Grand Comic Reading Project #2: Yotsuba

[jbradfor]

MUST ... HAVE ... MORE ... YOTSUBA ...

Are there .cbz files available for the other volumes? Or do I just need to read it on-line? Or just stop being so cheap and just buy it....

[Gleaves]

You can get it off of verycd here, but feihong may have an easier/quicker way.

I didn't pick up that 四葉 was adopted (I did note it on Wikipedia a few days ago, but hadn't picked it up from the story). I knew she looked different (she has green hair, after all), but wasn't really sure what the deal was.

巨无霸 is pretty funny. I loved the whole going to the neighbors for a tv bit.

Also, what's up with 小岩井先生 and 風香 having pretty much the same haircut.

[feihong]

I've gone ahead and uploaded Volume 2 and made a link to it on the Yotsuba profile page.

[feihong]

You may want to give the verycd downloads a shot, since the scan quality on the portal sites is very inconsistent in the middle volumes.

Also, when individual chapters are posted, they are generally fan translations and some of them are in simplified characters. Ayase Asagi's name keeps getting butchered since her given name doesn't have any Chinese characters in it (Asagi is the eldest sister).

[Gleaves]

What's the meaning of the salt throwing (撒鹽) on page 139? 風香 does it as they leave with the tv.

[jbradfor]

I missed that. Maybe I should have read the small writing outside the dialog box <_<

From here:

In Shintoism, Salt is used to purify object and space. For example, Sumo wrestlers throw salt before fighting on the stage, and Japanese mount salt on a small plate to place at a corner of a room (home or restaurants). Some old Japanese person might throw handful of salt outside of the door after uninvited guests leave to purify the house.

I think here she is getting them back for calling her 美少女.

[Gleaves]

Gotcha. That's pretty funny. She was pretty vexed by Jumbo not referring to her as 美 after he meets the big sis. I'm thoroughly entertained by what a weirdo Jumbo is. Love that he howled at 惠那.

[Gleaves]

I finished up volume 1 a few days ago. I would have loved to have had this comic when I first jumped into Chinese manga. The main "plot" is very simple, but there manages to be just enough going on that you want to continue reading. Good fun all around.

Also, that vocab list is looking pretty darn good. Well done.

[feihong]

FYI, the CBZ for volume 3 has been uploaded. Get it from the Yotsuba profile page.

UPDATE: Volume 4 has also been uploaded. As well as Volume 5. Please note that there is a noticeable drop in scan quality in these volumes, although you should be able to make out most of the speech bubble text. Some of the little text might not be legible, though.

[renzhe]

Awesome, thanks.

I don't know what the appeal of this comic is, as nothing ever happens, but it's very entertaining to read anyway. I think that it's the very clean, yet detailed and realistic drawing, coupled with believable characters and a positive, feel-good atmosphere.

[jbradfor]

What does the title of chapter 11, 咚麥, mean?

How would you translate 濛佈朗 (in chapter 12)? From google images it appears to be the cylinder-shaped chocolate topping. I'm assuming "濛佈朗" is a transliteration from French, but I guess I don't know my cooking terms will enough to figure out the original.

Similarly, how does one parse 爛泥巴? 爛泥 and 泥巴 are both words (in MDBG). I assume it's 爛 泥巴.

[feihong, thanks for all the other volumes!]

[renzhe]

You'll understand 咚麥 in context.

I don't remember 爛泥巴, but it looks like it could also be onomatopoeia. Which chapter/page is it on?

[edelweis]

Apparently 濛佈朗 = Mont-Blanc, not a cooking term but rather the name of a pastry (and a mountain in the Alps).

From images it looks like strings of a mix of chestnut paste (crème de marrons) and whipped cream. The core looks like chantilly. Apparently it is sometimes topped with a glob of white cream (which would explain the Mont-Blanc name?).

I've eaten similar pastries in the past but they had other names. Beyond some basic common pastries like éclair au chocolat, each region and even each shop may have their own names and their own pastries.

http://www.google.com/images?q=mont-blanc+patisserie

[jbradfor]

I don't remember 爛泥巴, but it looks like it could also be onomatopoeia. Which chapter/page is it on?

In this context I'm pretty sure it's not. It's on page 75 (file 40.jpg), 惠那 just ordered the 濛佈朗, and 四叶 says "那个馅看起来像爛泥巴一样". I'm pretty sure she's comparing it to disgusting oozy mud, but I'm not sure how to parse it.

[speaking of such, I just loved the drawing of 惠那 on the top of page 74, when she was deciding on what to order. The concentration on her face is perfect.]

Also, thanks edelweis!

I don't know what the appeal of this comic is, as nothing ever happens, but it's very entertaining to read anyway.

I don't think I would have enjoyed this nearly as much a couple years ago, before we had a kid..... I'm not saying one needs to have kids to enjoy this, but I do think it helps if one has had a lot of experience with little kids, either your own or somebody else's.

[feihong]

Volume 6 of Yotsuba has been uploaded: http://www.divshare.com/download/12843080-6a3

[jbradfor]

On page 135, 四叶 tells the other people to swim like a 秋刀魚. Is there anything special about this type of fish that is relevant here? Or is the type of fish irrelevant?

[feihong]

@jbradfor

Which volume are you referring to?

[jbradfor]

Riiiight, the page numbers reset at each volume.....

Volume 2, the 游泳池 story.

[feihong]

For reference, we are talking about this page:

http://www.dm5.com/Comic/MH19/Comics-19032_246a1191_page-70.htm

I think Yotsuba talking about 秋刀魚 was just an instance of offbeat humor. Her students are just as confused about it as we are.

[jbradfor]

Current wordlist for volumes 1 and 2, in "CCDICT format". Note that there are a number of uncertain words, so your YMMV.

yotsuba.list.txt