First Impressions - Usagi Drop

I was sort of attracted to this show's premise when I first heard about it. It's about a man named Daikichi who learns that his grandfather had an illegitimate daughter, Rin, late in his life. Rin, who is now six years old, has lost her elderly father, and her mother has run out on her. At the funeral, the family is discussing what to do about Rin, and everyone is reluctant to take her in for various reasons, including their own prejudices since the child was born under questionable circumstances. Daikichi, disgusted by his family members' attitudes, announces that he will take the child in, even though he is a single 30-year-old office worker living in a one bedroom apartment.

In a way, the "single 30-year-old office worker" part really strikes a chord with me, because that's how I'd classify myself, except that I am a year older, and probably wouldn't take in a child... but the idea of being noble and proving something to your family really sounds cool, doesn't it? I think Daikichi is a pretty awesome guy.

Unfortunately, being awesome doesn't take care of the kid. He quickly learns there's a lot involved, even though his new family member is pretty mature for her age. He has to buy her clothes, take her to a nursery school while he is at work, somehow juggle his full-time job with taking care of her, and give up some things such as going out to get a drink with his co-workers. His struggles really express the kind of situation you can relate to if you're someone who has too much stuff to do and not enough time to do it in.

So, I think apart from the fact that Rin is probably a bit too mature for her age, which is a bit of a stereotype used in this kind of anime a lot (The "little adult"), but probably rarely manifested in actual children this age, the show has great promise to develop into a family life drama with lots of tender moments, and also I am predicting that somehow down the line, Rin's mother will re-appear and cause some sort of problem for the two of them, perhaps even the whole family. That's mere speculation on my part, though, but it seems like the kind of thing this type of story likes to do. It's like in Sand Chronicles when Ann's father suddenly appears in volume 2 just as she'd gotten used to her new life, and asks her to go to Tokyo with him. Or like in Kodomo no Omocha when Sana's mother comes back, and she's faced with the choice of her mother or her adopted mother.

In closing, I will say that I went into this anime expected something like "Aishiteruze Baby" but was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be nothing like it. Not that Aishiteruze Baby is bad, I am just glad Usagi Drop can stand apart from other stories of child adoption. So far, it definitely deserves your attention.



First Impression of Usagi Drop: It seems very good, and I look forward to watching more episodes. If you like Josei manga/anime (For those unfamiliar, this is the term used for more mature "shojo" manga, much like "seinen" is the more mature version of "shonen" - example Josei manga/anime would be Paradise Kiss or Nana.) with a touching feel, this is a good one so far!