Here's another week of me arbitrarily picking what manga to read from my library list. BACKGROUND:
As you can probably guess from my intro, I don't know anything about this manga going in. I just thought the title was interesting, because it sounded like a band name. SUMMARY: Yozakura Quartet is not a band with four members, but instead refers to four teenagers who protect and help the residents of Sakurashin as part of the Hiizumi Life Counseling Office. Sakurashin is no ordinary town, either, as supernatural beings and phenomena are commonplace, making the work of the main characters more complicated than just simple law enforcement. The main characters are Hime, a superpowered girl who also happens to be the mayor of the town, Ao, a telepathic satori, Kotoha, who's basically a spellcaster that can manifest or conjure anything by emphasizing her words, and Akina, who is both the only guy and regular human of the group. They also introduce siblings Kyosuke and Toka (big brother and little sister respectively) as part of the group, but they serve more of a minor supporting role (at least for now). I felt like the book didn't do a great job of introducing them, because they were just kind of in the background until the story suddenly began featuring them as if the book had already properly showcased them. This volume takes its time to set the stage by establishing the status quo and showcasing each main character. Each member of the quartet gets their own chapter centered around them, but in general, the formula is the team working to solve problems around town. This naturally includes fighting dangerous foes like criminals and demons, but they also try to solve other problems like helping regular citizens, improving the town, and training with each other. Each character is given a bit of time to establish their quirks and personality, though a lot of their backstory is still shrouded in mystery at this point. The only one who gets a flashback in this volume is Hime, which shows a tiny bit of her life before she became mayor. Overall, there's not a lot yet to each character to determine the trajectory of their respective arcs as the series progresses, but these early chapters lay down a few foundations that may lead to something later on (particularly for Ao and Hime, who get chapters with a bit of emotional weight to them). So far, the overall tone of the book is comedic (especially with the goofy dynamic between the characters), though as I mentioned, some characters have chapters where the events are a bit more serious or heavy. It's hard for me to tell this early on if the series will maintain a fair bit of levity or eventually transition into a more serious tone as conflicts are introduced. There isn't a lot of world-building in this volume regarding the whole thing about the supernatural not being out of place in the town, apart from the existence of a protective structure referred to as The Seven Pillars. I'm hoping later chapters flesh out the world a lot more. As of now, there's not really an overarching conflict, but this volume already teases a villainous character plotting to wreak havoc on the town (though the specifics are not discussed at all). There's also a hint that this mysterious fellow has a personal connection with one of the main cast, which is bound to add further intrigue. The art style is largely simple in my eyes, between most things looking flat in terms of shading and textures and not boasting that many intricate details. As such, more dynamic or detailed panels really stand out (like fight scenes), though if you're looking for the bulk of the art to have a striking appearance, this volume doesn't really accomplish that. VERDICT: Yozakura Quartet has an interesting setting and a solid main cast right off the bat, but this volume is mostly just laying the groundwork for whatever story is about to take place. As such, I had a bit of trouble getting into the book, but I can definitely see the potential of what they have here. I hope later chapters flesh out the supernatural aspects of the world, build upon the solid foundations of each main character (and challenge/evolve their current team dynamic), and get the big conflict going. I'm not sure I can really recommend this book based on the first volume alone, but I'm confident that later volumes have more of what I'm looking for. On that note, this might be worth checking out if you like stories with yokai or the supernatural superhero team vibe the story is giving off. - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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