Title: Usagi Drop Authored Unita Yumi Serialized in : Kiss Pubished by : Kodansha Genre: Comedy, Josei Release: On-going series (3 vols ~) Edited Mangas: Ongoing (see further below)
Well, I'm just sharing with you one of the little-known series of what I've been reading. It's about how a bachelor, at his grandfather's funeral found out that his grandfather has an illegitimate daughter and how he ended up looking after her! This story is just totally heartwarming and it shows the struggles of understanding little children and how sacrifiices have to be made when you have little ones at home. And of course, as a typical guy, he's curious to find out the woman who appears in his grandfather's life! hahaha
Anyway, I'll say Read this! You have to know that shoujo does not always mean romance and smut all the time!
Haha, I know this one. The Mangaka publishes both, Josei and Seinen. I would love to see more of her works.
As for Usagi Drop, it's very recommendable. The artwork is very simple but has adorable characters nonetheless. The story is very funny but also touching and has it's deeper moments. Though, you may find the topic a little boring since the "Guy takes little girl in"-plot was used in lots of other manga before. But you will like how mature the story is actually told in this one.
I have not found a lot of mangas with this plot. I can think of Aishiteruze(?) Boy and something named My Girl that I've dropped, so I would really appreciate some names of mangas to start reading them. Thanks
I was browsing a thread showing color page on Raw-Paradise and I was like when I discovered a color page of Usagi Drop. Whoooahhh! They have grown up a lot.
I look forward to being there
In the last scanlated chapters, I have not really understood why the fact her real mother wants her to change her last name shows some maturity in her personality.
I also think that sometimes adults shall decide for their children and if he thinks it's better for Rin to change her name, he does not have to ask her permission first.
Otherwise, it was interesting, but with a slower pace (in the first chapters I find interesting to see how he shall organize his life because he has a kid ). Maybe, I have this feeling of slower pace because I am not too sure I want her real mother to have a part in her life and so in the manga. I prefer the other single mother.
I love this series. Slow paces are common in Josei and Seinen.
I also agree with Mero, the real mother of Rin is a little bit ehh. But I'm also not sure about the other single mother of Rin's friend. I kinda like how it's just Daikichi being a single father but still a bachelor.
The illustrations are so simple and clean, it makes it feel very relaxed but a little bit more flowery but I guess because it's Josei.
If you are looking for something similar but seinen, being a bit more dramatic, look into "My Girl" by SAHARA Mizu.
Morphe, it does remind me of Aishiteruze Baby, which I also enjoyed. Except well, this is josei and really written that way, and I like it too with this kind of treatment.
I checked in Wikipedia and it seems that beyond vol. 4 there's a time-skip like you said, where Rin's already going through adolescence. I'm very interested to read to that too
srs???
Wow, that's going to be awesome! I can't wait! I hope the characters don't change too much. But it would interesting to see different sides of them. Though, I highly doubt Rin would become rebellious because of how cool Daikichi is.
Yea... i agree... this manga used to focus on deep stuff... I mean something that is rarerly mentioned... such an innovative subject to write a manga about... but now... after the time-skip ... it just became plain, old, worn out subject of highschool love, like in so many other mangas. Maybe there are some twists that aren't commonly used... but i think that whole charm of this series just evaporated....
I'm still hoping that it'll come around. Somehow I'm guessing it's just one volume showing how everyone has grown up,
and the issues Daikichi will have to face as a father to a daughter, how one should let go, or seeing her all grown up, his post-partum, so to speak...?
Started with this series and reached up to the latest scanlated chapter, meaning 5 chapters left till the end, and I'm going to be adding my two cents. I don't think there is any disagreement with regard to how great the first part was with the manga focusing on fatherhood or parenthood. As the first half primarily focuses on establishing Daikichi's boundaries as a father/parent with regard to his relation to Rin, that despite all his insecurities of not knowing her for that long nor being her biological effort after seeing him with the other parents its his effort that easily puts him at par with them.
On the other hand I think the second half really received a bit too harsh of a reception. While I do agree it did lose some of its charm as it initially focused on this complicated first love highschool romance it did regain its bearing. It is quite a shock to have the POV more shared between Rin and Daikichi but I think it was necessary as Rin is no longer a child. More importantly if he first half was establishing what father/parenthood meant to an adult, and the changes they go through as they learn along the way, I'd say the second half is establishing how the children view parenthood, the idea of a father and mother.
As slowly with all the drama that unfolds between Kouki and Rin it slowly drifted to Rin trying to figure out what parents are to her starting with her mother. Eventually we receive quite an understated reunion between Rin and her mom but its only really later on that Rin begins to realize what a "mother" really meant to her. While for Kouki lets face it his relation with Daikichi is more of a father and son one so it wasn't just Rin's POV that helped to broaden the topic of parenthood for children but Kouki as well with how both Dai and his mother had to be patient with him as he had lost his way with a bad crowd and had they not been as patient with him I doubt we'd be seeing the old Kouki back to the way he is now, as he does have this parental support he needed with his mother and Daikichi. Which is also what I found to make the later half somewhat painful as Daikichi and Kouki's mom don't end up together but it was also an important iconic point I think for the manga as romance would take a back seat to this family relations that it had focused on.
