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REVIEW: Usagi Drop Episodes 1-11 Streaming


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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 2:45 pm Reply with quote
No mention of Ayu Matsuura's lovely performance of Rin? She's just ten years old and already can emote as well as or better than many professionals. She gave an energetic and spirited performance and was a big part in making Rin so precocious, but she also had a child-like vulnerability in her voice that would have been well done if she was a pro. Sometimes the best person to play a child is actually a child, funnily enough. I wish her best of luck for the future.

Hiroshi Tsuchida was also really good as Daikichi, I loved listening to him scowl. He gave a strong and realistic performance, so good on him. He really made Daikichi seem like a clueless bachelor with a big heart.
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TG72



Joined: 28 Jan 2011
Posts: 334
PostPosted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 3:51 pm Reply with quote
This show has been such a joy to watch. I hope the film will make its way to the US somehow as well.
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machetecat



Joined: 06 Jan 2010
Posts: 396
PostPosted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 4:03 pm Reply with quote
This show was just adorable. I just wanted to hug it or something. Such a sweet series, and I hope it makes it on DVD over here.

I also REALLY want the movie, too. It looks fantastic.
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Arsenette



Joined: 02 Jun 2011
Posts: 175
PostPosted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 4:46 pm Reply with quote
Awesome review Razz This is my first simulcast and I was lucky I picked this one up. I read the Summer reviews here on ANN and picked this one and was very happy with it. I keep rewatching it on Crunchyroll over and over. It's very calm and funny and light. Personally I wouldn't think twice in recommending this to a non-anime fan as a gateway. It's that good.
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njprogfan
Collector Extraordinaire



Joined: 08 Feb 2007
Posts: 1225
Location: A River Named Toms
PostPosted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 6:04 pm Reply with quote
One of my favorite shows this year, as is the manga. Being a father of a 13 year-old daughter, there were touches that struck home proving that raising a child, be it in America, Japan or anywhere, is universal when it comes to caring, loving and just coping with the daily drudgery of raising another human being. The fact that Rin isn't Daikichi's own child proves that humans have the instincts to care for another human being given the right circumstances, (also it doesn't hurt when the person is kind-hearted to begin with). Daikichi, best father in anime? I haven't seen every anime ever made, but I'm sure he'd be up there near the top! Come on R1 companies, pick-up this series. I'd buy it!
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4750G



Joined: 24 Aug 2011
Posts: 546
PostPosted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 7:42 pm Reply with quote
Loved this show, certainly one of the best I saw this year. You cannot help but be drawn, really. Its simplicity just adds to its appeal. I loved really how a 'family' is not simply parents and children, but a bond between people coming from mutual care and love.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 24170
PostPosted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 8:09 pm Reply with quote
Well, I am going to go against the grain of this thread and say boldly that I absolutely ...

... loved this show. Psych! Yeah, I can see how some people may have found the visual look displeasing, but I liked it tons. I want more - alleged big scary potentially gross manga ending, be damned.
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Animerican14



Joined: 19 Aug 2006
Posts: 963
Location: Saint Louis, MO
PostPosted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 8:28 pm Reply with quote
Huh, it's great to see that it sounds like a wonderful series all the way through to the end. I think seeing Zac's blurb about it in the preview guide really made me put it off on watching it on my own time (saw the first two episodes at club, btw)... it seemed that knowing the original manga's ending terribly disturbed him, so much so that he said he wouldn't see it unless the anime ended differently (or something of the sort). I haven't read a single page of the manga, so one of most "disturbing" things that I could imagine happening is that spoiler[they end up marrying each other], or something messed up like that.

Does this anime tell the "complete" story of Usagi Drop, or did it stop somewhere in the middle of the manga, keeping the chances of a second season open? If it's the former, I'll probably pick the series up sooner...

EDIT: Gah, I was too curious. And holy crap, I was right on the money about spoiler[the ending].... well, from what generally little I know about the ending, at least it's not something uber-tragic, I guess.

