Line #34 Headscratchers/Yotsuba


1	* I know that the attitude towards underage kids taking a sip of alcohol isn't that strict in Japan, but in chapter 21, Miura asks Jumbo for some of his beer. We don't see if he gives it to her, but why would Miura, clearly an elementary schooler, ask for beer from a person she barely knows when she's in a festival?
2	** Miura seems to be a smart kid, so maybe she thought that by asking in such a blunt way Jumbo would think it’s something normal for her (especially in a festival) and she would actually get a sip.
3	** Curiosity, if you were a kid once you'll know this.
4	* Jumbo is nearly seven feet tall. NEARLY. SEVEN. FEET. The average male height in Japan is around Koiwai's height. How does no one else question how Jumbo got this tall?
5	** Just because the average height is around Koiwai's height doesn't mean there aren't any tall Japanese people.
6	*** Seven foot tall people are especially rare in any part of the world anyway. It's not like it's just uncommon in Japan.
7	** It's been called out several times, practically every time someone sees him for the first time.
8	** He does get weird looks from strangers all the time.
9	** The average male height of China is less than the average male height of Japan yet Yao Ming who's from China still exists and his height is more than 7ft. Some people just get really tall no matter where they were born.
10	** The actor Hiroshi Abe is pretty damn tall. As for why, luck I guess.
11	* What is it with that girl and dairy?
12	** Eh -- it's just a phase. A few more months her time (a couple years for us) she'll be on to some other obsession, like dinosaurs or samurai or Franchise/HelloKitty.
13	** There is the EdibleThemeNaming of her and her father. "Yotsuba" and "Koiwai" are both dairy companies in Japan.
14	* The imageboard that uses her as a mascot bans people who post Rule34 of her on said imageboard. Why?
15	** They never banned for it, unless one of the mods felt like being cute. They don't even care about it anymore, really.
16	*** They do actually.
17	*** What's happening here is that you're confusing 4chan's actual feelings with 4chan's memetic feelings. In reality they more often than not just leave it.
18	*** It's more a case of too many trolls trying to use it as intentional flame bait.
19	*** EvenEvilHasStandards? Seriously, she's five years old!
20	*** If only pornographic drawings of make-believe children was the worst that gets posted there. But yeah, just because there's an idea that Yotsuba is somehow special to Anonymous, don't go thinking they ever live up to their ideals.
21	* The four-leaf clover hairstyle — she wears it even in bed, why? Wouldn't it be kinda adorable if we can see her hair flowing sometimes?
22	** It's easier to keep hair from tangling overnight if it's tied back, assuming it's long enough to be "flowing" if untied.
23	* Why is Yotsuba so dumb? Honestly, she doesn't even know what a swing is and Ena has to show her how it works. Really? Five-year-olds practically ''live'' on playgrounds. I also find it hard to swallow that Yotsuba wouldn't realize that Cardbo is simply Miura in a cardboard box. Kids that age often have remarkable deductive reasoning, albeit less linear, and any moderately intelligent kid ''would'' figure it out rather quickly. A lot of situations stem from Yotsuba's remarkable lack of common sense, to the point where one might start pointing fingers toward her father, even though he seems to do a good job instructing her overall. Maybe Yotsuba is simply a few crayons short of a box. Poor Mr. Koiwai.
24	** Have you considered her being from a place that doesn't have playgrounds, and kids don't automatically get how a swing works if they haven't seen it being used before. As for Danbo the answer is she's a kid. Heck, you get older kids that still believe that Santa exists. I think you're overestimating a lot of kids' logical reasoning.
25	** Well, it does say she's from a foreign, undetermined country. I always assumed she was from a primitive country where there were no playgrounds and children didn't have schooling or anything.
26	** I got the feeling she was basically a rescued ophan who didn't have a lot of experience with her new world. But from my own memories of dumb things I did at 5, and the "aru aru" reactions Japanese people I've recommended the series to, I think she's pretty normal.
27	** I think she might be... [[InsistentTerminology special.]]
28	** She's like, five. Five year olds aren't all that smart... speaking from experience as a former five-year-old.
29	** She's not that dumb for a five-year-old. It's hard to believe that a kid her age had never seen a swing but clearly she hadn't. They're fairly self explanatory, but most children need to be taught how to propel themselves back and forth on one. I was around Yotsuba's age when I learned and I had seen people using them before. So it makes sense that Yotsuba would need to be taught. Regarding Cardbo, one of the first things Yotsuba asked about "him" was, "Is there a person in there?" Miura as Cardo insisted that there wasn't and five year olds are pretty darn gullible. Also, the box on her head was probably distorting Miura's voice and surely she was speaking in a robotic voice which apparently kept Yotsuba from recognizing her.
30	* What exactly does Mr. Koiwai translate? Does he do what ever translation jobs he told for a company? Is he an Independent translator for mangas and such? And what languages does he translate things into? He speaks Japanese, that much is for sure, but being a translator, he must know a few more, right?
31	** I dunno, maybe English?
