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Now that 4 episodes have aired, I can redo my review, but keep it true to what I originally had it as. I don't typically write reviews because I don't see the point. I can't describe it as well as others and most of the time the things I loved/hated have already been commented on in more detail than I could ever have written. But not for this one. Not this time. TLDR at the end.

Gakuen Babysitters is fantastic. It is by no means thought-provoking or action-packed. It does exactly what it sets out to do: be a relaxing and sweet anime about children ... and their families or, in some cases, what is left of them. If you're expecting more than that then I'm sure that you'll be disappointed. This is Winter seasons "I've had a long day and I hate everyone," anime. Sit down, watch kids do stupid things and be adorable, and relax.

The 3rd episode introduced us to this "pedophile" character as some people have described him as. I saw him as weird, but not once did he seem like a pedophile. His nose bleeds when he's around the children because they're adorable and he strains himself. People tend to forget that nosebleeds are from being overly excited and because the anime industry consistently uses nosebleeds as a "sexual desire" indicator. Yeah, no, you can get a nosebleed from strenuous activities such as being overly excited or being stressed. I've seen a friend get a nosebleed because he was extremely pissed. Was he turned on? No. Is the character in the show turned on when he looks at the kids? No. The human body creates nosebleeds when the body undergoes a certain amount of stress. I know all the anime industry shows is nosebleeds when they're sexually interested but please take the time to research other causes of nosebleeds. I can't say I'm sexually excited when I wake up in the morning and have a nosebleed from the stress of the dry season. If you remove the nosebleed from his character, does it change anything about the way he behaves with them? No, it really doesn't. If you saw him without the nosebleed, what would you think? "Oh, he just really likes kids!" That is what I see. I've yet to see him display any pedophilic behavior but it's immediately written as such simply because of the nosebleed cliche. I want to see this sexual nosebleed cliche end and I'm hoping this character is a step towards that.

If you're looking for an actual pedophile character, watch Papa no Iukoto wo Kikinasai and then come back to this anime. They actually legit had him stalking her, taking pictures of her, and drooling over her. He completely wanted to be with her in every way imaginable and it was "totally okay." Which one is the pedophile? The one who wants to pinch their cheeks and watch them be adorable or the one who wants to drool over a 10 year old in a bikini and act like it's totally okay for him to want to have sex with her?

I really think this anime has the potential to break our hearts. It shows itself as just a nonsense anime about children and their activities, but then it takes a dark turn and reminds us that the protagonists parents are dead. It is not just about comedy, but the tragedy of loss and how it can affect the human mind. I enjoyed the 4th episode very much as we saw a side of our protagonist that we hadn't seen before. He's lonely. Jealous, even. He has the kids but what about people his age? He has the duty of the babysitting club but what about his own interests? I want to see them expand upon this unless the babysitting club will just be full of people by the end of the anime. Either route will do. Every character is interesting and I hope to see them continue to grow and heal.

TLDR: The character is not a pedophile. Nosebleeds are caused by being overly excited, not only from "sexual desire" like the anime industry tries to say. I've been fangirling over how cute the kids in this anime are and I've easily wanted to pinch their cheeks the same way. Am I a pedophile? No, they're just really cute. Get over it. If the character chooses to slowly devolve into what everyone assumes he is, then I will happily delete this review. Until then, I am getting serious grandparent vibes from him. Odd? Yes. Far too happy? Yes. Pedophilic? No. I have high expectations for this anime and they have been fulfilling them quite well.