Also helps that at that point we slowly begin to realize just how important it is that Rin ends up clarifying her boundaries and ideas of what a "Mother" and "Father" are rather than resolving her relationship with Kouki. That while Daikichi did view Rin as a daughter Rin had never really completely seemed to grasp him as a father and had not clearly established anyone to be her mother. Put another way while Rin does love Daikichi it does seem more like she had reservations seeing him and Daikichi's family completely as her own family - as she has hesitations about asking anything further from them such as college tuition. Still it was important to see that her biological mother as well as Daikichi and his own family were certainly going to support her for college that she needn't act such a stranger that she couldn't tell them what she really felt or wanted. Quite a contrast from Kouki who pretty much shows us what it really means to rely on family and how necessary it is.
However.... The final chapters to the finale apparently make the series take a dip in that it actually ends up bucking up to the tropes it had avoided so well with the first half and seemed to be slowly establishing itself as a filial relation manga in the second half:
Apparently Rin does end up with Daikichi as his WIFE! This to me was quite a slap in the face in that I was assuming given how chapters up to 50 had progressed Rin did not clearly establish yet what a father is to her. So I was assuming her feelings for him were just part of a confusion that she still has to sort out since she is despite her maturity quite young - she's at a phase of her life where is unsure of many things. Yet, for her to end up with Daikichi is a slap since this really is just bucking down to the tropes avoided earlier in establishing from Daikichi's point of view that Rin and him are a father and daughter not lovers - as I've never seen any of their interactions to be anything but filial. Course I have not seen how the author will handle the last 5 chapters which have not been scanlated but I do feel a sense of regret that the manga had opted down such a sudden and alienating route just when it had finally regained its bearing when you start to see how the second half slowly but surely went back to being about parents and their children (such as showing your gratitude by taking care of them in their old age or allowing them to re-marry and all that).
I did read the manga in bulk by the first half, and the second half only as Edited Mangas got released. And sometimes a manga loses charm like that. When the series is complete I'll have to read everything in its entirety all over again.
I did read the manga in bulk by the first half, and the second half only as Edited Mangas got released. And sometimes a manga loses charm like that. When the series is complete I'll have to read everything in its entirety all over again.
Without doubt this definitely needs to be rethought as a whole - as I'd argue the second half especially did receive harsh reactions because it did lose some of its charm by focusing away from Daikichi yet at the same time it was necessary IMO since Rin is older and so it would be better to introduce us into her psyche which at the same time allows the series to focus on a different POV of parenthood. Just that yeah the ending seems to be rather... like Mirai Nikki-esque, i.e. bad faith in the last chapters to churn up a pretty disappointing ending but fortunately the ride before the end was certainly still solid IMO I'd definitely recommend the series despite obvious flaws.
Also I do think the ending is pretty weak if Rin ends up with Dai after all it feels like such a damn short coming since its certainly NOT daring to end up with the whole "can't help who you fall in love with" fiasco that does commonly plague Josei. So I do not agree with others applauding the ending to be gutsy if anything I think it lacks guts just by going down such a common route that it had avoided prior. Then there are also those arguing that its natural for Rin to be attracted to the man who raised her in that people do look for spouses most similar to their parents but I beg to differ in that Kouki certainly is Daikichi Jr in every other aspect, sure they had complications but the fact that they are young means there is no rush to resolve their issue in much the same way there is in Rin realizing what a father and mother means to her.
So am I and I actually liked the concept of the two together for the reason that it helped keep the romance aspect of the series somewhat grounded, in that Rin has a convenient love interest that pretty much is a Daikichi Jr so that I never had to worry about her falling for Daikichi. The whole childhood friends to sweet heart was a convenience I could easily let slip by especially with the time slip since it had helped to ensure that the series would be avoiding the tropes of love between guardian and ward. In turn I was somewhat gladdened by the second half complicating it, least it was such a simple matter, and eventually using it to show us how close Rin & Kouki's relationship to Daikichi had become. That to me made the high school romance complication more bearable as you could really see by the second half that Daikichi had really become a solid father figure that the kids both love and trust wholeheartedly, put another way Daikichi had raised both kids so well during those ten years that they do love him. Of course as I said it was also a good way to segue in resolving Rin's questions of identity but yeah.
Which is why my day is so ruined finding out that Rin ended up with Daikichi! Talk about a big fat waste!
The ending felt very rushed, especially with Rin's feelings toward Daikichi. There were notes at the end of the chapter by Wow!scans that an extra volume was going to be released. Does anyone know when?
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when I discovered a color page of Usagi Drop. Whoooahhh! They have grown up a lot.
and focused more on Rin's own developing relationship with
I thought it was just a seinen about slice of life...
