First Impressions / Usagi Drop

「たいふうがきた！」 (Taifuu Ga Kita!)
“The Typhoon Came!”

Standing in for Prooof this week, I was overjoyed to get the opportunity to cover Usagi Drop. The highly coveted show that I originally wanted to cover but reluctantly gave up, I’ve yet to be disappointed by any episode thus far. Who wouldn’t want to watch more of Daikichi and Rin understand just what the meaning of a “family” is? A quick side note, I usually never read the original source material for something I’m watching. But for some reason, I felt compelled to read some of the manga, and I’m amazed with how faithful this adaption is.

This episode, Kouki finally gets the chance to have some of the spotlight thrown onto him. Besides bringing back the silly poop joke about the Shikansen, I loved how the series touched upon the loneliness kids with single parents encounter. I’m sure we all agree that Rin wouldn’t be the best example of what having a single parent is like, since Daikichi is shaping up to be a pretty darn good dad. But getting the opportunity to watch Kouki’s side of the story and experience a little bit of his hardship was enlightening. That scene where he was staring into the rain waiting for Yukari to pick him up — so sad!

But after watching Rin and Daikichi come to rescue and inviting him over to play, my heart skipped a beat. Which actually brings the second idea that’s been bouncing in my head for a while — Daikichi and Yukari (Kouki’s Mom). If things weren’t hinting at it already, it seems fairly apparent that there may be feelings growing between the two. That said, I don’t know if I feel confident saying that anything will come from these feelings. Unless we get some solid hints about Yukari’s feelings toward Daikichi, I don’t think we can forget about Masako just yet. Because even though Daikichi may hate anything involving her, you can’t forget that she is Rin’s biological mother.

At this rate, I really hope that Usagi Drop stays as strong as the manga has been. I’m only a few chapters ahead of where things are now, but it just keeps getting better!

33 Comments

      2. @ babawaba Yes its always the same,im afraid of the day when there wont be any decent anime left to watch. @ deed Go watch Neon genesis evangelion and Cowboy bebop those are the best ones S;G and Usagi drop are only decent enogh to watch without hitting your head against a wall.

        AK-47
        Reply

      3. @ Ak DISAGREE. I love Bunny Drop too much to let you get away scratch free 😉 though @S;G for all the hype its getting I would have expected something much better not that it’s bad or anything.

        Hrmmm
        Reply

      5. Although S:G and madoka might have been hyped, they are both very decent shows. and so is usagi. Comaring them with cowboy bebob and evengelion is just not relevant. first of all these shows are much older and they dead with totally different subjects. If you’re that stuck to you old show stop watching the new ones alltogether and just rewatch the ones you like.

        phoentjah
        Reply

  2. Maaaan i can’t believe i ALMOST passed this one up just because of the art style. Good thing I decided to stick it through since ep.1

    For some odd reason i wish that the anime would be different from the manga because of how things go. Then again, the best stuff isnt the ideal ones XD

    duqs
    Reply

      1. I enjoyed Wandering Son as much as I am enjoying Usagi Drop. Both the art style is different from most animes, which led me to like them more. It also fits the calm nature of the stories.

        TSouL
        Reply

  4. Time really flies when I’m watching an episode of this really-cute-and-heartwarming series >///< I wish there would be more than 11 episodes, 'cause this show is becoming one of my favourite and I don't want it to end so soon ToT

    Leticia
    Reply

  5. Lucky you, Takii! I’ve been covering – and loving – this one since the beginning. It isn’t always easy to blog because it’s not at all flashy, but there’s a ton of substance to it.

    This was one of my favorite episodes, for several reasons. They did a nice job capturing the feelings of the manga in these scenes.

    Guardian Enzo
    Reply

  6. I’m not crazy about “toilet humour”, but the show’s good enough that I’ll let it pass.

    Anyway, this was a great episode. I loved Rin’s assertiveness with Kouki and the
    trust she displays in that Kouki won’t retaliate against her (as suggested by her
    peers). I thought it particularly cool that Rin reached Kouki by explaining that
    his “friends” were using him – tricking him just so they could see him get in trouble.
    He responded to that as much as he responded to Rin’s genuine concern. Excellent!

    rant
    Show Spoiler ▼

    /rant

    I don’t know how far they’ll get this season, but I’d like a faithful sequel…

    mac65
    Reply

  7. This was a really good episode. I’m not a fan of toilet humor either but it so out into left field that I couldn’t help but laugh. I also liked how Rin handled Kouki. When he was goofing around and Rin grabbed his hand telling him that They’re going to be late and drags him off and at the daycare when she demanded he stop messing around and get to drawing she reminded me of the female childhood friend characters that so frequent animes with a highschool setting. Seeing that manifesting at such a young age was something too see. I also noticed that right afterwards Rin tucks some hair behind her ear. I’m not sure if this was just animation with no signifiance but such an act certainly does in the realworld.

    Roguespirit
    Reply

  10. This is a lovely anime, without much climax or plot. Just a simple day to day interaction is already good enough for me. In my opinion, the highlight of the show will be Daikichi holding umbrella for her even though he got wet.

    lkaze
    Reply

  14. Without revealing anything, you’re probably not going to want it to remain too loyal to the ending. That said, imho, the ending was perfect and it kinda surprised ME that it surprised others, I think the mangaka made it pretty obvious, I was like on volume two when I guessed that’s how she’d end it.

    Setsuna-chan
    Reply

  16. I wish everyone would stop judging different genre’s of anime as if they were the same.

    There are many good anime and everyone has a differing opinion about them all.

    Personally usagi drop is up high on my rating so far along with some of my all time favourites (those for me being jigoku shoujo, cowboy bebop, clannad, and angel beats along with madoka) i love to have a wide range of anime watched, and i think if you dont give everything a try and have something to back your accusations against then you have no right to say “this anime is shit compared to [insert compleatly different genre of anime here]” because putting up usagi drop against cowboy bebop really makes sense, its like putting jigoku shoujo and chobbits against each-other, you just can not get a decent meaning of either anime, nor what you are trying to portray.

    In my opinion if you want something similar in style and in genre to watch to usagi drop then maybe you should go find horou masuko and see then what you think of this impressive anime. Not only doesn’t it stand alone but it also is visually stunning and well scripted and well acted.
    If you don’t like a genre don’t watch it, and especially don’t not watch it and say its bad because of its genre.
    There is a lot more to anime than that…

    silveraura
    Reply

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