Usagi Drop

Daikichi Kawachi is a 30-year-old bachelor working a respectable job but otherwise wandering aimlessly through life. When his grandfather suddenly passes away, he returns to the family home to pay his respects. Upon arriving at the house, he meets a mysterious young girl named Rin who, to Daikichi’s astonishment, is his grandfather's illegitimate daughter!

The shy and unapproachable girl is deemed an embarrassment to the family, and finds herself ostracized by her father's relatives, all of them refusing to take care of her in the wake of his death. Daikichi, angered by their coldness toward Rin, announces that he will take her in—despite the fact that he is a young, single man with no prior childcare experience.

Usagi Drop is the story of Daikichi's journey through fatherhood as he raises Rin with his gentle and affectionate nature, as well as an exploration of the warmth and interdependence that are at the heart of a happy, close-knit family.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kaga, Rin Main

Matsuura, Ayu Japanese

Kawachi, Daikichi Main

Tsuchida, Hiroshi Japanese

Nitani, Yukari Supporting

Ohara, Sayaka Japanese

Nitani, Kouki Supporting

Sakai, Noa Japanese

Yoshii, Masako Supporting

Sakamoto, Maaya Japanese

Kawachi, Kazumi Supporting

Uchiyama, Yumi Japanese

Gotou Supporting

Kano, Yui Japanese

Mi-chan Supporting

Hirakawa, Daisuke Japanese

Kawachi, Kenji Supporting

Itou, Masakazu Japanese

Maeda, Haruko Supporting

Ueda, Kana Japanese

Nakatake, Tetsuya Producer

Matsushita, Keiko Producer

Ozaki, Noriko Producer

Kamei, Kanta Director, Episode Director, Storyboard, Key Animation

Reviews

Apr 13, 2024

LegionIscariot

Recommended

He adopts his aunt as his daughter.


Souichi Kaga at the age of 76 impregnates a young woman and sires an illegitimate child named Rin. (however there is more to this than it seems but will not be fully addressed in the anime)

Souichi passes away 6 years later. And with Rin's mother having abandoned her for her career, Suichi's grandson Daikichi Kawachi a 30 year old bachelor decides to adopt Rin.

Rin's mother Masako Yoshii known as "Maron Saionji, Sensei" is a manga artist. She's not a bad person. She does care about her daughter. But got pregnant at a young age and wasnt sure what ... to do.

All the characters are nicely written. Your typical slice of life anime characters.

Rin is the spitting image of her mother. Except for hair color.
And Daikichi is the spitting image of his grandfather.

Parenting is a huge focus of the story. You have other parents dealing with stuff like divorce, single parenting, balancing work and raising a child, etc

The writing isnt anything deep though. This is an iyashikei. Its supposed to be a feel-good anime, its not a drama.

The art style is nice. It has a hand-drawn/coloring book aspect to it.

Unfortunately this anime is incomplete and doesnt go anywhere. Only 11 episodes. There is more story to tell but it doesnt look like there will be more episodes considering this ended in 2011.

I would have given it an 8/10 if it felt like a complete arc. But the fact that it feels incomplete makes it a 7/10.

For example there is a potential love story between Daikichi and a single mother who's son is friends with Rin.
There is another plot involving Rin's mother working hard to reach deadlines at her manga job.
Or Daikichi's cousin contemplating getting a divorce.
I wish they did more with these characters. I wish there were more interactions. But the story although cute is very very basic.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by LegionIscariot (215)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Mar 19, 2024

Fishwicks

Recommended

This is one of my favorite shows I've watched, and it's simply because the story is unique and the characters are endearing. Every second with these characters makes me want to spend more and more time learning about them, and their found family dynamic as they learn to be together is adorable. God, this whole show is adorable. It doesn't cut corners on a lot of the stress of being a parent and it shows how our MC has to adapt to taking care of this new person in his life.
The show also has an art style that's soft and easy on the eyes, and ... definitely makes the viewer feel comfortable while watching. There is light drama, but nothing that destroys the lighthearted vibe crafted by the show.


I love it.

Watch it.

10/10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Fishwicks (9)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Apr 8, 2022

squish

Mixed Feelings

(minor spoilers ahead)

It has been several days since I completed Usagi Drop, and I'm still thinking about this series.

Despite my relatively low score, I truly think Usagi Drop is a work of art. What makes something art, for me, is not whether it is enjoyable or "good" from an entertainment perspective, but how much it makes me feel and think about my own existence. Usagi Drop did a very good job at the latter two things.

