(L) Usagi Drop

[Archon_Wing]

Rin's all like but that makes me your mother's sister. *head explodes* Why must she know so much.

Strong episode that ties these threads together. It's clear that this kind of relationship has come a long way since episode 1.

[Kanon]

I really enjoyed the focus on Masako this week. I feel like I understand her a bit more now. She obviously cares a lot about Rin, and she's forcing herself to forget about her love for her daughter and her guilt over abandoning her by working herself to exhaustion. She abandoned Rin to pursue that career, so she feels that if she doesn't work at least this much, that sacrifice will be meaningless. That's a dangerous road she's treading... I think she truly wants, and needs, is Rin's forgiveness.

They hinted that Grandpa is really Rin's father in this episode, something I started to strongly doubt. I'm still not convinced he is.

All the scenes with Rin were tremendously adorable as always. The child actress playing her in the live action movie is amazing, but the young voice actress voicing her in the anime deserves a lot of praise as well. She always delivers her lines perfectly, with the right tone and the right amount of emotion.

I definitely agree Daikichi should make a move on Yukari. Their children get along very well with each other, and Daikichi seems to like Kouki quite a bit (and vice versa). They'd make a perfect family. I really hope they'll get together.

[ookamigirl]

It's a hot, hot summer ^^'
Rin & Kouki on summer break. It seems like Daikichi is babysitting for Kouki as well. That kid sure is lively!
Rin's mom is still so irresponsible, even though I think all of it does bother her at some level.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Don't have anything substantial to add. To be sure, I was a little unimpressed with the episode — the same way Ep6 bored a few posters here, I guess. Nonetheless, Usagi Drop continues to amaze and amuse me in its low-key, high-impact way.

So, for a change, some trivia perhaps? First, when exactly is Rin's birthday? The episode opens on Aug 4, 2011 (Thursday), exactly one month since Haruko and Reina's sleepover on July 3. Assuming that Crunchyroll got its translation right (I'm sceptical about that), it would be Aug 13 (Saturday).

I'm further guessing that Grandpa died sometime in October or November, in late autumn, based on the events of Ep6, which opened sometime in April, at the start of Rin's elementary-school term. Daikichi remarked at the time that it had only been six months since they discovered Rin's existence.

As of Ep8, then, Rin and Daikichi have been together for about nine to 10 months.

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Secondly, Yumi Yoshimura and Ami Onuki of the rock duo Puffy (yes, the singers of Usagi Drop's OP song) will have cameo appearances in the next episode. You can spot them in the preview:

The above is apparently a TV preview that appears separately from the broadcast episodes. Incidentally, my favourite is the one for Ep5.

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Lastly, live-action Usagi Drop got panned in The Japan Times Online by reviewer Mark Schilling, who described the movie as a "bunny-based drama (that has) a warm but overly fluffy tail".

...I began to wonder about an hour in, (where) is the drama? It finally arrives in the form of a search for Kouki and Rin after they go missing at the day-care centre.

Everyone dashes about frantically, while tear-jerking cliches proliferate shamelessly. This sort of third-act sag has long been Sabu's biggest problem as a director: He's like a born sprinter who keeps entering 10,000m races and wondering why he fades in the stretch.

...The lack of friction between the characters — Rin and Daikichi don't have an enemy in the world and get along swimmingly from the start — make for a curiously uninvolving experience.

I can't say I'm surprised. Like Kanon, I don't have a high opinion of the current state of Japanese film-making and live acting in general (remember live-action Moyashimon? Not me: I dropped it after the second episode). It seems the movie fell victim to the usual Hollywood trap that the anime had so far avoided, opting for sentimental cliches over realistic portrayal of parenting dilemmas.

That said, Kenichi Matsuyama (Daikichi; some may remember him as Death Note's L) and Mana Ashida (Rin) are a hoot to watch in this compilation of public appearances to promote the movie. Enjoy.

[YuriEcchiGirl]

This new anime series looks totally adorable, can't wait to get around to watching it at some point

[Flower]

A very well done ep ... moving in some deep ways. I loved the "visit the graveyard scene with biological mother looking on" sequence in the manga, and it has been brilliantly reproduced in ep 8.

Really excellent, quality material! 9/10 vote from me for ep 8 - it was THAT good for me.

This ep also illustrates the complex feelings I have for Masako as a character very well. At a point in her life she made the decision to pursue her work related dreams rather than care for her child (i.e. Rin), and she has been living with that ever since. There is a part of her that really regrets her decision that she cannot get away from ... kinda like her ... erm ... "selfishness" is at war with her motherly instincts. With Daikichi and Rin coming back into her life she is "forced" to deal with that once again (previously she seemed to try and "bury it"/deal with it by immersing herself in her work.

I admit that I do not like the character of Masako, but at the same time I certainly can feel sorry for her and can appreciate how "real" and true to life her portrayal is. There are people like that out there, even if I personally might not approve of the action of giving away a child to follow one's work related ambitions. Simply because they make a decision I personally disapprove of does not mean that they are somehow "forever on the out" because of that decision - they also carry on with their lives and try to do the best they can and "process" or learn from their decision(s) proper.

Masako is kinda portrayed in a somewhat similar manner as Haruka in the last episode - the character is simply presented, without necessarily "passing a judgement or an evaluation" on them. The viewer (or reader in case of the manga medium) is left to come to their own conclusions and ponderings on the subject.

Brilliant.

[Guardian Enzo]

That preview looks like the first time Kouki looks at Rin and says, "Wait a minute..."

[User68604]

yea they did a better job of outlining the trials/tribulations of haruko and masako in the anime

i still dont like masako, but at least her backstory is "out of the way"

i want to see more daikichi and kouki's mother action!

