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Review: 'School Babysitters'

Anime Review

By Riot DragonPublished 6 years ago 5 min read
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  • Anime: School Babysitters
  • Genre: Slice of Life, Harem (?)
  • Age Rating: Good for All
  • Studio: Brain's Base
  • Music: Ruka Kawada
  • Author: Hari Tokeino
  • Dub/Sub: Subs
  • Ecchi Level: Non-Existent (There's one boob gag, but nothing even close to shows.)

I found this while browsing CR's show list and decided to check it out. And my Dende, am I glad I did. This is very possibly the most adorable anime I've ever watched. Maybe I'm just biased because I adore kids, but this anime takes the cake in the category of cute. It's almost like the modern (and Japanese) adaptation of Rugrats.

The story goes that Ryūichi Kashima and his baby brother, Kotarō Kashima, were suddenly orphaned when their parents died in a plane crash. Fortunately (or unfortunately, considering the circumstances) for the adorable duo, they weren't left to grieve alone. A woman by the name of Yōko Morinomiya, whose son and daughter-in-law were on the same plane, agreed to adopt the pair. But in return, Ryūichi was required to help work in the daycare at the school she owned. Accepting her offer, the young man started his life fresh by going to a new school, and babysitting for a number of teachers in the school.

I might as well get the issues I had with the series out of the way first so I can gush later. First, I found it odd that all the episodes were untitled. That's like, a staple in anime, almost. So seeing it happen here was very puzzling, but didn't detract anything from the show itself. Secondly, I groaned in agony when one of the first jokes in the series was a fart joke. HOWEVER, I can let that easily slide because it was the kids of toddler age making it, and they will always get a pass. And last of all, there was almost zero effort or time given to the young women crushing on Ryūichi. This is almost sinful, but given that it's only season 1, and it was aired only recently, that gives me hope that they will change this horrible lack of romantic emphasis.

Now, onto the good stuff. While the animation wasn't anything to write home about, the kids in this show were drawn so adorably that I got a toothache every time they were on screen. Each one of them has a varied and unique personality that shines like a golden light after previous anime that I've seen. It amazes me just how simply this author created such distinct characters in kid form when most mangaka can only seem to write bland, hollow, or stereotypical characters. Seriously, I love them all. And the music, while it wasn't anything special for anime, definitely fit the charming atmosphere of the settings.

Considering it's a slice of life, there isn't much story to judge. Ryūichi goes to school, then when he gets out of class he goes to watch the kids in the daycare while being oblivious to the non-advances of two (technically three) of his classmates. I suppose this allows the author to focus more on characters rather than splitting time between characters and plot. Whatever the case, it works well.

But, at the same time, there is a lack of character development in two characters present throughout the anime, and those would be the ones crushing on Ryūichi, as I mentioned previously. I really wanted to see their characters develop more, but what I got was sorely lacking. I definitely hope they fix this is season two, and I definitely hope there is a season two. I do have to call out the author on making Ryūichi just as oblivious to love as every anime character in existence. Shit gets old, man...

That being said, there was something I wanted to put this anime on a pedestal for. Two things, actually. One was for actually portraying a varying amount of fathers in this series, which is stupidly lacking in anime in general. In fact, Kirin-chan's father was probably one of my favorite characters of all. Second was actually portraying a poor family in everyday life, and the struggle they have to go through. Even if it was fairly short and limited to one episode, it was still cool of the author to do.

Honestly... and again, this may just be my bias, but my favorite part of the entire series was the kids. I adored each one of them, especially Kotarō. That kid was the highlight of the show, and I think if you give this anime a watch, you'll agree. The entire interaction between teenagers and toddlers was amazing, and I really can't wait to see more.

TLDR: This anime was sweet enough to put an elephant into a diabetic coma. It doesn't have action, mystery, plot twists, or romance thus far. But even without all that, I enjoyed every episode of the short 12-part series. If you enjoy cute things like I do (if you tell anyone, just know that I have a certain set of skills to find you), then you'll love this.

Ratings:
  • Animation: 6/10
  • Music: 6/10
  • Story: 5/10
  • Comedy: 8/10
  • Overall Rating: 8/10

SPOILER TALK: Best Girl: Midori Sawatari. I'd have liked to have put Maria Inomata and Yuki Ushimaru both in this spot, but as I mentioned above, there wasn't nearly enough time in the anime devoted to them for me to feasibly give them this role. Meanwhile, little Midori-chan stole the show any time to camera focused on her. She was the cutest of all the kids, and I'm proud to say that she is best girl.

Really, the only character in the show that I wasn't a fan of was Tomoya Yagi. He could have easily been my most identifiable character in the show due to his love of adorable children. However, the fact that he gets a nosebleed from being around them is... concerning, to say the least. He could have just been someone who gushed too much over cute kids, but for some reason the author had to take that extra step to make him look perverted, and I don't really like that.

Last thing I'm saying, Shizuka Kamitani is the hottest teacher, hottest mom, hottest everything in the entire show. She didn't get best girl because she is best woman. Holy Dende, did I love every scene she was in.

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About the Creator

Riot Dragon

I like anime, and since I'm binge watching a bunch of them anyway, I thought I'd review them. Enjoy.

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