Nadia recaps: School Babysitters, episode 4
By: Nadia Eldemerdash
Tags: Review, Television, Anime, Recaps

A new school year has begun for Ryu and company, and now they’re in high school. They get to wear ties now. But it’s only spring, and since the last episode was Valentine’s Day, I conclude that Japanese schools have a different semester system.

The first day of school is an important one because it’s the day students pick their after-school clubs. Ryu is joining the Babysitters Club because it’s a condition of his living arrangement. He makes a flyer to advertise for new members, but can’t fit it on the board with the other flyers, even though there’s a clear open space in the lower right-hand corner.

“On your right!” I yell. He doesn’t listen to me.

He goes to the daycare room where he is immediately bombarded by the kids, who bring him down like a lion pride catching a gazelle. It’s impressive on their part but embarrassing for him. He drops the flyer, and it falls on Kotaro’s head. Kotaro just stands there blankly, making no effort to move the flyer. I sigh. I get he’s a calm kid, but this is worrisome. It’s one thing to freeze in the face of a tiger, but another to have so little protection instincts that you can’t even free yourself from a piece of paper.

Dolls have better survival instincts than this.

Another person who makes no effort to help is Usaida, who simply reads the flyer off Kotaro’s head. This is what happens when you hire high school graduates with no childcare experience. No wonder he’s cheap labor. Usaida suggests they go around and see the other clubs, an idea that is very popular with the kiddos, who want to see what their parents (and siblings, in Taka’s case) are up to.

Out in the halls, the kiddos hold hands and make a parade, which involves chanting a song where they pretend to fart. It’s hilarious, and all the more so because Kotaro keeps missing the cue.

“Fartin’! Fartin’! Brap, brap, brap!” I love these kids.

Ryu is embarrassed. I don’t know why. So far this is the best thing that’s happened on the show.

They hit the drama club first, which is run by Teacher Kirin’s Mom. She’s made up in what appears to be zombie makeup, which scares the life out of the kiddos (except Takuma. I worry about his self-preservation instincts too).

No, thank you.

Usaida gets his face painted. This allows the kids to run away in the direction of the cooking club. Good job, Usaida.

At least one of the babies is having a good time in Kirin’s Mom’s House of Kreepiness.

On the way, Kotaro finds an ant, and we all have to stop and look at it for some reason. Meanwhile, the other kids have found the cooking room, but the cookies aren’t ready yet. Inomata is in the cooking club! For some reason the other girls don’t seem to know her, because they express surprise when she yells at Ryu for letting the kids run around unsupervised. “I thought you were a very quiet person,” one girl says. Really?

With all that stomping around the halls and yelling at people? Is the high school in a different building? Were none of these girls in middle school with her?

One of the girls tries to recruit Ryu, but another comments that he’s probably too busy with the daycare. He begins to reflect on his lack of social life in school. They go outside to see the sports clubs, and another student comments on how he’s basically stuck with babysitting. He wistfully watches Hayato and other boys play baseball. Hayato comes over to hit his brother, because why not? He tells Ryu the team sucks, but Ryu can’t help but feel that his peers are having a kind of fun that’s being denied to him. This is exactly why the babysitting for room and board situation is so unfair, even cruel. Let Ryu be a kid!

Kotaro finds more ants, but when he tries to get his brother’s attention he sees the sad look on his face. The other kids have noticed too. Ryu decides to leave the group with Usaida and find a place to put up the flyer. He asks Kotaro to come along, but Kotaro shakes his head. Ryu plays it cool but is obviously hurt.

Don’t take it personally, Ryu. Seriously.

Ryu puts the flyer in the very obvious spot I pointed out before. Then he sulks about his brother not wanting to come with. Jeez, kid. Do you really need him trailing you every second of every day?

Speaking of Kotaro, he appears carried by Hayato, who tells Ryu he wants to join the Babysitters Club. UGH. This guy had better shape up and be nice, or I am going to get really frustrated with the show. Kotaro recruited him by tugging on his pants determinedly. This is the most initiative the kid has ever shown. It’s also an impressive degree of empathy and understanding from a little kid. He knows his brother needs a friend! It’s very sweet.

The other kids come running. They got their cookies! They all offer them up to Ryu to cheer him up. He is moved. With club day over, the boys settle in, and Usaida makes them matching aprons. Inomata brings cookies for the kids. Unfortunately, they are inedible. She takes criticism of her cooking skills as well as you might expect.

Break! It seems like the format of the show from now on is going to be two separate storylines per episode, and part two today sees Ryu waking up with a fever. Saikawa mistakes Ryu’s sore threat as his voice breaking, but backtracks and says it was a joke. Who knows with this dude. His poker face is art.

Ma’am removes Kotaro from what has now become the quarantine room. Kotaro stands at the door and whimpers.

Aww! That smushed face!

She tells him to man up and come help her make medicine for Ryu. As Ma’am returns with a wool blanket for Ryu, Kotaro calls her shaggy. “Are you referring to this wool blanket or to my hair?” He says it again, and she dumps the blanket on top of him. They go to the kitchen, where she aggressively cuts a lemon in half. “Demon lady,” Kotaro mumbles. I snort.

There’s strong support for the hypothesis.

She instructs him to squeeze the lemon into a small cup so she can make Ryu some honey lemon. (For the record, I refuse to call this tea. It’s not tea. It’s lemon juice and honey in hot water. Tea requires the presence of tea leaves. End of rant). Kotaro sits on the floor, determination in his tiny face, and fails to squeeze any juice out. This is highly unrealistic. Toddlers have small hands, but they can grip. That lemon ought to be mush in his hands. It is a lot bigger than his hands, though, so maybe that’s the problem. He perseveres in the face of this adversity and is finally successful!

Believe in yourself!

But because he is a toddler and has a poor conception of how much space his body takes, he knocks the cup over as soon as he stands up. There’s still another half a lemon, so he tries again. Good for him!

Meanwhile, Ryu is having a bad dream. In it, his parents return and take Kotaro away. He cries in his sleep. It’s especially sad when you think of the implications, that Kotaro might die and leave Ryu alone forever. But Kotaro is alive, and he wipes his big brother’s tears, waking him. And also stinging his eyes, because his hands have lemon on them. Ryu gets up and drinks his honey lemon, and he internally thanks God for keeping Kotaro in his life. Aww. “I know it’s pathetic, but I think it’s Kotaro who’s been getting me through this,” he reflects. It’s not pathetic at all! It’s sweet and beautiful.

Kotaro thought Ryu would immediately get better, so he’s very upset to find that the quarantine is still in place. At dinner, he sits under a chair and pouts. Saikawa tries to lure him out with ice cream, but it doesn’t work, so you know he’s really upset.

This was a really fun and touching episode that made up for the creepiness of the last one, so I’m quite pleased right now. More of this, and less of creepy and angsty teens.