What’s a Manga Everyone Should Read?

A long time ago, I got asked “What’s a manga that everyone should read?” I’d long planned to make it a one-time post, but never got around to it. However, there’s one obvious choice — Yotsuba&!

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The Story, in Brief

A man named KOIWAI Yousuke and his adopted, foreign, orphaned, five-year old girl named Yotsuba arrive in a new town to move to their new home, which also serves as Yousuke’s work office. They are joined by Yousuke’s best friend who lives nearby, TAKEDA “Jumbo” Takashi, who helps them unpack. High school girl and next door neighbor AYASE Fuuka comes home and introduces herself.

In the neighborhood park, ten-year old AYASE Ena spots Yotsuba playing. Later, Fuuka goes to find Yotsuba for Yousuke. When Fuuka finds her, initially, Yotsuba trusts Fuuka, but then worries that she might be bad. As such, she flees and runs into AYASE Asagi, who “defends” Yotsuba. Eventually, the situation is cleared up.

Yotsuba loves to explore and play. This leads her to all manners of adventures and misadventures. She spends a lot of time at the Ayase house. Yotsbua gets introduces to friends of Ena, Fuuka, and Asagi, becoming friends with them all. Throughout it all, Yotsuba learns different things with an eagerness and excitement for life. This sometimes leads her to get into trouble, but throughout it all, Yotsuba’s zest for life never gets dampened for long!

Why Should Everyone Read Yotsuba&!?

For a start, Yotsuba&! is a manga series that is universally accessible. From an adult perspective, those of you with children will quickly relate to the situations where Yousuke has to parent Yotsuba. As such, many of these moments in the manga series may cause you to recall something similar with your own children.

In addition, these same adults will remember their own childhood. In this regard, folks will get a kick out of things Yotsuba does or thinks that will remind them of things they did as a kid, or things they said as a kid. As such, adults with children will get enjoyment from two perspectives. Adults without children will only get the single perspective, but should enjoy the parental perspective as well.

Youngsters reading the manga will simply appreciate Yotsuba’s adventures and such. They too may be reminded of experiences from their own lives as children and find enjoyment there.

Although the official English adaptation rightly retains Japanese honorifics, including ones for brothers and sisters, in my experience, this does not hinder folks with no knowledge of Japanese culture from understanding and enjoying the series. While everyone’s childhood will be different, there’s something universal in reading about Yotsuba’s childhood adventures that should appeal to folks of all ethnicities.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to a plot, there’s not a lot to say about Yotsuba&! However, as a slice of life manga depicting a young girl a year before she enters kindergarten, experiencing the wonders of the world from a point of innocence, Yotsuba&! is a fun, humorous, and just plain wonderful series to read, even if you aren’t into manga.