ITR: Someone who has never seen anime or manga before.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGEEEEEE

I think he needs to look up shrill in a dictionary. Unless he didn't actually read it which wouldn't surprise me.

burn burn burn!

I agree wholeheartedly. Yotsuba is an irritating little shit, and the volumes before Yanda shows up are a painful slog. He should have started with book four.

Yotsuba volume 1 is the first series of the Simpsons, and Yanda is Homer. Bart is annoying, and Bart Episodes don't appeal to grown-ups. After a few seasons, they finally realised this, and stopped making them - the closest you'll see to a Bart Episode now is one with a Bart thread and a thread featuring one of the grown-ups. The We-Love-Yotsuba-Show that is the start of Yotsubambpersand is one protracted Bart Episode: Yotsuba is supremely irritating, and utterly inescapable, and even when she's off-screen, her replacement is one of the rest fawning over her.

We all love the Simpsons. But if you lived on the moon, and all you had seen was Apollo Vision's DVDs of series 1-3, you'd think it was a pile of shit.

>>122016
Not so much RAGE as dislocated horror and dissapointment, but that's the average reaction I get for anything that other imageboard considers rageworthy.

>>122011
BRB, going to play some Madden.

>>122025
This comic doesn't seem to be for you. I mean, whatever you're getting out of it, sure, fine, enjoy it. But I can't help but thinking that there are hundreds of more suitable comics for you, a person who apparently has neither fondness for children, nostalgic memories of childhood, or paternal/maternal instincts.

Same with this review. I can't understand how you can hate the manga. Indifference, maybe. I am guessing that this is merely a case of someone desperately needing to backlash against something, anything. The simple profundity seems to have swept over this reviewer's head, which is fine. Some people need angst and pathos and lots and lots of linework for something to be considered worthwhile, who feel that comedy is inadequate on its own and must supplement the turgid drama or illuminate the hideousness of the human condition; we merely desire to reminded of the good and the simple and the beautiful and maybe get a few chuckles out of it over the duration.

>>122031
I'm not quite sure if your sarcasm meter is fully operative good sir.

>>122034
I'm not all that sure >>122025 was being sarcastic.

>>122025
You're so wrong I can't even begin to believe it. Bike Shop Guy is clearly Homer.

>>122031
Word. I read stuff like Yotsuba&! to get away from how shitty life is, not to be reminded of it. Yeah, sometimes things are too silly or cutesy or whatever to be a hundred percent realistic, but that's the damn point. All that matters to me is that no matter how bad a mood I'm in or how awful a day I've had I can't sit down and read a few chapters and not crack a smile at least once. Yotsuba&!'s not trying to be some deep and profound world-shattering phenomenon, it's just some light-hearted "feel-good" entertainment, which is exactly why it works. Not everything has to have Cerebus Syndrome.

The reviewer seems like someone who watches anime and reads manga for the fight scenes. Maybe I'm unfairly generalizing and making assumptions. Perhaps the reviewer didn't understand that Yotsuba is a sweet slice of life comedy. Adventure fiction has its place in the world and deservedly so. But so does light comedy. Don't piss on it just because you're too young to get it.

>>122039

Too young sounds about right. Dang kids and their naruto!

Wow. I don't go to ANN, which is why for a moment here, that had me wondering if this was the current level of reviewing at ANN before I realized it was the 'Reader's Opinion' corner I was looking at. That explains the tone of the article being more concerned with sounding clever than anything else.
From the comments page:

>>"Gentlemen, THIS is trolling at its finest. Prepare to take many notes on the methods used here."

Finest? At 4chan, you'd get booed off the stage or simply ignored for obviously trying too hard.

vc: dethridge (sounds like a villain from a generic 1990s comic book series...)

I've read nothing but rave reviews of this manga, full of such words as "irresistible," "heartwarming" and "outstanding." And for the life of me, I completely understand why. People like this good manga so much. We are so starved for a break from the endless psychic schoolboy angst stories that we'll lap up witty humor such as Yotsuba&! without question.

While working my way through volume 1 of Yotsuba&!, the words that came to my mind were "awesome," "cute" and "entertaining." As well as multiple praises and bits of laughter. The manga is about a small child that reacts to everything she encounters with spastic bewilderment. At the start of the book, she moves into a new home. Her new neighbors are a trio of girls who are prone to fits of hysterical sexiness at the slightest provocation. And so, we're treated to Yotsuba and friends engaging in such thrilling activities as ringing doorbells and going shopping, with lots of hysterical sexiness, and extremely funny "wacky" faces along the way. It's a very dynamic experience, and that experience happens to be one of light-hearted humor. You can imagine how that gets awesome very quickly.

