is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Suzuhito Yasuda. It has been serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Sirius since January 2006, with its chapters collected in 30 tankōbon volumes as of December 2022. In North America, the manga was first licensed by Del Rey Manga, and later by Kodansha USA for a digital-only release.
A 12-episode anime television series adaptation, produced by Nomad, was broadcast from October to December 2008. A three-episode original video animation (OVA) series was released between October 2010 and November 2011. A second 13-episode anime television series, titled Yozakura Quartet ~Hana no Uta~, was broadcast from October 2013 to January 2014. Another three-episode OVA series, titled Yozakura Quartet ~Tsuki ni Naku~, was released from October 2013 to November 2014.
Story
The story revolves around four teenagers; Hime, Akina, Ao, and Kotoha; each of them having their own unique abilities. They run an office called Hiizumi Life Counseling Office, where their job is to help and protect the townspeople of Sakurashin, a town where humans and youkai co-exist. The town is protected by a barrier created by the spiritual sakura known as The Seven Pillars. The Seven Pillars exist in both the human world and the youkai world and is the only thing that keeps both worlds connected to each other. However, recent bizarre incidents have occurred in their town and someone has threatened its safety. It is up to the four of them to protect the town they love.
Characters
A 16-year-old high school girl with supernatural powers, in the anime she is believed to be the reincarnation of an ancient dragon. She assumed the role of mayor of the city when she was a child after her grandmother was "tuned" by Akina's grandfather. She treasures her long scarf which was made by Akina. Her scarf was made to cover up her scar on her neck which was made by Yae Shinatsuhiko to seal most of Hime's youkai power. All of the townspeople including her friends had their memory of Hime being a youkai sealed because when she was a child, she asked Yae to seal the memory so she can have a better perspective from a human's point of view and a youkai's point of view. In chapter 13, everyone's memory of her being a youkai have returned when a group who is running against Hime's little cousin, Kohime, was running as mayor in another town, wanted her to drop out of the election and Hime to give her position to their leader by threatening them with a barrier that weakens all the youkai to a point that can be life threatening. Because of this Yae had no choice but to weaken the barrier that they made, which in turn returned everyone's memory. Hime happens to be a glutton and loves to eat noodles, especially those cooked by Akina. She is also quite sensitive about her weight; she trains using the teachings her grandmother taught her and patrols the town everyday. Hime uses her grandmother's teachings in the hopes that she will become a great mayor like her grandmother once was. She may appear harsh at times, but she has a kind heart. She often uses improvised staves like a Lacrosse racket as her weapons. She has a crush on Akina, and was friends with Gin during their childhood.
An 18-year-old young man in the employment of the city. He is the director of the Hiizumi Life Counseling Office and the only human who works there. He is able to perform "tuning"; an ability that can send back youkai to their world and cut off their connection to the human world. This ability can only be used by his family; the one who succeeds this ability is called oyakume. His hair grows longer whenever he uses his ability. Because of this ability, some of the youkai view the oyakume as murderers. Akina reveals that he can use the ability in chapter eight of the manga, although (as of volume 4) he tells everyone that he tuned Gin before the start of the series. According to him, the final destiny of the oyakume is to be tuned by his successor in order to maintain the balance between the human and youkai worlds, and just as he had to tune his grandfather who was the previous oyakume, he will be tuned by the next oyakume when the time comes for him to take over his position.