Yozakura Quartet Vol. 2

Rating T+ Genre manga Author Suzuhito Yasuda Publisher Del Rey

There are times when the premise of a manga is quite an interesting one.  It will usually have a unique storyline and likeable characters, and hold the ability to keep the reader interested in whatever volume they happen to pick up, leaving them thirsting for the continuation of the story. This was not the case at all for me with Yozakura Quartet Volume 2. This was the first manga I’ve read where I found myself really struggling to get through the pages, and noticing the faults of this story more than the strong points.

Yozakura Quartet Vol. 2 is about a myriad of characters who live in Sakurashin , a town that is threatened by supernatural beings. One of the main characters is Akina, a regular human who resides in Sakurashin and is the only resident without special abilities. Akina tries his best to defend Sakurashin along with the help of Hime, the mayor of Sakurashin (who oddly enough is also in high school), Kotoha who has the ability to materialize words, and Ao, a demon who can read others’ minds. The story crawls along with some basic character interaction with Akina and a few other people I don’t know about because their purpose in the story is pretty much never explained. Sakurashin is surrounded by seven pillars that allow demons to tune in and out between the current world and the afterworld.   In order to avoid mass chaos and keep order restored, Akina and his crew are working to try and figure out what will stop the evil entities from flowing in and out of town, and Akina learns of his role in the restoration.

This story has the potential to be a really great read, but what killed it for me was the delivery….or lack thereof.  This is the second volume of the manga, so it’s understandable that I’d feel a little lost. However, there have been other mangas where I’ve read a third or fourth volume and have had no problem picking up the story. Yozakura Quartet Vol.2 however, assumes that you should know by now what’s going on, doesn’t rehash on any past incidences and is very muddy with character introduction. It does provide a who’s-who in the beginning but doesn’t include everyone or what their power is, if any at all.   At the beginning of each chapter is a rough sketch of a character, but other than their name only provides an age, and unnecessary information such as what their favorite food or music is.  There were also times where I wasn’t sure if I was reading a flashback or something that was supposed to happening in modern-day. The panels don’t always flow very easily or provide a side note of any kind if there is in fact a memory occurring.

In order to add a positive comment, I’ll commend on the animation. The drawings are very nicely done and aren’t the typical chibi expressions. Many of the panels have a lot of depth to them, and there’s an amusing bonus manga with a cute cartoonish character, which I actually enjoyed.

It may just be me, but I found Yozakura Quartet Vol. 2 very muddled and hard to follow. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone looking into manga for the first time, because this just might turn them off completely, and those who are just looking for a good story about people with supernatural abilities have many more mangas to choose from.  Unless you were a big fan of the first volume, I’d say leave this one on the shelf and go for something else.