ReviewMa!: Yozakura Quartet – Four’s a Crowd

Thanksgiving time. Time for food, family and both Christmas and Black Friday commercials. Seriously, Black Friday is dead ahead and people are already lined up at retail stores, ready to get their sales on. Personally, I think I’ll stick to Cyber Monday: better deals, less hassle. But anyway, seeing as this is my fourth review (technically 3rd,) I decided to review an old Kodansha manga by the name of Yozakura Quartet by Suzuhito Yasuda.

The story takes place in the town of Sakurashin, a city co-inhabited by humans as well as demons. The town is circled by six “spiritual sakura”, each of which will eventually bloom over time. Within the town of Sakurashin exists the Hiizumi Life Counseling Office, with which our main characters Akina, Kotoha, Ao, and the mayor Hime exist to work towards the improvement of Sakurashin.

The story, while being simple at first, eventually begins to develop its antagonists later on in the series. Overall, the story gets pretty interesting once you begin the book itself. And while it may start off as an easy story, it’s easy to get hooked. The main characters shine throughout the 1st book with each character having their own dynamic. Other characters do get introduced later in the series, with some only playing bit parts. You can easily tell that the setting was something that was highly thought of.

While the first book shows some of the characters dealing with lighter issues, there are also some chapters in which some action takes place for those that want that kind of thing. A fair warning though: if you read the first volume, it would probably be in your best interests to read the second volume as well in order to determine whether you want to continue the series. But, for those that decide to stick around for the rest, you’ll be fairly entertained. It’s certainly not the best manga out there, but it’s a good read for those looking for a subtle read.