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Baby & Me (Japanese: 赤ちゃんと僕, Hepburn: Aka-chan to Boku) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Marimo Ragawa. It was published in Hakusensha‘s magazine Hana to Yume from 1991 to 1997. In North America, it was published by Viz Media. The series was adapted into an anime television series in 1996.

As of November 2021, the manga had over 17.7 million copies in circulation. In 1995, Baby & Me received the 40th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōjo category.

Plot

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 every day after school. The Kimura family 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.

Characters

Enoki family

Takuya Enoki (榎木拓也, Enoki Takuya): Voiced by: Kappei Yamaguchi; The elder brother. 12 years old. Has taken up the burden of mothering his younger brother, Minoru. Due to his gentle, calm demeanor, good look and good grade, he is popular with the girls at school. Most likely to be mad when someone hurts or scares Minoru.; He is kind, caring, hard working, responsible and sensitive though oblivious of the girls’ feelings towards him.; He is also good at short distance run. However, he’s really bad at long running and handicraft.; In Valentine day, he receives 9 boxes of chocolate. In the long run, he comes up at 3rd place thanks to his extreme effort.
Minoru Enoki (榎木実, Enoki Minoru): Voiced by: Chika Sakamoto; Baby of the family. Super cute. Loved and over protected by 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.; He is of the same class as Hiro. Both Hiro and Ichika loves him.

Harumi Enoki (榎木春美, Enoki Harumi): Voiced by: Mitsuru Miyamoto; The father of Takuya and Minoru. He works hard to feed his family. He is a system engineer. He is really handsome and is popular in his company.; He deeply cares for his two sons.

Yukako Enoki (榎木由加子, Enoki Yukako): Voiced by: Misa Watanabe; Deceased mother of Takuya and Minoru. Married Harumi against her family’s wishes, and escaped her family in doing so.; She first met her husband when she was working part-time at a bento shop.; Her parents died in an accident when she was 10.

Friends

Tadashi Gotoh (後藤正, Gotō Tadashi): Voiced by: Yoshiko Kamei; 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 and his look. 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” Gotoh (後藤浩子, Gotō Hiroko, ヒロ Hiro): Voiced by: Yumi Kuroda; Younger sister of Tadashi. Has the exact same face as her brother. Same class as Minoru. She has a crush on Minoru after he saves her from a dog.; She often fights with love rival, Ichika. Was first thought to be a boy. She sees Minoru as brave and handsome. Plays roughly.

Tokio Tamadate (玉館時男, Tamadate Tokio): Voiced by: Chika Sakamoto; Rich classmate of Takuya’s. Stuck up because he is rich. Wears expensive designer clothes. He often ridicules Takuya and fights with Gon (whom he dislikes). His grandmother Hanae considers Gon’s grandmother her love rival in the past (and vice versa).

Fujii family

Akemi Fujii (藤井明美, Fujii Akemi): Voiced by: Misa Watanabe; Oldest daughter in the family. She is in charge of the other siblings when Parents are at work and looking after the house. She has a boyfriend.

Tomoya Fujii (藤井友也, Fujii Tomoya): Voiced by: Mitsuo Iwata; Oldest son, second-oldest child in the Fujii family. 17 years old. Dirty-minded.

He is loud, positive and popular at school.

Asako Fujii (藤井浅子, Fujii Asako): Voiced by: Akemi Okamura; Second-oldest daughter, third child in the Fujii family. 15 years old. Has a cold voice and personality. Her crush is Sakamaki, an introverted boy obsessing with audio visual.

She’s jealous of Tomoya’s cheerful personality.

Akihiro Fujii (藤井昭広, Fujii Akihiro): Voiced by: Hiro Yuuki; 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. 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.

He is good looking and intelligent. He is also good at sports and is popular at school.

In Valentine’s Day, he receives 7 box of chocolate. He wins the 1st prize for the long run competition.

Ichika Fujii (藤井一加, Fujii Ichika): Voiced by: Mika Kanai; 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.

Masaki “Ma-Bo” Fujii (藤井正樹, Fujii Masaki, マー坊 Mā-bō): Voiced by: Kazumi Okushima; 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.; Because of his gentle personality, he is often controlled by Ichika.

Neighbors

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

Seiichi Kimura : the only son. He had a bad reputation, so he ran away from home to another city, and when he came back it turned out that he had married and had a son.

Tomoko Kimura : Seiichi’s wife.

Taichi Kimura : son of Seiichi.

Others

Shinako Fukaya (深谷しな子, Fukaya Shinako): Voiced by: Michiko Neya; A 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.

