Aishiteruze Baby

Aishiteruze Baby (愛してるぜ ベイベ★★) is a shōjo romance manga 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 5-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 shōjo manga 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 (愛してるぜ) is a casual, masculine way of saying "I love you" (see Gender differences in spoken Japanese).

Characters

 * Kippei Katakura (片倉 結平)
 * Kippei is a promiscuous "playboy" in school and quite the easygoing type and had no idea what hit him when he was told to start taking care of Yuzuyu. At his first attempt to make Yuzuyu's lunch, he only made one extra-large onigiri. On top of that, the food he gives her is unremarkable, but Yuzuyu eats it because Kippei is the one who cooked it. Over the series his cooking and personality change for the better. He becomes more responsible and becomes Kokoro's boyfriend. At the end of Volume 7, he receives a letter from Yuzuyu. At the end of the manga he is mentioned living with his sister brother and possibly Kokoro. (He only receives the letter in the manga.)


 * Yuzuyu Sakashita (坂下 ゆずゆ)
 * Yuzuyu ("Yuzu" for short) is a bubbly little girl. She tries her best to live without her mother. She is easy to get along with. In the beginning, she tells Satsuki she wants to marry Kippei when she grows up. She is very protective of Kippei but truly only wants him to be happy. During the whole series, Yuzuyu struggles with the absence of her mother and her wish to be with her. This conflicts with her wish to be with Kippei. At the very end of the 7th volume, she is seen as a teenager who had written to Kippei a letter. It is hinted that the teenage Yuzuyu might be dating her childhood friend, Shouta. She loves to draw, and likes corn and shellfish.


 * Kokoro Tokunaga (徳永 心)
 * Kokoro is the soon-to-be girlfriend of Kippei. She is quiet, and rather lonesome as she lost her mother at an early age. This makes it easy for her to sympathize with Yuzuyu. Her father married another woman and thinking Kokoro could fend on her own, rents her a luxurious apartment to live in. The truth is, that is not the case. At the end of Volume 6 she tells her friends that she might be pregnant. Later, she finds out she's not. Kokoro starts living with Kippei's family at the end of chapter 29. Kokoro is understanding of Kippei's responsibility to spend most of his time with Yuzuyu. Despite her popularity and Kippei's idiocy, Kokoro's heart remains loyal to Kippei to the fact that she would even ignore his past promiscuous days. Her name means "heart". She likely married Kippei at the end of the manga.


 * Misako Katakura (片倉 三沙子)
 * Kippei's mother. She is a school crossing guard, among other things. She taught Kippei how to make onigiri (rice-balls). She is the older sister of Aunt Miyako.


 * Reiko Katakura (片倉 鈴子)
 * Nee-chan (or "Sis" in the English version) is the bold and controlling sister of Kippei. She is a cosmetologist and everyone in Kippei's family follows her orders. Yet there is a secret nee-chan has been keeping to herself: that she can not have any children. She is known for her stylish outfits and nails.


 * Miyako Sakashita (坂下 都)
 * Yuzuyu's mother. Her husband had died recently and taking care of Yuzuyu by herself was more than she could handle. She is the younger sister of Misako. She does take care of Yuzuyu in the end of the manga.


 * Satsuki Katakura (片倉 皐)
 * Satsuki is Kippei's 12-year-old brother. He is 156 cm tall. He seems quite emotionless and very smart, as well as weird in a way. He doesn't really like children, but gets along great with Yuzuyu. Satsuki also bears a strong resemblance to his mother. He gets a girlfriend, Ayumi, near the end of the story.


 * Aki Kagami (鏡 亜希) and Mai Motoki (元木 舞)
 * Kokoro's friends. They usually show a bitter attitude towards Kippei and don't approve much of Kokoro and Kippei's relationship. Especially Aki. But in reality they just really want what is best for Kokoro. Aki is in love with Shin. Voiced by: Maki Saitō (Aki) and Fuyuka Ōura (Mai)


 * Miki Sakashita (坂下 ミキ)
 * Miki is Yuzuyu's cousin from her father's side. Volume 4 of the manga is mostly Miki's story. In the manga, she holds a knife while in the anime, it was change to a bike-chain. Miki attended a prestigious school. She witnessed her teacher beating up a boy. When she told on her teacher, everything backfired. She was harassed by her peers and teacher but refused to tell her parents. She tried to take Yuzuyu away from the Katakura residence in order to replace herself, then attempt suicide. (In the anime she intends to jump from a building, in the manga she uses a knife.) In the end, everything is resolved with her and her parents.From the scars and burns on her wrists, it is obviously shown that Miki self-harmed herself (though this has likely stopped since most of her issues have been resolved.) She appears again in Volume 6.


 * Marika (まりか) and Ken (健)
 * Yuzuyu's friends from kindergarten. Marika can be quite stuck-up for a five-year-old, therefore, she has a crush on Kippei. Ken can be kind and strong, but they are all good friends.Voiced by: Aoi Yabusaki (Marika) and Yuutaro Motoshiro (Ken)


 * Shin Tabata (田端 芯)
 * Kippei's friend and classmate. He and Aki have feelings for each other.


 * Natsu (ナッツ)
 * A former "girlfriend" (more a "friends with benefits" since there is evidence that they have had sexual intercourse in the past) of Kippei. Natsu has strong feelings for Kippei and misses the way he was before he became responsible. Despite this though, she is not a major threat to Kokoro. Natsu seems to fall in love easily.


 * Aya Oga (大賀 綾) and Akari Oga (大賀 あかり)
 * Akari and Aya are more or less in the same position as Kippei and Yuzuyu -- Aya and Akari's parents work all day forcing Akari to take care of her sister, who is Yuzuyu's classmate and friend. Akari is Kippei's classmate. Akari confiding in Kippei, among other things, results in trouble. They only appear in the manga series but not in the anime series. Voiced by: Koumi Yoshida (Aya)


 * Ayumi Kubota (久保田 あゆみ)
 * Ayumi is a girl who is in love with Satsuki. She is 160 cm tall, taller than Satsuki, who is 156 cm tall. She is a model.


 * Itagaki
 * Itagaki is from Kippei's school and has a crush on Kokoro. He cofesses his love to her and even forces a kiss on her. Kokoro later becomes scared and afraid of people touching her even Kippei. Eventually during the School Trip everything is resolved and Itagaki is threatened by Kippei,"Anyway, with regards to Kokoro-Chan dont bother her anymore! But if something happens again... I will kill you!" After this Itagaki no longer appears in the manga

Manga
The manga Aishiteruze Baby was written and illustrated by Yoko Maki. It was serialized by Shueisha the shōjo (aimed at teenage girls) manga magazine Ribon from April 2002 to January 2005. 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" (年年歳歳) 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 typical of shōjo mangas, 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 shōjo 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 T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews praised the anime as "a touching and heartfelt shōjo 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.