Plot: Miyu has been shipped off to live in another city with family friends after her parents suddenly move to America to work at NASA. She finds her living quarters disappointing but fine considering the nice monk who runs the house. However, she soon butts heads with the monk’s son, Konata. In another stroke of bad luck, Konata’s father suddenly leaves for a lengthy trip across India, leaving the two to live alone.
Miyu is eager to call her parents to set up another place to live when a UFO lands on the property. A flying alien baby named Ruu and his sitter-pet, Wanya, emerge from the craft. They were pulled from their home planet of Otto and are now stranded on earth for at least one year. After some deep consideration, Miyu decides to stay, and she and Konata become temporary parental figures for young Ruu.
Breakdown: I really love anime sometimes. You can have such a seemingly normal plotline and then BOOM sudden alien baby and flying talking cat enter the picture and everything’s still okay.
I’ve really been yearning for a caretaking anime ever since I finished off Aishiteruze Baby so long ago, and I really believe this show seems to have the potential to fill the void left in my heart. Perhaps not in such a heavy tone, but that’s okay.
As a first episode, this show does rush a bit in the first half, and it throws a lot at you, but it never feels too rushed and even the characters seem to acknowledge how insane their lives are quickly becoming.
All of the characters, even minor ones like Miyu’s parents and Konata’s dad, are pretty well-established in their first outing. While Miyu’s parents seem to mean well, I can’t help but feel like they’re jackasses. They don’t bother telling their only child that they’ll be packing up and leaving for America for a very long time and that they’re shipping her off to live with people who are basically strangers to her until like a few days before they’re set to leave. And they actually say ‘Well, we’re going to be so busy there that we won’t have time to take care of you.’
Konata’s dad seems equally jackass-y and rude considering he was taking care of his good friend’s child as well as his own when he suddenly decided to bolt.
Miyu is a nice enough girl who I believe reacts fairly appropriately to the situations she’s thrown into. I don’t even think she’s particularly harsh on Konata, barring one or two times.
Konata’s a bit too mature for his age, I think anyway. He acts a lot like Akito from Kodocha only less violent and temperamental.
Wanya also seems like, while he’s goofy comic relief, he won’t be annoying goofy comic relief. He legitimately cares about Ruu, appreciates what Konata and Miyu are doing for him and seems pretty nice.
Finally, we have Ruu. In these types of show, the child character is really the clincher. If the child is annoying or unrealistic, the entire show falls apart. Yuzuyu had a good mix of childish behavior, bratty moments and childish insightful moments to make for a great child character. It may be a little unfair to compare Ruu to Yuzuyu since she has a few years on him, but Ruu does seem like a very typical baby so far, especially given that the only thing really alien about him that has been revealed to this point is the fact that he can float in the air and may be able to understand things more than normal human babies.
He grabs things he shouldn’t, speaks in few words and gibberish, smiles a whole lot and has already adopted Konata and Miyu as his ‘Papa’ and ‘Mama’ to add more ‘awwww’ factor, though I really wonder where his actual parents are. He hasn’t cried yet, but I’m sure it’s coming.
I really liked Ruu, and just from the first shot of his face you just want to reach through the monitor and hug him, and I’m really not the type of person to even get a little mushy over babies.
The world that has been established for us is is just real enough to feel grounded and just goofy enough to add a unique splash to the story to make it stand out. It’s obvious that Konata and Miyu are being set up as love interests, but I don’t see that as a bad thing. They have pretty good chemistry together, and I think I’d root for them along the way.
Verdict:
It seems like this will be a great anime to watch, especially for fans of similar shows like Aishiteruze Baby. It even has that aged feel to it that makes me all tingly inside. I don’t believe this show will be nearly as heavy as Aishiteruze Baby, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I’m sure that subsequent episodes will have their heartwarming moments.
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The Anime Madhouse 