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Sup TL
So I just finished reading the entire manga Usagi Drop by Yumi Unita, and it really had an impact on me. This is a spoilerless review so if you're thinking of watching the anime or picking up the manga- you're safe.
Lets get this thing going~~~
First off, Usagi Drop is a fabulous manga. It's a story of a man who takes in the illegitimate child of his grandfather and raises her as his own. It is heartwarming and more importantly it is able to portray people instead of caricatures. The were no moments where I felt that a character was acting unbelievably or woodenly. The art wasn't terribly complicated, but the characters were well designed and expressive and the backgrounds were tasteful, if plain. I can't say that at any time I was terribly impressed with the art, but now looking back I can close my eyes and clearly see certain panels.
The reason that Usagi Drop moved me so much is because of how much I felt I could empathize with the male lead, Daikichi. I don't know anything about saiyans, ninjas, or dead samurais- but, I can understand a thirty-year-old salary man. Daikichi's journey from being a successful business man into becoming a father is a beautiful story. Unita is able to portray the nerve-wracking stress and bittersweet sacrifices of parenthood along with the moments that are so beautiful and precious they are almost painful to watch. Rin herself is also an amazing character, and while watching her growth from the beginning of the series to the end, I found myself feeling proud and slightly bittersweet.
Over the past day and a half while I read this, I felt like I was dragged along by the author. I generally read quickly, but here I was completely at Unita's mercy. When the pace quickened I couldn't change the page quick enough, but there were some scenes that I couldn't tear my eyes from and it would nearly be a minute before I moved forward. Unita's grasp of pacing is immaculate and she is certainly at the height of her craft.
All in all, I can strongly recommend this manga. It goes beyond the conventional boundaries of Josei and Seinen and just is a wonderful story. I am not saying that it's perfect or that I liked every bit of it. But once I finally had to time to sit down and read it, I didn't stop. And afterwards- I found my self writing my first review in years. It's a powerful piece of fiction.
9.0/10
  
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United States1655 Posts
Definitely one of the better manga I've read recently. I feel that it went from being a story about raising a child to more of a teen drama sorta thing and that was strange, but overall it was a very pleasant read. 
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On August 09 2011 17:47 Sigrun wrote:Definitely one of the better manga I've read recently. I feel that it went from being a story about raising a child to more of a teen drama sorta thing and that was strange, but overall it was a very pleasant read.
@SkilledBlob - as far as I know, it's not an anime, just a manga so far.
I also like this work a lot, largely because you see the two main characters develop so much. I have to admit the latter half after Rin grew up a bit wasn't nearly as interesting, and the ending surprised me a lot, but overall it was great.
Also, if you guys liked Usagi Drop, you should check out "My Girl" by Sahara Mizu - the setup is somewhat similar, but different enough to make it interesting, and the art is arguably a notch above.
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On August 09 2011 17:51 Funnytoss wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2011 17:47 Sigrun wrote:Definitely one of the better manga I've read recently. I feel that it went from being a story about raising a child to more of a teen drama sorta thing and that was strange, but overall it was a very pleasant read. @SkilledBlob - as far as I know, it's not an anime, just a manga so far. I also like this work a lot, largely because you see the two main characters develop so much. I have to admit the latter half after Rin grew up a bit wasn't nearly as interesting, and the ending surprised me a lot, but overall it was great. Also, if you guys liked Usagi Drop, you should check out "My Girl" by Sahara Mizu - the setup is somewhat similar, but different enough to make it interesting, and the art is arguably a notch above.
Ah, yeah, I agree about the second half being a bit less interesting. But, towards the end Rin's search for her biological mother were so gripping that I kinda forgot about all the melodrama, haha.
The very end threw me for a loop though. I had a bit written about it under spoiler text, but I didn't trust people to just not open it up :3.
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where can I find this manga? mangadownloader?
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It's still a Josei, which means the protagonist is a man idealised by a woman and the ending is pretty dumb. But it's not bad otherwise.
