to depictions of children in other manga
and anime
. One review claimed that "Yotsuba in particular is amusing, because she acts and speaks with that peculiar mix of honesty, immediacy, and childish logic that only young children seem to possess ... Yotsuba isn't a silent, simpering sweetie-pie, she acts like a real four-year-old." On the other hand, Tom Spurgeon
claimed Yotsuba is "an idealized kid of that early age, retaining a wide-eye wonder and furious energy, minus the things that crop up at that age like cruelty and deception" and a reviewer in Newtype USA said that "Her hijinks are sweetly innocent, like a cuter, more naїve version of Dennis the Menace minus the 'menace'."
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series Yotsuba&!
Yotsuba&!
is an ongoing Japanese comedy manga series by Kiyohiko Azuma, the creator of Azumanga Daioh. It is published in Japan by ASCII Media Works, formerly MediaWorks, in the monthly magazine Dengeki Daioh and collected in ten tankōbon volumes...
, as well as the one-shot manga "Try! Try! Try!", both by Kiyohiko Azuma
Kiyohiko Azuma
is a Japanese manga author and artist. In his manga he writes under the hiragana form of his name, which has led some non-Japanese-speakers to confuse him for a woman . He used to use the pen name ' in his H manga...
. As the title character of the series and almost every chapter, Yotsuba is usually the focus of each episode; most stories revolve around her meeting, and often childishly misunderstanding, a new concept or activity indicated in the chapter title. She is noted for her childish energy, unusual naiveté, and iconic appearance.
Development
Yotsuba first appeared in a one-shot manga published in 1998 and two webcomics called "Try! Try! Try!", where she appears substantially the same as at the start of Yotsuba&!Appearance and personality
Yotsuba is drawn as a small girl with green hair done in four pigtailsPigtails
In the context of hairstyles, the usage of the term pigtail shows considerable variation. According to most dictionaries, a pigtail is a braid of tightly woven hair. The name is based on the short, thin and kinked tail of a pig, referring to the way a short, tight braid may stand out from the...
, giving her somewhat the appearance of her namesake, a . She has a carefree and energetic personality, taking delight in simple matters even as she learns about all manner of things in her daily life. In Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, Yotsuba's dialogue is written without kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
, making it seem simpler and more child-like, and in a typeface
Typeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
that gives the impression of speaking with high intensity. Her energy is noted by other characters, especially members of the neighboring Ayase family. Her father says of her carefree nature, "She can find happiness in anything. Nothing in this world can get her down." However, when deeply frightened or upset, she does cry, and she has an unexplained fear of anything resembling a bullseye
Bullseye (target)
The bullseye, or bull's-eye, is the centre of a target , and by extension the name given to any shot that hits the bullseye...
.
At the start of the series, Yotsuba is shown as having very little knowledge of the world around her, even for a young child. Things such as swings, doorbells, cicadas, and air conditioners all fascinate and confuse her, although she is not perturbed by her ignorance. She occasionally mispronounces new words and creates neologisms, such as as a portmanteau of "Yotsuba's Box", and often repeats, in incongruous ways, phrases spoken by adult characters around her. Yotsuba is able to slowly sound out writing in hiragana
Hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
, and is praised for this by her father's friend Jumbo, but cannot correctly read a clock. She is frequently shown drawing, though she is not as good an artist as she thinks she is, and she is an excellent swimmer.
The series provides few details about her life before its start. She is an adopted
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
child, with her birthplace unknown to the reader, although she claims she's from an island "to the left." Koiwai, Yotsuba's adopted father, says he met her as an orphan
Orphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
in a foreign country and before he knew it he was raising her as his own; she is sometimes taken for a foreigner by strangers. When asked about her mother, she doesn't understand the question, and she gets confused by the concept of having two sets of grandparents. Before moving to her current home, Yotsuba lived in the country with Koiwai and his mother. She initially claims to Fuka Ayase she is six years old, but her father later corrects this, saying she is in fact five years old.