As for the art, I believe Kiyohiko Azuma can draw fairly well, as evidenced by the charming titls page or cover illustration. He chooses to, as evidenced by everything else. Characters spend nearly all their time in "komickal" mode, which means their heads are rendered as featureless blobs with some minimalist doodle filling in for their faces, which adds to the lighthearted charm of the manga. And someone apparently has to pull the exact same cute "augh!" face at least once per page. Hilarious? More like extremely hilarious and rad. Our friends Detail and Finesse are also still in the building, leaving everything with a believable, simple, minimal look. This sort of art is usually glossed over with the euphemism "stylised," and it's high time someone appreciated it. The art looks like no effort whatsoever went into it, which is fine, since the purpose isn't realism anyway.

If you also happen to be a small child that is permanently high on life, or you derive some kind of understandable satisfaction from having your intelligence put to the test, I recommend you read Yotsuba&!. As for why it's so incredibly popular, I can understand that, and thinking about it actually rather comforts me.

How can you hate Yotsuba? I mean, come on.

hmm...

BTW
Best Publication for Kids
http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_eisners_main.shtml

>>122070
I always thought Yotsuba was one of the few manga series out there that's really for all audiences - nearly every demographic finds something to latch on to in the series.

>>122066 Hey, now you've made her cry!

>>122066

Lum and Michiru Kaioh would like a word with the person speaking in the picture.

The only way to respond to critics

That whole review is pretty much just a really long way of saying "I DON'T GET IT, THUMBS DOWN"

>>122070

Welcome to the west where if it's light hearted without being blatantly silly it's for women or children.

Seriously though, I don't see how it appeals to children really. I know for a fact that when I was a kid I wasn't interested in this sort of thing at all.

join me in a huff.

derp derp derp derp derp derp

nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh

trollan trollan trollan trollan

etc.

"Psychic schoolboy angst stories" is a very specific genre, by the way.

>>122011
Funny, Yotsuba& is supposed to remind us of a time when we goofed around before having a computer and whatnot to waste time on. Nothing LOL DEEP about the lazy days of one's childhood.

>>122137
Did someone say "DEEP"?

>>122122

>>trollan trollan trollan trollan

What's wrong with Trollans?

>>122122
Zombie Loan.
3x3 Eyes.
Devilman.
Loveless.
YuuYuu Hakusho.

Oh, and let's not forget Akira.

(Alien 9, Blood/Blood+, Elfen Lied, Narutaru, and Lain are, technically, psychic school*girl* angst stories).

Potential disqualification for all these schoolkids that never actually find the time to go to school, what with all the demons and stuff.

>>122036
How does it work, though?

Yotsuba depicts a magical fantasy land where no-one's ever in a bad mood and only nice things happen. It's like someone decided to make a serious go at the cliched dream-sequence-where-everything's-too-nice.

How can that have any effect on you? How can you not immediately disbelive it?

>>122236

Well Mr. Koiwai gets angry at Yotsuba when she goes too far and Fuka had her heart broken so I wouldn't go as far as saying they are never in a bad mood. Also the majority of the story has taken place during the summer holiday and I don't know about you but I feel great and relaxed during the summer.

Either way, I wouldn't look at it as a matter of believing it or not. Stories (as you put it) don't have to be believable to be enjoyable.

>>122240

Oops, I meant to remove the "(as you put it)"

>>122240
Yes they do. They don't have to be realistic, but they do have to be believable. Which is why Northern Lights kicks ass, but The Amber Spyglass sucks donkey dick.

>>122236
Compared to the silliness of real world, at least the comics are enjoyable.

>>122243
Well there is a widely known concept in fiction known as "Suspension of disbelief."
I don't believe Yotsubato requires too terribly much of this though. The biggest stretch I've seen is that the Ayases were so accomodating so quickly to their new neighbors.

>>122240
>>122243
What's it like to have impossible standards?

>>122236
This is silly. I don't live in a utopian fantasy land, but there have been stretches of my life where I have been as at ease as much as is depicted in these comics. What kind of a horrid fucking existence do you lead where you've never had any peaceful days like these, where the only real conflict is all over our tiny foibles and quickly forgiven and forgotten? Yotsubato evokes the emotions of these times.

(if your life really has been that hard and without any Yotsbuato-esque endless summers, geez, I'm really sorry, that genuinely sucks)

>>122251
Huh, I didn't know "the manga makes me laugh even if I've had a really crappy day" translated to "every day is a never-ending parade of despair and I know not the concept of happiness." Guess I should have clarified more.

Yotsuba& isn't all "sunshine and rainbows."

-Yotsuba getting spanked hard by her dad, for breaking the window, and later for delivering milk to Fuuka
-"Her parents are dead...oh, how awkward..."
-Yanda's economic situation
-Asagi and her mom not getting along
-Yotsuba being confronted by the harsh realities of the world and crying..."Your art sucks," "We're not going to the beach," etc
-The Ayase grandparents are dead (one set of them)
-Gutting fish

It's not "magical fantasy land." It's not "GRIMNDARK." It's real life.

>>122257
One minor correction: we don't actually know the status of Yotsuba's biological parents.

>>122257

>-Yanda's economic situation

Did I miss that that somewhere?

