Usagi Drop is the first new show I’ve decided to blog this season. I’ll still continue with Iroha and Steins; Gate, and pick two or three others as well. Right now one will most likely be Kamisama Dolls (contingent on the second episode), and the rest are still undecided.
The thing I like most about Usagi Drop is how the creators are developing the relationship between Rin and Daikichi. They aren’t shouting about how they feel to each other: the development is understated (at least by anime standards). For example, look at the scene in this episode where Daikichi looked at Rin’s drying clothes and put out his cigarette, or where Rin gave Daikichi a gift after he was late to pick her up. These scenes spoke more to Daikichi’s willingness to take care of Rin and Rin’s affection for him than any amount of talking could have.
The other thing I love about this series is how down to earth it is. Daikichi’s concerns at the moment are practical and immediate: where should he send Rin to school, what clothes does he need to buy her, and what should they eat. There’s no emoing out over whether he’s fit to take care of Rin. He just tries to do all that he can.
The interactions between Rin and Daikichi are cute and endearing. My favorite scene in this episode was when Daikichi called his cousin, and her daughter wanted to talk to Rin on the phone. It was only the last episode that she was bullying Rin and stealing her Jacob’s ladder, and now they’re best friends. It’s the small things like this that make Rin feel like an actual little kid and not another loli.
The other thing is that the main characters of Usagi drop are a girl in nursery school and a 30 year old man. How often do you get either of those age groups in anime, much less both at the same time? I’m looking forward to seeing how the creators deal with their age gap.
I think this is going to be one of the highlights of the summer season.
I completely agree with the points you suggested in the review. Subtlety in life is rare and even more so in television and anime. I picked this anime up and I was instantly hooked.
Isn’t it refreshing to see *well-adjusted* characters once in a while? Rin isn’t tsundere nor does she have psychological/abandonment issues. As you mentioned, she and Daikichi have very real daily concerns, and that makes the story believable and much more enjoyable.
I’m eager to find out how the producers chose to address issues associated with this situation. Daikichi alluded to the instability of his situation. (“How will this work if I have a girlfriend?”) Conflict is essential to the story and it’ll be interesting to watch and see how that conflict unfolds.
On a side note, I dropped Kamisama Dolls after the first episode. Not my cup of tea!
Well-adjusted people are surprisingly rare. I think we’re going to need some conflict soon as well, and Daikichi finding a girlfriend / potential girlfriend could do nicely.
I liked the first episode of Kamisama Dolls a fair amount, but I’m less enamored with it now. Too much of cute little girls and disturbingly large breasts.