うさぎドロップ

USAGI DROP

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
10
RELEASE
December 8, 2011
CHAPTERS
62

DESCRIPTION

When 30-year-old Daikichi returns home for his grandfather's funeral he meets an unfamiliar child in the garden. His mother explains that Rin is his grandfather's illegitimate daughter by an unknown mother. The girl is an embarrassment to all his relatives and nobody wants to take her in because of the scandal. Annoyed by their attitude, Daikichi decides to take care of Rin himself, even though he is single and has no experience raising a child.

CAST

Rin Kaga
Daikichi Kawachi
Yukari Nitani
Kouki Nitani
Haruko Maeda
Masako Yoshii
Sayaka
Kazumi Kawachi
Reina Maeda
Souichi Kaga
Nabe-chin
Nobu
Boyfriend
Mi-chan
Akari Aihara

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO USAGI DROP

ANIME Slice of LifeUsagi Drop

REVIEWS

KawaiiNyan
60/100
A Strong, Unique Premise Turns into a Discomforting Typical Shojo Quickly
I read it entirely in a couple of days, more like evenings, lying in bed after work. I would get bundled up into bed, crack open the pages and just bask in the feel-good nature of a unique family story.

Immediately you are flooded with an array of emotions. There is grief chief amongst them as you begin the tale with a gathering to mourn someone’s death. Very shortly afterwards you feel a strong tension within the family because there is a child born out of wedlock that needs to be cared for, yet it’s a burden that no one in the family wishes to bear. This tension is heavily tied to themes of shame, disgust, loneliness, rage, and pity. Then as we watch Daikichi and Rin adapt to a new and unfamiliar life, we are washed with a wonderful sense of warmth and comfort. If you’ve ever been a parent, you can relate to the struggles that go into raising a child. The bulk of that has to do deal with making sure that you’re feeding them enough and nutritiously, clothing them, and providing them with a home as well as shelter. But there is also that other half: teaching them a sense of self, respect, culture; helping them understand what it takes to survive and live as they grow up and ask some very difficult questions, questions that usually only experience itself can answer.

Because of every single one of these amazing aspects, I felt wholeheartedly enchanted. Daikichi and Rin were learning so much about each other as well as themselves and they were doing it together. Rin helped Daikichi learn the virtues of patience as well as the skill to thoroughly think about a situation before making decisions. The brash instincts of a bachelor were quickly being matured into something deeper because these choices would affect more than one person now. Daikichi helped Rin fit into a world where she felt comfortable and at peace, a place where she didn’t feel like an unwanted, broken toy. A home where she truly belonged.

I have never read a manga that examined parenthood on such a substantially deep and intimate level like this. This made up the artful and elegant first half of the series, however. The second half loses its unique story appeal and rapidly mutates into an atypical shōjo plot line. After Rin enters high school, the perspective shifts from Daikichi to Rin’s social and romantic development. The tale becomes less and less about Daikichi tackling parental concerns and more about high school life and drama.

I won’t say that I despised this variation, but I certainly did not find it pleasant. Instead of seeing her go about her day studying, interacting with friends, and then coming home to cook and study some more, my preference would have been to see Daikichi having to adapt to Rin turning into a woman. That means fighting off boys who want to date her, having to address any questions or issues she would have with the decision to go to college (or to not go), and how to financially prepare for something of that magnitude. It would have been very fascinating to use this period of Rin’s life to examine sex. How would Daikichi speak to Rin about sex and her self-worth as a woman? These particular facets create a considerably more compelling serial then what was given.

Unfortunately, that is not even the worst of the disappointment. There are relationships and interactions that grow on you so deeply that watching them fall apart just breaks your heart. Then you have other relationships that are so toxic that you feel a strong sense of fear for the characters you have grown to love. In this manga series, I felt as if the author was purposefully trying to make her audience wither with rage or frustration. While I suspected Rin’s feelings before it was blatantly revealed, I had never anticipated that it would be met in such a dishonorable fashion. Meanwhile, Daikichi has a chance, finally, for something beautiful but it’s completely stolen after volumes of teasing and pining. The resolution in this scenario was abrupt, unpredictable, and plain unfair.

The finale and the wrap up of the tale left a bitter taste in my mouth and a heavy heart in my chest. There was an ocean of wondrous possibilities for Bunny Drop to be one of the best josei manga serials ever written. Yet, everything from the second half unto the conclusion was a complete and utter disaster. I won’t even recommend the manga. If you really want to experience the series then please just watch the anime, as it had a very good reason for stopping where it did.

6 bunnies out of 10 and a sad face on top.
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Jiraya235
80/100
A brilliant read that is difficult to recommend.
I must say I'm a huge fan of this manga's best bits. I've been a massive fan of the anime for nearly a decade now, it's been something that I held close to my heart but I was always scared of reading the manga cus yk, it gets kooky in the end. Was feeling like rewatching the anime recently but decided I'll go for the manga, curiosity got the better of me.