For those that have read the spoilers up above and know full well about the circumstances regarding said spoilers.... spoiler[please just tell me that it all makes sense, given the context of the entire story and relationship arcs, and it's not something that's pulled so extremely out of left field, in direct opposition to the how the rest of the story flowed before. Because I'm telling you, the first two episodes of the show did not give me any indication that stuff could somehow end up in that direction... I'm still entertaining the idea about seeing the show (really liked what I saw so far), but I'm not so sure how much I can enjoy it now. Confused]


Last edited by Animerican14 on Sun Sep 25, 2011 9:37 pm; edited 2 times in total
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 8:52 pm Reply with quote
Animerican14 wrote:
Does this anime tell the "complete" story of Usagi Drop, or did it stop somewhere in the middle of the manga, keeping the chances of a second season open?


It stopped before the timeskip, so before half-way, and I think most people (myself included) are happy that it did. It means no gross ending which destroys everything that came before. Sometimes a faithful adaptation is precisely what you don't want, because Manga isn't exactly some bastion of quality that Anime cannot touch.

The emphasis in the Usagi Drop Anime of family and of Rin and Daikichi's totally platonic relationship was undoubtedly the correct course of action. We see him growing as a father-figure and her growing out of her shell, and the result is so heartwarming your torso will burn. That's all I wanted and that's what we got, so I couldn't be happier.

Is there room for a second season? Technically yes, as there's plenty more Manga material to adapt. But sometimes you don't want a sequel, because unnecessary sequels are the bane of many a good work. I hope they never make a sequel to Usagi Drop, and will be angry if they do.
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Pneumekian



Joined: 09 Dec 2009
Posts: 5
PostPosted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 8:56 pm Reply with quote
The anime doesn't tell the complete story. It gets to the point in the manga before a time skip to Rin's adolescence. So you're safe from any "disturbance", lol.
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zensunni



Joined: 05 Mar 2010
Posts: 1294
PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 12:13 am Reply with quote
dtm42 wrote:
No mention of Ayu Matsuura's lovely performance of Rin? She's just ten years old and already can emote as well as or better than many professionals. She gave an energetic and spirited performance and was a big part in making Rin so precocious, but she also had a child-like vulnerability in her voice that would have been well done if she was a pro. Sometimes the best person to play a child is actually a child, funnily enough. I wish her best of luck for the future.

Hiroshi Tsuchida was also really good as Daikichi, I loved listening to him scowl. He gave a strong and realistic performance, so good on him. He really made Daikichi seem like a clueless bachelor with a big heart.

I don't have to type half of my comment! (About Ayu's performance...)Thanks!

Being a father of a young girl, I wondered if my unfettered joy in watching this series had more to do with how much it made me think of my little girl, when she was a bit littler than she is now. It is pleasing to see a review that afirms my love for this radiant and touching show!
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maaya



Joined: 14 Oct 2007
Posts: 976
PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 12:25 am Reply with quote
One of the best series this year ... and one of the only good ones at all. There are not enough josei mangas being adapted into anime. Hopefully Chihayafuru will be good.

I wouldn't mind a second season, if they change some things and just change the focus of the series from raising a child to raising a teenage daughter, without including the controversial stuff. They could do it (a lot of anime change a lot of stuff when adapting a manga), but will they? Surely they aren't unaware of the critics the final manga volume has been getting.

Animerican14 wrote:
please just tell me that it all makes sense


It depends on you I guess. I've seen plenty of reviews (in Japanese) saying things like "huh? this is weird ... but somehow it fits". While a lot of others were like "wtf was the author thinking? This was horrible, I threw away all my mangas." One review of a male reader said "For women, this might seem romantic?? For me, I just can't stand it." For sure, the reactions are divided.

While I dislike the ending, I really do want to know what the author was thinking actually. If she was planing all along to end it like this, if she did consider it romantic (she has two children herself after all), how she feels about the readers' reactions etc.
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Animerican14



Joined: 19 Aug 2006
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 12:30 am Reply with quote
dtm42 wrote:

It stopped before the timeskip, so before half-way, and I think most people (myself included) are happy that it did. It means no gross ending which destroys everything that came before. Sometimes a faithful adaptation is precisely what you don't want, because Manga isn't exactly some bastion of quality that Anime cannot touch.

The emphasis in the Usagi Drop Anime of family and of Rin and Daikichi's totally platonic relationship was undoubtedly the correct course of action. We see him growing as a father-figure and her growing out of her shell, and the result is so heartwarming your torso will burn. That's all I wanted and that's what we got, so I couldn't be happier.

