#4 - Usagi Drop (Bunny Drop)

            
       Imagine taking on a huge life-changing responsibility all of a sudden. Isn’t that difficult to handle? Now make that new responsibility a child. What do you feed them? What clothes do you buy them? What do you do when they’re sick? How do they like to play? New parents face all of these questions and they are just a few that we encounter in the remarkable Bunny Drop. 

Watched on – Crunchyroll
Licensed by – NIS America
Original Release Date - July 7, 2011
Director – Kanta Kanmei
Production Studio – Production I.G

Story – Daikichi is a thirty year old man. Rin is his grandfather’s six year old daughter born out of wedlock. After Rin’s father dies unexpectedly, who will take care of her? Everyone present at the funeral treats her like an outcast and no one wishes to take responsibility…except for one man: Daikichi. However, Daikichi has never taken care of a child! How will his life change now that has Rin? 

Characters – The characters are so special in this anime because they feel so realistic and relatable to. Daikichi is a single man who hasn’t had anything exciting happen in his life since becoming an adult. He is patient, kind, and also a dedicated worker. He has a face that may be somewhat intimidating, but Daikichi is anything but that. His new “daughter”, Rin, is a young child who is both innocent and mature at the same time. While acting mature in many situations (she can even cook for herself), she also has a childish side to her. It is quite adorable to watch and share her happiness. We meet several other characters, such as Kouki, who is a boy in Rin’s class and his mother. Kouki is extremely energetic and felt the most lifelike of all the characters in the anime. We also meet Rin’s cousin who likes to come over to play as well. There are some other parental figures introduced in the anime, like Rin’s mother, Daikichi’s parents, and the parents of the other students in Rin’s class. Though they do not play as major of a role, they all help support the story and aid in character development. 

Art/Animation – As expected from Production I.G , the animation was spot on. It worked impeccably alongside the simple, yet appealing artwork that formed Bunny Drop. The beginning of each episode always starts off with scenes that look almost as if it’s a moving watercolor painting. It was so unique that I actually wished the entire anime to be in this style.  The rest of the episodes are filled with bright, soft colors that fit the atmosphere perfectly.

Music – As far as music in Bunny Drop, there is not anything extremely special or memorable. However, for a show that is so accurate to real life, I feel as if there was no need for a huge musical score to back it up. The opening and ending songs were both cute and fit the anime really well though.

Pros – The constant, accurate sense of realism was prominent in this anime. It shapes the anime for what it really is; natural and kind-hearted. There are no exaggerations or deceptions, just normal daily interactions. This anime emulated human communications so well that I almost felt like I was watching real people instead of anime characters. Of course that can have its downsides as well, but for most of Bunny Drop, it was a very positive quality. 

Also the character development was marvelous. Our two main protagonists grew so well in just a short span of 11 episodes. I’ve seen anime where it takes almost 25 episodes for one character just to develop some sort of personality! Rin changes from being shy and quiet to fun and outspoken. She is able to make a lot of friends at school and warms up to Daikichi as the anime continues. Daikichi develops more slowly, but he does become more understanding and less clueless when it comes to parenting as the anime goes on.  The bond between Daikichi and Rin increasingly strengthens with each episode, making Bunny Drop a very uplifting watch. 

Cons – Many scenes in this anime were peaceful…

a little too peaceful. Nothing extremely exciting occurred and while that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I did dose off a couple of times. A lot of the moments we see are very relatable and almost makes you feel like you are watching real human interactions. That can be great to watch, but not so great if it’s putting you to sleep.  

Overall – Bunny Drop is a sweet, relaxing, and warm-hearted watch. It is definitely an anime that fans of all genres can enjoy. It might be a little too slow or too simple for some, but its simplicity is what makes Bunny Drop so special.

Rating – 8.5/10