The manga is split
into two stories. The first deals with
30 year old bachelor Daikichi Kawachi returning home to attend his grandfather’s
funeral. He, along with the rest of the
family, discovers that grandpa sired an illegitimate girl and had been raising
her on his own. The girl, Rin Kaga, a shy
and introverted six year-old, who begins clinging to Daikichi due to his resemblance
to the late grandfather. The family
begins to discuss what to do about the disgrace to their name Rin has brought
by existing. Daikichi, infuriated with
their lack of empathy, rashly decides to care for Rin by himself. Next thing he knows he’s now adopted a young
girl he knows absolutely nothing about let alone how to raise her properly. With the help of his cousin who has a girl
Rin’s age, Reina, and his compassion and patience, Daikichi somehow manages to
provide for Rin. In the process of
getting her life to as normal a state as possible Rin becomes friends with a
boy in her preschool, Kouki, who lives with his divorced mother. Daikichi begins to have feelings for Kouki’s
mother but cannot bring himself to express them. At the same time Daikichi is driven to
discover who Rin’s mother is and what her reason was for abandoning her. Can Daikichi really raise Rin and what will
Rin want in her heart?
The second part
picks up the story 10 years later and focuses more on Rin's point of view. Daikichi is 40 and Rin is 17. Over the past 10 years they have developed a strong
father-daughter bond and Rin is growing into an intelligent and beautiful woman
before his eyes. Rin attends the same
high school as Kouki and Reina who have all become close friends. Kouki though, has deeper feelings for Rin but
problems in their middle school years have created a rift between them that is
hard to gap. Daikichi is still focused
on Kouki’s mother, but after all this time still cannot express his feelings to
her. As the kids are faced with having
to think about their futures as adults Rin begins to question what she really
wants to do with her life and who she really is. She begins to wonder about whom her mother is
and what led to her circumstances being under Daikichi’s care.
It’s actually
pretty difficult for me to express my feelings for this series. When I originally began reading it in 2008 I really
enjoyed it. But due to circumstances was
unable to continue reading it until very recently. Originally I had made it through the first 4
tankobon, which deal with Rin at the age of 7, and a little into the 5th,
which is when it shifts to her being 17.
The anime deals only with the first 4 tankobon and I assume the movie
does as well. That being said, I was
unsure as to what would happen in the rest of the series. I liked the idea of jumping the story ahead
so far and using flashbacks to fill in some of the important gaps. The ending was a bit surprising though. I had developed ideal conclusions as I read
the series and I am a little disappointed that they didn’t pan out, but that
does not mean the ending is bad, quite the opposite.
This is the best
manga I have read and one of the best pieces of literature I have read as
well. It has affected me profoundly at a
deep level, it’s hard to explain. I know
part of it is through some relation.
When I began reading the manga my daughter was about the same age as
Rin. While the circumstance of Daikichi
raising Rin and myself raising my daughter are nothing alike, I could
completely relate with much of what Daikichi was going through. Yumi Unita has done an amazing job of
creating a very realistic story, steeped completely in reality, sometimes
rather mundane reality. Again though,
the way the story wrapped up was a bit surprising, but good. It wasn’t the ending I was hoping for, but it’s
probably a more interesting ending.
I want to reread
some of the last 2 tankobon to see if there were nuances I had missing that I
may be able to pick up on knowing how it ends.
The final one, the bonus material, was nice and enjoyable as well. It didn’t put closure on the series though
and there is one glaring question that still needs to be answered…one really
important question. While it seems
highly impossible, it would be great for more material in the series, perhaps
another story line set another 10 years in the future. It would also be fantastic to see the second
story line made into an anime. I hold
out hope for the second anime series because Usagi Drop was met with a moderate
amount of success. I also look forward
to other works by Unita, who apparently is a relatively new name in manga…good
for her on being so successful! Her story
truly is amazing.
The manga is
available in North America through Yen Press, 9 tankobon are out and the 10th
will come out early 2014. The anime is
available on Crunchyroll as well. It’s
hard to compare it to other series, but if you enjoy stories that deal with
realistic circumstances and characters growing as humans do then this is by far
one of the best you will read.
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