Kimi wa Yotsuba no Clover
You Are a Four Leaf Clover

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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.

Gonna keep it short. It's awesome. Similar to the other reviewer, I love yandere. I also love dark edgy psychological stuff. What I don't like is when it's a mindless plot with nothing going on except the yandere female mc. In this case, I the plot is pretty good. Nothing is pulled out of the author's ass. The main characters and everyone else has at least some depth to their character, which is something I've rarely seen in these types of manga. The art is also really good. I recommend reading it, I'm really enjoying it. It's been a while since I've been so invested ... in a manga. I've only seen 15 (there's only 15 translated) chapters so far but I love it already. Hope to see more in the future.

26 translated chapters out as of 4/16/25, with I think around 30-40 untranslated chapters. I'll try not to spoil because it is genuinely great and a really fun read. I can't think of many flaws in the story, it's as if everything has already been planned out to keep everything consistent, and if it was, MASSIVE PLUS. I love when they do that, it usually means that the author is very passionate about their story.

The Characters:

They're all unique and fleshed out. They feel realistic and react realistically. There's only one person right now I can confidently say doesn't act realistically, and that's the ... dumbass. He is so unbelievably stupid it hurts. There's also the FMC. but that makes sense because she is inherently unnatural. The MC I found is pretty relatable and fun to watch. Even though he is put in a lot of pitiful situations in which you will almost certainly find depressing/messed up, you can't ever hate how his character acts. He's realistic, logical, smart, and most of all, relatable. He has some really serious depression and anxiety due to an incredibly bad home life and pretty vicious bullying in school, but he still acts within reason, and that's one of the reasons why I can't hate him. If there is one thing I absolutely hate, it's a poorly written character, and fortunately for me, all the characters are written well. Nanami my goat fr fr.

The Plot:

As far as the typical romance will go? This manga is far ahead of everything else. I have a habit of attracting peak plots to myself, and I can confidently say this plot is indeed peak. Basic premise is that "depressed guy on the verge of doing something very bad to himself meets his childhood friend, who was his lifeline, again, and this time she's here to make sure he is happy, with the use of some Return By Death level time rewinding." It's better than most romance plots, I've read a decent amount, and I'd say this definitely has the potential to be my top 3 favorite romances.

Recommendations:

"Can I Fall in Love with a Multiverse?"

9/10 Peak basic plot, awesome art, author is really good at expressions. A guy starts hanging out with his crush, they walk home together, boom, truck-kun boutta reap some lives, MC pushes FMC out of the way risking his own life, but someone pulls him out of the way, saving him, turns out it was FMC with short hair. Turns out Short Hair FMC is FMC from another timeline and was sent here. Does he choose long hair FMC or short hair FMC?

"Killer In Love"

8.2/10 Had a lot of potential, but I think it was rushed too much. Essentially about a guy who falls in love with a girl who has a habit of attracting stalkers, and she clings onto this man and grooms him into a seasoned killer. 8.2/10 because it had some REALLY peak art, basic plot was peak, but character progression/story progression was rushed.




Overall rating? 8.8/10 (rounded up) Straight peak, and I get the feeling that if we give the author more time to cook, it might have potential to be a 10/10.

I've read 30 chapters and I feel addicted. I've been looking for any similar stories just to get my fix but I can't find any. I found this manga with the tags "Romance" and "School Life" but so far, I would say more relevant tags would be "Thriller" or "Psychological Horror". The situation the characters find themselves in makes me feel nauseous. It feels more like a twist on the usual rom-com than it is actually one. Describing this as a high-school romcom would be like saying Madoka is a magical girls show. Technically, yes it is. But really, it isn't.

My criticisms are that at ... some points, the manga feels like it's a wish fulfilment story. The romance aspect is also very sloppy. The two leads just seem to love each other unconditionally. I don't mind it too much though because I view this as more of a thriller.

This is a very good series. It's a yandere story where the yandere uses her insanity to save the ML's life instead of ruin it. Rather than get rid of everyone around him, she manipulates them into becoming his friends (or at least, friendly enough to not bully him anymore). It's a great twist on a classic trope. Her manipulation methods are engagingly written.
However, this story seems to suffer from the mystery version of power creep - where the culprit is finally uncovered, but then there's an even worse, even more mysterious culprit behind them... Then potentially someone behind them, etc. etc. So far it's ... only gone 2 culprits deep, but I'm worried it'll end up being ~2 or 3 more before we see the "real" culprit. This, to me, is quite annoying, as I'm never sure how seriously to take the current culprit. Is he really the big bad, or is he just another lackey?

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.

"You Are a Four-Leaf Clover" is a very entertaining read. I stumbled upon this manga on accident while trying to find "Yotsuba &!" and let's just say this is a very different beast.

This manga isn't really good at doing the small stuff. The romance is apparent, but barely developed. Most of the characters fall flat, or don't have much to do outside of being an obstacle. The art is good, but not outstanding. It's not really about the time travel. It's not really about the tragic events surrounding the story. It doesn't sound like something I would want to read on paper, but I'm hooked!

It's ... the plot and mood. I simply want to know how this story unfolds. I want to see how our main character Yotsuha solves these problems and manipulates events to achieve the goal of her love interest's happiness. I want her to solve these mysteries. I also like how stereotypically depressing it is. The topics are no-doubt heavy, but its presented in such a cliche way that it almost feels like the story lives in this hyper-reality.

I patiently wait for identities to be uncovered, motives to be revealed, and backstories to unfold. For the first time in a while, my enjoyment of a manga is not that deep :)