Yozakura Quartet Vol. #01

By John Zakrzewski     April 10, 2008
Release Date: February 26, 2008



Creative Talent
Writer/Artist:Suzuhito Yasuda
Translated by:Satsuki Yamashita
Adapted by:Nunzio DeFilipis and Christina Weir

What They Say
Hime is a superheroine. Ao can read minds. Kotoha can conjure up anything with the right word. And Akina... Well, he's just a regular guy, surrounded by three supergirls! Together, they protect the town of Sakurashin. But that's not easy, as the town faces demon dogs and supernatural threats!

The Review
Packaging:

Since previewing Yozakura Quartet Volume 1 some months back, I've been eagerly awaiting a finished copy of this enjoyable little manga, and am happy to relate the series' charms have not waned on me in its intervening absence.

Accompanied by a pleasing satin finish, Del Rey has done a commendable job replicating the original Japanese cover sans the logo's quirky L-shaped inscription of Yozakura Quartet in both kanji and katakana. Though some textual elements are otherwise jockeyed around, the arresting image of a lovely Hime and her guitar posed against a stark white background remains untouched, as does the relative placement of the title, which the purest within still appreciates being in its English/Japanese hybrid form and not translated out into something clunky like, "Nighttime Cherry Blossom Quartet."

Artwork:

Much like a fluttering shower of cherry blossoms framing a beautiful young woman, accenting manga-ka Suzuhito Yasuda's budding effort is his enticingly minimalist artwork. Upon first spying Yozakura Quartet, a strong sense of familiarity emanated from its attractive cover piece, enough to float me onto the Internet for some speedy research revealing Yasuda as the character designer on the comic iteration of Kamisama Kazoku, making him the provider of visual inspiration for the 2006 anime adaptation that I quite fancied. This time around, he's in charge of both scripting and drawing. While the volume's storytelling is rather green and could use some tending, his illustrative skill greatly helps mask this weakness.

Yasuda's style is built upon simple, defined line work, offset by heavy and often straight-black shading which creates a gorgeous contrast thanks to a savvy use of negative space; his is an exceedingly clean look reminiscent of visuals found in many of today's trendy anime. The book's actions sequences are, however, a tad difficult to follow, as they impart significant visual chaos; one almost gets the impression he lacks understanding on how to convey successive rapid movements without covering the generally smooth imagery in unneeded optical clutter.

But where Yasuda's talents shine brightest is in the designs of the main female trio: Hime, Ao, and Kotoha. The way Ao's ears blend into her hair, Kotoha's expressive eyes, or the unique silhouette of Hime's school outfit: it's the care he puts into these three that positions them as distinct showcases of virtuous femininitysexy without being half-naked and captivating in their ability to allure without appearing exploitive, Yasuda's females carry attention in a positive manner, allowing readers to focus on discovering their character instead of loosing themselves in cleavage and panty shots. As such, their appeal imparts an even greater impact, establishing them as the book's most memorable facet.

Text/Translation:

Unevenness is present in the textual areas, as well. Things read smoothly, and Japanese sounds effects are left intact with small, unobtrusive English translations listed near their general vicinity. This does, occasionally, cause noticeable clutter, courtesy of the character Kotoha and her power over words: instances transpire where the amount of effects on a single page (or in a single panel) make me question whether it might not have been more advantageous to place a note in the margin covering the translation as opposed to labeling each individual sound.

I also take issue with the volume's "Translation Notes" section, not for what's included but rather what I find it omits. A few words crop-up during the story's course (like kotodama and satori) that, missing from this appendix, forced me to Google for assistancethe extent their total meaning can be inferred from the script alone is negligible enough that entries really should have been included for reader clarity.

Content:

Speaking of illuminating commentary, an interesting tidbit provided by the manga-ka in the book's omake (bonus) section reveals how the five chapters presented in this volume held a different ordering when they were originally serialized in Shonen Sirius Magazine. Insignificant as this may sound, the revised arrangement unfortunately serves to intensify Yozakura Quartet Volume 1's most prominent flawthe book is, decidedly, somewhat confusing.

