Kanta Kamei gained lots of fans in 2011. Prior to that, he was involved in some other works, too, but this was his biggest and most successful role. As the director of Usagi Drop, he boosted confidence in 16 and 17 year olds into thinking doing “it” without protection might not be that bad.
Daikichi attended his grandfather’s funeral and brought back with him his 6 year-old aunt, Rin. Detested by his relatives for disowning her, Daikichi couldn’t forgo his sense of duty and adopted Rin on impulse. This might make Daikichi sounds irresponsible, he isn’t. Our protagonist quickly became aware of the needs to change his lifestyle and adapt. He accepts this wholeheartedly. You will see how the rapport between the duet flourishes into a father-daughter affinity.
The relationship between Rin and Daikichi grew episode per episode. From what was an escape route becomes much more to Rin, her trust to Daikichi becomes that of a pure and innocent dependency. Throughout the 11 episodes, every little aspect, from planting Rin’s birth tree to doing Rin’s hair, add to strengthen their sense of comfort around each other. Without a mother in the house, Rin, somewhat, takes on the role and tries her best to fill the shoes. As mature as Rin might appear, she is and does act like a 6 year-old. Rin’s eyebrows curl when she’s irritated and her eyes portray a genuine surprise and excitement when she catches a glimpse of something new. You will see, but might not notice until it has happened for an extended amount of time, how Rin shifts from the sluggish girl who lost hope of being loved, to the spirited, big sister that is top of her class. Even Daikichi’s mother, who wanted to feed Rin to the wolves, begins to take a liking to Rin and labels herself as Rin’s grandma. This is, actually, a realistic character development.
At times, Daikichi’s clumsiness will make you laugh at him and his abashment behaviour would make you pity him. But it’s the times when he shows his sense of duty, which would enact you to look up to him, carving a much stronger image of his character.
The support cast carry weights as well. Daikichi’s two sisters provide insights from different angles into marriage, the conflicts that Usagi Drop didn’t make Daikichi and Rin go through, you can catch a sniff of from the supporting characters. After becoming a parent himself, Daikichi meets new people he would not have had otherwise. For example, Yujiari Nitani (voiced by the same seiyuu that voiced Lelouch from Code Geass…) gives this series an additional dimension; romance between Yukari and Daikichi is subtle but distinct. More significantly, Yukari can be seen as a mentor, for she is a more experienced and dependable single parent.
Animation is well done, Daikichi moves like a giant when he walks whilst Rin skips next to him like a child would. Art is generally, crayon and childish looking, but by no means under-detailed. The manga has lots of frames for simple and short passages and its drawings are extremely clear, but the manga didn’t hint how an anime adaptation should look. This left Production I.G to make that decision themselves; the colour pallet they chose is very fitting of what the series projects and I am happy with their interpretation.
The seiyuu for Rin did excellently for her infantile role. In fact, Rin is voiced by Matsuura Ayu, a 10 year-old girl, who later voiced for a supporting role in Eureka Seven AO. Daikichi was voiced by Tsuchida Hiroshi, whose other roles were of mostly in shounen series, from evil scientist to Wolverine. It is nice to see Hiroshi attempting such a caring and mature role with a softer voice and doses of slapstick humour. Soundtracks are gentle, the opening and ending theme songs are very nursery.
Heart-warming and comical moments help balance the serious topic of “how much one is willing to sacrifice for another’s child?” The comic-relief present here would not work in all series, it works here because Rin is just so cute. The V-shaped grin and button eyes are adorable; I too, would quit drinking and smoking for her sake and centre her as my priority. Never do I want to see those soulless eyes on her face again. The pace is slightly slow because nothing really dramatic happens in the series, but its charm accumulates through their daily activities and interaction with society.
Usagi Drop does a good job in making you think raising a child can be a very rewarding tenure, an extra pair of hands around the house, cook the breakfast and water the garden. But what it pulls off even better is aspiring how being a parent, beyond its sacrifices and uncertainties, is the sudden realisation and transformation into a knight-in-shiny-armour to an innocent and naïve little sprout that would bloom into whatever form, shaped by the guardian’s influence. The growth of this intertwining and indivisible bond is to be forever cherished. Usagi Drop allowed me to discover all this alongside Kawachi Daikichi.
(Thanks to Vis4Vanity for recommending this series.)
