English Dub Review: Miss Caretaker Sunohara-sou ” Start of the Rainy Season, Marriage, Lap Pillow”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

The topic of marriage and spontaneous breast growth are the focal points of this week’s episode as the girls and Aki speculate their vision of an ideal marriage. Where does the breast growth come in? Well, that comes into play when Yuzu, in all of her prepubescent insecurity, seeks out a method to enlarge her breasts (with some help from a reluctant Aki). Later on in the episode, Aki and Ayaka get stranded on the top of a roof, which um, leads Aki to fantasize a future where he spends the rest of his days with Ayaka on said roof. You know, typical things young boys think about.

Our Take

Aki’s sudden interest in Ayaka is dated and cliche. Perhaps not for a Japanese audience, but definitely a western one. Seeing a young boy take interest in a voluptuous woman is not unlike the stories you hear about your friend’s brother reading playboy magazines in his room. sure, it doesn’t seem like there’s any malintent on Aki’s part (he’s just a young child starting to take interest in the opposite sex), but it perpetuates the normalization of the idea that “boys will be boys” and can objectify women. This is also made inherently uncomfortable since it’s Ayaka is the one perpetuating a lot of the behavior that leads to Aki’s thoughts. In sum, both sides of the party are at a fault to some degree, leading to a premise that can make most western viewers uncomfortable.