UFO Baby (だぁ!だぁ!だぁ!, Dā! Dā! Dā!) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mika Kawamura. The manga was serialized by Kodansha in Nakayoshi from February 1998 to March 2002, and the chapters were collected into 9 tankōbon volumes. It was adapted into a 78-episode anime television series produced by NHK, animated by J.C.Staff, and directed by Hiroaki Sakurai, which was broadcast between March 2000 and February 2002 on NHK’s BS2 broadcast satellite network. The series was one of the top-rated anime series during its initial broadcast.

The story follows two junior high school students, Miyu and Kanata, who find and care for an abandoned alien baby without anyone discovering they are living together without adult supervision. The anime adaptation concluded before the manga was completed, resulting in different endings for each series. Kawamura later wrote a sequel to the manga, Shin Dā! Dā! Dā! (新☆だぁ!だぁ!だぁ!).

Plot

Miyu Kouzuki is an 8th-grade student whose parents left for the United States to work for NASA. They arrange for her to stay with their long-time family friend, Hōsho Saionji, a monk who lives in an old temple on a hill overlooking the town of Heiomachi. However, Hōshō leaves soon after on a year-long pilgrimage to India, leaving Miyu to stay in the same house with his son, Kanata.

Suddenly, a UFO lands in the honden of the temple. Inside is a humanoid alien baby, Ruu, and his catlike guardian, Wannyā. They arrived on Earth from their home planet, Otto, when they fell into an interplanetary wormhole (a time warp which can transport objects across several regions, planets, and time planes). They cannot return to their home planet because it is too far from Earth; Wannyā asks Kanata and Miyu to allow them to stay in their house, and they agree. Miyu and Kanata learn from Wannyā that people from Planet Otto look identical to human beings, and that Wannyā can also transform into human beings, animals, and objects.

Miyu and Kanata feel deep love for Baby Ruu, who also cares for them – thinking of them as his parents due to their similar looks – and they go to great lengths to help and protect him and Wannya. As the story progresses, the group is often involved in comedic and funny situations, but their sense of family deepens. Kanata will soon realise that he is in love with Miyu but finds it hard to confess the same as Miyu. The story ends with a rescue team from outer space coming to Earth and returning Ruu and Wannyā to Otto safely. Miyu goes to boarding school alone. However, 6 years later, Miyu and Kanata reunite, marry and have a daughter named Miu; they also reunite with Wannya and Ruu.

In Shin Daa! Daa! Daa!, set many years later, Ruu meets a confused earthling girl called Miu that has arrived through a wormhole. Miu desperately wants to go home, and he agrees. Unbeknownst to him, Miu is the daughter of the same people who lovingly cared for him during his stay on Earth, Miyu Kōzuki and Kanata Saionji. They meet Ran, Ruu’s best friend, a robot named Ann, and Mininyā, Wannyā’s son.

Anime

The anime television series originally aired between 28 March 2000 and 26 February 2002 on the NHK-BS2 satellite TV network. It spanned a total of 78 episodes, and was directed by Hiroaki Sakurai.

Game

The series was adapted into a card battle video game for the Game Boy Color, Dā! Dā! Dā! Totsuzen ★Card de Battle de Uranai De!? (だぁ!だぁ!だぁ! とつぜん★カードでバトルで占いで!?), developed by Video System, which was released exclusively in Japan on December 8, 2000.

UFO Baby
Cover of the first volume of the manga, published by Kodansha
だぁ!だぁ!だぁ! (Daa! Daa! Daa!)
Manga
Written by	Mika Kawamura
Published by	Kodansha
Magazine	Nakayoshi
Demographic	Shōjo
Original run	February 1998 – March 2002
Volumes	9
Anime television series
Directed by	Hiroaki Sakurai
Produced by	Eizō Kondō
Written by	Tomoko Konparu
Music by	Toshio Masuda
Studio	J.C.Staff
Original network	NHK-BS2
Original run	March 28, 2000 – February 26, 2002
Episodes	78 (List of episodes)
Manga
Shin Daa! Daa! Daa!
Written by	Mika Kawamura
Published by	Kodansha
Magazine	Nakayoshi
Demographic	Shōjo
Original run	April 2, 2002 – December 28, 2002
Volumes	2