>>122265
Flat broke.

>>122267
Oh wow, I can relate.

>-Yotsuba getting spanked hard by her dad, for breaking the window, and later for delivering milk to Fuuka

Was it actually a spanking? I only remember a couple bops on the head after the milk episode, and I don't even remember the broken window deal. What chapter was that?

>-"Her parents are dead...oh, how awkward..."

As Ralen said, they're not necessarily dead.

>-Yanda's economic situation

Fuck Yanda.

>-Asagi and her mom not getting along

Minor quibbles.

>-Yotsuba being confronted by the harsh realities of the world and crying..."Your art sucks," "We're not going to the beach," etc

Except they immediately told her that her art was great, and that they would, in fact, go to the beach.

>-The Ayase grandparents are dead (one set of them)

The Ayase's don't seem too broken up about it.

>-Gutting fish

Join the virtual generation.

>>122267
However, it feels like Yanda is the sort of person who spends all his money on payday, making him "flat broke" the rest of the month...

>>122324

>-Asagi and her mom not getting along
>Minor quibbles.

True, Asagi even bought her sata andagi after the strawberry incident!

>>122325
Now we can theorize wheter he spends all that money on booze and hookers to ease his miserable life

>>122324

>Was it actually a spanking?

Indeed it was. In fact that was the title of the strip. It was in 24.5 Yotsuba&! 4-koma.

Here's the original, I also recall seeing an edit once where someone had filled in the last panel with an image of her actually being spanked, rather than the outside view of the broken window.

>>122326
Well duh, who doesn't blow their paychecks on booze and hookers?

(In some cases it is acceptable to substitute hookers for strippers.)

>>122328
Huh, never saw the 4koma strips. I gotta say, I prefer Koiwai giving noogies and bonks on the head to him actually spanking li'l Yots.

I had a pang of conscience while making this.

>>122343
I did one similar to that a long time ago, but she gets back up for watermelon in the end.

Isn't it a good thing that as few people as possible know and enjoy this manga? Azu has the following that will allow him to release 30 volumes, chiyo's dad willing.

>>122343
This is why I don't like Asagi.

>>122343
"Who would have thought a young girl could have so much blood in her?"

(or something like that...)

Some people just can't get into things, there is that type that if it's not immediately cool or if they don't get it right away, they throw it over their shoulder. I mean when I first read Yotsuba@! I didn't immediatly get it all but in time i did and it payed off, same with Azumanga which I recall when I first bought , one thought that ran thru my head was "what did I buy?" , but with enough patience and work? it payed off and now it is one of my most unforgetable anime.

>>122234

Lets not forget Evangelion.

>>122400

> Some people just can't get into things, there is that type that if it's not immediately cool or if they don't get it right away, they throw it over their shoulder.

To be fair, people often don't have anywhere near enough time to keep reading every manga and watching every anime they come across just for the off chance that it turns better later on. Choices have to be made.

>>122410

to be fair the fuckers should just say they do not have the time instead of dogging it .

>>122343 A lot of work there, selecting the frames to use, and just the right text. Good stuff.

>>122438
>>122400
Remember, Apple evangelists make exactly the same argument. You'd surely love the Mac if you just gave it a serious try, and anyone that claims to have tried and not liked it is a big daft idiot. Also, if you don't like Apple, why don't you just not use it, rather than tell people it sucks?

If you truly believe that

>'Some people just can't get into things, there is that type that if it's not immediately cool or if they don't get it right away, they throw it over their shoulder',

then you'll go out and buy a MacBook and an iPod and an AppleTV right now.

After all, there's an objective and universal quality of 'quality', and if some people say that something is awesome it must be, and people with the opposite opinion are mistaken and should shut up.

>>122410
If someone doesn't have time to read manga, they don't have time to write reviews about manga.

>>122481
Yes.

Also, only politicians are allowed to have opinions on political issues. If you don't have time to run for government, your opinions should be kept to yourself.

>>122482
Does it count if i'm running from government ?

But more on topic, out of my favourite anime/manga i don't recall single one which i liked from the first episode, usually my first reactions varied from 'it's weird' to 'hmm, average i guess, should i really watch/read more?'.

>>122487
Fafner, AZD*, Saikano, Hellsing, and FLCL all have very strong first episodes.

But they're really quite uncommon in that respect. I suspect the perception in Japan is that the audience is going to watch the first few episodes of any TV anime as long as the premise and first episode are at least not boring, because all it takes is twenty minutes of attention, and a click or two on the tivo.

For OVAs, and TV aimed also at the western market (who are expected to be buying it on DVD) the first episode is much more important.

* Compare Episode one with the rest of the series: 1 is just a montage of interesting scenes, whereas the rest are slower, linear, and usually center on one character. A lot of the bits that everyone remembers (the cooking song, the biting cat, the chain, and the cat-pants) were put into episode one. It's intended to advertise the rest, and does it rather well.