Kimi wa Yotsuba no Clover
You Are a Four Leaf Clover

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

9.1/10

“Oh, look! There’s another crazy girl cover.”
“It’s probably going to be your run-of-the-mill yandere manga”
“Who cares anyway, I have a yandere addiction, so I’d read it anyways.”
“…”
“THIS. IS. SOCIETY’S. PEAK.”

My standards for a yandere manga are REALLY low, as most, if not all, authors don’t know how to write a proper story besides for “crazy girl loves mc deeply uwu.” As such, even though the yandere trope has the highest entertainment out of every other trope (I’d die on this opinion), there’s virtually no good stories since authors don’t know how to balance the a yandere story with edge and sufficient romance/storytelling.

Is the story ... edgy beyond compare? Yes? Welp, expect a mid read that gets carried massively by its trope, but you’ll read it anyways because… yanderes.

Does the story actually have a story, and it’s not just the fmc being edgy and going b*tshit crazy? Well, where have you been all my life? (This stage had never been reached until now).

If you don’t get the point by now, this manga actually has a good, engaging plot, well surpassing its cursed but blessed genre. It combines the “I can fix __ (trauma)” and “yandere” premise really well by emphasizing the current predicament and taking time revealing all the plot details.

The author incorporates plenty of mystery in the fmc’s and powers while maintaining the status quo of her two-faced personality — she, for once, isn’t a dumb yandere. I don’t know how to explain it, but the author utilizes the fmc’s personality really well, making the story very flexible in mood.

The fmc’s wholesome/healing side makes the story very comforting to read, but it’s like the author continuously reminds us that this story is a psychological, trauma-induced train wreck whenever the fmc snaps or when there’s small, subtle details in the art.

The mc is, of course, traumatized, but he isn’t generic or boring, which usually comes with the “I can fix ___” trope. In these type of stories, the person being saved is usually a hollow shell that slowly opens up the the protagonist, and then they get their backstory, etc, but this manga is straight to the point. It utilizes proper character introduction for their values to get the plot going while still forming sympathy from the reader, skipping the usually mundane and drawn-out 10-20 chapters.

It’s also a nice touch with how the mc, even though broken beyond compare, still has a fickle of hope from the fmc. No matter how tragic his life is, he can still share laughs and wants to protect the last thing giving him life, giving a needed change-up from the usual constant depression that comes with these stories.

I don’t know if I highlighted this enough, but the mystery component of this story really makes this story. The mystery of the fmc, the mc’s trauma, life, etc. The author is clearly taking his time with each development, and he’s doing a wonderful job with the pacing and allure.

I just looked back at how long this review is… dear God, I really do have a yandere problem. I can’t help it- this is genuine yandere peak, and I’ve waiting so long for this type of story. My two guilty pleasures: Time-loop stories and yanderes; For an eternity I will suck off the auth- ahem. Thank you author for this masterpiece.

———-
̶O̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶i̶d̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶e̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶s̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶m̶a̶n̶g̶a̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶9̶.̶x̶ ̶y̶e̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶’̶s̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶ ̶b̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶e̶e̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶p̶t̶e̶r̶s̶.̶ ̶W̶a̶i̶t̶,̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶’̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶e̶l̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶I̶ ̶g̶l̶a̶z̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶3̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶p̶t̶e̶r̶s̶?̶ ̶A̶h̶,̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶e̶v̶e̶r̶.̶ ̶W̶o̶r̶t̶h̶ ̶i̶t̶.̶ ̶(̶I̶’̶l̶l̶ ̶u̶p̶d̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶l̶a̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶i̶t̶’̶s̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶g̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶I̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶)̶
^^^
It was as good as I thought. Enjoy.

Reading Rankings (Portnoy inspired + A Huang-Teizan Original)
10 - God’s penmanship
9 - Must-read. Drop everything else.
8 - Instant bookmark
7 - Entertaining
6 - Good to pass time
5 - Why are you reading this?
4 - Bad.
3 - Typical garbage.
2 - My head hurts.
1 - Retirement is a thought.
0 - “Did they even give you a story?!”

I am going to be the party pooper here but I think this is shaping up to be quite mediocre. The idea of the story is fun but I think that the set up leaves a lot to be desired. It is very hard to find it believable that such a large group of people really want to harm the male lead that badly. It is like a parody of misery itself. I understand there is going to be a larger plot reveal for why and how this is but I think the fact that the story is set up in this way in the ... first place is a bad sign for the quality to come. While the idea of the MC returning in time to save the ML from doom is interesting, we have yet to see how the story is going to keep this fresh. Admittedly the story has only just gotten started so there could very well be a shift in focus. But currently none of the solutions the MC has for problems are particularly convincing. They mainly seem to work because the story wants them to. Another issue I personally have with the story at the moment is that we aren't given a particular reason to care for what happens to the main character. Sure, we pity him. But aside from his situation being seemingly unfair, he doesn't really have much of a personality or really anything going for him. I can see why the mc cares about what happens to him, but there isn't enough of a character there yet for us to care as well. A similar thing can be said for the bully characters we have met in this story so far. They just appear crazy for the sake of it. We have only really had attention for two figures at this point but both seem unrealistically unhinged to the point that it takes you out of the story entirely.

The art of the manga is generally pretty decent. There are a few awkward character poses and faces here and there but overall it is consistent and serviceable.

For now I would say to wait and see how it carries on from here. But I personally don't really see any potential.

This is not a good series at all... most of the characters in this manga seem very one-dimensional and stupid, it feels like the writer didn't know how to write unlikeable characters well so they just went with whatever they could think of. There were very many characters that fit this description but the worst one by far was the main character's sister. There is a limit to a person's stupidity before it can be considered a disability, but this person seems to bend it. The father too, it's actually insane how unrealistic some of these characters behave, it's not the abuse I have an ... issue with, it's how it's displayed. I liked the mother character, her problems seemed more realistic and actually believable, and I even felt a little sympathy for her, but up to this point she's literally the only well written character in the entire series.

If you actually respect your time and don't want to suspend disbelief every single time there is human interaction shown on screen, please do not read this manga.

Edit: A 4 was way too generous, this is a 3 max.