It’s a shame that Yuzuki-san Chi no Yonkyoudai. should have discussion of its premiere dominated by something as dumb as what’s dominating it.  But that’s the way it is.  Japanese producer Avex apparently machine-translated the episode (this has been unofficially verified), and sent those subs to CR.  Who aired it as is, with laughably bad English subtitles – whether because they have no QC and didn’t check or simply were in no position to complain, I don’t know.  This is a disgrace, frankly, and everyone comes out of it looking terrible.  And also ironic, given CR’s reputation for underpaying their human translators.  I have no way to verify it but I suspect this is the first time we’ve seen a bot translation used for an official, licensed sub.

All that is indeed a shame, as I said.  Because this episode was pretty good.  As I noted in the preview I read a few chapters of Fujisawa Shizuki’s manga some years ago and rather liked them.  It’s relatively rare to get a shoujo anime at all these days, and this one seems to be in relatively good hands with experienced director Hongou Mitsumi at Shuka.  Yuzuki-san is the tale of four orphaned brothers living on their own, the oldest of whom (Hayato) is a 23 year-old schoolteacher who looks after the others.  The youngest is 6 year-old Gakuto, and the middle two are indeed in the middle – first year middle schoolers Mikoto and Minato.

It’s there that much of the series’ conflict is derived from.  Those two are at the extreme age range for their grade – eleven months apart.  Mikoto is taller, more mature, and heavily relied on by Hayato.  Almost a year can feel like (and be) an eternity for boys this age, but Minato is temperamentally more of a child anyway.  He’s impatient and impulsive, which often lands him in trouble with his eldest brother.  He also seethes at never being relied on as Hayato works himself to the bone, especially when Mikoto is Hayato’s right-hand man and second-in-command.

Seeing Gakuto gazing longingly at the advert for the local hanabitaikai, Minato decides to step into the big brother role and take Gakuto to the fireworks himself.  Part of it is simple bad judgment (Minato excels at that), and part of it a genuine desire not to give his brother another reason to not take it easy.  Mostly though Minato just wants to prove himself, and though we know it’s going to end badly the impulse is certainly understandable.  It’s a short trip on the tram to the festival grounds, but for a 12 year-old forbidden from riding the train himself (which is really a bit insulting to begin with), it’s both an adventure and a daring risk.

All’s well that ends well – when Mikoto tells Hayato what’s going on (if he’s so mature, why did he let it happen?) the older brothers ride to the rescue.  One does get the sense that this could be a recurring pattern – Minato does something unwise because he’s a scamp but has good intentions, his big brothers bail him out, and all is forgiven.  If that’s the case, I think Yuzuki-san’s upside will hinge on whether we see development on both sides.  Will Minato show do some actual growing up?  Will his big brothers stop condescending to him so much?

I probably take a minority view on this, but I kind of sympathize with Minato here.  He has a good excuse to be immature – he’s a child.  His older brothers kind of do a sucky job being sensitive to his pride, and in doing so make matters worse.  Of course Hayato is working in a legendarily exhausting job and looking after three kids at 23, so it’s hard to blame him too much.  There’s the germ of something nice here, I think – though again, just how nice will hinge on how the characters actually grow and change.