This review, like the one published today for Peach Girl, also first appeared on my Anime-Planet.com profile. (and these are the only two reviews I’ve written over there (so far). Both these reviews are quite older, and don’t completely jive with the scoring system here, but both these anime are among my top 5 :).
In my original anime-planet.com review, I reference the similarities between this anime (which is not very popular on anime-planet) and Usagi Drops, another similar anime about a young man who finds himself suddenly raising a little girl, which is immensely popular on anime-planet (at time of my original review, it was in the top 50 anime on anime-planet). I’ve removed the paragraph comparing the two anime for my reblog over here because, it wouldn’t make since to complain about their scoring system on anime-planet and people’s “poor choice” in anime haha. But what follows is the rest of the review after that initial paragraph. If you like Usagi Drops, please give Aishiteruze Baby a chance. It’s a lot better than Usagi Drops. Not that Usagi Drops is bad, but Aishiteruze is just a better anime :).
Once again, I’ve changed the scoring system to make story and characters more weighted when compared to sound and animation. Story and Characters are worth 10 each, while sound and animation are worth 5 each. And when converted to the scoring system in place here, it results in a rating of 37/40 93% A- “Excellent Anime For Girls”. To find out just why this series is so great, you’ll have to read on below, or watch it for yourself. 🙂
Enjoy my Aishiteruze Baby Anime Review 🙂
The fact that this is a complete story, gives the characters time to grow and explores the issues of what really is a family, and the lengths that we go to for our family. It showcases exponential character growth as the very immature lead character suddenly finds himself having to care for a small child. He goes from being a playboy without a care in the world, to suddenly realizing the importance of being there for someone who truly loves you and needs you, both in terms of the young child, but also a classmate / love interest that slowly begins to develop throughout the story. In the beginning the female love interest, hates the main character, but as she begins to notice his incredible transformation as he cares for the young child, her opinion of him changes.
If you enjoy watching characters grow and evolve in a series, this anime’s for you.
This drama is full of cute sweet moments, but also a lot of pain, suffering, and sadness. It is very well balanced, and not overly sugary-sweet like many anime in this genre.
The family dynamic and extra supporting cast are also very funny and unique.
Because of all of that, Story and Characters both get 10/10.
This anime is a bit older, which I’m assuming is why it’s so severely under-rated. The animation and character designs show their age. When I first started watching, I was not too keen on the character designs, but I quickly got over that when I realized how good the story was. The animation is probably about a 3/5. It’s not as “clean” or “streamlined” looking as modern animation tends to be these days.
Voice acting is excellent, especially the 3 main characters, who really convey their emotions and set the tone for the series; and music is good, but not memorable to me. I give the sound 4/5, losing some points for music, but making up for it in the voice acting.
Overall, 10/10 because Yuzuyu is fricken adorable, and so mature for her age. I really super enjoyed the relationship between her and the main character and watching how she changed him and made him into such a better person. <3
Story: 10/10
Characters 10/10
Sound: 4/5
Animation: 3/5
Overall: 10/10
When converted to our scoring system on Geeky Sweetie, this results in a rating of
37/40 93% A- “Excellent Anime For Girls”