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うさぎドロップ
62
10
Finished
Oct 8, 2005 to Dec 8, 2011
4.8/10
Average Review Score
15%
Recommend It
20
Reviews Worldwide
Warning: Massive ending spoilers ahead. I'm very sorry but that 6 up there can't be properly explained without delving deep into spoiler territory. I wish Usagi Drop had 2 separate entries, one being the start and one everything after the time-skip, starting in chapter 26. It's for one very simple reason. Usagi Drop is a prime example of how a great concept can still run off the rails badly. It's a masterclass in turning what starts as a warm, cute and fuzzy story into a catastrophic failure of a 'romantic' drama. The gist of the premise is that Daikichi (a man who couldn't more obviously be unhappyand feeling unfulfilled unless he stuck a neon sign on his face) takes a 6 year old girl, Rin, into his house for the sole reason that everyone else either hates her or straight up doesn't care for her. And it's not hard to see where this goes. A man with no experience with children now has to take care of one with the comedic hijinks that ensue. During that time, we see Daikichi and Rin grow as characters as we learn more about them, who they are and their relationship. I'll be honest, the first part of Usagi Drop is one of the best and most enjoyable things I've ever read. It's just sweet enough to tug your heart strings and make you feel great but also sincere enough to show the problems Rin and Daikichi cope with. I was ready to give this a good solid 9, maybe even a 10! Now, those of you who have seen the anime or the live-action movie might notice there's a considerable amount of material that wasn't adapted. There's a reason for that. The great part about having one person both writing and illustrating a manga is that you have synergy. Who else can better convey their thoughts, mental images and general ideas to paper than the writer themselves? The problem that comes from it is that there's no second person to openly doubt your decisions and no manga is a better example than this. I'm not sure what Yumi Unita was thinking but I hope she realizes how poorly it worked out. In chapter 26, we leap forward about 10 years. Rin is in high school and Daikichi is 40, having to deal with the appropriate issues. Already this brings up some headscratchers, such as how both of our protagonists still hang out with the exact same people they did 10 years ago with no new additions. One of two bigger problems is a shift in tone that is about as smooth and fluid as trying to walk while both your legs are asleep. Gone is the happy heartwarming slice of life, in comes an unnecessarily angsty and gloomy 'romantic' drama. Everything is a lot darker for no adequately explained reason other than some cardinal rule that anything involving teenage characters must be existential, dark or depressing. No, the biggest problem of all is that the second part builds up to an almost gutpunchingly disturbing conclusion. Part of the second part involves Rin dealing with her relationship with Daikichi getting more....complicated. Her feelings for him get out of the comfy wholesome foster parent/daughter zone and instead the considerably ickier kind. It's just as disturbing and just as well-executed as you'd expect. After an ass-pull 'but they're not really blood-related' card (on the level of SAO episode 14), Rin decides she wants to marry Daikichi and he goes along with it. Oh boy, where do we begin? Let's start with the fact that at its very core, this is still creepily close to parental incest. For all intents and purposes, these 2 had a father/daughter relationship for the last 10 years and now she's genuinely in love with him. There's also a distinct lack of consequence shown. There's one character who's ever made aware of her attraction and, no joke, she encourages Rin to go along with it. But there's another layer of disturbing that you might not pick up on the first time. Hell, you might not pick up on it until a good while later. Namely, Daikichi just rolls with it. There's no real shock, no real contemplation to speak of, he listens to her and accepts it. On the surface, it's bad writing. Underneath, it's worse. Disregarding for a moment that this is quite clearly an action of impulse, since his feelings for Rin have always been parental and it was never really hinted that it was more. What we have is a man who's more concerned with the age difference than with the fact that he raised her as his daughter. A man who has no qualms doing so. A man who, I swear I wish I was making this up, is okay with her carrying his child and raising it. A man who's just plain given up on a proper relationship. A man who by all rights shouldn't be in one because he isn't fit for one. The first part of Usagi Drop is a 9 or a 10 for me without a doubt. It's well-crafted and heartwarming to see these 2 misfits grow on each other. The second part is disgusting in every way. The change of tone, the ending, how it plays out, the implications it carries, it's nothing short of insulting your readers. If you want to read this, by all means do so. Sounding like a broken record but the first part is excellent. I highly suggest you finish chapter 24 and stop there. Because unless you're into poorly written, poorly executed semi-incest, there's just nothing for you there.