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On August 09 2011 17:51 Funnytoss wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2011 17:47 Sigrun wrote:Definitely one of the better manga I've read recently. I feel that it went from being a story about raising a child to more of a teen drama sorta thing and that was strange, but overall it was a very pleasant read. @SkilledBlob - as far as I know, it's not an anime, just a manga so far. I also like this work a lot, largely because you see the two main characters develop so much. I have to admit the latter half after Rin grew up a bit wasn't nearly as interesting, and the ending surprised me a lot, but overall it was great. Also, if you guys liked Usagi Drop, you should check out "My Girl" by Sahara Mizu - the setup is somewhat similar, but different enough to make it interesting, and the art is arguably a notch above.
then let me tell you that there is an anime and in the anime discussion thread we talk about pretty much everything related to manga and anime
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The manga would have been much better, in my opinion, if the ending was different or it didn't have the timeskip.
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I thought it was pretty good but kinda hoped Daikichi would've ended up with that hot mom.... Oh well 
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Haven't quite finished the manga yet, but yeah. I remember the first time I picked it up. I read the first volume after buying it at Borders and read it on my home on the train. Really great read. From what I'm hearing the ending isn't so good, but its not easy to come up with a good ending for a josei, especially when you're a male reader going through something aimed towards woman.
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Screw you, I've just looked up the manga and it's amazing and now I'm spending all my time reading it.
+ Show Spoiler +
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Canada4481 Posts
On August 09 2011 18:27 exalted wrote:
where can I find this manga? mangadownloader?
mangareader.net
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Thoughts on how the story ended?
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I think a lot of people have a much easier time relating to Daikichi than a Ninja or a Saiyan 
I personally felt very neutral towards the art. The characters were drawn really like twigs in my eyes.
The manga feels unique because like the poster above said, it's josei genre. Boys/Men usually don't read manga for girls, and especially for the older ones at that (shoujo manga are for young girls, and josei are aimed at a more mature female audience).
You probably have already read tonnes of shounen and seinen manga, so this one really stands out. For me too.
Although I enjoyed the first part of the manga considerably more than the latter part.
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dang it, it was hoping this was sailor moon related
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On August 10 2011 05:13 Primadog wrote:
Thoughts on how the story ended?
Not a fan. It seemed abrupt and really uncharacteristic of Daikichi. Not a fan at all.
However it wasn't enough to spoil the series for me.
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I'd heard Usagi Drop was part of the somewhat dubiously received current season of anime, good to hear it comes recommended
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mrmin123
Korea (South)2971 Posts
Chiming in to say that I also really enjoyed Usagi Drop. I was drawn in by the first chapter when Daikichi selflessly decided to take in his grandfather's illegitimate child when nobody else would. I was expecting a comedic story after the darker opening chapter, and it did not fail to deliver with Daikichi's trials and tribulations after suddenly adopting a 6 year old kid. The second half left behind the lighthearted comedy, and ended up being what I felt was the weaker half. The time skip startled me at first but I suppose it was necessary to get the plot moving towards unraveling Rin's mysterious background, and Rin's background and the various romantic relationships just weren't that interesting. The ending also fell flat, but that's what you get for developing something like that in the last 5 or 6 chapters....... I was rooting for you Kouki! Right now it stands between 7/10 and 8/10 for me, but I'm eagerly awaiting the extra volume before finalizing the score.
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On August 10 2011 15:10 Rainmaker5 wrote:Not a fan. It seemed abrupt and really uncharacteristic of Daikichi. Not a fan at all. However it wasn't enough to spoil the series for me.
Yeah i totally agree with you. I feel the author chose the easy way for some reason, it doesnt feel like Daikichi at all :/
For some reason i really prefer the first part with Rin as a child, the second part feels way too 'shojo' for me ^^'.
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I do feel like it was expected of Rin, now that I know the ending it seems a lot more obvious with lots of subtle hints placed here and there + Show Spoiler +
Defiantly Daikichi is a complete copout, I'd like to know more of what he is feeling.
It is a significant change though, the first part is from his point of view, and the second is mainly from Rins, so it is hard to know what he is thinking
EDIT: okay now as I'm re-reading more I'm just getting convinced that I was completely oblivious of Rin's reactions the first time through and it should have been so obvious
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i55.tinypic.com/b55nae.jpg)