32	*** In the manga, there were absolutely no hints at all at the language he's translating to/from, the topic of his material or even his employer. Intentionally.
33	*** There's no hints what he works with, but he is shown being comfortable with English.
34	** Whatever it is, its probably technical. Duralumin/Juralumin is an actual building material used in various industries. Yotsuba must have overheard him saying it or maybe read it, liked the sound of it and remembered it for a name for a teddy bear. A quick 'other wiki' search shows that Duralumin is an older material, originally from Germany, now used mainly in the aircraft and automobile industry. Koiwai must do technical translations for some company in those fields.
35	* What's the release schedule for this series? Monthly? It's been how many years since this series has been published and the characters are barely near Christmas. Not complaining about lack of chapters (Azuma can take all the time he wants if it means making a quality series in the end) but I just wanted to know when to expect new chapters.
36	** It is indeed monthly, but Azuma takes a remarkable number of months off, especially when redrawing backgrounds for a volume release. (He apparently does more of the work himself than typical for a commercial mangaka, with only one or two assistants.) As a result, it takes about a year to put out the seven chapters needed for a volume.
37	* Why do Yotsuba's neighbors mention global warming as a reason not to use their airco? Most households in Japan get their electricity from nuclear plants, which don't have an effect on global warming at all.
38	** It's not the power source that's the issue here, but the fact that air conditioners have refrigerants in them----chemicals that can lead to ozone depletion.
39	** Ozone depletion has nothing to do with global warming. Also, they already ''own'' the aircos anyway, so they might as well use them.
40	** [=CFCs=] are 25,000 times more efficient at trapping heat than [=CO2=], so not entirely unrelated as both problems have a common cause.
41	** One air conditioner was the built-in sort, and I think the other was the kind that didn't necessarily come with the house, but would have been a hassle to bring along after moving, so they might not have been bought by Koiwai and the neighbors.
42	** Carbon dioxide emissions, I believe.
43	** Keep in the mind the source was a child, not a verified source.
44	** Actually, most of Japan's electricity [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_Japan does come from fossil fuels]], so it's a legit concern.
45	* All that hate for Yanda. Even at worst moments he's a SitcomArchNemesis. His {{Jerkass}}ery is played way up by the haters than it really is in the manga (which is on similar level to Asagi, who doesn't get this treatment)
46	** Asagi acts like a jerk to other adults. Yanda acts like a jerk to a ''five-year-old''. The other thing is that Yotsuba has interacted with Asagi a lot more and views her as friendlier, even if she does mess with her on occasion, whereas Yanda doesn't really interact with Yotsuba outside of bothering her.
47	** Also, Yotsuba is the POV character in this series, and she hates Yanda (while she's alright with Asagi).
48	** Also, being mean to a five-year-old just for kicks is a real KickTheDog thing to do.
49	** I rarely see genuine hate for him, most of time I only see people poking fun at him and jokingly treat him as a bad guy. Because he ''is'' one in Yotsuba's eyes and her archenemy after all. Most of his "hate" is PlayedForLaughs, I'm pretty sure the general fandom knows he isn't an actual and complete jerk. It's just second-nature for everyone to side with Yotsuba since he is a nuisance to her.
50	** My personal headcanon taken straight from Pixiv: Yanda and Touchan had a thing going on before Touchan went abroad. He proceeded to come back with a little girl, thus the rivalry and why Yanda wouldn't come help the Koiwais move in. Ice cream-stealing aside, I think Yotsuba smells something's up and is extra mean to Yanda.
51	* Why does Torako drive a FIAT Panda? I didn't even know they had those in Japan...
52	** Well, they have them in Japan that's why she has one.
53	** Yes Fiat is active in Japan. And a Panda would be a very sensible car for someone her age and income, especially the older model she appears to drive. They're cheap to buy, even cheaper to run and insure, very reliable and if something does break, cheap to fix.
54	** In chapter 37 it's mentioned that her car is her parents old one. She probably drives it because she's a poor college student/
55	* How is Torako able to park in such a small space in front of the Ayase's house? Her car barely fits in that small spot between the walls even for parallel parking.
56	** As a person who lives in a street as small as the one where Yotsuba lives it's actually fairly easy.
57	* What is the hair style Asagi has in chapter 76 called?
58	** Looks like double braids.
59	* Why has the art style changed so drastically within the last year? The lines look scratchier and the adults' eyes are drawn a lot differently(ex: Yanda in that first page of chapter 89). Does Kiyohiko have a new assistant or something? I haven't seen volume 13 yet, and I know that Kiyohiko redraws a lot when he compiles the volumes, so maybe he was just rushing the art and redrew it for the volume, but it just seems like a pretty abrupt change in style.
60	** I don't know if we have an exact information about what happened, but ArtEvolution is almost expected in a long series, and this one's been going on for over 10 years. Anyway, I don't think it was that abrupt of a change; Yanda's eyes just seem slightly bigger than before, and Koiwai's eyes are a little bit more detailed. Yotsuba is also quite a bit "rounder" in her features, unlike in the first chapters, but I can't tell when that happened.

Context Headscratchers / Yotsuba