Walking into the new season, and a new year.

As I finish watching Usagi Drop, part of me feels unsatisfied. Certainly, the anime had a good run. They chose a fitting point to end, right before the time skip in the manga occurs, with Rin’s teeth finally starting to fall out. Reading the manga, the ending can be quite controversial, which is why I’m happy they chose this point to end it, instead of possibly rushing to a time skip and a rushed ending. Rin stays cute, Daikichi stays a fatherly figure, we’re all happy.

As Rin’s child teeth slowly start to fall out, it indicates a sign of maturity, as Rin is growing up, with adult teeth soon to take their rightful place where the old teeth once stood. Daikichi and Rin have finally got onto good terms with each other, with the last scene filling in the detail that the first episode had shaded out; Rin and Daikichi are now together, walking through the forest. A family at last.

Like the film, the anime also seems to share its sort of difficulties.

He also praised child actress Mana Ashida, saying that she “seamlessly accomplishes her evolution from forlorn waif to perky if unusually perceptive kid, while effortlessly charming everyone.”. However, the reviewer criticized the film for “the lack of friction between the (main) characters”. – A review of the live action adaptation.

As we move along the show, we see Rin’s development, both in her character and in her relationship with Daikichi. From being a closed bud and hiding her emotions, we hear the tinkling of bells in the show, and see Rin slowly bloom into a beautiful bellflower, full of energy and compassion for others, the girl her father, Daikichi’s father, saw in her. In Japanese, the word for bellflower is rindou, which makes up part of the name that her father bestowed upon her.

The language of flowers give the bellflower a message of gratitude, and the phrase “thinking of you.” Perhaps Rin is always thinking of her grandfather, and now Daikichi. Although he may not satisfy the requirements to be a fatherly figure, Daikichi will “always be Daikichi.”

However, we fail to see the reality in all this. In real life, parenthood is a troubling, sometimes even frustrating matter, and Usagi Drop fails to emphasize this. There are little mentions of the troubles of parenthood, save for Daikichi having to change his job a bit, and Rin catching a cold, making things look much simpler than it is. Rarely do they argue in a serious matter, or have any tension between the two.

But in the end, Usagi Drop seeks not to accomplish this. It is simply the pursuit of happiness between Rin and Daikichi, a heartwarming tale between a fatherly figure and his adopted daughter.

Music has always been an inspiration for me, and listening to the OST again rekindles the emotions I had felt, emotions of nostalgia, happiness, and simply, a smile starting to appear once again my face as I recall the touching times when Rin and Daikichi were truly happy together.

As I keep to my words, Usagi Drop is a show with moments that touch the heart, a fantastic soundtrack, and a simple, yet touching story. And since it has accomplished what it set out to do, I am already satisfied.