I'd say this manga is best divided into 3 parts, the first being where the anime started and ended, about Rin growing up. The second being Rin in her middle/high school days and the final one about the uh... weirdness.

First part continues till volume 4 and volume 5 onwards is part 2. I don't remember exactly when part 3 is and I don't really intend to reread those parts much.

I must say, the first part is a masterpiece if there ever was one. Unreal how good it is. There's nothing I would change about it. Absolutely perfect from start to end. The mangaka is able to deftly craft an interesting premise, amazing characters and some beautiful panels. Sometimes it feels like the panels themselves are far better looking than the cover illustrations and such when it usually feels the opposite way.

However there are enough threads left that you wonder : "How does it get better? What happens to these people?". Well it does not get better, but it does not get as much worse as some might have you believe. The problem is expectations, not the audience's fault, the mangaka made such a masterful piece of work in the beginning the audience desired either more of that or something just as good as that, we get neither. So the disappointment is understandable.

Part 2 tackles different themes which feel a little off, not because the themes are bad but because they were handled a bit more poorly than the first part, additionally, it all felt quite loose as well. Things seemed to repeat or seemed to go on and on, could've been a bit shorter or handled with more depth. Volume 10 is vital for part 2, it helps put so much into perspective. Wish volume 10 was actually part of the whole manga instead of a random collection at the end, it'd have helped things a lot more.

Not exactly a horrendous read till now, the quality is a lot more diminished but the characters are still the ones we liked. Therefore I liked the story a lot more than I would've if it were a random story. I was more engaged with the characters even though the story took a dive in quality. Some things just seem to happen, randomly, and it just doesn't feel right.

Kouki being treated like a joke, the kiss that Rin shared with Kouki (what the heck was this?), Kouki being rejected, Daikichi being rejected. It all felt okay because you kind of understood the characters.

But with part 3 it feels like part 2's annoyances were made just to make part 3 feasible. It's a shorter affair but feels longer because it's a lot more painful. Even weirder things happen and everyone seems to just be okay with it. Kouki's mom rejecting Daikichi but marrying again, Rin liking Daikichi, Kouki just telling it to him, them being kinda ok with it somehow, then Rin's mom saying that she's not gramp's daughter, and then Rin getting married after 2 years just randomly, no buildup no nothing just a time skip and done? What???

It felt awful but since you liked the characters and it's still somewhat understandable, you still dont hate the story as much as expected. I just wish it were all fleshed out more. I think the topics presented are quite cool, and if given the same time and care the first part was given, this could've been an absolute triumph. But it feels rushed and it seems as if the author just wanted things to happen/to finish things. With the weirdness in mind, whilst reading the manga, I did see some shoujo vibes here and there with Daikichi/Rin art, even at the beginning, you can kind of see that the author kind of did want to do this all along. It's just that after such an expertly crafted story, getting such things without much depth leaves a bad taste in the mouth, and then it all being about such a weird topic makes it even more bitter.

I wish we had a redo with better endings for everyone or a more thoroughly crafted second half because this was just not it. I don't hate it as much as some others but I can totally understand them. It's just a damn shame it had come to this. I'd still recommend this to anyone, despite all its flaws, it's still an amazing read if you vibed with the characters as much as I did. However without properly set up expectations (of disappointment), you're going to be lost, you're going to be furious and disgusted. So it's a difficult recommendation for most.

I'd give part 1 a 10/10, part 2 an 8/10, it was still nice to see more of my fav characters, and part 3 a 6/10. If part 2 and part 3 were in isolation, without the connection I made with the characters, I'd have given them 6.5/10 and 4.5/10 respectively, the characters propped up the story, A LOT.

I really loved the art, 9/10 at least with 10/10 art sometimes, absolutely stunning! The characters are the main highlight, if you don't fall in love with them you surely must be a robot!

If you want something cute, yet still somewhat mature, something wholesome yet still somewhat sad and something that just makes you appreciate life and family in general, the first part is it. An absolutely marvelous piece of work that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside and also manages to make you laugh whilst also battling some dark tones and harsh realities. Something this nice is a rare gem nowadays, everything feels a little too dark and brooding, too "deep", sometimes a bit of simplicity and wholesomeness is nice. And this manga in the child arc delivers that in spades.

An all time fav that I'll keep coming back to. First 4 volumes and the first 3 chapters of volume 10 are as good as you'd expect a piece of media to get, at least that's what I think. Maybe even Part 2 has some niceness that I'll reread sometimes, a shame that it all just gets worse and worse the longer it goes on. Oh how I wish I could've given it a 10/10. Sometimes I truly feels like it deserves it but realistically speaking even an 8/10 is too high.
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