I based my score on my overall enjoyment of the show, however. I do think that it probably deserves its relatively high rating (currently over 8.0 here on MAL), but ... I personally found a lot about the series unenjoyable. I want to say that I'm probably not part of its target audience. I don't have children, nor do I ever aspire to be a parent. I definitely identified more with the child Rin than father-figure Daikichi.

Usagi Drop is as its core a story about the mundanity of life. From brushing your teeth to cooking meals to catching a fever, we go through it all with Daikichi and Rin. Daikichi is an interesting character, because he clearly cares about Rin, and considers himself "somewhat" of a parental figure. The show is basically about how he navigates life as a new "father," and he spends a lot of time comparing himself to other parents in his life, learning from them, and contemplating the life he has signed up for.

For some strange reason, though, at one point Daikichi admits that he doesn't see himself as Rin's father. What is he, then? Interestingly, whenever something outside of his scope of parental capabilities crops up, he relies on the women in his life to help him parent Rin. In many scenes, these women are doing most of the work, while he kind of just sits there and acts like Rin's friend. This is part of my issue with the series - although Daikichi has put himself in a parental role, a lot of time he doesn't act like Rin's parent. Knowing about the end of the manga makes this fact even weirder (and, unfortunately, did sour my enjoyment of the anime as a whole).

Rin doesn't fully act like a child, either. She is markedly less childish than all of her peers, and has a level of maturity far beyond a normal 6-year-old. Some of this could be blamed on her trauma, but I think a great opportunity was missed here with regards character development. Much more could have been explored with her character and her pain around having lost her father, but instead we got a pretty one-dimensional Mary-sue.

In the first few episodes, this series seems like it is going to be a heartwarming, comfy story with not much conflict. And it really doesn't have a ton of conflict. Most of the time I was waiting for something interesting to happen. But it doesn't really have many heartwarming scenes, either, in my opinion. Aside from Daikichi, it seems as though every other adult in this show is miserable. One of the themes explored is the sacrifices parents make in order to be parents at all, and whether or not those sacrifices are worth it. I didn't think the way the show answered this question was very satisfying. Realitsic, maybe, but definitely depressing. For the 5% cute moments we get between the children and their parents, the other 95% of the show is, to put it bluntly, pretty boring and hard to watch. If anything, I found it to be a chillingly realistic portrayal of what parenthood is probably like for many.

Despite all this, Usagi Drop is not without its redeeming qualities. Episode 6 brought me to tears. There were plenty of heartwarming moments that, coupled with its deep themes about life and parental sacrifices, make the series worth having watched. But what started out in the first couple episodes as a seemingly comfy slice-of-life turned into something that dragged on, felt a little too realistic, and left me feeling extremely melancholy. As someone who values anime as a source of escapism, I didn't get much enjoyment out of this one. I do understand why many treasure this series, but it's probably not for everyone.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by squish (4)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Less Than 12 Episodes

by Gino99

50 Entries · 133 Restacks

Tuck Yourself In, It's Time For Bed

by ricejelly

27 Entries · 21 Restacks

Anime Onegai Latin American Dubs (Part 3)

by saintseba

48 Entries · 1 Restacks

Q2 2014 Anime Licenses [Update 7/12]

Sentai Filmworks (North America):Haikyuu!! Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou (The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior) Isshuukan Friends. (One Week Friends) Lov...read more

Apr 5, 2014 2:33 PM by Dunois | Discuss (80 comments)

	Poll: Usagi Drop Episode 9 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) tsubasalover - Sep 1, 2011	159 replies	by TurtleKouhai »» Nov 5, 2:04 AM
	Poll: Usagi Drop Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) tsubasalover - Sep 15, 2011	399 replies	by Reckarella »» Sep 7, 5:01 PM
	Poll: Usagi Drop Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) notsureifsrs - Sep 8, 2011	166 replies	by Reckarella »» Sep 7, 4:23 PM
	Poll: Usagi Drop Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) tsubasalover - Jul 7, 2011	367 replies	by Onii-ChanFantasy »» Aug 30, 2:15 PM
	Poll: Usagi Drop Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) HawthorneKitty - Jul 14, 2011	225 replies	by topfloorboss45 »» Jul 30, 6:34 AM

In Numbers: The Best Anime of the Decade

What's the #1 anime of the 2010s? Which year was the best? What studio had the most hits? We have the answers to all these questions and more!

by Shymander

646,128 views

The Value of the Slice of Life Genre

Slice of Life is typically an underappreciated genre, despite being the most relatable in terms of subject material. Here's why it deserves to be noticed more.

by MAL_Articles

44,621 views