Manga Review: Yozakura Quartet Defies Superhero Formula

As I get ready to dive into the New York Comic-Con fray tomorrow, I found myself comparing American comics and manga. One main difference is the American obsession with super-powered heroes and heroines, and the stylistic differences in how these characters look and act compared to their manga counterparts.

Then I picked up Yozakura Quartet Volume 1 by Suzuhito Yasuda, a new shonen manga series published by Del Rey Manga. Even by Japanese standards, Yozakura Quartet is an atypical superhero teen story, and that's both a good and a not-so-great thing.

In this first volume, we're introduced to Hime, Kotoha, Ao and Akina: three super-powered teen girls and one ordinary guy who team up to protect their town. If this were an American comic book, or even your average shonen manga, the girls would be busty and flirty. The guy would be either a wuss or a steroid-pumped jock. Leave it to Yozakura Quartet to turn this formula on its ear and give us a group of smart, well-adjusted teens who somehow act heroic without wearing a stitch of spandex.

But there are several downsides to this quirky teen team tale. Check out my review of Yozakura Quartet Volume 1 and see why this story has caught my interest for now, but it's got a few things it needs to fix before I commit to reading it beyond Volume 2.

Image credit: © Suzuhito Yasuda