よつばと！
Yotsuba&! Volume 10

–> Purchase from Barnes & Noble
–> Purchase from Buy.com
–> Purchase from RightStuf!
–> Purchase from Yes Asia! (Japanese tankoubon)

Yotsuba, Yotsuba, Yotsuba. ^_^  I think I’ve mentioned this before, but whenever a new volume of this manga comes in, I have to stop and read it immediately.  Sometimes, this poses quite a problem, especially if I have somewhere I need to be (though in those instances, I usually leave the package unopened to lessen the temptation).  However, Yotsuba&! is such good stuff, I just can’t help myself.  Volume 10 was no exception.

*SPOILERS!*

For Yotsuba’s adventures in this volume, Yotsuba and Koiwai go to the park for swinging and the like. That is followed by Yotsuba deciding to learn how to make pancakes after reading about them.  Next up, Jumbo comes by for a visit and isn’t thrilled that he wasn’t in the hot air balloon trip since Asagi was there. He has animal stickers for Yotsuba and spends the afternoon playing with her while Koiwai works. Following this, Fuuka invites herself to go to the electronic store with Koiwai, Jumbo, and Yotsuba, where she hangs with Yotsuba while Koiwai and Jumbo camera shop.

Asagi lets Yotsuba borrow Fuuka’s giant, exercise ball, which leads to Yotsuba accidentally breaking some dishes back home.  When Yotsuba tells lies about the incident and then tries to blame it on the lying bug, Koiwai comes up with a unique punishment to teach Yotsuba not to lie. The volume is rounded out by Ena inviting Yotsuba to come with her to Miura’s apartment. While there, Yotsuba discovers Danbo, forcing Miura to come up with an explanation on it being dead. Ena decides to rectify this situation and after getting Yotsuba out of the room, they “revive” Danbo for a trip to the park.

I had to laugh when Yotsuba and her father went to the park and engaged in the swing games.  I too played the “kick the shoe” game from a swing as a kid, combined with going and retrieving one’s shoe.  Of course, we also had contest of jumping out of the swing, which Yotsuba did on accident in an earlier volume, but in the park they are in for this chapter, there are these metal bar things that would make the jump game not workable. ^_^;

Yotsuba making pancakes is also something I recalled from my childhood.  Usually, my dad was the pancake maker so that my mom would have the weekends off from cooking breakfast.  Parent’s make it look so easy to pour out the batter perfectly and then flip a pancake effortlessly.  When one tries making pancakes for the first time as a kid, well, the results are pretty much what happened with Yotsuba. *lol*  I don’t remember my parents being that thrilled with mistaken flips on my part.  ^_^;  Man, now I’m hungry for some buttermilk pancakes. *lol*

Yotsuba’s trip to the electronic store was great.  I think guys still have a bit of that reaction whenever we go into an electronic or tool department/store. ^_~  I had to laugh at Yotsuba’s reaction to being on TV because I think most of us had the same experience in the video camera department.

The best story of the lot for me was Yotsuba breaking the dishes with the giant ball and then trying to lie her way out of it.  Its impossible to lie your way out of a situation like that when you are the only kid.  When you have younger siblings, well, you can muddy the waters at the very least. *lol*  Still, Koiwai’s solution to the problem by putting Yotsuba in with the scary Niou-san (Nio-san) guardian statue.  *lol*  Regardless, it is a clever punishment to teach Yotsuba not to lie, which she’s done a few times now.  We’ll see if Azuma-sensei has this come up again.

Danbo’s return was unexpected and a delight in its own way.  I can see why there are so many photos people have taken of Danbo that they’ve made. ^_^  Miura’s story to explain why Danbo returned to her room in a packed up form was amusing. We got to see Miura’s mom, whom Yotsuba described as being a “giant Miura,” made me chuckle.

On the Yen Press side, there’s nothing much to say.  Japanese honorifics are retained. (YAY!)  No translator notes, which I would have appreciated for the Niou-san guardians.

As usual, another good romp with the adventures of Yotsuba.  Sadly, it will be many months before we see volume 11.  Its the curse of the monthly series, don’t you know. So until then, “enjoy everything.” ^_^