Annoyance: abating.
Enjoyment: increasing.

The timing in these stories is great. The pauses, asides and sudden outbursts work really well.

I found Yotsuba's Dad and friend perving over the 16-year neighbour a little weird, but it wasn't so bad (and I don't know how old they're supposed to be yet).

Cute & peaceful. ( )

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Title: Yotsuba&! Vol. 2
Series: Yotsuba&! #2
Author: Kiyohiko Azuma
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 192
Words: 8K

Synopsis:

Chapter List:

Yotsuba & Drawing

Yotsuba & Revenge

Yotsuba & Cake

Yotsuba & Donmai

Yotsuba & the Pool

Yotsuba & the Frog

Yotsuba & Asagi's Gifts

My Thoughts:

Ahhh, this was just what I needed. After the previous week having been such a mess, reading this Saturday morning was perfect. I laughed, I laughed and then I laughed some more. Not uproariously, not side-splittingly kind of laughing, but a continual amusement and fluffy kind of laugh.

The above picture is a chapter where Yotsuba is watching a gangster tv show with her dad and Jumbo and sees a gangster kill someone. She then proceeds to squirt gun her dad and Jumbo to death and then switches characters to hunt down the person who killed her beloved dad and friend. She goes next door and kills all of the girls next door, except for the eldest, Asagi, who ends up killing Yotsuba. The chapter ends with Yotsuba admitting to her dad and Jumbo that she failed to avenge them and died. Jumbo moralizes that nothing good ever comes from revenge.

I am finding that Azuma is able to do a ton of world building and character sketches in just a couple of panels. It is rather amazing. It gives the manga a bit of depth that makes it easier to digest. It also makes this re-read possible and future re-reads a real possibility, if not a sure thing.

★★★★★ ( )

Funny children's or middle grade graphic novel about the adventures of a rambunctious, short tempered girl. ( )

In this second volume, I found myself getting very attached to the character of five-year-old Yotsuba. She's quite a character.

I felt sorry for her in Chapter 8 (Drawing) when her drawing of a lake, trees and a duck was meanly criticized by neighbor Eno's friend Miura. At least Yotsuba had others who did like her drawing...including me!

Chapter 11 (No Bother) was hilarious. Yotsuba had to entertain herself while her dad was sleeping. She decided to draw a picture of her dad on a box,. Then she added a mustache and beard to his picture. However, what she did after that had me laughing so loudly that I woke up my husband. I don't often laugh out loud at any comics other than Pearls Before Swine (drawn by comic artist Stephan Pastis) but this Yotsuba chapter was simply too funny.

I love this book...and very much look forward to reading volume 3. ( )