Yotsuba&! is a manga written and drawn by Kiyohiko Azuma, and published in Japan by ASCII Media Works in the monthly magazine Dengeki Daioh. The chapters have been collected in 16 volumes, with further chapters appearing in Dengeki Daioh to be collected in format over time. The series was licensed in English by ADV Manga, with five volumes published; volume six was scheduled to be published February 2008 but was delayed indefinitely. Yen Press announced at New York Comic Con 2009 that they had acquired the North American license for the English release of the manga; volume six was released in September 2009 along with new translations of the first five volumes, with later volumes to follow. The series has been licensed in France by Kurokawa, in Spain by Norma Editorial, in Germany by Tokyopop Germany, in Italy by Dynit, in Finland by Punainen jättiläinen, in Korea by Daiwon C.I., in Taiwan by Kadokawa Media, in Vietnam by IPM, in Indonesia by Elex Media Komputindo, and in Thailand by NED Comics.
Yotsuba&! follows the daily life of a young girl named Yotsuba Koiwai and her adoptive father, with each chapter taking place on a specific, nearly sequential day of a common year starting on Wednesday. The year was initially believed to be 2003, coinciding with the date of the manga's serialization, but Azuma has stated that the manga always takes place in the present day.
Official story dates through volume five are given by a small artbook, Yotsuba&! Illustrations and Materials, distributed in Japan with volume six and Yotsuba & Monochrome Animals; dates from volume six on are established by evidence within the series, such as statements by characters, and by statements by Azuma. The collected volumes have seven chapters each, spanning about a week in series time. The first five volumes cover a summer vacation period. __TOC__
List of volumes and chapters Note: This list uses official English-translated titles through volume 15, unofficial Japanese translations thereafter.
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| colspan="2" |Story date: 19 July 20 July (morning) 20 July (afternoon) 21 July 22 July 24 July 25 July |- style="border-bottom: 3px solid #093;" | colspan="5" | On the last day of the spring semester, Yotsuba and her father Koiwai move into their new house and meet the neighboring Ayase girls, Asagi, Fuuka, and Ena. As the Koiwais settle in, they encounter problems, including a broken bathroom lock and Yotsuba needing to learn about polite greetings, air conditioners, and the proper uses of doorbells. Fuuka offers the Koiwais her family's old television, and when Koiwai's friend Jumbo helps carry it, the Ayases are impressed by his height. For other household goods, Koiwai takes Yotsuba shopping at a department store for the first time. Jumbo takes Yotsuba and Ena cicada-catching, and they return to show off their catch to Mrs. Ayase. The next day, after Fuuka helps Yotsuba bring in the Koiwais' forgotten laundry, Yotsuba plays in the rain.
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| colspan="2" |Story date: 27 July 30 July 31 July 4 August 7 August 8 August 9 August |- style="border-bottom: 3px solid #093;" | colspan="5" | Yotsuba tags along when Ena and her friend Miura go drawing in the park. After watching a gangster movie, Yotsuba takes revenge on the Ayases with her water pistol. The next day, Mrs. Ayase sends Ena, Miura, and Yotsuba to buy cake from a bakery. After working all night on a deadline, Koiwai falls asleep, leaving Yotsuba to watch the house on her own. In a failed attempt to get closer to Asagi, Jumbo takes Yotsuba, Fuuka, and Ena swimming at the pool. When Yotsuba catches a bullfrog, Ena adores it but Miura is frightened of it. Asagi returns from an Okinawa vacation with souvenirs for her family—and leftover sata andagi for Yotsuba.
