Miss Caretaker of Sunohara-sou – Review

Title (Japanese):	Sunoharasou no Kanrinrin-san
Title (English):	Miss Caretaker of Sunohara-sou
Studio:	Silver Link
Episodes:	12
Streaming:	N/A

Miss Caretaker of Sunohara-sou is a slice of life story about a young boy, Aki Shiina (Eri Kitamura), living abroad in a lodging in Tokyo run by its caretaker, Ayaka Sunohara (Rina Satou), whom he begins to view as a surrogate mother. Believe me, it’s not as wholesome as it sounds.

What will make or break Sunohara-sou for any viewer is quite simple. Since this anime has a young boy under the care of a well-endowed woman and is surrounded by other girls, it’s going to try and milk it for all its worth. At any point, usually very early on in a given episode, things take a turn for the naughty. For example, Aki is taking a bath in one scene and suddenly, Ayaka enters the room, naked save for a towel, telling him that she’ll help wash his back. The context is admittedly that Ayaka mistakes Aki for a girl and thinks the situation is appropriate but even that is a excuse to make a scene such as this happen. Also, this is a scene that happens in the very first episode of the show so the tone is set very early on.

And this shota-themed sense of humor prevails throughout the whole show, with various bits of eye candy showing off the characters’, shall we say, charm points or shots that can be taken horribly out of context for your imagination to go wild. It’s also really the main facet of Sunohara-sou‘s comedy routine. It’s not like, say, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, another anime with shota humor (the boy is even named Shota), where it was just one of many gags up its sleeve. With Sunohara-sou. you’re left to either take it or leave it. Sometimes it is genuinely funny and the antics surprisingly don’t get stale throughout the whole cour. Other times, however, you may find yourself laughing at the show as opposed to with it or just sitting on your chair uncomfortably at how crass it’s getting. Simply put, the humor misses about as often as it hits.

Truth be told though, the characters are actually pretty likable. At times, Aki and Ayaka’s relationship does genuinely come across a surrogate mother and son dynamic and there is charm to be had with seeing them help each other around the house. All the other residents of the lodging and the people who frequently visit them are entertaining as well. Student council president Yuzu (Natsumi Takamori) is a particular highlight with her slight tsundere personality playing off well with Aki’s more reserved demeanor while being able to be just as flustered as him when the situation arises. Another favorite is Ayaka’s sister Nana (Ayane Sakura), a gyaru who acts like a fun big sister to Aki, even if her constant teasing gets a bit too sexually charged. While the task is still to stomach whatever jokes are thrown at you, the characters can surprisingly help carry the experience at times.

Mileage will certainly vary with Miss Caretaker of Sunohara-sou. I’ll admit that this anime was a bit of a guilty pleasure for me; the humor I’m mixed on but I must admit that the characters is what kept me watching for twelve episodes. Frankly, if you’re not a fan of anime whose sense of humor is based a lot on the fact that one of its characters is underage, then I’d consider steering clear away from this show. Otherwise, give it the old three episode rule and see if sticks with you or not.

Score: 6/10

---

Thanks for reading!

Consider supporting my blog via:

PayPal: 

Ko-Fi: