Aishiteruze Baby
Aishiteruze Baby is a Japanese romance manga series written and illustrated by Yoko Maki. It was serialized by Shueisha in Ribon from April 2002 and January 2005 and collected in seven bound volumes. It was adapted as a 26-episode anime television series produced by TMS Entertainment and Animax, broadcast in Japan on Animax from April to October 2004. The series is about a teenage boy, Kippei, who becomes the caretaker of his five-year-old cousin, Yuzuyu, after her mother abandons her. Both the manga and anime have been praised for successfully mixing serious issues with a light-hearted tone.
Plot
Aishiteruze Baby is a series that revolves around the life of Kippei, a popular high-school playboy who flirts with any girl he sees, without thinking about their feelings. His life is turned upside down when one day his aunt abandons his five-year-old cousin Yuzuyu at his house. Kippei is assigned the task of taking care of Yuzuyu for the time being, and he must learn how to become the "mother" she needs. As Kippei learns how to care for Yuzuyu, he also learns to care for Kokoro, a quiet girl at his school, who helps him out.In Japanese, aishiteru ze is a casual, masculine way of saying "I love you".
Characters
;Kippei Katakura;Yuzuyu Sakashita
;Kokoro Tokunaga
;Misako Katakura
;Reiko Katakura
;Miyako Sakashita
;Satsuki Katakura
;Aki Kagami and Mai Motoki
;Shouta Nashiya
;Miki Sakashita
;Marika and Ken
;Shin Tabata
;Natsumi
;Ayumi Kubota
;Aya Oga and Akari Oga
;Itagaki
Media
Manga
The manga Aishiteruze Baby was written and illustrated by Yoko Maki. It was serialized by in Ribon magazine from April 2002 to January 2005 by Shueisha. The serial chapters were collected in seven tankōbon volumes under the Ribon Mascot Comics imprint. It is licensed in North America by Viz Media, which has released all seven volumes in English starting in April 2006. It is also licensed in France by Génération Comics, in Italy by Panini Comics, in Germany by Tokyopop Germany, and in South Korea by Seoul Media Group.Anime
Aishiteruze Baby was adapted into an anime television series by TMS and Animax. It was directed by Masaharu Okuwaki, with music by Miki Kasamatsu and character designs by Junko Yamanaka and Masatomo Sudo. The opening theme was "Sunny Side Up" performed by Yo Hitoto, and the ending theme was "Nennensaisai" performed by Yo Hitoto.The series was initially broadcast in 26 episodes across Japan on Animax from 3 April 2004 to 9 October 2004. It is licensed in France by Taifu Video.
Reception
According to the German manga journal MangasZene, Aishiteruze Baby is drawn in a style of manga, with non-uniform panel layouts and frequent use of screentones. The reviewer praised the clean use of backgrounds, well-differentiated character designs, and Maki's handling of delicate issues such as the rival, Miki, and parental abandonment, while still keeping a comic tone. The same article described anime adaption as one of the anime highlights of 2004. The reviewer criticized the art of the anime adaptation as not as successful as the manga, being done in a simpler style, but praised the Japanese voice actors as well as mood-setting of the opening song, "Sunny Side Up."A reviewer at THEM Anime Reviews praised the anime as "a touching and heartfelt drama," giving it 5 out of 5 stars. The reviewer cited the character of Yuzuyu as part of the success, as "a kid who actually acts like a kid and not like a little adult." The reviewer noted that the animation was "somewhat low-budget," and that the character designs only somewhat resemble the Maki's designs in the original manga.