"I am your father!" is a light, slice of life story about a college dude and his three nieces; it has nothing to do with Darth Vader or surprising parental lineages. In a way, the concept is very similar to Usagi Drop, suddenly a family relative passes on and now the main character is the only one willing to take in the children. Papa differs in a few critical ways. #1: There are three girls, two of whom are not directly blood related. #2: the dude is a college boy who can only get entry-level jobs. #3: The dude does not own his crib, thus renting is an issue.
While it stands up fine as an ordinary slice of life, do not expect this to have anywhere near the emotional impact of Usagi Drop. It is much less focused on the parental role and the warm cozy feeling, instead focusing more on moe characters and a one-sided crush that goes nowhere. If you're looking for a fairly plain slice of life with a dude living with three underage girls, then this is your series. If not, there isn't much else here.
Animation:
The animation is full of bright colors and decent scenery. I didn't find anything terribly appalling though certain scenes could use a bit more detail. There isn't terribly much action so fluidity of animation was not an issue. Character styling is fair and I do appreciate the varied wardrobe of the characters.
Having just finished a lot of bloody, violent shows, I am a bit in withdrawal with this series as there isn't anything beyond occasional bloody noses. I think the highlight in terms of action is the dude getting slapped... This series does feature light ecchi with accidental glimpses and panty shots of underage girls, if that's what you're into... (*jiiiiii~*)
Sound:
Starting the series off with "Happy Happy Girls" in an overly-upbeat tonality does the girls' overall personalities justice, but totally overshadows the severity of the fact that they just lost their parents. The ED is a much more toned-down mellow-happy song with a lot of vocalizer tweaking and electro vibes. The BGM uses a lot of xylophones which sometimes makes it really sleep inducing while other times making it sound as if it should be in the Caribbeans. Despite the interesting choice of instrumentation, it's mostly forgettable.
I thought this series would be interesting with Eri Kitamura and Yui Horie. Eri Kitamura again proves her incredible voice range and skill as Miu as by far the most interesting personality in the series. Yui Horie, on the other hand, plays the role of the aloof, monotone Raika; not much she could do with that... boohoohoo (you'll get it if you watch). Haven't heard much of Hiromi Igarashi but she gives Hina a very enthusiastic voice.
Story:
If you have read the title then you already know most of what this series is about, and you can probably predict 85% of what will happen in this show. So we have a loving dude that takes in his older sister's children after his sister and her husband go to another realm. It's mostly a slice of life showing daily happenings as the girls slowly get used to living in a small, cramped apartment, and Yuuta starts taking on ridiculously many part time jobs.
There are minor roadblocks along the way that the group encounters, and one medium-sized roadblock towards the end of the series that turns into the final 2-episode "climax". This isn't really a series with a lot of intensity so you can watch at your leisure without the series forcing you to chain. While the issues that come up are believable, the atmosphere created by the series doesn't do the parenthood theme justice compared to Usagi Drop, granted that two of the girls are at least old enough to be somewhat helpful occasionally.
The main theme here is definitely the concept of family as a group to rely on and lean on to get through challenges. A fair theme, but one that is only half impactful when you have a cute preschooler giving everyone thumbs up every two minutes during the show. Despite the tremendous loss in the family, the overall tone is upbeat for the majority of the series.
As some have commented, the ending is also pretty open ended, with a lot of the questions that the series started out with still unanswered. Overall, it's a decent story, but one that doesn't seem to match the atmosphere; and given the preconditions is a lot less believable than Usagi Drop.
Character:
Our "Papa" is a college aged kid who learns the hard way that raising three kids is tough. He's your typical nice, hardworking dude who is apparently only slightly affected by the loss of his older sister. The majority of the "personality" in this series comes from the three nieces- Sora, Miu, and Hina. Sora is the eldest sister who is shy, somewhat slow, and who has a crush on Yuuta (hey it's only like what 5-year-gap?). She has a surprising tendency to wake up hugging Yuuta as they all sleep on one really long futon. Miu is the enthusiastic middle sister who seems much more socially adept than Sora. Hina is the overly enthusiastic bomb that everyone in the city loves, perhaps earning Yuuta some much needed freebies and discounts. Yuuta is supported at his college by a very odd club with very odd members, including Raika and the club president- a masochistic, moe-loving ball of despair. These supporting characters help Yuuta on occasion though are mostly there for comedic effect (contrasted with the actually useful tips provided by co-workers in Usagi Drop).
The character interactions are quite well done though perhaps I was a bit too optimistic about the Sora-Yuuta thing, we wouldn't want a repeat of Yosuga no Sora now would we?
Value:
I'll be frank, this isn't a series that I'll remember in two years time, unless of course they do a second series. It's a decent watch with fair pacing but really not much happens. If you enjoy the characters early on then you'll enjoy the rest of the show, otherwise I'd stick to Usagi Drop for this genre.
