is a shōjo

Shojo

The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...

 manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 by Marimo Ragawa

Marimo Ragawa

was born on September 21 in Hachinohe, Aomori, but her age is not disclosed.Marimo Ragawa first started submitting manga to comic magazines when she was only 12 years old, which is when she was in 6th grade of elementary school. She continued to send her manga to the same magazine for four years,...

. It was originally published in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 by Hakusensha

Hakusensha

is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo.The company mainly publishes manga magazines of various genres and is involved in certain series' productions in their games, original video animation, musical and their animated TV series....

, and was published in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 by VIZ Media

VIZ Media

VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...

, serialized in the magazine Shojo Beat

Shojo Beat

Shojo Beat is a shōjo manga magazine formerly published in North America by Viz Media. Released in June 2005 as a sister magazine to Shonen Jump, it featured serialized chapters from six manga series, as well as articles on Japanese culture, manga, anime, fashion and beauty...

. It received the 40th Shogakukan Manga Award

Shogakukan Manga Award

The is one of Japan's major manga awards, sponsored by Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga since 1955 and features candidates from a number of publishers.The current award categories are:...

 for shōjo in 1995. The series was adapted as an anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 television series in 1996. Some episodes were dubbed in Arabic (Ana Wa Akhi) '"Me And My Brother"'.

Baby and Me describes the detailed lifestyle of an elementary child and is highly praised in many aspects. The feelings of people are observed very closely, and the realistic descriptions of Takuya's life are one of the praised points in Marimo Ragawa's manga. Not only the story's plots and details, but the stable, clean drawings is also one of the attractive points.

Story

Takuya Enoki loses his mother, Yukako when she dies in a car accident. Takuya now lives with his father, Harumi, and his baby brother, Minoru. Takuya's baby brother is only two years old and requires much care. Although Takuya is only a fifth grader, he cooks, cleans, sews, scolds, and does everything that is normally a mother's job. Between his housework and looking after his baby brother, Takuya begins to feel a helpless gap between his friends who have fun everyday after school. Neighbors blame him for Minoru's constant crying. His stress gradually builds up and bursts at a point. Because of a mistake Minoru made, Takuya reacts violently. He cannot help feeling upset over Minoru, who is stressing him and taking up all his time.

One day, when Takuya picks Minoru up from preschool, he starts to walk faster imagining what it would be like to leave his little brother behind him. But soon, Takuya realizes what he has done and runs back. He finds Minoru with his eyes full of tears and a brutal dog is blocking Minoru's way. Takuya dashes in full speed and saves his little brother. After coming home and seeing Minoru sobbing, Takuya realizes that Minoru cries because he is just lonely and becomes ashamed of himself. From then on, Takuya learns to love his little brother as family and his long life story of being a mother and a brother at once begins.

Enoki family

The elder brother. Has taken up the burden of mothering his younger brother, Minoru. Akihiro and him are popular with the girls at school.

Baby of the family. Loves and over protective of his older brother, Takuya. Loves to wear a bear hat. His favorite character is Zap, a superhero from a laundry detergent commercial. His hero in life is Takuya.

The father of Takuya and Minoru. Works hard to feed his family.

Deceased mother of Takuya and Minoru. Married Harumi against her family's wishes, and escaped her family in doing so also.

Friends

Classmate of Takuya's. Is the fourth brother in his family of two older sisters, an older brother, a younger sister, and a younger brother. (see FuJii's family.) Competitive. He is deemed "cool" in class, mostly because it is hard to know what he is thinking. Poor because he has to share everything with his other siblings. Often stuck taking care of his younger siblings.

Ichika Fujii:

Younger sister of Akihiro's. Different class from Minoru. She has a crush on Minoru and often fights (verbal and physically) with love rival, Hiro. She is highly intelligent and sees Minoru as cute. Sharp tongued.

Classmate of Takuya's. Nicknamed Gon. Is the older brother in his family, with Hiroko (Hiro), his younger sister. Is the opposite of Takuya in many ways, especially his care towards Hiro. Greedy and lazy. His family opens a grocery store, and he often works there. Though Gon's crush likes Takuya, he still likes Takuya as a friend.

Hiroko (Hiro):

Younger sister of Tadashi. Same class as Minoru. She has a crush on Minoru and often fights with love rival, Ichika. Was first thought to be a boy. She sees Minoru as brave and handsome. Plays roughly.

Tamadate:

Rich classmate of Takuya's. Stuck up because he is rich. Wears expensive designer clothes. He often ridicules Takuya on his poverty and fights with Gon (whom he dislikes).

Fujii's family

Akemi:

Oldest daughter in the family. in charge of the other siblings when Parents are at works and looking after the house

Tomoya:

Oldest son, second-oldest child in the Fujii family. Dirty-minded. According to Ichika, his type of girls is "Someone with big boobs, and a sexy body, and a bouncy bottom."

Asako:

Second-oldest daughter, third child in the Fujii family. Has a cold voice.

Akihiro:

Second-oldest son, fourth child in the Fujii family. Hard to know what he is thinking. Deemed "cool" by his classmates. Often stuck babysitting his younger siblings.

Ichika:

Youngest daughter, fifth child in the Fujii family. Has a crush on Minoru, who she thinks is cute. She is very intelligent and sharp tongued. She's in a different class than Minoru.

Masaki (Ma-Bo):

Youngest son, sixth child, and youngest child in the Fujii family. Though younger than Minoru, his vocabulary is better than Minoru's. Also very intelligent.

Neighbors

The Kimuras:

Lives across the street from the Enoki's. Though both are old, they are very spirited. Their son recently came home.

Others

Shinako Fukaya:

Girl in Takuya's class. She has a quick temper. Her reputation as a liar makes it hard for her to have friends. She often speaks too honestly, and words come out of her mouth before she thinks it through, leading her to hurt other's feelings without meaning to.

(Chapter 14)

Ai Yarimizo:

Gon's crush. She is the class representative of Class 6-3. Takuya thinks she's weird. Gon probably likes her because she's pretty. She likes to dress very extravagantly (weird by Takuya's taste). On her date with Gon, she chose to go to the kiddie rides. She does "reverse sexual harassment" on Takuya and Gon by patting the boy's behinds. When Takuya asked her to go on a date with Gon (from Gon's orders) she told him that she already liked someone else. After her date with Gon, she confesses to Gon that she liked Takuya. She commented to Takuya that she knew he wouldn't tell Gon because he wants to protect his friends.

(Chapter 20)

Volumes

1. ISBN 4-592-12241-0 published in March 1992
2. ISBN 4-592-12242-9 published in August 1992
3. ISBN 4-592-12243-7 published in December 1992
4. ISBN 4-592-12244-5 published in February 1993
5. ISBN 4-592-12245-3 published in June 1993
6. ISBN 4-592-12246-1 published in November 1993
7. ISBN 4-592-12247-X published in March 1994
8. ISBN 4-592-12248-8 published in July 1994
9. ISBN 4-592-12249-6 published in November 1994
10. ISBN 4-592-12250-X published in February 1992
11. ISBN 4-592-12821-4 published in May 1995
12. ISBN 4-592-12822-2 published in September 1995
13. ISBN 4-592-12823-0 published in January 1996
14. ISBN 4-592-12824-9 published in July 1996
15. ISBN 4-592-12825-7 published in November 1996
16. ISBN 4-592-12826-5 published in March 1997
17. ISBN 4-592-12827-3 published in June 1997
18. ISBN 4-592-12828-1 published in September 1997

External links

• Shojo Beat - Baby and Me
• Baby and Me - Trader