When bachelor Daikichi Kawachi attends his grandfather's funeral, he is surprised to find a mysterious young girl alone in the garden. To his astonishment, the shy and reserved girl, named Rin Kaga, is believed to be the illegitimate child of his late grandfather. Due to the shameful circumstances related to the little girl, no one in the family is willing to take her in following her father's death. Infuriated by the coldness extended to an innocent child, Daikichi announces that he will take care of Rin himself, despite his young age, single status, and lack of parental experience. Usagi Drop follows the story of Daikichi and Rin as they try to find happiness and purpose to their fateful meeting. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
This story should have been a 9 or 10 overall. However its time skip destroyed everything that made this manga so enduring. WARNING!! Spoilers ahead. It isn't possible to discuss why this gets such a bad score without delving into spoilers. The first 25 chapters were brilliant they were heartwarming and enduring. They brought out all of the good feelings you could possibly want from it and they were golden. A solid 9 even 10. They were all focused on Rin and Daikichii becoming a family and the struggle of raising a child as a single "parent" and the finding the joy that a child could bring to yourlife. For Daikichi, Rin was basically his saving grace as he had nothing in his life. He was 30 years old, working the same job for 9 years, living only for himself and wasting his money on drinking and doing nothing but going through the daily motions of life. Rin saved him from that, she gave him a purpose to start living his life for something other than himself and as much as he needed her, she needed him more. A 6 year old abandoned in the world with no parents. The family members who gathered around for the grandfather's funeral all rejected her and the "embarrassment" that she represented as an "illegitimate" child to a 79 year old man who is no gone from the world. Daikichi saved her from being thrown into a world of upheaval and gave her a stable life and became her parent to support her on her path to adulthood. Those first 25 chapters were amazing to read, the bond between Daikichi and Rin, it was so enduring to your heart. However it all goes downhill starting with chapter 26. Chapter 26. A time skip of 10 years takes place and we jump forward to Rin's 1st year of high school and right before her 16th birthday. The inclusion of a time skip baffles me. The story before was great in the direction it was headed. The bond between Daikichi and Rin was ever growing, there was a chance of romance between Daikichi and Yukari (Kouki's mother). It had all the makings of a heartwarming story of a child being saved who had no parents. Of gaining a father and even a mother. The thing that made it so great was the innocence involved in all of it. However the author chose to do a time skip and we're left with the jumbled mess that is made. From there story evolves into a darker coloring, relationships and friends have barely changed. There is hardly any inclusion of any new characters and older characters are almost entirely removed from the story only to have a few thrown back in again right at the very end. It's understandable that there will be conflicts and a darker tone during ones teenage years however the implementation of this darker tone and route was poorly implemented by the author. At this point in the story Kouki and Rin are portrayed as love interests, but an item that well never occur due to Kouki's poor decisions. The author throws Kouki into this new role of a guy who is looking for love from Rin, but well never achieve it. Due to his "bad boy" streak during middle school and is now a reformed good boy who has woken up. This is poorly implemented and just a mess of story writing as we learn about what happened during little flashback scenes that are spaced throughout the remaining chapters. The only reason I mention this bit of spoiler is, because it is the catalyst that leads to the true catastrophe of the story. After giving up on ever letting herself love Kouki again Rin begins to move forward with her feelings. However the author has trapped her in a box. A box that is "self" made as the only boys she's ever been involved with were Kouki and Daikichi. As she begins to explore her feelings she ends up deciding that she is in love with Daikichi. The man who raised from 6 years old. As it goes it begins questioning the boundary of what is and what isn't allowed. How far can she go with her feelings that is acceptable. In a climatic conclusion to her feelings for Daikichi a very poorly implemented excuse of that they aren't blood related is revealed. That Daikichi knew this ever since reading his grandfather's will that he found in Rin's parental booklet back when he first took her in. From there it evolves into Daikichi not even having the capability to reject Rin's feelings for him and accepting them instead. In a final chance to try and change