It seems to be an ongoing battle between Miira no Kaikata and Gakuen Babysitters to out-kawaii each other this season, and it’s spiraling out of control. Each week we’re seeing fiercer and fiercer broadsides of cute fired across the bow of the opponent, with no sign that this escalating arms race of adorableness will subside any time soon. I may be one of many casualties laid low by by all this by the time the season is over, but I can think of a lot worse ways to go.
This week very much belonged to Isao, the newest member of the mythological cuteness brigade (how in the world are we going to survive the addition of a fourth?). Isao, as it turns out, is the “big brother” of the trio. Clearly he’s a little more mature than Mii-kun and Conny (which makes sense as he’s old enough to have been around the neighborhood for several years, at least). Mogi-san even says he prepared his own natto for supper and washed his hands after eating. As Kaede says Isao is more the caring type and Mii-kun more the “cared for type” – but poor Mii-kun takes that a little too much to heart (Conny is too much of a baka to care, it seems).
There’s so much cute this week that it’s hard to know where to start – even something as simple as Mii-kun trying to scratch his own back. His attempts to answer the phone – he does manage to do so, but can only offer a Pochi impression – are top-shelf. But the real jaw-dropping moment comes with the revelation that Isao is able to write. I definitely did not see that coming – and not only that, but he’s able to learn to write his name in Romaji with a little teaching from Tazuki. And he even manages to teach Mii and Conny to write too (in crayon, of course). Both of their first notes are totally in-character – Mii writes “together forever” (just kill me now). And Conny goes with “What do you think?” – which is a fascinating choice by the little weirdo.
Conny is indeed the little scamp – as witness his response when Sora tells him not to touch the thing growing in the garden. Turns out it was a mandrake (they seem to be turning up in anime a lot lately) that Kaede (ROFL) has been using as her alarm. It’s escape into the town is a bit of concern, given that “you’ll die if you listen long enough” (just how crazy is Sora’s father, anyway) but once more it’s Isao who saves the day (it must be said, after Conny and Mii-kun fail miserably) – which doesn’t make Mii feel any better.
Finally, it’s bath time – and this is an excuse for yet another tidal wave of kawaii. I especially loved the way Isao waited and waited for Mogi to be ready to take her bath, before finally saying “screw it” and bathing on his own. But he sticks around to try vainly to keep her tucked under her blanket (Isao is indeed the big brother type, and Mogi could use one). Meanwhile Conny wakes up Tazuki for no reason apart from wanting attention, and Mii-kun revels in Sora’s storytelling skills – though he does have some moments of confusion when Sora starts to fall asleep and gets it all rather wrong. This (like Gakuen Babysitters) is definitely cuteness done right, though it’s hard to quantify just why that is – I just know it when I see it, that’s all.
