Bunny Drop vol. 1, Yumi Unita

Sharing the love.

I've mentioned this series before, but now the title's in English because this is the licensed edition. In brief: at his grandfather's funeral, 30-year-old bachelor Daikichi discovers (along with the rest of his family) that the old man had a 6-year-old illegitimate daughter, with the mother nowhere in sight. Pissed off by everyone's embarrassment and excuse-making for not taking her in, he impulsively does it himself. Cue lots of scrambling as he figures out how to change his life so he can be a single parent and how to take care of a child -- a type of creature he's always avoided and been a little intimidated by.

The premise invites comparisons to Yotsuba&! (which Yen Press isn't discouraging, given the two-page ad for it in the back of this volume): both are bachelor + orphaned girl aged 6-or-so. But while Yotsuba&! plays this for comedy by focusing on Yotsuba taking on the world, Bunny Drop is Daikichi's story, focusing on the low-key drama, with some humor, of being a caretaker. Part of the difference is the audience: Yotsuba&! runs in a magazine for teenage boys, while this is a josei series, aimed at younger adult women.

Unita's art has been getting some criticism -- and yes, Daikichi is drawn with some damn doofy faces. But he is, as he notes himself, not a handsome man. Unita knows exactly what she's doing, and what she does is what's needed for the story -- witness the three full four-page sequence of the funeral ceremony proper, with Rin's facial expressions and everyone's body language, especially Daikichi as he gently explains that yes, this means the old man won't be waking up again. Backgrounds are just detailed enough to set the stage for the narrative focus, which is the complex, and deftly handled, emotions of the characters.

Three details I especially like: Daikichi's initial reaction to learning about his new aunt is to silently congratulate his 79-year-old grandfather for managing to father her; Rin's liking to collect lots of little things, which she keeps sorted; and during the New Year's visit home when Daikichi calmly, with just a few sentences, explains exactly why Rin is shy around adults who were vocally annoyed at her existence the last time she saw them -- showing not just how much he's learned about Rin but how much he's matured the past few months.

Yen Press has done a good job with this one: the art reproduction is excellent, the translation flows and is well-annotated. (I only saw one place that needed additional explanation: the last page of the first chapter, the mister/ma'am thing.) My biggest complaint is that it's on a six-month schedule, so the next volume won't be till September. To which I say Hmph like a camel.

Strongly recommended.


While I'm on the subject of favored manga series being licensed: Cross Game by Mitsuru Adachi has been picked up by Viz. As in finally an actual series by Adachi will be available in English, and not just the couple collections of short stories. This news coming just as the manga concluded with an ending that's emotionally dead-on (for the main relationship arc -- a few plot threads were left dangling, including part of the dream of Wakaba that's the story plotspring) -- now I need to figure out what my current second-favorite ongoing series is. Will be supporting this one with my $$ youbetcha.

---L.

Bunny Drop vol. 1, Yumi Unita

Sharing the love.

I've mentioned this series before, but now the title's in English because this is the licensed edition. In brief: at his grandfather's funeral, 30-year-old bachelor Daikichi discovers (along with the rest of his family) that the old man had a 6-year-old illegitimate daughter, with the mother nowhere in sight. Pissed off by everyone's embarrassment and excuse-making for not taking her in, he impulsively does it himself. Cue lots of scrambling as he figures out how to change his life so he can be a single parent and how to take care of a child -- a type of creature he's always avoided and been a little intimidated by.

The premise invites comparisons to Yotsuba&! (which Yen Press isn't discouraging, given the two-page ad for it in the back of this volume): both are bachelor + orphaned girl aged 6-or-so. But while Yotsuba&! plays this for comedy by focusing on Yotsuba taking on the world, Bunny Drop is Daikichi's story, focusing on the low-key drama, with some humor, of being a caretaker. Part of the difference is the audience: Yotsuba&! runs in a magazine for teenage boys, while this is a josei series, aimed at younger adult women.

Unita's art has been getting some criticism -- and yes, Daikichi is drawn with some damn doofy faces. But he is, as he notes himself, not a handsome man. Unita knows exactly what she's doing, and what she does is what's needed for the story -- witness the three full four-page sequence of the funeral ceremony proper, with Rin's facial expressions and everyone's body language, especially Daikichi as he gently explains that yes, this means the old man won't be waking up again. Backgrounds are just detailed enough to set the stage for the narrative focus, which is the complex, and deftly handled, emotions of the characters.

Three details I especially like: Daikichi's initial reaction to learning about his new aunt is to silently congratulate his 79-year-old grandfather for managing to father her; Rin's liking to collect lots of little things, which she keeps sorted; and during the New Year's visit home when Daikichi calmly, with just a few sentences, explains exactly why Rin is shy around adults who were vocally annoyed at her existence the last time she saw them -- showing not just how much he's learned about Rin but how much he's matured the past few months.

Yen Press has done a good job with this one: the art reproduction is excellent, the translation flows and is well-annotated. (I only saw one place that needed additional explanation: the last page of the first chapter, the mister/ma'am thing.) My biggest complaint is that it's on a six-month schedule, so the next volume won't be till September. To which I say Hmph like a camel.

Strongly recommended.


While I'm on the subject of favored manga series being licensed: Cross Game by Mitsuru Adachi has been picked up by Viz. As in finally an actual series by Adachi will be available in English, and not just the couple collections of short stories. This news coming just as the manga concluded with an ending that's emotionally dead-on (for the main relationship arc -- a few plot threads were left dangling, including part of the dream of Wakaba that's the story plotspring) -- now I need to figure out what my current second-favorite ongoing series is. Will be supporting this one with my $$ youbetcha.

---L.