Baby & Me, Vol. 5

赤ちゃんと僕 [Akachan to Boku] #5

by Marimo Ragawa, Ian Robertson (Editor)

Seiichi, the old neighborhood bully, has moved back to town, and his sudden arrival is causing all sorts of trouble. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Kimura, are torn between feeling angry for the way he disgraced the family name and the love they still have for him. The local merchants are up in arms, ready for a preemptive strike against Seiichi's vandalism--even if he has no intention of causing trouble! But for Takuya, the real effect of Seiichi's visit is what he has to say about Takuya's own past…

Genres: Manga

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Marimo Ragawa 羅川真里茂 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, but a positive critical reception was yet to come. Ragawa then decided to switch to a different magazine. Surprisingly, her first submission to this magazine, Hana to Yume, won a prize called the Top-prize. She succeeded in achieving her debut with her first manga, Time Limit.

Marimo Ragawa continues to draw other manga such as Aka-chan to Boku (Baby and Me), New York New York, and Itsudemo Otenki Kibun. She received the 1995 Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo for Baby and Me. She continues to draw a tennis themed manga, Shanimuni-Go in Hana to Yume (Flowers and Dreams).

Marimo Ragawa's calm and cute design is one of the traits of her drawings. Her energetic drawing and characters are very attractive, even to non-manga readers. She is widely known for her great ability in describing complicated emotions, especially in New York New York and Baby and Me.
Her manga Mashiro no Oto has been nominated for the 4th Manga Taishō.

Reviews

[Noelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harumi (Takuya’s dad) is becoming more fleshed out as this series goes on. Even though he is somewhat lazy, he is extremely dedicated to his children. The last two chapters are dramatic and proves that. I appreciated the character growth in this volume.

[Nicholas Driscoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

早く読みました。この漫画のアイディアは、もしある子供が弟にうらやましいなら、そして母さんが突然死んだら、どうする？僕は最初の１－４巻を読んだことないけど、今まで主人公のたくや君が弟が好きになった。たくや君はすごく純粋な、シンプルな、他の人にケア―するのを見せる小学生。今回メインの話は隣人の息子が帰ってきた。今大人けど、この息子が汚名で色々な悪いことしてたと噂があるので、故郷でみんな彼を信頼していない。どうしてこの息子が戻った？それは最初不思議だったけど、色々な展開した後で彼は自分の息子の手術のためにお金が必要。テーマは汚名があるけれど、人をいつもけなしたり信頼してない態度が悪い。時間がたつあとで人間が変わることもできるでしょう。次の話は他の大きい家族の正月のお掃除の面白い場面。最後の話はたくや君のお母さんのお母さんがたくや君と赤ちゃんを誘拐行動。本当に誘拐じゃないかもけど、その人はたくや君たちを自分の家に住みたいというな話。

この漫画が可愛いし、人間の複雑の部分の描写すると思う。道徳的には全部が白黒ではなく。ユーモアも平凡な暖かい。心地いいな漫画。

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute volume where we learn about Takuya and Minoru's moms side of the family that we never knew existed! Pretty sad

[natnat · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭒
First half was a bit of a hard read, second half was heartfelt <3

[Linny · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really funny!

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first of the series I read. The relationship between the members of the central family are so sweet & loving I decided to read the rest of the series.