Anime review- Daa! Daa! Daa! or UFO Baby

Here's one of my favourite animes. This is one of the animes I watched when I was young and is still etched in my mind. Ah! such nostalgia.
It was adapted into a long anime series from a manga. I prefer the anime over the manga but both the versions are almost same.

The story is not too complicated. It is about a 13 yr. old Miyu whose parents are astronauts. They leave her at their friend, Mr. Sayonji's house because they have to go to America to work in NASA. Mr. Sayonji, a priest who doesn't look like one, has a son named Kanata who is quiet and self absorbed. Kanata doesn't have mother (she died).
Suddenly, Mr. Sayonji has to go to India on a spiritual journey so, he leaves these teenagers to take care of the house and themsleves and goes to India.
That night, a UFO lands in the backyard. A baby called Lu comes out of it with a babysitter cat called Wanya. Lu mistakes Kanta for his father and Miyu for his mother. Wanya says that they were sucked into a wormhole and therefore landed here and pleads to let the baby and her/him stay and thus begins their new exciting life filled with unforgettable, hillarious, romantic and nostalgic memories.
It is basically a sci fi shoujo anime but it is one of the best out there. It concentrates less on the relationship between Miyu and Kanata and more on their exciting and funny high school adventures. They travel to resorts, summer camps, help Mikan meet deadlines, get stuck in storybooks, meet ghosts, make friends, get lost, and alsmost end up losing Lu. But fun, comedy and our characters never cease to come to the rescue. The episodes leave your heart warm when they end.
The character cast is wonderful. Aya, Nanami, Mikan (a mangaka), Seiya, Nozomu, Santa and Christine just multiply the fun. They have unique and eccentric characters which make you laugh and cry and want more.

The high school misadventures are exciting and hillarious. Romance scenes are good too. Mikan's deadlines, Aya's plays, Santa's eccentric character, Momoka's childishness and Christine's fits of jealousy help very much in plot development. They are friends you can count on. Miyu and Kanata are of course dependable. Also, Mr. Sayonji keeps visiting at odd times.
The story progresses well and characters increase with time. The last scene is really nice.

Story- 4.5
Characters- 5 (full!)
Art- 4.3
Overall- 4.8

Obviously, this series has cons ( That's why it is rated 4.8 and not 5). Some may find it just like any other shoujo anime. Some may also find the art style and colouring slightly outdated. Some may find it cheesy or over the top. The ending is not particularly satisfying even though it is good ('happy ending'as the anime directors call it).

UFO baby is an anime that will not dissapoint you. Christine's jealousy, Lu's innocence, Aya's sensibility, Nozomu's flirtateousness, Santa's support, Seiya's appearances, Mikan's eccentricities, Kanata's balanced personality and Miyu's cheerfulness will stay with you long after the last episode. This is one of the animes I love to watch again and again.

The english version of this anime is not available on DVD. Animax aired it in english. There are episodes on You Tube with english subs for english fans. I strongly recommend this anime especially to school students.

Pros
Strong characters
Overall atmosphere
Story plot
Comedy
Excitement
Artwork

Cons
Might find it just like any other anime