[MOTW #70] Usagi Drop (Hiroyuki Tanaka, 2011)

Usagi Drop
うさぎドロップ

Director - "Sabu" Hiroyuki Tanaka, 田中博行
Year of Release - 2011
Duration - 114 min.
Genre - Orphan, Adoption, Comedy, Drama
IMDB



Trailer


As we are all painfully aware, Usagi Drop was a manga originally. This film came before the Noitamina-block anime adaptation. Tanaka's approach to give an end to the narrative because enormity [in both senses] of the manga, was to facilitate a dramatic plot much like the specific one found in Cheaper By The Dozen, if you watched that.

27-year-old Daikichi is a single young man who is trusted by his peers at work. Daikichi then attends his grandfather’s funeral. At the funeral the attendees learn that Daikichi’s grandfather bore an illegitimate daughter with an unknown mother. The girl’s name is Rin and she is just six years old. Everybody in Daikichi’s family looks at the girl as an embarrassment and wants no part of her. Daikichi, annoyed by his family’s attitude, decides to raise Rin by himself. Daikichi has no experience in raising a child. He soon learns the difficulties in raising a child as a single parent.

Based on the manga by author Yumi Unita, Bunny Drop offers a heartwarming tale from director Sabu, one of Japan’s most stylistic contemporary filmmakers. Those familiar with Sabu’s previous works will perhaps find Bunny Drop quite the departure from his hard-edged and often times darkly comedic films, with his latest offering being his most accessible film to date considering its rather innocent premise. Similar to director Kore-eda Hirokazu’s 2004 film Nobody Knows, Bunny Drop too deals with the element of abandoned children, although not as quite somber or despairing as Hirokazu’s work. Instead, we see Bunny Drop play around with this element with earnest charm, all the while establishing a look into what it truly means to be a parent in a society that places special emphasis on the workplace over family. Building upon the social commentary offered on the aspects of parenthood explored within the manga, the film brings about a great observation into what truly constitutes a loving and caring parent—and the social ramifications that come with it.

This commentary is expressed throughout various scenes within the film, showcasing the often times cruel social pressures that transpire on both a familial level as well as societal. Whether this stems from Daikichi’s family members not wanting to take responsibility for Rin, even going as far as suggesting she be placed in an orphanage, to Daikichi being somewhat ostracized by other members as he steps up to become Rin’s guardian, the film explores the many issues that arise when such a life changing dilemma occurs within a family. On a more personal level, the film even looks at the effects of how taking care of a child can influence one’s career, with Daikichi’s desk job being shifted to that a packaging laborer in order to accommodate Rin’s nursery school schedule. The film emphasizes the emotional and physical toll it takes to raise a child amidst a work-heavy society, with social classes expressing the complex nature between valuing family or work. For example, once Daikichi switches to his new job, we see that his fellow co-workers speak enthusiastically about their children, humorously bickering about which one is the cutest by showcasing pictures of them on their cell phones. We can see stark contrasting differences to this when compared to his previous, hour-heavy managerial position, in which having children is viewed as one of the primary reasons to resign.

It’s these scenes within the film that play a particularly important part in transforming Daikichi from a single, work intensive individual, to that of a man willing to focus his entire attention upon taking care of Rin. The film adequately reflects and continuously returns to the notion of sacrificing aspects of one’s own life in order to provide care towards another. Kenichi Matsuyama does a fabulous job in conveying this subtle change, showing his emotional perseverance as an actor in an effective fashion. His aptitude for being able to handle a variety of diverse roles is even more present within Bunny Drop, where his role as father figure to Rin is quite convincing. But the real star of the show is most definitely that of the young Mana Ashida. Here she shines as the initially timid but caring Rin, bringing about a great sense of charisma and authenticity to her role. While most child actors often times seem forceful in their acting, Ashida seems quite comfortable in playing Rin, displaying the character’s childish mannerisms with aplomb. Her quest to understand her role as a child without true parents is most heartfelt, bringing about the confusion and loneliness that comes with it. Both Matsuyama and Ashida share considerable chemistry as well, with each reflecting upon the different personalities of their respective characters. The film’s more ordinary moments—as in Daikichi’s relentless attempts to get Rin to nursery school on time or his first experience with Rin unfortunately wetting the bed—brings a delightful approach to film, and one that certainly makes it enjoyable to watch as their relationship continuously develops.

But for all the cute and rambunctiousness that the film offers through the part of its two characters, the script does unfortunately falter as it nears its conclusion. The film works best when its focuses on the everyday normalcy that takes place within the characters lives, and loses some of its strength when it decides to implement some rather bizarre circumstances that are seemingly in place only to advance the plot in a rather forceful manner. This is where the film detracts from its rather interesting premise, being one of showcasing the difficult nature of being a working parent. These events, although meaningful in many respects, don’t do much besides appearing rather sensational and clearly implemented to derive some sort contrived emotional reaction from the viewer. The narrative of the film would’ve flowed much better if these segments were removed, as they just seem totally out of place and rather cliché in their execution. The narrative is very unconventional in many ways, but it would seem that Sabu and screenwriter Tamio Hayashi were attempting to figure out how to implement some sense of urgency within the film, when just continuing to subscribe to day-to-day activities of the characters would’ve worked out fine.

And while some of these hindrances within the narrative are unfortunate, Bunny Drop is still a pleasant family centered film that offers a substantial look into parenthood, and more specifically, that of being a working, single parent. Kenichi Matsuyama and Mana Ashida are essentially what make the film as enjoyable to watch as it is, presenting a cute and humorous relationship that is certainly believable given their strong performances. The parent and child pairing is certainly not an original premise, but the film does an excellent job in showcasing both their growth as characters and confrontation of real issues from the perspective of child and parent. While the film does differ from the ending of the manga—an ending even I found somewhat peculiar given its direction—the film seemingly ends in a less rushed fashion, providing an ending that is more genuine considering the relationship between the characters of Daikichi and Rin. With the small moments of Daikichi learning what it is to be a father, the film is appreciable of such moments without being too overly melodramatic, as is its handling of Rin’s growth from a naïve child to emotionally keen individual. It’s these small moments that culminate in Bunny Drop being an enjoyable film for one of any age, and establishes an authentic look into the trials and tribulations of single parenting.
review by Miguel Douglas

Availability
This film has been released [in Bluray] only in Japan and Hong Kong. The HK versions has Chinese and English subs, neither very good.
My suggestion rather would be to download the fan-translation and look for the film on PTP, RuTracker, TPB, etc. Not yet in normal commercial distribution. We will probably see a Region 1 or 2 release within a few months.
ADC under Bunny Drop