Moments upon opening the cover, we're confronted with the image of a lean girl with long, dark hair wearing a school uniform and a billowing muffler; arms crossed, she rigidly poses, several feet off the ground, atop a narrow speaker pole. This is Hime Yarizakura, who quickly reminds a companion at street level to refer to her only as "Mayor" when on duty. Forget dwelling on how Hime managed to attain this lofty perchwhich she effortlessly dismountsor why she demands to be called "Mayor," more pertinent matters require our attention, like catching a crazed gunman and meeting the remaining principal characters.

As you'll eventually learn, Hime is in fact mayor of Sakurashin Town, a quaint-urban community with more than its share of occult happenings. Not to worry, though; Hime's seemingly no stranger when it comes to dealing with preternatural beasties and even has her own set of abnormal powers to aid the philanthropic ghost busting. Lending her a hand with these otherworldly issues and the town's general day-to-day bothers are the employees of the Hiizumi Life Counseling Office: Akina Hiizumi (just your average Joe), the busty glasses-wearing school girl Kotoha Isone (a kotodama, which we're never directly informed is a spiritualist with power over words), and Ao, a cat girl with telepathic abilities. Alongside Hime and her demon man-servant Kyosuke, the small group strives to create a peaceful life for the residents of Sakurashin, while defending them from clandestine evils attempting to harm this unsuspecting populace.

Comments
Certainly, an effective technique to force acceptance of a story's many contrivances is throwing readers immediately into the thick of things; this, however, is a risky tactic that employed without the utmost planning runs the greater risk of leaving people perplexed or, worse, embarrassed over their presumed inability to grasp the material.

Yozakura Quartet Volume 1 from the very start requires acknowledgment of some rather counter intuitive concepts. With little to nothing in the way of explanation, the first chapter had me sheepishly questioning why Himewho insisted on being called "Mayor" (a term with such specific meaning, unlike "boss" or "leader")was able to jump around like a sentai hero; the appearance of a second super powered school girl and a cat-eared demon didn't exactly improve matters, either. Subduing the turmoil over my lacking cognizance, I reasonably assumed the fog obscuring these, and other, anomalies would soon clear.

No such luck. As previously mentioned, the chapters in this volume were rearranged from their serialized publication; the original Chapter 2 does indeed smooth things out, if only a little, but now its contents are preceded by a two-part story arc. Besides muddling the pacing, the desired clarifying material gets buried under fresh mysteries, further complicating the ever-growing enigma. By the time we finally reach the true Chapter 2, any big reveals have lost a good deal of their impact

Yet the premise is honestly rather charming in its amalgam of comedy and slice-of-life elementslike helping a depressed childfused to a supernatural action manga. Hime's adamant desire to protect her citizenry and betters their lives acts as a welcome catalyst for mellowing the mostly exaggerated circumstances, injecting the series with a wholesome layer of normalcy. Here again, the book's finest qualities are embodied most prominently by the central female cast, Ao, Kotoha, and especially Hime, whose engaging personalities effortlessly dominate both the reader's attention and their male co-stars. Akina, for his part, does act as a foil for the three women, though what's most refreshing about his "average Joe" role is none of the girls are endlessly fawning over him. With a setup that so easily could degenerate into a high school romance, it's refreshing to see the women of Yozakura are anything but Harem fodder.

Another conspicuous skit found within the omake section has Yasuda recounting a friend's statement that "the story only gets interesting in Volume 2." There's no question this initial book does not jive, and minus the lovely artwork, these chapters would have been a significantly more difficult undertaking. With that said, Yozakura Quartet's tenacious female cast and pleasant atmosphereonce combined with Yasuda's artistic skillhas the legitimate potential to orchestrate a worthwhile series, particularly for those who enjoy offbeat occult manga. While it'll be some months before the aforementioned quip concerning Volume 2 can be tested, there's enough promise found within this inceptive compilation to tempt a second visit to Sakurashin Town.

[On side note, please forgive this humble reviewer's blatant plagiarism of himself, but I thought it silly to write a completely new article.]