Ai Yarimizo (槍溝愛, Yarimizo Ai): Voiced by: Hinako Kanamaru; Gon’s crush. She is the class representative of Class 6-3. Takuya thinks she is weird. Gon probably likes her because she is 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 sexually harasses Takuya and Gon by patting their behinds. When Takuya asked her to go on a date with Gon (from Gon’s orders) she told him that she liked someone else. After her date with Gon, she confesses to him that she liked Takuya. She commented to Takuya that she knew he would not tell Gon because he wants to protect his friends.

Episodes[edit]

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Storyboards	Animation director	Original air date
1	Transcription: “Nakimushi wa kiraida!!” (Japanese: 泣き虫は嫌いだ!!)	Jun Takada	Sukehiro Tomita	Takahiro Ōmori	Yūji Moriyama	July 11, 1996
2	Transcription: “Mama nante iranai!!” (Japanese: ママなんていらない!!)	Masakatsu Ījima	Kenji Terada	Gō Sakamoto	Yoshihiko Takakura	July 18, 1996
3	Transcription: “Gon-chan no otōto?” (Japanese: ゴンちゃんのおとうと?)	Hiroshi Kawashima	Yukiyoshi Ōhashi	Kazuyuki Honda	Keiko Hayashi	July 25, 1996
4	Transcription: “Minoru no itazura kaki” (Japanese: 実のいたずら書き)	Jun Takada	Shigeru Yanagawa	Jun Takada	Megumi Kadonosono	August 1, 1996
5	Transcription: “Minoru wa dareka suki!?” (Japanese: 実はだれが好き!?)	Masakatsu Ījima	Sukehiro Tomita	Masakatsu Ījima	Moriyasu Taniguchi	August 8, 1996
6	Transcription: “Minna de umi e itta hi” (Japanese: みんなで海へ行った日)	Tatsuya Ishihara	Yukiyoshi Ōhashi	Tatsuya Ishihara	Kazumi Ikeda	August 15, 1996
7	Transcription: “Kaidan: Fushigi na onna no ko” (Japanese: 怪談：ふしぎな女の子)	Shōichi Masuo	Kenji Terada	Hidehito Ueda (as Baku Tsuzuri)	Hiroki Takagi	August 22, 1996
8	Transcription: “Hanabi no yoru” (Japanese: 花火の夜)	Hiroshi Kawashima	Shigeru Yanagawa	Kazuyuki Honda	Keiko Hayashi	August 29, 1996
9	Transcription: “Sentaku Sentai Shabon Faibu!!” (Japanese: 洗濯戦隊シャボン5!!)	Jun Takada	Yukiyoshi Ōhashi	Jun Takada	Yoshihiko Takakura	September 5, 1996
10	Transcription: “Minoru de nandemo kirumon!!” (Japanese: 実のなんでもできるもん!!)	Masakatsu Ījima	Sukehiro Tomita	Masakatsu Ījima	Moriyasu Taniguchi	September 12, 1996
11	Transcription: “Ukiuki chōnai undōkai” (Japanese: うきうき町内運動会)	Tatsuya Ishihara	Kenji Terada	Tatsuya Ishihara	Kazumi Ikeda	September 19, 1996
12	Transcription: “Bikubiku!! Obake kowaī!” (Japanese: ビクビク！！お化け怖いー！)	Takuo Suzuki	Shigeru Yanagawa	Kazuyuki Honda	Keiko Hayashi	September 26, 1996
13	Transcription: “Usagi no Sachiko-chan” (Japanese: うさぎのさちこちゃん)	Takahiro Ōmori	Masashi Yokoyama	Takahiro Ōmori	Hiroki Takagi	October 10, 1996
14	Transcription: “Enchō-sensei ganbaru” (Japanese: 園長先生がんばる！)	Shinya Sadamitsu	Yukiyoshi Ōhashi	Shinya Sadamitsu	Hiroki Takagi	October 17, 1996
15	Transcription: “Otōsan wa ojiichan?” (Japanese: おとうさんはおじいちゃん？)	Jun Takada	Masashi Yokoyama	Jun Takada	Yoshihiko Takakura	October 12, 1996
16	Transcription: “Nī-cha, genki ni nāre” (Japanese: にーちゃ、元気になぁれ)	Tatsuya Ishihara	Sukehiro Tomita	Tatsuya Ishihara	Kazumi Ikeda	October 31, 1996
17	Transcription: “Harouin na Fujii-kun” (Japanese: ハロウィンな藤井君)	Takuo Suzuki	Kenji Terada	Kazuyuki Honda	Keiko Hayashi	November 7, 1996
18	Transcription: “Otoko gon-chan!! Namida no hatsukoi” (Japanese: 男ゴンちゃん!!涙の初恋)	Masakatsu Ījima	Shigeru Yanagawa	Hidehito Ueda (as Baku Tsuzuri)	Yuri Chiaki	November 14, 1996