Is there room for a second season? Technically yes, as there's plenty more Manga material to adapt. But sometimes you don't want a sequel, because unnecessary sequels are the bane of many a good work. I hope they never make a sequel to Usagi Drop, and will be angry if they do.


So, should I pretend that all the post-timeskip stuff happens in an alternate "if we headed in this direction..." universe? Laughing Or is it just that the post-timeskip stuff is generally good (or at least read-worthy) on its own, even with its ending (did that cause any spoiler[negative fan backlash] in Japan, by the way?), but just doesn't reach the masterful levels of what the anime/pre-timeskip apparently accomplishes?

I'm wondering what I ought to do now.... read all the manga first, and then pick up the anime, or the other way around.... or should I simply leave the manga out of the picture altogether?

EDIT: @maaya: Okay, well I guess you answered some of my question on the Japanese reaction already. Laughing Well, have there been anymore "well-publicized" or "famous" reactions against the ending? If the backlash was really that great, maybe there would be substantial changes in another season after all...
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Rensie



Joined: 02 Sep 2011
Posts: 251
PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 2:58 am Reply with quote
dtm42 wrote:
It stopped before the timeskip, so before half-way, and I think most people (myself included) are happy that it did.


Well if they made a second season (not likely) that cover the rest you simply can skip it and collect only the first part if you hate the manga ending.
Also changing the ending to please some people in the west is stupid because 1) is not what the mangaka want, expecially because the story is for women demographic not men 2) there are hints here and there that they will end up together forever (letter of Daiki father at beginning, Rin that don't change surname and so on...) 3) do you think really they want change the ending only because there are a bunch of american puritans that complain about a fictional comic they download illegally over the internet?
Ha ah, in japan this manga wasn't received bad review or complaints, countrary it was praise, so good luck on that. Very Happy
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
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Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 3:38 am Reply with quote
Rensie wrote:
Good for you but if they made a second season (not likely) that cover the rest you simply can skip it and collect only the first part.


Why should we have to be subjected to a second season in the first place. What is so difficult about leaving a masterpiece alone? Hollywood may do it all the time, but that doesn't make it right. A second season isn't likely, because Usagi Drop (the show) won't make much money. But from an artistic viewpoint a second season is entirely undesirable. The only way from here is down, quality-wise.

Rensie wrote:
Still the anime is incomplete if they don't made a second season expecially for people who have read the entire manga.


There are a couple of loose ends in the Anime, however it really has a "life goes on feel". Okay, so spoiler[Daikichi never hooked up with Kouki's MILF of a mum, and Rin's mother never reunited with Rin, even just for a meeting.] But the first wasn't major (had nothing to do with the themes or the plot) and the second was put on hold until Rin is older. spoiler[Masako gave up on being in Rin's life (let alone being her mother), and Daikichi told Masako that until Rin wanted to see her mother he wouldn't be going out of his way to make that happen.] Not a full and final settlement/closure, but it was addressed and mutually dealt with by placing the relationship on the backburner until Rin wanted to rekindle it.

If you are talking about the issue about spoiler[Rin's actual father,] then that doesn't matter at all. It is only a loose end if you take the Manga into account, and there is absolutely no need to do that. The Anime never even began to address the issue in question and therefore never opened itself up to the responsibility of tying up the loose end. After all, a loose end cannot exist if the specific thread doesn't exist either.

The show should stand on its own, and it does exactly that. Leave the Manga out of it.

Rensie wrote:
Also changing the ending if they made a second season is bad and is called censorship, hope they just stay close to the manga till the end expecially because in Japan there wasn't any negative review about this ending.


It isn't called censorship, it is called avoiding a trainwreck by building a second set of rails. If they weren't to divert the train it would crash into the side of a mountain sending pieces and people rolling down the hill into a swamp, whereupon everyone who survived the trauma and explosion would subsequently drown. That's what I think of the ending of the Manga as depicted in a rural traincrash scenario.

Capiche?

I'm not so sure the Japanese were so on board with the ending as you think they were. And anyway, even if the Japanese liked it doesn't mean squat. They view Wife Husbandry in a different light than most other people.
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