23 replies to this topic

[Irecinius]

Instead of discussing there, better do it here..


I thought it was pretty nice, overal..
But the ending, I can't just wrap around my head.

Being blood related of not I never cared, since this is a somewhat recent notion anyway..

the fact is for 20 years he raised her as daughter..Emotions and mindset are pretty much settled already, can't simply reset like that. Neither can simply grow new emotions to replace the old ones like that.

I guess the author wanted to give Dai some "happy ending" since, in all he would very likely have ended up alone, would it suck? well yea, but you know, wouldn't be THAT bad, would do show that sometimes parents sacrifice themselves more then the kid thinks..

[werewulfking]

Exactly my opinion. I hadn't read this manga for a long time because I stopped when the time-skip happened and I didn't like how the story was after it and now I just wanted to read the ending but I can't say I like it at all. There were other better endings I once imagined when I read the first part.

[wilhelmson]

I'll say the same here what I said in the comments with a bit more exposition -- having read a lot of the comments on this board and on others, I still give this manga (as a whole) -- 9/10

The ending felt a bit rushed, but there are hints littered throughout the whole story that point to this. I found this on another board, written by someone that I thought was very insightful..
I will say that for this manga, I separate it into two halves. Cute slice of life & Josei. I think many people would have been just happy if it stayed "cute slice of life" to the very end. For those people, I would recommend "Aishiteruze! Baby"




I think most people are sad that Rin x Kouki didn't happen, nor can they understand why Daikichi x Kouki's mom didn't happen. On top of that, there's the issue of Rin x Daikichi -

For 1) As a person that's been with his girlfriend for 7 years .. and has dated 10+ other women.. It hurts me as a "romantic" to say it.. but timing, circumstance and "fate/luck" have so much to do with getting together or staying together that it shocks me.. it's quite a realistic portrayal I feel.. Again, I think it's that people were hoping for something .. a continuation of "sweet" slice-of-life that didn't happen and instead it went into teenage drama with Kouki rebelling and thoughts of love and the future..
For 2) Inevitably, if you pay attention it's clear that they were both hoping their kids would get together. If the parents got together, the children would've been siblings.. They did it for their children's happiness! Frankly, even at the end, Daikichi still thought that "It would be Kouki" so there's no way a marriage of the parents could have ever happened..

Now, to address the Daikichi x Rin pairing .. I think CanHaz from http://myanimelist.net said it best:

CanHazCake

The anime was a masterpiece and against the popular sentiment, I grade the manga in its entirety the same, albeit several notches below the anime.

The 10-year gap *is* quite a let-down when you've just read the first half and get to the second half looking forward to seeing more of little girl Rin. It is apparent though that the focus of the second half is teenage Rin so in terms of plot, those 10 years aren't really relevant. What was unfortunate was the lack of development in these 10 years. Apart from getting older, the characters didn't change at all.

This is my only complaint. Everything else, I can understand.

That Rin gets attracted with Daikichi is normal. It's an accepted fact that women who's had good childhood relationships with their fathers unconsciously get attracted to men that have the same characteristics as their fathers. Truth be told, however, the extent of Rin's attraction is a tad extreme but ultimately still realistic and actually happens a lot more than people think. But then again, the fact that Rin knows that Daikichi is not his real father (in how she keeps considering her degree of separation with Daikichi) is a plausible explanation of her persistent attraction.

Rin learning that she is not at all related to Daikichi as the catalyst that firmed her resolve is also very believable especially considering her state of mind before. However, I do think the revelation was too abrupt and this is despite the fact that I never really believed Souichi was Rin's real father either. (wil comment: there's a bunch of hints that point out that Rin's not really Souichi's daughter)

About Daikichi's reaction to Rin's love, I can see a lot of people find it outrageous. It is entirely possible that I'm reading too far between the lines but my take on it is that Daikichi's disbelief is so strong that he was sure that Rin would change her mind within the two years which is why he made Rin wait and this is even supported by what Daikichi said about how Rin will probably meet new people.

Of course, at the end of the manga, Daikichi has already accepted Rin's love. Rin did say that she would work hard to make Daikichi see her and love her as a woman. Two years is more than enough time to do that especially since Daikichi already loves her and since Rin *is* a woman. It doesn't help that Daikichi wants what will make Rin happy and will always support her decisions which in this case also coincides with how he wants to always be with Rin anyway.