her opinion Daikichi makes the deal to make her wait 2 years so she finishes high school and if she finds another boy to love during that time then she must give up her feelings for him of love. The story writing throughout this is so bad compared to the first 25 chapters. Rin went from being a lovable little girl that one could sympathize with. To a teenager that has never tried to get close to other people. She's blocked herself off from ever finding other people as her whole world is just her and Daikichi and on occasion Kouki her childhood best friend and Reina. Who in the story is basically the equivalent of a cousin to Rin. Rin wasn't part of any school club or activities even though she didn't lack talent. The world created for her was just her and Daikichi. In this environment it is basically forced upon the readers that the only conclusion for her is to be with Daikichi forever. Rin in this state ignores the feelings of Daikichi completely, forcing him into a position of accepting her feelings through a poorly written explanation that they're aren't blood related even through he raised her. Any proper figure in Daikichi's position who has raised a child is only looking for the best opportunity for they're child and to provide them with whatever they need in order to succeed. Rin completely ignores these feelings of a loving father only focused on what she wants in the end. The story almost completely writes out Yukari and Daikichi's cousin Haruko is completely wiped except for being mention. As a final mention it haphazardly brings back Sayaka and Nobu in the final chapter after writing them completely out since the day back in the park during the jump roping practice. This story was amazing for 25 chapters. After that is was destroyed due to poor story planning, poor writing, haphazard character development, and the destruction of and haphazard return of old characters. This story had so much going for it. There was plenty of material to go with, without doing a time skip. It crushed the roots of its story and its very sad to see that. This is a prime example of how a good story can be destroyed so easily.
So I got into this anime not knowing what to expect. It was a very warm and bright story about a not so ordinary family that started when daikitchi decided to adopt an orphan relative and raise her as his like his own child. It was a beautiful story about the struggles of parenthood and how being a single parent is! Naturally when the anime ended you'd want to see more of it so I went and read the manga. (I wish I didn't) (The score is not 1 just Cz the first half was amazing) It was ok at first even after the timelapse! But at some pointit turned gloomy and in consistent. The characters started acting out of character. And sensitive aspects of the story werent given the attentionthey deserve. it really felt like the writer has changed in the middle. The ending is a whole nother section! It was traumatizing! (Spoilers below) It ruined everything that the story stood for until then! (Parenthood/father-daughter relationship/ doing good for goodness sake) It was disgusting not because it was (supposedly incest) or because of the age difference as many would claim that was the reason why some think it's horrible. But simply the fact that he raised her as a daughter. He's seen her grow up and become a fine young lady. It doesn't make sense that he'd look at her as a partner and if he did then he's sick. One last thing! How is this a JOSEI manga!?????
(Review Contains Spoilers,you have been warned) I love the first half,easily a 10/10 for me when it comes to slice of life...Then the second happened and suddenly,this enjoyable series became painful to read. Everything turns depressing,relationships are messed up and honestly what kind of audience was author going for? Pedobears? Those are the only type of people I can imagine who would read the first half hoping for the ending that happened at the end. The reason i give it a 6 is because despite the messed up second half, I still enjoyed the first half and giving it anything less than 5 would be anot being true to the first half of the series.
Yup, the other reviews were right. This shit was weird. the first half of this manga is a very touching and heartfelt display of an unwilling father coming to terms with the new responsibilities that come with raising a small child. There were some parts of the story that had me smiling from ear to ear. It was very cute. There are lots of people that complain about endings ruining a good piece of media. But normally that is because the ending falls flat, or the ending does not give them the satisfaction that they desire. This, though, is one of the rare circumstances where the endingTRULY ruins the manga. The ending isn't just dissatisfying, it completely recontextualizes everything that happened earlier in the manga and gives it a sour taste. If you somehow haven't been spoiled of the ending and want to experience a cute found family type of story, watch the anime and pretend the manga doesn't exist. Truly.
