I am myself a 30-something man and I think this played a lot into my attraction for this anime. Who doesn't feel the need to shelter a little girl in that kind of situation?
The art style was rather appropriate given the focus of the show, it's about children after all. Even so the quality of the work was still very good, despite that I know some people who rejected the show simply for the art, their loss.
The theme songs were fun and uplifting, I normally don't bother listening to them in general but I spent some more time on this series to enjoy the songs.
It would be a crime not to make a sequel for this series, something about the characters just makes you want to know what happens next. I want to see what happens to the small family as the kids grow up, attend middle and high school. I want to watch the relationships between the adults grow and develop as well.
This show doesn't have great big huge dramatic events unwinding around some epic plot devised by some grand hero or villain. As such it's not the same old story line, it's every day life but somehow, that's more interesting, more important or exciting than the next grand adventure.
