Aishiteruze Baby

[Kaoru Chujo]

Yes, a wonderful, wonderful series. Thanks to those who worked on the fansubs.

The story was deep, the character design and drawing were pure and expressive. And I thought the voice work was outstanding. Especially Kokoro and Yuzuyu.

In episode one, Kokoro's delivery really put a wealth of meanings into one of the most common lines in anime: "Baka!" I loved that moment, which foreshadowed the whole romance. Throughout, her one-beat-late delivery brought Kokoro alive. The seiyuu, HARA Fumina 原史奈, has a website:
http://ref.co.jp/fumina/index.html

And from what I can gather from searching her name in Japanese, the seiyuu for Yuzuyu was actually nine years old: KUZUHARA (or maybe TSUDZURAHARA) Miyu (黒葛原未有 ). No wonder she could get that five-year-old voice so right.

I didn't start watching this series right away. It just didn't look that great on paper. Then I saw other people's positive comments in this forum. Thanks for turning me on to the series.

Spoiler:

I thought the ending was just right. I would not have wanted to see Kippei and Yuzuyu separated. Before we blame Y's mom too much, remember that she had hit Y once for no good reason, and was afraid she might do it again. She responded to her spouse's death by going overboard in one direction; Kokoro's dad responded by going overboard in the other. I too loved that final scene in bed, and the chaste kiss. And I loved how Kokoro and Yuzuyu helped each other so much emotionally. Of course, all under the beneficent influence of that open-hearted charmer, Kippei.

[Melty Snow]

Good work everyone for spreading the Aishiteruze Baby love.
I liked the open ending a lot, its nice to know everyone will be living on and doing the things we enjoyed watching them do. This was very sweet.

[Hellychan]

Originally Posted by Streetor

Ha, Satsuki looked really happy when talking with Ayumi on the computer. Maybe he isn't as heartless when he's alone.

Yeah, he's one of those who don't easily show their feelings, I like his character very much
This is a lovely anime I've appreciated until the end! Ahh!! That's a heart-warming ending! ^^

[ShikaShika]

Wasn't all that thrilled about the ending...

Spoiler:

Would have rather seen Yuzuyu's mom straighten herself up and go get her. Until that happens I can't help feeling that the story is incomplete. I suppose there might be another season but that's no excuse for a lack of closure, and besides, 26 episodes is really enough. Sure Yuzuyu has Kippei and Kokoro but sooner or later she's gonna need her own mother and vice versa. And that's the happy ending I was longing to see. The reunion of mother and daughter, perhaps not perfect at once but a first step. (She could at least have come for a visit?) But she didn't do anything, meaning Ryoko's trip was a complete waste of time. I'm getting the feeling that they were trying to tie up all the lose ends but realised too late they didn't have enough screen time.

All in all, the ending we got was just fine, but the part with Yuzuyu's mother was very unsatisfying imo. I got no sense of closure there at all.

Oh and yeah, thanks AonE and all other groups for the subs...

[Urashima-Sempai]

I love the ending, one of my favorite animes of all time, too ˆˆ

Spoiler:

I don't think Yuzuyu's mom getting Yuzuyu was necessary at all, it would have been sad to see Kippei and Yuzu separated. Just the fact that Yuzu's mom was getting better was closure enough (:

[Lord Raiden]

Originally Posted by durrem

Damn, a.f.k.'s getting no love. We love you too for the excellent work you did on the series.

Yeah, I hear that. I apreciate AonE for continuing through to the end, but I really loved A.F.K. version the best. Too bad their TL decided to go check out and leave us all hanging mid way through.

Well, if he comes back and they do in fact finish this series, their version is going onto cd for long term storage.

[tanuki]

Originally Posted by Akamaru

Wasn't all that thrilled about the ending...

Spoiler:

Would have rather seen Yuzuyu's mom straighten herself up and go get her. Until that happens I can't help feeling that the story is incomplete. I suppose there might be another season but that's no excuse for a lack of closure, and besides, 26 episodes is really enough. Sure Yuzuyu has Kippei and Kokoro but sooner or later she's gonna need her own mother and vice versa. And that's the happy ending I was longing to see. The reunion of mother and daughter, perhaps not perfect at once but a first step. (She could at least have come for a visit?) But she didn't do anything, meaning Ryoko's trip was a complete waste of time. I'm getting the feeling that they were trying to tie up all the lose ends but realised too late they didn't have enough screen time.

All in all, the ending we got was just fine, but the part with Yuzuyu's mother was very unsatisfying imo. I got no sense of closure there at all.

Oh and yeah, thanks AonE and all other groups for the subs...

Spoiler:

The conclusion to the story left Yuzuyu much the same as she was at the beginning, abandoned by her mother and temporarily living with relatives. When Kippei's sister went to see Yuzuyu's mom, I thought the outcome to that encounter would resolve the story one way or another. With the mother being told that it was time for her to act like an adult, accept her responsibility, and make a decision on what was best for her child. To go get Yuzuyu and take her home again, temporarily move in with Yuzuyu and gradually become accustomed to taking care of her once more while she looked for work and a place nearby where they could live together, or decide she was no longer capable of rasing a child and see if Kippei's mother or sister might be willing to formally adopt her. That, or any other alternative which would resolve for the long term where Yuzuyu would be living, who would be responsible for taking care of her, and what (if any) relationship she could expect to have with her mother.

[Urashima-Sempai]

Haha, I teared up listening to the quote at the end of the episode by Kippei

Spoiler:

I don't see why a lot of you think the mom should have come back for Yuzu.. how do you think Kippei would have felt? That would have been a sad ending, unless they could pull some amazing strings to make it better. I loved the ending; it gave hope that the mom would one day come back, but showing her actually come back would have been a little too dramatic for the ending.

