Usagi Drop

[MangaDex]

 

[Starbuck]

a sweet story despite its ending

 

[ampnaman]

Aka loli-raising simulator.

 

[ixsaz]

I never undertood why people hated the ending, when you could see it from miles way, since the start rin called him with his name, she never called him dad and he neither told her to call him dad, it was clear as water that the ending was planned by the mangaka from the start.

 

[ampnaman]

@ixsaz yeah, I liked the ending myself. The entire story is a heartwarming ride.

It's just probably because the western crowd hate the age gap type of romance and equate it to pedophilia and such.

 

[Siquall]

Same here, i found the ending good, even if it was a little unexpected (or a lot for a majority of readers).
What i didn't like was a lot of highschools chapters, just annoying.

 

[picnic]

Yuck

 

[livesofflight]

The Woody Allen method of child rearing.

 

[Jester]

For those that want to read to where the anime ended and are uncomfortable with age gap romance, read only up to chapter 24. For those who don't mind or are curious to what the other comments are talking about, countinue to read the rest.
Either way, it's still a good, heartwarming story no matter which point you decide to stop at.

 

[grom]

"The western crowd" you mean the same western crowd from america, who elected someone with the same age gap lover as president... italia too, etc...

 

[Purplelibraryguy]

@ixsaz--that's 'cause he wasn't her dad. And they both always had a low-key informal style; not doing the "daddy" thing is what you'd expect from them. There is no way that points particularly to that ending. And not her dad or no, he was still her guardian, it was generally a realistic-style story, and the age gap is extreme. The notion that only what ampnaman calls "the western crowd" would consider that taboo is ridiculous. I've seen other realistic-style romance manga with age gaps more appropriate to parenting, where the girl starts small. Normally the whole damned thing is about dealing with the problems and contradictions and ethics and taboos. There are manga written as if that stuff didn't exist, but they're not about real Japan, they're for "the otaku crowd"--Japanese and Western--who enjoy sexual titillation about various taboo subjects.

I can imagine a version of that story where that ending worked. But it would take a lot of prep work. Not a bait-and-switch where you cultivate some fairly sympathetic characters and then dump them out of left field. Looking at various Unita Yumi stories, she's very good in a way, but she can't write a romantic conclusion to save her life.

 

[SatoshiRyu]

Another reread happenned. A couple of years has passed since the last time I read this wonderful manga. I think being a working adult, I now understand Rin a lot more.
Spoiler's alert

Spoiler

Back then, i just decided the ending is the what the mangaka selfish wanted. However, the mc couples are happy so I didn't mind it too much, although I feel a little disturbed.
Now, after rereading, I found it make much more sense. The high school arc is about Rin trying to cope with her new feeling, her growing-up situation. While Daikichi is the same, Rin gradually change the way she look at him. She know Daikichi will forever treat her as his daughter but her feeling for him get stronger so she act to put an end to it. Daikichi mental that always put Rin at highest priority plus her determination is what unlock the ending.
I also think if they are blood related, Rin's mind will still have peace after sometimes. She might have to live with linggering attachment, but at least she clearly know which road to choose from.

 

[ampnaman]

@ Purplelibraryguy it's the truth though, people in western cultures hate this sort of thing - hence the banning of content, restriction and undue hatred of what they deem lolicon, Chris Hansen and FBI knocking at your door, etc.

Here in Asia, you could say it's more lenient. Mentor-student relationships, May-December love stories, even an earlier age of consent. So we can freely read and enjoy manga like this, ask any Japanese and they'll likely go 'meh'. while a westerner would be uncomfortable or creeped out by the ending.

(Of course, the bad side comes with it - like child labor & exploitation, and foreigner pedophiles flocking our streets)

 

[Syborg]

I can't believe people are still discusing the ending. I guess it really triggered the people who came here from the anime and they didn't get more of what the anime was providing them. Not that i'm defending the ending

 

[zaji970]

I could give a shit about the ending. It seems kinda abrupt, but I enjoyed the series, so I understand it’s gotta end somewhere even if I don’t want it to. I was more triggered by the authors treatment of kouki’s mom. Totally a dick move. At least do a little explaining, maybe tie our feelings up before ending it. It just makes everything feel incomplete, especially since she was my favorite character. Also I have the nagging suspicion that she was shafted so that the ending plot twist could happen as the author wanted. And it wasn’t even an interesting ending either. Not to mention how unsatisfied I still am after the sudden time skip, which totally ruined the flow. This was something, but it could have been more.

 

[IrisHaze]

I finally got around to reading this and I’m kinda disappointed with the ending.

Spoiler

I really wanted Daikichi to end up with Kouki’s mom. It was just weird that he ended up with Rin since he saw her as a daughter.

 

[Manganime]

@ampnaman

Spoiler

It’s not just the western readers that were disappointed with the ending. If you go on Amazon (.co.jp) and search for the last volume of this manga, there was mixed reviews of the ending, to some it was also a disappointment. Even some of the positive reviews complained about the ending and how it wasn’t appropriate and unneccesary. And it’s not about the age gap either that made the ending hard to accept for them but rather they did not like how Daikichi was able to change his role as a father to a lover, you just can’t suddenly look at someone you’ve looked at as a daughter into a romantic partner. Some noted that the author was trying too much to make it like the classic literature “The Tale of Genji.” So it’s not really that they were okay with how things turned out and were able to enjoy it, it’s just that most Japanese people aren’t very vocal people when it comes to controversial or “touchy” topics and prefer not to dwell on it. Even they have an issue about the sexualization of children in anime and manga but most won’t openly speak about their opinion. They don’t like conflicts which is why most of them are afraid to speak their mind and are often reserved about their opinions, most just listen and passively agree with you even though they may not actually agree with you at all. It’s just that they rather avoid arguments than debate.

 

[Operatix]

Great manga, great end.

 

[Phuocphuc46]

Great ending to a great manga. Was it unexpected? Not really, considering the norm and tropes these days, but the development of some of the side characters could’ve been executed better. Was is satisfying? To some, yes, it’s a simple, straight-forward ending, but due to the downside mentioned before there is some if not great dissent about the ending. Still, it’s a heartwarming story about a single father and daughter, a must-read classic, nonetheless.

 

[Panzer590]

Came from the anime just to see my girl rin smiling...and goddamn her smile..its just so heartwarming. Timeskips were sometimes annoing but well whatever ??‍♂️ Wanted to see more .-.