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| colspan="2" |Story date: 10 August (daytime) 10 August (evening) 11 August 12 August 14 August 16 August 17 August |- style="border-bottom: 3px solid #093;" | colspan="5" | To thank Asagi, Yotsuba travels to the playground for a souvenir for her and her friend Torako. In return, Asagi buys Yotsuba a package of fireworks. While helping Fuuka shop at Jumbo's flower shop, Yotsuba buys all the leftover stock for ¥10. The next day, during Obon, Koiwai sends Yotsuba, dressed as the "Flower Cupid", to give away excess flowers. The next day, Koiwai takes Yotsuba on her first visit to a zoo to see an elephant. In another attempt to get close to Asagi, Jumbo takes Yotsuba, Ena, and Miura to a fireworks show, where Yotsuba learns that crowds can be scary and that display fireworks are more impressive than firecrackers.
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Intermission.
| colspan="2" |Story date: 18 August 19 August 20 August Intermission. Several days 21 August 22 August 24 August |- style="border-bottom: 3px solid #093;" | colspan="5" | To give Miura a "summer vacation memory", Jumbo takes her, Yotsuba, and Ena fishing. Koiwai and Yotsuba go shopping for dinner, but he forgets his wallet and they must borrow money from Fuuka. When Fuuka sees the boy she likes with another girl, Yotsuba tries to understand, then console, her broken heart. After Ena takes Yotsuba to radio exercises for the first time, she invites Yotsuba over for breakfast, where Yotsuba decides to become a newspaperman. Her career ends, however, when The Yotsuba Times publishes the secret of Fuuka's heartbreak to the rest of the family. After dreaming of being a tsukutsukubōshi, Yotsuba dresses up as one, only to learn that they are not summer-ending fairies but a type of cicada.
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| colspan="2" |Story date: 25 August 26 August 27 August 28 August 29 August 30 August (morning) 30 August (daytime) |- style="border-bottom: 3px solid #093;" | colspan="5" | When Ena and Miura make a robot costume out of cardboard boxes, Yotsuba believes it is a real robot, and Ena refuses to let Miura crush her dreams by telling her the truth. Yotsuba helps Mrs. Ayase with household chores and then meets Koiwai's kōhai, Yanda, whom she instantly dislikes. To help with Ena's homework, Jumbo takes her, Miura, Yotsuba, and Fuuka stargazing. During rainy day errands, Yotsuba misinterprets Koiwai's excuse for not going to the ocean, "There'll be jellyfish!" as a promise to go see the jellyfish, and invites Ena and Fuuka along. When she throws a tantrum, he gives in and the four spend the afternoon at the beach.
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| colspan="2" |Story date: 31 AugustDate is shown on a calendar. 1 SeptemberKoiwai says, "September starts today," and Yotsuba changes all the calendar pages. 2 SeptemberThe day after chapter 36: Yotsuba's bicycle was "just bought" the day before. 5 SeptemberTakes place on the next Friday. 7 SeptemberTakes place on Sunday, with Mr. Ayase at home for the weekend, and chapter 39 takes place the next day on a school day. 8 SeptemberThe day after chapter 39, and a school day. 11 SeptemberTakes place on Jumbo's day off, so is the Thursday before chapter 43. |- style="border-bottom: 3px solid #093;" | colspan="5" | On the last day of summer vacation, as Miura desperately finishes her homework, Yotsuba gives herself the assignment of constructing a utility shirt out of recycled materials. Koiwai takes Yotsuba shopping for a bicycle. After a few falls, she learns to ride it and uses it to accompany Asagi and Torako on an errand. Yotsuba tries out more careers, first as an office worker by writing memos, then as a milkman, delivering a bottle of milk to Fuuka at her high school. For riding off without permission, Koiwai takes away her bicycle privileges, but after she helps him and Jumbo build some bookshelves, he restores them.
| colspan="3" |Chapter list: Serialized in Dengeki Daioh as よつばと敬老の日, which is the same title written in kanji. Serialized in Dengeki Daioh as . Serialized in Dengeki Daioh as よつばとパティシエ; ぱちしえ is small child's pronunciation of パティシエ.
