New Label and Bunny Drop

Today I've renamed the "Anime" label to "For MAL" because I've also started reading some manga titles, and because I like puns. MAL stands for "manga and anime lovers," I think. Well, even if it doesn't mean that elsewhere, that's what it stands for on my blog. So for those of you looking for my posts on anime, look for the new "For MAL" label.

I'd also like to share one fine gem of a manga title that I discovered, called Bunny Drop, so hit the jump.

Noitamina (yes, it's "animation" spelled backwards) is a late-night TV time slot in Japan that features anime works that are meant to reach out to a wider audience than conventional anime fans. Essentially, I take a sudden interest in watching any anime that is featured in that time slot. One day, I was looking at the various titles that were shown on it on Wikipedia, and I saw that two shows, one called No. 6 and the other called Bunny Drop, were to be featured on Noitamina in the fall of 2011. I found out that Bunny Drop was to be based of a manga of the same name, so I checked out the manga, and I'm really glad I did.

The first chapter and premise is thus: 30-year-old bachelor Daikichi goes to his grandfather's funeral and finds, much to the surprise of him and everyone else, that his grandfather had a love-child, who's now 6 years old and has nowhere to go. The rest of the family sits down and discusses the child's future, with each family member saying that they cannot afford to take her in. Disgusted with everyone's selfishness and insensitivity, Daikichi declares that he'll take her in. And so Daikichi and his 6-year-old aunt, Rin, start living together, and a well-meaning but clueless Daikichi must navigate the ins and outs of parenthood, all while putting the pieces of Rin's foggy past together. That's the first half of the story. The second half of the story jumps forward 10 years, and it shifts from the struggles that Daikichi has raising Rin to Rin's teenage life as she enters high school.

Once I read the plot synopsis of this manga, I knew I was going to love it. The characters are very real, and the relationship between Daikichi and Rin is nuanced and very sweet. Unlike other manga, Bunny Drop doesn't take any bit too far. There's comedic moments, but the story is not a comedy, and jokes are never taken too far. There's no awkward fanservice or exploitation of the subject matter. Besides for a few swear words, there's really no objectionable content in it at all. It's just a heart-warming story about the struggles of a single parent, and the moments, both good and bad, that Daikichi and Rin go through together. This is a manga that I'd recommend to my parents if they were curious about manga. It's a story that anyone can understand and enjoy, and it comes highly recommended from me.