[HandofFate]

Originally Posted by Kanon

I really enjoyed the focus on Masako this week. I feel like I understand her a bit more now. She obviously cares a lot about Rin, and she's forcing herself to forget about her love for her daughter and her guilt over abandoning her by working herself to exhaustion. She abandoned Rin to pursue that career, so she feels that if she doesn't work at least this much, that sacrifice will be meaningless. That's a dangerous road she's treading... I think she truly wants, and needs, is Rin's forgiveness.

They hinted that Grandpa is really Rin's father in this episode, something I started to strongly doubt. I'm still not convinced he is.

I question the character design choice of making Rin blonde, when the grandfather and mother both seemingly have regular black hair.

Not many seemed to comment, but I find it really out of the ordinary that a 25?-30 girl would end up doing it with a 60?-70+ year old man she's cleaning the house for.

[Flower]

Originally Posted by HandofFate

I question the character design choice of making Rin blonde, when the grandfather and mother both seemingly have regular black hair.

Not many seemed to comment, but I find it really out of the ordinary that a 25?-30 girl would end up doing it with a 60?-70+ year old man she's cleaning the house for.

Very true ... and yet she remains blond (based on the color of her hair from the color covers of the manga volumes as well as the anime). I also remember being struck by that some time back (I was reading the manga at the time) and it giving me pause for thought....

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by HandofFate

I question the character design choice of making Rin blonde, when the grandfather and mother both seemingly have regular black hair.

Well, I suppose this could be taken as evidence that Rin's biological father is not Daikichi's grandfather, but rather a blonde man. That would support Kanon's stance there.

Part of me hates to use this defense, but hair color has almost never been terribly realistic in anime. I mean, unless we assume that anime characters have an unusually high fondness for hair dying, they don't reflect a realistic range of hair colors for the real life Japanese people. Heck, just look at the character in my avatar. How often do you encounter blue hair in real life?

Still, given the streamlined artistic style of anime, it's often necessary to have a vibrant array of hair colors amongst the cast simply to tell characters apart. This is an issue I sometimes run into when I read a manga for an anime I've watched: With the hair color difference negated by black-and-white manga pages, I frequently get characters mixed up with one another.

Not many seemed to comment, but I find it really out of the ordinary that a 25?-30 girl would end up doing it with a 60?-70+ year old man she's cleaning the house for.

I certainly wouldn't say it's something you see everyday, but it's not completely unheard of either. I mean, I've heard stories on the news about wealthy elderly gentlemen having mistresses that are half, or even a third, of his age.

[-Sho-]

This anime keep getting up , Best slice of life anime of the year(or even more) so far

[YuriEcchiGirl]

The animation style of the characters looks superb, definately right up my street

[Gohan78]

Originally Posted by HandofFate

I question the character design choice of making Rin blonde, when the grandfather and mother both seemingly have regular black hair.

It's just "anime hair". Pure Japanese people can't have natural blonde hair.

[Kanon]

I think it's just anime hair too. Incidentally, do we really know what the grandpa's haircolor is? As far as I remember, we've only seen him as an old man. For all we know, he could have had blond hair when he was younger.

The main reason I started to doubt his paternity is more or less the same as HandofFate, expect in my mind the grandpa would have been the one less inclined to do it with his young maid. He just doesn't strike me as that type of man. Granted, we don't know much about him, I'm mainly using Daikichi (because he's said to resemble him) and Rin (because she's been raised by him) to gauge his character.

[Quadratic]

What about eye color, though? Gramps and Masako having "black" colored eyes whereas Rin's eyes are really light.

The way the assistant was introduced back in ep 5 made me think he was the real father...then ep 8 kinda says he's surprised Masako had a daughter, which destroyed that theory.

I thought ep 8 was better than the last two, but still think the highest point of the story ended at ep 5.
Episodes after ep 5 feel like standalone episodes that can be watched in any order without causing any confusions. I feel like there is no longer a proper story to be told anymore, and it's just become generic slice-of-life.

[Kirarakim]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

I can't say I'm surprised. Like Kanon, I don't have a high opinion of the current state of Japanese film-making and live acting in general (remember live-action Moyashimon? Not me: I dropped it after the second episode). It seems the movie fell victim to the usual Hollywood trap that the anime had so far avoided, opting for sentimental cliches over realistic portrayal of parenting dilemmas.

A shame the movie did look like it might be enjoyable from the preview.

But I wouldn't judge the state of Japanese live action film based on adapations of manga/anime.

As long as there is Hirokazu Koreeda I am happy!

[Dr. Casey]

Originally Posted by HandofFate

Not many seemed to comment, but I find it really out of the ordinary that a 25?-30 girl would end up doing it with a 60?-70+ year old man she's cleaning the house for.

He was quite a bit older than 60; he was 79 at the time of his death, and Rin's six years old, so they were getting it on at least up through age 73 (Assuming that he's the father, of course; I tend to take things at face value and never even wondered if he was the father or not, though now that others bring it up, another person being the father is a possibility. Though I hope that's not the case, because I like this plot point and Rin being fathered by such an old man is one of the initial hooks of the series).

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I certainly wouldn't say it's something you see everyday, but it's not completely unheard of either. I mean, I've heard stories on the news about wealthy elderly gentlemen having mistresses that are half, or even a third, of his age.

Indeed, and Grandpa wasn't exactly a bad looking man either. He was still pretty handsome for being almost 80, we're not exactly talking about Beanman from Hanasaku Iroha here.

[Funkatron]

has anyone photoshoped Rin with more natural black hair?

[EroKing]

It would probably look something like this.