Yotsuba has never attended school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
, and as of the first chapter does not know what a grade is. In chapter 35, she fails to understand repeated explanations of homework
Homework
Homework, or homework assignment, refers to tasks assigned to students by their teachers to be completed outside of class. Common homework assignments may include a quantity or period of reading to be performed, writing or typing to be completed, problems to be solved, a school project to be built...
.
Reception
The character of Yotsuba is cited by reviewers as one of the key appeals of Yotsuba&!, especially her energy, enthusiasm, and sense of wonder. For example, one wrote, "Yotsuba’s wide-eyed awe at each discovery, from the idea of a milkman to learning how to catch fish, is both inspiring and infectious. You want to see what happens next, because she continually comes across as genuine without turning into cloying." A reviewer at Anime News NetworkAnime News Network
Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...
wrote, "What is really special about Yotsuba, though, is that newness with which she, as a child, sees the world. That the manga allows us to glimpse the world through those same eager eyes is what gives it appeal far beyond its humor." Johanna Draper Carlson, long-time comics reviewer for Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
, said that "Yotsuba is a sponge of a character, with infinite possibility as she learns about life. Watching her do so is both fun and funny, and the way she finds enjoyment in everything is inspirational. It creates an infectious feeling of shared joy in the reader." Another claimed that "Yotsuba Koiwai's adventures are ... a lucid and charming look at the world through a child's eyes, as she gets into scrapes that remind us all of our own childhoods (if only through manga-tinted glasses)."
Reviewers often describe Azuma's depiction of her as realistic, especially compared to depictions of children in other manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
and anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
. One review claimed that "Yotsuba in particular is amusing, because she acts and speaks with that peculiar mix of honesty, immediacy, and childish logic that only young children seem to possess ... Yotsuba isn't a silent, simpering sweetie-pie, she acts like a real four-year-old." On the other hand, Tom Spurgeon
Tom Spurgeon
Tom Spurgeon is an American writer, historian and editor in the field of comics, notable for his five-year run as editor of The Comics Journal and his blog The Comics Reporter, which he launched in 2004 with site designer Jordan Raphael.-Books:...
claimed Yotsuba is "an idealized kid of that early age, retaining a wide-eye wonder and furious energy, minus the things that crop up at that age like cruelty and deception" and a reviewer in Newtype USA said that "Her hijinks are sweetly innocent, like a cuter, more naїve version of Dennis the Menace minus the 'menace'."
In other media
- The popular English-language imageboardImageboardAn imageboard or image board is a type of Internet forum that revolves around the posting of images. The first imageboards were created in Japan, and many English-language imageboards today are centered around Japanese culture...
4chan4chan4chan is an English-language imageboard website. Launched on October 1, 2003, its boards were originally used for the posting of pictures and discussion of manga and anime...
, which is known in Japanese as "Yotsuba Channel", adopted Yotsuba Koiwai as an official mascot: the site logo and icon at one point consisted of four leaves positioned identically to her distinctive four green pigtails, and she appears in the HTTP 404 messageHTTP 404The 404 or Not Found error message is a HTTP standard response code indicating that the client was able to communicate with the server, but the server could not find what was requested. A 404 error should not be confused with "server not found" or similar errors, in which a connection to the...
(leading to the nickname of "404 Girl"), banned user messages, banner ads, and logos. The software the site runs on is code-named Yotsuba.
- In the Korean MMORPGMMORPGMassively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
MapleStoryMapleStoryMapleStory is a free-to-play, 2D, side-scrolling massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by the South Korean company Wizet. Several versions of the game are available for specific countries or regions, and each is published by various companies such as Nexon...
, Yotsuba's hairstyleHairstyleA hairstyle, hairdo, or haircut refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human head. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming, fashion, and cosmetics, although practical, cultural, and popular considerations also influence some hairstyles.-History of...
can be obtained in a salon located in a town called Zipangu (an archaic name for JapanNames of JapanThere are many names of Japan in the English, Japanese, and other languages. The word "Japan" is an exonym, and is used by a large number of languages. The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon and Nihon . They are both written in Japanese using the kanji 日本...
).