- Then the last chapter would be about her real parents coming back to get her. ;_;
- ...But then Yotsuba decides, in the end, to stay on Earth, because, after all, "Earth is best after all, right?".
- This... seems reasonable. Remember that when she first saw fireworks, she thought that they were under attack.
- Possibly an autocratic or communist country, as she is very impressed by a large department store: "Did the State build it?"
- Probably from some conflict region in China, e.g. the corner with the Uigurs or Tibet. Or probably some ex-Soviet state, there was plenty of bloodshed after the Soviet Union fell.
- Perhaps she's from a place like Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia; when her eyes are closed, she shows something of an epithelial fold. Though Mrs. Ayase's suggestion of Hawaii would explain Yotsuba's occasional use of Gratuitous English.
- As if girls raised in Japan need an excuse for Gratuitous English. Yotsuba absorbs pop culture like a sponge, and she clearly watches a lot of television.
- Ain't those countries are at peace, more or less, or at least not at war?
- She's a North Korean refugee. Koiwai found her in another country which apparently is "to the left" (Korea is to the left of Japan on most maps). Her real parents raised her to be suspicious in fear of being made political prisoners. This explains why she always asks if someone is an enemy or a friend when first meeting them and also why she's scared of things that stare at her. She thinks all big buildings are made "by the state" just like they would be in North Korea. She is unfamiliar with basic kids stuff like swing sets and soccer balls because she never encountered those in North Korea, hence her amazement when she does finally learn about such things. Her parents fled North Korea by swimming across the Han river (hence her swimming skills), Yotsuba made it but not her parents leading to her being rescued by American soldiers where she learned some basic English. Koiwai was staying in Korea at the time where he also learned Korean and now makes his living translating between Korean and Japanese.
- Well, that's true enough (though it's not clear how much time she's spent in Japan, if she still remember the island "to the left"). And if we're going to rationalize her Gratuitous English, we also need to rationalize her gratuitous Spanish.
- Her Gratuitous Spanish was caused by exposure to media from the US.
- Gratuitous Spanish might be because Kiyohiko Azuma didn't do the research; she is, in fact, a dekasegi Brazilian orphan. Brazilians never give up; even the powers said so.
- Alternatively, she might have been Cuban. It would explain both the gratuitous English and the Gratuitous Spanish, and it is an island that's a long way left from Japan. Or maybe Colombian, if you need a place where they'd speak Spanish and where she'd have developed a fear of explosions and stuff.
- That's unlikely. In Colombia the term enemy is almost never used, much less so by civilians. Its just Paramilitary or Guerrilla. so she would have asked "is that the guerrilla?". Also, unlikely she is from Cuba cause. 1st, there are no explosions there, 2nd, Cubans are kinda good at stooping foreigners from adopting their child's. He could have adopted legally, but that would imply that he met her in an orphanage, otherwise, no way he could have got her out of Cuba without having to smuggle her out. I am guessing she is Nicaraguan or something.
- This troper recalls seeing the first page of a Yotsuba doujinshi that chronicles how she met mister Koiwai. He was working in the peace corps in a ruined village when a dirty, impoverished, and orphaned Yotsuba approached him nervously. I wanted to find the rest of it ever since because it looked incredibly good.
- Report Shit has seen it as well, but I do believe that it is a stand-alone image rather than the part of something.
- Where exactly can one find this image? It sounds interesting.
- Update: it appears to be a single image speculating on what fans believe Yotsuba and Koiwai's first meeting was like, potentially from some manner of bonus features section of some mangaka's work. May or may not be Azuma Kiyohiko's doing. Can be seen here.
- Report Shit has seen it as well, but I do believe that it is a stand-alone image rather than the part of something.
- A theory of mine is that Yotsuba actually comes from Ireland. Her hair is shaped like a four leaf clover, her name means "clover", she uses Gratuitous English, and her adopted father is a translator. The languages highest in demand in Japan are Chinese and English. Her father may have spent time as a Japanese translator in Ireland, one of the richest countries in Europe, and one with a high foreigner-to-native ratio.
- Irish people don't have green hair. O_o
- Good point. Then people with green hair come from...?
- Yotsuba does. This is because...
- The symbol of Ireland is a three-leafed shamrock, not a four-leafed clover, also there are very few Japanese people here, or call for Japanese translations, and it would be very difficult for a foreigner to adopt an Irish child.
- Irish people don't have green hair. O_o
- Probably implied Alternate History with Hawaiian (Mrs. Ayase thought, that Yotsuba was from Hawaii) separatist terrorists and a civil war/war against the US for independence? Koiwai and Jumbo were helping out there and Koiwai adopted a certain green-hair orphan girl.
- Her "pot of gold" is the Yotsubox where she keeps her treasured possessions.
- OTOH, why would a leprechaun be afraid of tengu, as she was in a recent chapter?
- Tengu are also magical, supernatural creatures that are more combat-oriented than leprechauns and are capable of genuinely hurting her; her fear is similar to the fear a mouse has for a cat.
- On a map, Ireland is an island to the left of Japan.
