Usagi Drop

When Daikichi attends his grandfather’s funeral he is shocked to discover that his grandfather had not only a younger unknown lover, but an illegitimate six-year-old daughter by the name of Rin. The whole family is shocked and embarrassed by Rin’s existence, having no idea who the mother is and what to do with the child. When the family consider giving Rin up for adoption, Daikichi decides to step up and care for her himself. But he quickly discovers that raising a child, especially as a single parent and whilst working full time, is not so easy, and great sacrifices need to be made for Rin’s sake.

Usagi Drop (also known as Bunny Drop) is defined as a slice-of-life and a comedy, but the latter is not quite accurate as Usagi Drop isn’t a comedy in the usual sense. Daikichi may seem clueless at first when looking after Rin but there are no outrageous physical scenarios, such as, for example, Daikichi buying bras and panties or Rin giving Daikichi the run-around by getting lost in the city. The comedy comes from real situations, genuine possibilities, and having the heart to tell such a simple story with all the love and emotion that anyone with children, or at least the understanding of kids, will be swept up into their lives. If you’re expecting a typical wacky anime comedy then you’re better off looking elsewhere, but if you want a series that has a simple story with a big heart, Usagi Drop fits the bill perfectly.

A series so focused on just telling such an uncomplicated story with as much realism as this anime invokes is a rare breed indeed. Admittedly there are several elements that aren’t quite true to life, such as Rin being the only six-year-old I know who can make her own breakfast, but for every aspect that’s not fully realistic, there are plenty of issues that are down to earth. There’s no denying that Daikichi is one stand-up guy, he steps up to look after little Rin, whom he met that day, and rarely moans about it. You could argue that his lack of other interests and needs outside of Rin is also not fully believable, but there are changes in his character that are completely relatable. Unlike other anime that have such heroic parental figures and that almost romanticise raising kids (example; Wolf Children) Daikichi never makes any of it look easy. He struggles to find Rin a nursery school within a good distance from his home and work, he asks the help of friends and family when overloaded, he makes large adjustments to his life to see to Rin’s needs, and much more. He is an ordinary man who’s doing the best he can considering the circumstances; he’s a hero in a very normal sense and it’s wonderful to see him blossom as the first year of raising Rin goes by.

As for Rin, aside from the breakfast mentioned earlier, she is a completely believable and totally loveable child; she’s adorable, playful, and curious about the world around her. She gets hungry, she falls ill, she plays with other children and dresses like an ordinary little girl – she is very real in every sense of the word, so that every discovery she makes (or that Daikichi makes with her) hits right into the hearts of the audience. You feel for her losing her father but also rejoice in her precious moments with Daikichi.

The series takes a page from CLAMP’s book in terms of looking at various aspects of a certain subject matter whilst reserving judgement. As the series progresses, Daikichi naturally meets various other single parents raising children in their own way. Each parent has their own opinions on what is right or wrong; one such parent accepts a demotion to spend more time with the family whilst another chooses their career over a child. The characters within the show may pass their own judgements, but the show itself doesn’t exactly focus on it, instead it paints this wide picture of acceptance. It tries to understand the implications of how much a child changes one’s life and how different people cope with it. It’s very much reminiscing of real life if you think about how it; there are arguments in the papers at least once a month as to whether breast-feeding is acceptable in public or not – and that’s just one aspect of raising a child. In that respect, Usagi Drop will definitely be the most hard-hitting for parents or parents-to-be, but non-parents can certainly see where all these different variations of ‘parenthood’ come from and why they make the choices they settle with, even if we probably wouldn’t make the same.

Now let’s address the elephant in the room; the original manga is 53 chapters long, the anime however only covers the first 21, and there’s a reason for that. From Chapter 22 the series skips forward in time and slowly builds to a very controversial ending that completely changes how events in the first half of the story are perceived. I haven’t read it myself but I read enough to know what happens and agree that where the anime ends is a wise choice. If you aren’t aware of the manga ending I’d recommend NOT looking it up before watching this series as it may unintentionally ruin some scenes for you.

The animation seems simple on the surface but, upon closer inspection, has a few subtle tricks that shine in the overall package. In the prologue for each episode the colours are a lot more faded and brighter, almost like a children’s colouring book. The opening and closing animations also flourish with the child-like drawings and have multiple versions of each; for the opening there are different colours depending on episode, for the ending they have random sketches or frames from the episode itself, so it’s unique each time. The art reflects the ages of the characters too; all the children have much rounder faces and a brighter colour palette whilst the adults (especially older ones) have much sharper faces and smaller eyes. The whole look is uniquely stylised and memorable. 

It’s important to note that this set is sub only, no dub is provided. All the subtitles are fine apart from one scene in Episode 7 where a single word from Daikichi is hidden underneath another line of subtitles from his cousin, I believe this was due to lack of room on screen as a line of subtitles at the top translated a conversation from some kids off-screen. There is also one random swear word from Daikichi; first I thought of the PG rating but I assume it’s just a translation goof.    

The DVD collection has a healthy amount of extras including clean editions of all the alternate opening and closing animations, 5 mini bonus episodes that expand on Rin’s and Daikichi’s relationship, and promos. I also wanted to give a big shout-out to the animated DVD menu; it’s become a norm for anime DVDs just to have a static image but Usagi Drop has the delightful opening animation playing on a near perfect loop – such a nice change!

Usagi Drop is a simple concept that could have easily been either really boring or badly interpreted but instead it’s a heart-warming tale of a man raising a child, nothing more, nothing less. Every episode is sweet, warm, lovingly made and engaging despite little out of the ordinary happening. It’s a rare gem for anyone who is looking for a heart-warming tale rather than a wacky stylised comedy.