(Writers note: If you read this review, RATE this review. Authors thrive on feedback, whether it be a simple happy face, or an in-depth critique.)
Summary/Outline: Aishiteruze Baby is a rather simple tale. Kippei seems like your average high school pretty boy. Women swarm around him, yet he has no girlfriend, preferring the attention of many. Everything changes however, when he is given guardianship of Yuzuyu, his 5 year old cousin. Yuzuyu's father has passed away, and her mother has abandoned her, believing herself unfit to raise a daughter. Thus begins a slice of life dramedy that will leave you laughing and tearful, often at the same time.
First, the technical aspects: I hate to admit it, but the animation is... awful. Really awful. The drawings are excellent, but when they try to move around inside the frame, it's often choppy and odd looking. It felt like someone was shifting cardboard cut-outs around on top of a painted background. Thankfully, everything else about this series is near perfect, most notable being the music. When you notice it, it's beautiful, like the opening and ending songs. When it's relegated to the background, it adds something to every scene. I'm downloading the soundtrack as I type this, if that tells you anything.
It should be said that Aishiteruze Baby's strong points far outweigh its weak animation. I liken the feeling to an old video game, like Secret of Mana. The visuals are terrible by today's standards, but the gameplay and soundtrack are so good that it just doesn't matter how it looks. After 5 minutes of play, you've been sucked in by the superior story and rock solid gameplay. Such is the feeling I got while watching Aishiteruze Baby.
I mentioned during the Utena debacle that I was going to look for it's anti-thesis to cheer me up. Well, I couldn't have made a better choice than Aishiteruze Baby. For one thing, there are no villians. Any villainous character, such as the mother who strikes her child, are humanized and/or healed within the span of an episode or two. There is quite a large cast, filled entirely with sympathetic characters. Very little time is spent on the supporting cast, however. The series focuses mainly on Yuzuyu, the 5 year old, Kippei, her 17 year old guardian, and his girlfriend Kokoro.
Thanks to an excellent cast of voice actors, as well as some exceptional writers, these three main characters are always believable and interesting. I never felt for a second that Yuzuyu was anything other than an adorable little 5 year old pre-schooler who wishes her mother would come home. Seeing the world through a 5 year olds eyes is one of the more original ideas in Aishiteruze Baby, and one of it's greatest strengths. Yuzuyu is an absolute joy to watch and listen to. She asks questions that a 5 year old might ask. She acts as a 5 year old acts. When you see her asleep on the living room floor, or curled up with Kippei in the park, your heart melts. It's like watching a kitten with a ball of yarn; simultaneously heartwarming and funny. She is easily the best character in the series. She also has the most screen time, which is something I've thankful for. New characters will pop in from time to time, leaving an indelible mark on the personalities and lives of the main characters. The writers for this series did an excellent job expressing Yuzuyu's innocence. How the smallest of events can have a powerful effect on a 5 year old's mind, for better or worse.
Kippei is the first male lead I've seen that, I believe, not only deserved to have women swoon around him, but you can see and understand why they do. He's kind, charismatic, funny, and original. He's also doing an excellent job of caring for his 5 year old cousin, which wins him a lot of brownie points with the ladies.
Kokoro is not your typical high school Shoujo girlfriend, either. She has a very distinct personality that sometimes clashes with Kippei's. She's very calm and reserved, rarely smiling, expressing emotion through her eyes, and through small variations in her voice. Her mother passed away when she was 6, and her father has asked her to move out so that he can be alone with his new wife. Another strength of Aishiteruze Baby is that we the audience are not expected to rely soley on this information. We can see the effect in Kokoro's character, the way she talks and acts. Someone who has experienced great loss in her short life, and is dealing with it in her own way.
While Aishiteruze Baby is mainly a sweet comedy, it also tackles some very serious themes, ranging from child abuse, to the more complicated aspects of life without your parents. For instance, a relative of Kippei's considers suicide after suffering through prolonged, extreme emotional abuse at school. Yuzuyu has trouble coping with her mother abandoning her. Kokoro, forced to live alone, has to deal with the inevitable loneliness of her situation. These themes play out as great drama in-between the smiles and laughs of the rest of the series.
I greatly enjoyed Aishiteruze Baby, and would recommend it to anyone but a die hard fan of CGI. The animation can be a bit off putting in the early episodes until you get used to it, or at least until the story grabs you and sucks you in. Will Yuzuyu's mother return? Will Kippei ever settle down with Kokoro? Will Kokoro ever go home? Watch and find out. You won't be dissapointed.
