General Impression: Gakuen Babysitters

Synopsis

This is the story of Ryuichi Kashima and his infant brother, Kotaro. Orphaned upon losing their parents to a plane crash, the two are taken in by Yoko Morinomiya, the director of a children’s academy who lost her adult son and her daughter-in-law in the same plane crash.

There is, however, a condition to the two staying with her. In exchange of her becoming the legal guardian of the Kashima brothers until they are old enough to live on their own, Ryuichi is to work as a babysitter at the Morinomiya Academy.

First Impression

When it comes to the theme of family, this series more than excelled in it. It brought out all kinds of scenarios that pulled at the heartstrings and with the dynamic of the characters, there’s a lot to the series that will leave you smiling. There is drama to be found though, and when it does happen, it works it really well. The problem with the series though is while the sweet and emotional moments, the episodes tend to come off as somewhat formulaic with the start coming off as sweet and comedic before building up to the emotional moments in the last portion of the episode.

Outside of the charming characters, sweet moments and emotional build-up, the series brother a lot of character development towards the kids on certain episodes. Other than the plot and the characters, the series has presented so solid art and design, though the pastel tones could have been done differently. In terms of music, there isn’t much that really stands out in the series, the theme songs were alright but doesn’t have any kind of impact.

General Impression

Once again, the characters and the flow of the story truly stood out for the series. From the way that each episode manages to give development to the characters to how well the relationship work is between them, the characters are the highlight of the series, and not just because the kids are adorable, but that’s a plus. However, the characters can also come off as one note at times given that the spotlight is on another character for the person. The same can be said for the antics of the kids as well.

Then there are the episodes themselves, again the series does well in developing the theme of family but there just seems to be a formula for the episode in order to bring in the viewer. Still, there is no denying the cuteness of the series and there was some good character development done. Outside of this, the softness of the art is a visual pleasure and the comedy that manages to slip in is a plus.

Conclusion

This is a cute and light-hearted series for the most part that gives emotional feels to the theme of family. The characters were all enjoyable in their own way and had some solid development but when the focus isn’t entirely on them, they can come off as repetitive. The stories of each episode may be somewhat formulaic, but they were presented well with a charming art style and animation. Basically, the series has a whole lot of charm and cuteness, but it does have its holes here and there.

Rating: 8.5/10