Aishiteruze baby is a well known name among shoujo manga fans.
It is about the life of Kippei, a flirtateous high schooler who is saddled with the responsiblily of looking after his five year old cousin because her mother abandons her. Yuzu craves for Kippei's attention and gets jealous when she sees any girl around him. She plays around at the nursery and makes friends while constantly her memories of her mother are eroded and replaced. She starts forgetting her mother's face. Kippei in the meanwhile looks after Yuzu and goes steady with Kokoro, a girl in his class.
The series had a good idea but was too short. Kippei and Kokoro's feelings were not given time to develop and even Yuzu's feelings towards him were not allowed to develop. This manga could have easily dragged on for three more years. Kokoro's personality is also conflicting and she loves and hates Kippei at the same time. But the overall events balanced the manga.
The nursery events are one of the best in this manga. Yuzu's friends have some serious problems with mothers and sisters and she takes time to solve them. The brief appearance of Kippei's cousin was also nice. The nursery and side events were much more serious than the romance.
The romance is the biggest drawback of this manga. It keeps going back and forth. Kippei is not able to fix on one girl. Though he admits liking Kokoro, their relationship is presented only occassionally. Yuzu's romance is given importance but gradually transforms into sisterly love. In the end however, Kippei decides to live with Kokoro.
The nursery events and non-romantic events were more emotional compared to the romance.
The illustrations are good. The plot was good. It reminded me of Akachan to Boku (Baby and me). This plot was better than Akachan to Boku which had very young characters and was hard to relate to.
Story- 4.1/5
Characters- 3.8/5
Illustrations- 4.2/5
Overall- 4.0/5 (Note- overall score is not the average)
The ending was rushed up and I couldn't help thinking that the mangaka was in a hurry to finsih the manga. The end was rather abrupt. Yuzu's mother appears out of nowhere and Yuzu goes with her. The very last pages were emotional (when Yuzu sends a letter).
This will appeal to any shoujo manga fan and younger readers too. It is okay for a light read.
Pros
Story
Illustrations
Cons
Ending
Little conflict
Romance
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