19	Transcription: “Onaka pekopeko jiken” (Japanese: おなかペコペコ事件)	Shin’ya Sadamitsu	Masashi Yokoyama	Shin’ya Sadamitsu	Takayuki Gotō	November 21, 1996
20	Transcription: “Nī-cha no naitā bi” (Japanese: にーちゃの泣いた日)	Jun Takada	Kenji Terada	Jun Takada	Hiroki Takagi	November 28, 1996
21	Transcription: “Kurisumasu mitsuketa” (Japanese: クリスマスみつけた)	Tatsuya Ishihara	Yukiyoshi Ōhashi	Tatsuya Ishihara	Kazumi Ikeda	December 5, 1996
22	Transcription: “E!? Papa ga omiai?” (Japanese: え!?パパがお見合い?)	Takuo Suzuki	Sukehiro Tomita	Kazunari Kume	Keiko Hayashi	December 12, 1996
23	Transcription: “Naisho no onesho” (Japanese: ないしょのおねしょ)	Tatsuya Ishihara	Sukehiro Tomita	Tatsuya Ishihara	Kazumi Ikeda	December 19, 1996
24	Transcription: “Kaettekita dora musuko” (Japanese: 帰ってきたドラ息子)	Shin’ya Sadamitsu	Sukehiro Tomita	Takahiro Ōmori	Takayuki Gotō	January 8, 1997
25	Transcription: “Jitsu, onīchan ni naru” (Japanese: 実、おにーちゃんになる)	Jun Takada	Yukiyoshi Ōhashi	Jun Takada	Hiroki Takagi	January 15, 1997
26	Transcription: “Dosukoi!? Sumō taikai” (Japanese: どすこい!?すもう大会)	Hiroshi Hara	Shigeru Yanagawa	Kazuyuki Honda	Keiko Hayashi	January 22, 1997
27	Transcription: “Sūpā obāchan tōjō!!” (Japanese: スーパーおばあちゃん登場!!)	Yoshiko Shima	Kenji Terada	Yoshiko Shima	Kazumi Ikeda	January 29, 1997
28	Transcription: “Yūsha Minoru no dai-bōken” (Japanese: 勇者みのるの大冒険)	Masakatsu Ījima	Sukehiro Tomita	Masakatsu Ījima	Takako Ōnishi	February 5, 1997
29	Transcription: “Kokoro sowasowa Barentain Dē” (Japanese: 心そわそわバレンタインデー)	Shin’ya Sadamitsu	Yukiyoshi Ōhashi	Hidehito Ueda (as Baku Tsuzuri)	Yuri Chiaki	February 12, 1997
30	Transcription: “Mi no akai jidōsha” (Japanese: 実の赤い自動車)	Yoshiko Shima	Shigeru Yanagawa	Yoshiko Shima	Kazumi Ikeda	February 19, 1997
31	Transcription: “Papa no taimu kapuseru” (Japanese: パパのタイムカプセル)	Jun Takada	Masashi Yokoyama	Jun Takada	Masako Gotō	February 26, 1997
32	Transcription: “Hatsu doraibu wa dokidoki!!” (Japanese: 初ドライブはドキドキ!!)	Hiroshi Hara	Yukiyoshi Ōhashi	Kazuyuki Honda	Keiko Hayashi	March 5, 1997
33	Transcription: “Atafuta! Otafuku kaze” (Japanese: あたふた!おたふくかぜ)	Masakatsu Ījima	Shigeru Yanagawa	Masakatsu Ījima	Takako Ōnishi	March 12, 1997
34	Transcription: “Kotori no teburadesukī” (Japanese: 小鳥のテブラデスキー)	Masakatsu Ījima	Shigeru Yanagawa	Hidehito Ueda (as Baku Tsuzuri)	Yuri Chiaki	March 19, 1997
35	Transcription: “Hitori potchi no orusuban” (Japanese: 一人ぽっちのおるすばん)	Shin’ya Sadamitsu	Sukehiro Tomita	Jun Takada	Rie Nishino	March 26, 1997

Reception

Baby & Me won the 40th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōjo category in 1995. As of November 2021, the manga had over 17.7 million copies in circulation.

赤ちゃんと僕 (Aka-chan to Boku)
Baby & Me
First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Minoru Enoki (right) and Takuya Enoki (left)
Genre	Comedy Drama Slice-of-life
Manga
Written by	Marimo Ragawa
Published by	Hakusensha
English publisher	^NA Viz Media
Magazine	Hana to Yume
English magazine	^NA Shojo Beat
Demographic	Shōjo
Original run	1991 – 1997
Volumes	18
Anime television series
Directed by	Takahiro Omori
Written by	Sukehiro Tomita
Music by	Kenji Kawai
Studio	Studio Pierrot
Original network	TV Tokyo
Original run	July 11, 1996 – March 26, 1997
Episodes	35