Ranked #339

Usagi Drop (Manga)

Usagi Drop is one of those manga I just randomly stumbled upon, read the description and put it on my read-it-later list. Months later when I remembered I actually had a list, I went back to read it. I regret putting it off for so long.

Usagi Drop follows Daikichi on his journey from being a bachelor to being a guardian for a little girl who is actually his half-aunt. When everyone else in the family makes excuses to not keep her or disapproves of little Rin, Daikichi takes custody, slightly disturbed by the shallowness of his relatives. The two start to grow accustomed to each other, going through trivial trials and any regular hardship of parenthood. It's really a coming-of-age story, telling how both Daikichi and Rin grow as people through their own father-daughter connection.

The art for Usagi Drop is nice and clean, not overwhelming. It's got a wispy feel to it and takes a nice rooting of usual josei style, only not overly elaborate for its genre. The scenery is always symmetrical and prim -- though the houses always feel a bit empty. (This may just be a cultural thing.) Daikichi himself if drawn to look thirty and Rin is drawn to look like a kid, none of this where the main characters look too young. That's a wonderful thing, so many manga characters follow that set design with the too-big eyes and the same heart-shaped face, boy or girl.

Character is important for this manga, as the chapters are more or less episodic. Daikichi is a very compassionate, calm individual, and it's fascinating to watch him change from a puzzled bachelor to the a more set-in-place guardian who now sort of knows what he's doing. Unlike some other manga where a new guardian has the responsibility of a child thrust upon him (My Girl, Otaku no Masamune-san), Daikichi chose this path and was the one who decided to take up raising Rin. And he has to cope, changing jobs, changing his schedule, all over re-doing his life. Daikichi also has fairly strong convictions but also understanding situations, frowning upon Rin's mother (who is a childish mangaka) for her abandonment, but also realizing that Rin's mother may have not been the best parent.

At the first of the manga, Rin didn't speak much at all, but as the manga progressed and she built a relationship with Daikichi as a father or older brother figure, she breaks out of her shells and makes a few friends, like the chatty cousin and an equally as antisocial boy (whose mother is Daikichi's romantic interest). Rin is intelligent, but lacks confidence and as Daikichi's influence endures, the more she flourishes.

I really enjoyed this manga and would recommend it to anyone looking for family-oriented fluff, trials and errors.









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