- Her fear of explosions is thanks to the IRA lighting a car bomb off near her.
- All the leprechauns I've ever seen depicted have the stereotypical Irish red hair. Which is not to say that green is impossible...
After all, both have green hair. I just saw "Irish people don't have green hair" and saw YKK under it for the previous WMG and...
- There is a report of paired cross-over fics (or possibly doujinshi) called "Alphato!" and "Yotsuba no Kaidashi Kikou" about, respectively, a man who becomes the owner of a green-haired android to help socialize her in a suburban neighborhood, and an energetic orphan adopted by the proprietor of a lonely country café and the havoc she wreaks among the neighbors.
- Hmmm, could be! could be! In the latest chapter of Yotsubato, Yotsuba gets a small camera. In YKK, Alpha receives a camera from owner which (in both the manga and OVA) causes her to look upon it wistfully as if remembering days before days when she was a little 'bot running around Emaimachi. Also, while Alpha knew it was a camera, she didn't know how to use it until Kokone told her; Alpha wasn't up to date on the newest technologies. And furthermore, Alpha is shown to frequently carry a small pistol around everywhere. Yotsuba often carries a (water) pistol around with her wherever she goes.
- And Shinji can be
the guy who creates the universe Yotsuba&! takes place in as a result from Instrumentality...uhhh...Light. Yeah, why not.- He wants to create a perfect world... because he subconsciously remembers what happened to the last one.
- Maybe her real father is the founder of that group. He either named it after his daughter, whom he had to abandon somewhere for some reason, or he named her after the company before he abandoned her in hopes that maybe someday she would see the connection and seek him out.
- So Takada is related to Reiji of The Yotsuba Group. (Look-a-like joke)
- Dunno about the Anonymous part, given Azuma gives consistent interviews and ages appropriately in publicity photos. But it's not beyond her to have created her for that purpose, as well as for laughs.
- Hey, just be glad I didn't throw in anything about Time Lords or A Haruhi is Yotsuba ;)
- I'm having a hard time imagining that god!Yotsuba would invent a Yanda, or at least allow his continued existence.
- Yanda is the devil.
- Hey, just be glad I didn't throw in anything about Time Lords or A Haruhi is Yotsuba ;)
- This troper's Japanese teacher attended high school with Kiyohiko Azuma, so this theory is highly unlikely.
- Of course, my teacher could be a member of Anonymous and is saying this to mislead.
- And among those new female models, there's even a Bokukko.
- Or she dies just after releasing her hair from the quadri-tails in a rather weird death, becomes a Hollow, and becomes the Nel we always loved. She can't be defeated even in Hollow state because she knows Ichigo isn't evil. Just playing for laughs (or maybe tears), though.
- So once Cerebus Syndrome kicks in, Miura will truly become Cardbo via Powered Armor and Asagi will become psychic to help her Mind Screw powers. Most of the other characters will get a similar upgrade. Except Fuka.
It would explain the whole "green hair" thing.
- So basically Yotsuba has the same plot as Princess Maker 2? Wonder when Koiwai will start sending her to magic classes..
- Well, if Yanda is the devil... maybe she'll eventually marry him and kill him for his position? If Koiwai isn't somewhat careful, that is...
- Or alternatively, Chiyo is her mother. Didn't Chiyo go overseas?
- Nonsense. The "Extra Lessons" in volume 2 of the revised manga clearly show Tomo wearing Yotsuba's trademark "Kodomo Usagi" t-shirt. They both have almost the same personality and maturity level, to boot. I guess Dad isn't such a great parent, after all.
- So Koiwai turned into an anthropomorphic yellow cat! Wait...um...
- You'll need to explain the difference in family name and wealth.
- Sasaki?
- Sorry, Sakakinote . However, by pure coincidence and nothing to do with a certain troper's Gushing About Characters You Like, yes.
- Spelling fixed... You can change it back if you liked it better that way.
- I certainly agree with you on the Sakaki being Torako's sister part, I don't about the other part though. Both of 'em are Tall And Dark Bishoujo, and if you look at their eyes there's a similarity.
- Sorry, Sakakinote . However, by pure coincidence and nothing to do with a certain troper's Gushing About Characters You Like, yes.
- She'll see a Mecha Anime at some point and will be inspired to make a manga (possibly with Ena's help) about Danbo based off of what she saw.
- WARNING. MAY BE DEPRESSING. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED She finds out that Danbo isn't real and goes in to a state of depression and denial and makes it in order to cope. This may tie in to the Downer Ending WMG on Poison Oak Epileptic Trees
- Three words to tie the sub-guesses together: Neon Genesis Evangelion.
- Why else would Aizen be in her town.[[See?]]
- Oh God, I can't unsee it now!
- Well, if it IS him, living in wherever Yotsuba lives has done a reverse corruption on him. I wonder what would happen if she hugged him.
- She's green-haired, named for a plant, hows a love for animals and plants, and is amazed by everything in human society.
