Bunny Drop

This is a series I would hesitate to add to a collection read by youngsters. Not because of violence or sex, but because of the implications of some of the relationships involved. Let me explain a little first... (Huge, huge Spoiler alert a head!)


Usagi drop follows Daikichi, a grown man on the rise in his field and Rin, the orphaned daughter of his grandfather. Rin is seen as a bit of a scandal because the grandfather was quite old, and the mother is a complete unknown to the family. After the grandfather's death no one wants to raise Rin and so Daikichi, who is single and awkward, blurts out that he will take Rin in. Most of the stories from there follow them as they grow into a family and raise Rin. This is all done in the sweetest style and you just feel so heart warmed watching it. The sacrifices he makes for this little girl simply because it's the right thing to do make you wish that every family could be like theirs. After a very short time he comes to love her and she grows to trust him and their days are spent gently living.

This is the point that the anime cuts off. Since I came to the story through the anime I then went to search out the manga and was surprised to see the second part. About ten years later Rin is in high school and still living with Daikichi who is still single. Okay, that's fine because we can follow Rin as she matures and eventually falls in love and has her own family. Still very sweet, except she has her sights on Daikichi... ummm, she's his aunt isn't she?

Turns out that she's not, and is no biological relation to the man who raised her. That hurdle being passed they then decide to continue on as husband and wife. I find this a little skeezy personally, since the man did raise her, and such. It's a little bit to close to incest to me. I really liked the early half, and even the attempt at making this relationship happen might have gotten to me if I didn't think things through. It's a well told story, but if you run a library I'd read the whole thing before buying it for your shelves.

It's not easy to make new friends when you see spirits

Natsume and the book of friends is another slice of life show, but with a twist. Natsume is a young boy just on the edge of manhood who has come to live with distant relatives in a new town. He is wary of trusting people since he see's what most people cannot, and has often been called a liar and excluded because of it. He has one link to his heritage: an old book from his grandmother filled with the names of local spirits. His grandmother is the only other person he knows of who could see what he sees, and while he's never met her he feels a deep kinship with her.

The book, called the book of friends, is mostly made up of contracts his grandmother bullied spirits to make. The names give the holder power over the deamon or spirit that goes with it. While Natsume and his grandmother have much in common, their outlook about the spirits is completely opposite. Grandmother Reiko overpowers the spirits and then never asks for help while Natsume goes out of the way to return the names and give aid to human and spirit alike.

Now I've been calling them spirits but they aren't quite, being an entire pantheon of local mythology. I could use the term demon or monster or such, but I think the closest we come to them are the old versions of the fey. Some are evil and some good, some powerful and some inconsequential, but all are alien to humanity. Natsume and those like him are the only bridge between the two cultures, and that's important because to Natsume both the spirits and the people in the town are new friends. Learning to trust, and to balance his two lives, is what makes this show so good. That and his "pet cat" who's attitude goes something like this: "good night Westley, sweet dreams. I'll most likely kill you in the morning." Something most cat owners are undoubtedly familiar with.

Kimi to Boku, you and me

Another slice of life drama I've been watching is called You and Me, based on the manga Kimi to Boku (Which I'm also reading. I did not get my name from this Japanese word, I'm not nearly that clever. I also wish this had been around when I first started watching anime, back then in order to watch anime with a mixed group you almost always watched something with crazy martial arts, giant mecca, or a harem fantasy. The first two don't really interest me, but are okay. The last one is kinda ick (I should do a rant as to why I'm anti-harem shows someday....).

Anyway this show is about boys, and it's for boys. It was first serialized in a shonen magazine, which is usually all the above kinds of anime, but also can carry sports and violence and cars now that more stuff comes across to North America. Don't get me wrong, those are all great things and if you have a young male or my sister on your hands those things will keep them happy and occupied. I just think that there should also be more that those little boxes of things for guys to watch, and while this one doesn't strongly scream masculine pursuits, it was made for the boys so...

The plot centers around four high school boys; twins Yuki and Yuta who are both laid back types but with subtle differences, Shun who is the girly sweet heart of the group, and Kaname who is the glasses wearing head of class type. Part way through the first season they are joined by Chizuru, who is half German and a bit of a class clown. While all of the boys are kind of stereotypes or tropes I think it's the way the show plays with that that really makes it good. Each one goes through their days pretty averagely, but it's the friendship between them that makes their days special.


Edit: I should note that most of the emotional elements are shown in cut away scenes where the characters are represented by cats. I don't know why they do this, but it's kind of awesome.

Lions and Tigers and a whole lot of Bears, oh my!

So I've been playing about on Crunchyroll lately (go Google it, it's awesome) and I've been finding so many great anime shows to watch. The conventional anime companies, and who thought we could ever say that, seem to translate predominately boy flavored shows. Maybe because the hyper girly stuff that was the only other option didn't sell at all and the last bastion of such has now closed their doors forever. But the stuff I'm finding (legally! Woohoo) online is neither of those things. Instead I find myself watching calming slice of life dramas, shows that are more character than plat driven. They have the atmosphere of a Saturday summer afternoon when you have just nothing to do.

One big favorite lately is called Polar Bear Cafe, and it's literally about a cafe run by a polar bear. I expected it to be a children's show but it's not. It has quite a few gags (the polar bear loves bad puns, which are usually illustrated for the viewer) but it also has some very smart moments. On in particular is when a new human moves into town and he's shocked to see animals working, and so many at once! Up until that point the show just accepts that animals can talk and work like humans do, so you take that as an ordinary occurrence. It's an odd bit of world building, but it works to leave the viewer just a little bit unsteady and confused.

The show has a lot of heart, and is filled with a soft sweetness that is in no ways cloying. I also don't think I've ever laughed so hard at an anime before. Go check it out at Crunchyroll, since free is the best price.