Yuzuki-san Chi no Yonkyoudai.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It's not easy to balance tones of an SoL with four boys living together in the same house getting up to all kinds of shenanigans with the emotional weight of their lost parents, but the show manages it pretty well all things considered. It might get just a little too light-hearted at times, but when it downshifts, you're going to feel the water works coming on. The neighbors as well were a good complement to everything happening on screen, with, in particular, Uta rising to the top.

Everyone gets at least some moments to shine, so none of the characters feel ... tacked on, even if some end up outshining the others. In particular, we spent a lot of time on Minako and Mikoto, who both get very well fleshed out, though I wish we'd gotten to more insight into Hayato, the boy who spent the most time with his parents and feels the greatest weight of expectation. It also could have filled us in more on the parents, who have personalities, but lack any real character depth due to a lack of screen presence.

I think this series is at its absolute best when its showcasing what it can do with animation, whether that's transitioning to a much more clearly drawn style with exaggerated motions or literally having our characters running through real streets in a scene that had me laughing. I wish we could have gotten more of these inventive scenes, but the ones that were in here popped all the more as a result.

I can see some room for improvement, but most of that could be solved with a S2 that, unfortunately, it's unlikely to get. Still, this was a lovely experience.

I'll make this too short and very sweet just like this show.
I was hesitant to watch this show as I personally am not a huge fan of family slice of life's especially revolving around siblings. I myself am an only child and the concept of anything brotherly or sisterly is a mystery to me and thus I find I cant connect with the characters as one usually would in a slice of life or to 'see themselves'. So when this show stumbled upon me I instantly fell in love with the art and animation though didn't have high hopes for actually liking the show as ... I believed it only revolved a family of orphaned boys making it through life's struggles as siblings. However this show managed to make even my lonely only child self feel that sibling connection and the warmth they had through their interactions.
My belief was correct that the shows premise is revolved around this family of four boys who had lost both parents at the same time tragically but it also shows many other aspects that aren't just sad depressing themes about their deaths. This show presented us with the points of view of every brother and their struggles to be there for their other siblings to make everyone's lives easier and happy. It gave us a glimpse at neighbors coming together, an older sibling feeling more like a mom then what every other 23/24 year old feels like, a first grader wanting to grow up so he can help his older brothers be less stressed. There's moments in this show that had me crying with them and others where I laughed along at their funny pranks on one another but most of all I connected in so many different ways with each ones unique stories. Though I have never felt the struggle of a sibling going to the same school as me, or being put in charge of watching annoying younger siblings I still enjoyed every moment I got to see this adorable family connect and grow. The story is great in making you feel this way and though it has some slow parts it overall left me happy that I spent my time giving it a try instead of feeling disappointed or dropping it.
Overall I gave the show a 7, premiering in a season plagued by so many big names it cant even compete against them like frieren, apothecary diaries or undead unluck but this show is so different from them. Its animation is one of the best I've seen in this season (personal taste), the story was slow yet perfect for a slice of life and the characters were great to connect with. Though it was swept away in the shadows of the major shows this season I promise its worth a try. This is the type of show you'll never recommend to anyone yet you will look back fondly on in a year or two. It is simply a good show, nothing more nothing less.

When I think of a slice of life centering around a family whose parents are gone or presumably dead, I think of the Minami Family in Minami-Ke. It's a fun show where the majority of the show is dedicated to a comedic slice of life. Of course, the cute interactions are, for the most part, embellished while Yuzuki-san Chi no Yonkyoudai is much more...serious at some points while sometimes also maintaining that same embellished comedic interactions. This is good and bad for this show.

While Minami-ke is entirely slice-of-life comedy, Yuzuki-san Chi no Yonkyoudai deals with more serious motifs. For example, even the concept of orphaned ... children is handled much more differently. In Yuzuki-san Chi no Yonkyoudai, the death of the parents is evident, apparent, and well addressed, and there are even many monologues and dialogue between characters regarding this topic. Going back to Minami-ke, you have basically zero mention of their parents at all.

Yuzuki-san Chi no Yonkyoudai shows the love of a family through the lens of realistic scenes, loving and also sad ones in the mix. It's not a melodrama, but one that actually takes a closer look at the troubles that a family of four boys would have in a household with no parents.

Of course, these serious scenes have varying levels of success. If episode 1 is a paltry opener that barely adequately introduces the family in the pilot episode, episode 2 truly tells a touching story.

And If I'm being honest, the main reason for this is because Minato is the main character propping this series up. You have Hayato, the oldest, Mikoto the second, Minato the third, and finally, you have Gakuto, the youngest. Every character has a host of problems, Minato included, but Minato ends up being a very strong character. Every episode that isn't centered around Minato falls pretty flat and boring, while the ones that exclusively focus on him truly shine.

Episodes 2,5,6, and 7 are the episodes centered around Minato and a bit of Mikoto, and they're by far the best quality. If these episodes were condensed into a one-hour movie, I'd give it a very high score. It deals with Minato's shaky past with Minato and his adolescence with his best friend. Overall, if this entire show was just a slice-of-life show centered around Minato being the premiere main character and his friends at school, this series would have been better.

The problem with the other characters is self-evident. Mikoto's a bit too much of a bro-con and it certainly damages the realistic character setting that this show is supposed to have. Subsequently, Hayato is just a plain boring character. While possessing very realistic attributes and traits, I find no joy in watching him at all. He suffers the same problem as Haruka in Minami-ke, which is that their sole role is to make food and act as a pseudo-caretaker. Even Haruka is a bit more fun, as she at least possesses lazy traits, while Hayato is just a frustratingly boring strait-laced caretaker figure.

I would say that Gakuto is the one that truly breaks character, however. While Mikoto and Hayato have some flaws, Gakuto just breaks any immersion whatsoever by having a six-year-old have the mental acumen of an adult. This is beyond acting "mature for your age," and breaching "unprecedented genius" territory. Again, I'm comparing to Chiaki from Minami-ke, who is much more of a realistic elementary school kid who's pretty smart. She still possesses some childishness despite her normal maturity that goes beyond her years. Gakuto basically has zero childishness. He may be unable to read emotions at times, but honestly, that's about it. Minato being obsessed with him doesn't help either, destroying the solid character that Minato had in the first place.

Overall, despite there definitely being some solid melancholic scenes in a household that is healing from the death of their parents, there still remain the flippant personalities from an over-the-top comedic slice-of-life show, which kind of ruins both aspects: the serious, dramatic scenes, and the lighthearted comedic ones as well.