Serialized in Dengeki Daioh as . Serialized in Dengeki Daioh as . | colspan="2" |Story date: uncertain 15 SeptemberDate, shown on a calendar, of Respect for the Aged Day in a common year starting on Wednesday. 18 SeptemberChapters 47 and 48 take place one week later, on Jumbo's next regular Thursday off. uncertain uncertain 25 September (morning)Yanda says, "Today is 25 September." 25 September (daytime)Starts soon after the end of chapter 47. |- style="border-bottom: 3px solid #093;" | colspan="5" | Ena and Miura show Yotsuba how to make a paper-cup telephone, which they string between Koiwai's office and Fuuka's bedroom, and then take her on a bike ride to the playground of their elementary school. Because of Yotsuba's continuing interest in how milk is produced, Koiwai plans a trip to a farm, but this is put off when she gets a fever. Yotsuba helps Fuuka and Fuuka's classmate (Hiwatari, nicknamed Miss Stake) bake an elaborate cake as practice for their school cultural festival. When Koiwai wants instant ramen for lunch, Yotsuba insists on running the errand by herself for the first time. Koiwai, Jumbo, and Yanda take Yotsuba on her long-delayed farm visit, where she meets sheep and learns how to milk a cow.
| colspan="3" |Chapter list: Serialized over two months as "Part 1" and "Part 2" in Dengeki Daioh. | colspan="2" |Story date: 26 September 27 SeptemberChapter 49 and chapter 50 are another days. And the festival is next week. 28 SeptemberIn chapter 50, Yotsuba says Fuuka's Culture Festival is "tomorrow". Weekday, date uncertain 2 OctoberThursday between Chapter 48 and 59. Takes place on Jumbo's day off, so is a Thursday. 4 OctoberSaturday between Chapter 48 and 59. Yotsuba says "Today is Saturday"; in chapter 50, the festival is to be "next week." 6 OctoberIn Chapter 54, the festival is said to last another day. |- style="border-bottom: 3px solid #093;" | colspan="5" | Still excited from her trip to the dairy farm, Yotsuba brings the Ayases a souvenir of butter toffees and is fascinated by Mrs. Ayase's mail-order catalog. The next day, Mrs. Ayase tells Koiwai about the cart-pulling festival the following week, while Yotsuba confuses him with her "opposites game." When he takes Yotsuba out for lunch, Yotsuba runs into Torako and manages to order for herself. Yotsuba and Koiwai attend the cultural festival at Fuuka's high school, where Yotsuba is disappointed with the plain pound cake her class serves. Yotsuba is excited by her first typhoon, and insists on going next door in the torrential downpour. When Fuuka warns her that she will fly away in the wind, Yotsuba goes back outside to test this. Jumbo babysits Yotsuba while Koiwai is out, and when Yanda shows up to eat his instant ramen, he helps Yotsuba defends the house from the "intruder". Yotsuba and Ena help pull a children's cart in the aforementioned festival, where Yotsuba is visibly impressed by the happi, the taiko drum, Jumbo's tengu costume, exposed butts, and the amount of candy she receives. Koiwai takes Yotsuba shopping for autumn clothes, but when they pass a park she insists on collecting as many acorns as she can.
| colspan="3" |Chapter list: Serialized with "yakiniku" written with kanji, as "焼き肉".
Serialized in Dengeki Daioh with the same title as the previous chapter. | colspan="2" |Story date: 7 OctoberVolume 9 covers about a week of story time starting from 7 October. 8 OctoberAnother day, so therefore 8 October. 9 OctoberThe next day: Ena apologizes for scolding her in the previous chapter. 10 OctoberThe poster at the yakiniku restaurant, JuuJuu, says 10 October is the day of the half-price offer ("10 10" is pronounced juu juu). 11 or 12 OctoberIn chapter 61, which takes place on the next day, Torako's flier says the balloon festival is on the 11th, 12th, and 13th. Ena mentions that today is part of a three-day weekend, so this chapter takes place on Saturday the 11th or Sunday the 12th.