[Sakaki-]

I want more aibaby

*cries*

Take Care
Sakaki-

[TerryMathews]

Spoiler:

I was expecting/hoping that Yuzuyu's mom would move into Kippei's house. That seems like the best solution for everyone

[LoveOfAnime]

That was the best ending to a show, that I have ever seen.

Spoiler:

I cried at the end when Kippei made his point about having people around and loving them all. I also think it was a good thing yuzuyu's mom didn't come right back. Reiko made her point well and left it up to yuzuyu's mom when she is ready. I think she went on that trip to try and understand and not to berate her aunt.

Props to all the wonderful fansub groups that brought us such a wonderful show. I think this one will be in my collection for a long time.

[FriedBunny]

Very satisfying ending. Kokoro, Kippei, and Yuzuyu really seemed to grow (both literally and as characters), especially in the final few episodes.

I'd also like to say how much I really appreciate the efforts of all three subbing-groups, you all did excellent jobs.

[wraith985]

I liked the ending a lot. I feel like the whole show was meant to develop the characters of kippei and kokoro a lot more than it was meant to tell a story about Yuzuyu and her separation from her parents; that situation was the vehicle through which Kokoro and Kippei developed emotionally, and I think they did a really great job on that ; I think the posts about how heartwarming the series was and how people really got attached to characters (kokoro-chin <3) is proof enough of that.

definitely one of my favorites, and something that will, without a question, be archived.

[luniz]

Well I gotta say I loved the series, even though it's not my typical kind of anime. It walked a fine line between sweet and too sweet for a long time but I think they did a good job of "keeping it real" or whatever. Yea it was pretty idealized but oh well...maybe it just goes to show that it is possible to be really and truly happy.

Spoiler:

I liked the ending. This wasn't a plot driven, start with character A and accomplish quest X sorta show. It was "here's this girl who has a big transition to make, we're going to show it from Kippei's eyes". That is, I don't think it's necessary for everything to be "neatly tied up". Life isn't like that anyway. It's enough for me for Kippei and Kokoro to be together. I mean who knows or even really cares whether they get married, have kids, etc. They are still good, nice people either way. Eventually Yuzuyu is going to move back with her mom, maybe even not long after the series ends. But it's not like everything will be hunkey dory when that happens. But Yuzuyu will always knows that people love her etc.

Oh yea I think some of your are a little hard on Kippei for being a "womanizer". Maybe he was just being a nice guy and trying to give people (errmm ok girls) what they wanted.



Oh yea, thanks to Lunar and AonE. It's really nice to come home and get to watch something like this when life is crummy.

[7thMethuselah]

Aaaaaah , noooo .... it ended

I really loved this show and the thought there are no more episodes left is really depressing Luckily I still have the manga...

Just saw the final episode, it ended more or less as I had expected

Spoiler:

I allready thought Yuzuyu's mom wouldn't return, but it's nice to see they left the possibility for her to get back. I also loved the way they wrapped up the relationship between Kippei and Kokoro in the end, I was cheering for them from the start .

I really liked the realism (ok, it was a bit idealised) of AB, not to mention Yuzuyu was melting my heart every time she jumped around happily over the smallest thing
Someone license this please I got to have this show on DVD

PS Doomo arigato gozaimasu Lunar-sama for doing an excellent job on AB !!!

[Timeless Enigma]

Aishiteru ze Baby was a great anime from Spring 2004. I almost gave up on this anime just from seeing the name. I expected it to have the main "baby" as an annoying troublemaker. I'm glad this wasn't the case.

It's nice to see that it's only focus wasn't on just Yuzuyu all series long (but she's sooo kawaii) but also Yuzuyu's cousin (I forget her name right now), and Kokoro. I'm happy with the way it ended, since there's always hope that Yuzuyu's mom will return.

[Lord Raiden]

Just an oddball observation, but given the number of anime that start great and end poorly, the way they ended this one is just spectacular.

On a side note however, I'm wondering what you guys would think about this idea for the ed episode of a S2 if they ever make one. Have all the loose ends get tied up of ourse in the last two episodes, mom comes back, everyone's happy, then flash forward 10 years. Yuzuyu is a young girl in HS, Kippei and Kokoro are married with kid(s), and Kippei's little bro (I forget his name) is also married, with or without kids is debatable. Yuzuyu's mom is also remarried.

What do you guys think? Would it be an ending that would work?

[Zicky-Chan]

IMHO the best caracter development was miki-chan followed by kokoro. the reason why kokoro is second is because i kind felt they left behind kokoro a couple of times and suddendly a new kokoro appears...in the other hand i know what miki-chan was going through so leaving behind the fact that kokoro-chin is more cute....miki-chan rules!

[criderjg]

Thanks many times to the fansub groups, Lunar and Anime One. It's a shame that it's over. I'd love to see another season, especially if Kippei and Kokoro married and adopted Yuzuyu and if Yuzuyu's mother showed up to take her back.

[JokerD]

Many thanks to those who subbed this series, great job.

I wonder if it's a good think or a bad thing Reiko (the sister) did not meet Kokoro, would have been interesting to see her reaction though. As for season 2, I don't think it's too likely, I don't want one either, since as it stands, things are more or less complete now. The anime did a great job of translating the manga to screen.

Just downloaded the vol 6 raws, woo... look pretty pictures (can't understand a word of jap) can someone please tell me what's going on.

Spoiler:

seems like there's a 3rd party between Kippei and Kokoro, and this one escorts a kid to the preschool too. Reiko visits Yuzu's mom and finds her with a man (?) and Yuzu overhears and throws away her mom's pic. And Miki reappears (for a while at least)

damn I really want to know what's going on.