Then along comes a young, idealistic Japanese man, eager to put his skills as a translator to work in a place where he can actually make a difference. Be it by chance or fate, the two cross paths. The man offers the girl a sweet as a token kindness, which the girl gladly devours. Upon closer inspection, the man notices the girl's incredibly disheveled appearance. Without knowing this poor girl's circumstances, and being at a complete loss for anything else to do for her, he figures the least he can do is try to wash away some of the grime off her face and hair.
The girl goes along with it, if only in the hope that the strange man will give her more food. After washing her hair the man tries to do something to fix the tangled mess it has become, but his inexpert hands somehow manage to tie off the girl's hair in four separate place. The result is four oddly-shaped lumps of hair sticking out from the girl's head. Chuckling slightly at his handiwork, the man remarks that the girl looks like a 'Yotsuba', a four leaf clover.
The girl was only partially aware of the concept of 'names'; in her experience they were something that only applied to other people. But the the man's kind smile and the warm feeling behind his words make something go 'click' inside the girl's tiny head. Thoughts of warmth, and happiness, and belonging flooded every corner of her mind. She thought of the man's gentle touch as he washed her face, and of the sweetness of the candy.
But among all these feelings, one idea dwarfed them all. An idea of such colossal importance it might as well be the meaning of life. Which, for this little girl, is exactly what this idea, this question, this hope represented.
'I'm a ... Yotsuba?'
- tl;don't know why I read. But that makes sense. I doubt that Yotsuba is her real name. After all, she's probably not Japanese. Personally, I think her hair was just kind of like that when Koiwai first met her, and as no one knew her name, he decided to name her after her hairdo.
- All three have a somewhat similar appearance, namely somewhat masculine female.
- All three have similarly laid back personalities.
- All three are friends with exactly one of the Ayase sisters.
- This troper agrees. They took a vacation to Okinawa together in volume 2, and by the looks of it, they were alone together. They're always going places as a pair, Jumbo even thinks that they're dating(he assumed that because he thought Tora was a guy, but it's still ship tease).
- To me, it looked like she was saying Fuuka was cute the way, say, Sakaki thinks Chiyo-chan is cute (stuff it, Crackshippers), rather than how Kaorin thinks Sakaki is cute. Unless you meant throughout her presence in the chapter, in which case I didn't notice (there are other, extremely subtle clues elsewhere in the series, but nothing that couldn't be interpreted as Torako not being overtly rude to Asagi's "kid sister" [not a quote], up to and including that thing in the hot air ballon chapter). That doesn't keep Asagi and Torako from being an item, though. (...Hey, why are there No Bisexuals!?)
- *SPAZZ* *SPAZZ*
This could explain why she has Chiyo-chichi stuff.
(Well, she does have green hair and at one point stands in a flower fridge.)
Chiyo was an early-generation prototype; after the corporation found that her only notable trait at age 1 was a prodigy-level intellect, they decided to ship her to Japan and observe her as she grew up. What they don't know is that she has the ability to unconsciously implant ideas in susceptible people (read: Osaka and Sakaki), which explains why both of them identify the strange cat-thing as Chiyo's father; she never had one, and the cat-thing is the psychic projection of her subconscious image of a father-figure.
Yotsuba was a much more sophisticated prototype, gullible and easily-controlled but with far more destructive powers; the green hair is a side effect of the process, and may indicate the presence of chloroplasts (allowing her to photosynthesize and hence to operate without food in an extended combat situation - ever wonder why she always seems so full of energy?).
Mr. Koiwai, being an investigative journalist, found out about the Mihama Corporation's lab and attempted to infiltrate it (possibly getting a job as a translator) to find out what was really going on; when an accident caused Yotsuba's powers to go out of control and destroy a large section of the lab, he rescued her and escaped.
Koiwai was later approached by agents of the corporation who offered him a bargain: if he didn't publish anything on them, they would help Yotsuba to live a normal life as his daughter. For her sake, he accepted - this is why the manga emphasizes the wonder of a "normal life" so strongly, and also why, despite doing a surprisingly small amount of actual writing, he seems to be able to support both of them fairly well.
Of course, the Mihama Corporation is still watching them very closely - what are the odds that someone close to them is in the corporation's employ?
- Nio? Explain please
- The Nio. The article even mentions the reference in Yotsuba&!.
- Is this why his "real" name is so boring and old-fashioned? It's an alias?
- Хлопцы, це радіоактивні сало з Чорнобиля!translation from Ukrainian
- Alternatively, it's no secret. If he was really bad, Koiwai and Jumbo simply wouldn't put up with him - if you consider the interactions between them, particularly on the way to the farm/dairy, and at the yakiniku restaurant, the three of them get along rather well. Yanda's not a bad guy. Most of his antics wouldn't be out of place among friends, and indeed Koiwai and Jumbo know him well enough that they can take his behaviour in good humour, just as he intends it, even if he is a bit insensitive and occasionally takes things too far. He tries to play around with Yotsuba in the same way, but he's inexperienced with kids, and Yotsuba, being a little kid, and a somewhat odd one at that, at first takes him to be a real villain... And then, as she gets used to him, learns to play along with and enjoy his harmless antagonism - Enjoy Everything!