As a whole, Daikichi and Rin's situation is extraordinary but very much believable. On Usagi Drop, I think the emphasis is not really on the end but on the means which, in it's very essence, is pure love. Not sure where the people who insist that the ending is perverted are coming from. Daikuchi's transition from doting guardian to a loving partner is an awkward situation to look at from the outside looking in but the underlying motivations and reasons are innocent and pure, especially when viewed from Rin's eyes. I think it might stem from the belief that in all situations bar none, teens are too immature to know true love and that those that are senior are all, without exemption, simply taking advantage. To that, I respectfully disagree from wisdom gained through experience similar to Rin's (in loving someone older).

A perfect 10/10 for me.

----

I'd also point out, that even at the end, Daikichi continues to feel awkward and has mixed feelings about this. He wants Rin to fly out into the world and live up to her "potential" whatever it is that it may be.. But she doesn't want to fly away, and you can't force her to.. The only thing he could do at that point would be to outright reject her and move away from her -- which I think is ambiguous on its merits..

[werewulfking]

Well I have read Ashiteruze Baby and I can honestly go along with your Recommendation and I also noticed the lack of development between the first part and the second part and that prevented me from reading it further than the first half.
But I can't really say that I understand how the Rin's and Daiki's feelings change from a father - daughter relationship to a partner relationship. Because in the time that RIn would remember the most as a growing teenager from her childhood always had Daiki as a father figure for her. And from the way we see her and Daiki in the first part I think it is a rather normal parent - child relationship. And I feel that it would have been more realistic to continue the exploration of a single guy taking care of a daughter for his whole life than changing that to a partner relationship at the end.

[Banana Bread]

Honestly this is one of the Josei titles I loved, the ending wasn't conventional, certainly was not the norm, but that's what made it more enjoyable for me.

[CountCasimir]

I hated it. It felt tacked on and a little bit creepy, or almost as if it was done for the sole reason of defying expectations.
Well, I started reading it because I thought Daikichi was a great guy for taking on the role of parenting. I kept reading it because I loved the idea of he and Kouki's mom finding romance. I loved the idea of him being a great father his entire life, seeing his adoptive daughter grow up.

The ending as it stands destroyed my entire perception of the manga and went against everything I'd previously loved about it. I can no longer recommend this to people in good conscience.

[svines85]

I thought it was great all the way through, ending included. I really didn't find it nearly as surprising as others seem to have, after all it wasn't really that different to the May/December relationship of Rin's mother and Dai's grandfather (or at least what we were led to believe almost the entire way). About the only time I started to have mixed feelings was after the time skip when (at least to me) Dai started to show every sign of having been turned into an extemely tragic character. My view at that point was that here was our MC who'd basically been forced to sacrifice his entire life. He wasn't a parent who had a duty, for that matter the parent was one who was at least indirectly responsible for his tragedy. He was by far not the most suitable present when the decision of guardianship was being made, he was just the one with the strongest sense of duty to not turn his back on someone in need, like every other member of his family did. After that due to the circumstances and his own sense of duty, a huge amount of the potential of his life was was swept away with one stroke. In light of that, to me, the ending was a very happy one, not just for them but pretty much everyone. (I'm not even considering Kouki, that boy was too stupid to stay unhappy for long about anything, how could he even have a chance with a smart, mature, level headed girl like Rin?)

[yum's nai]

While I absolutely LOVED this manga, I still think the ending is somewhat forced. I do agree that Rin's attraction to Daikichi is natural as very much a parent figure, there's no way he could see her as a woman. At the most, i feel he would only play along for a bit to calm her down. From what it seemed, Daikichi was still in love with Kouki's mom. I can see how the author decided to keep Dai single, and it makes sense plot wise while keeping things more interesting. However, it seems more natural considering where the story was going to have Dai marry Kouki's mom, which creates strife within the family because of Rin's feelings. I guess wishful thinking on my part. It's definitely not a bad ending, but basically, it probably needed more development to make it work.

[ImboredxD]

For me, this manga gets a 8/10.
The first half of the manga was absolutely adorable and kinda refreshing. I had no problems there.
However, the time skip was a complete waste. Not only do we not see any character development, the adorable image of Rin that the author had built up was quite wasted. That was a -1 there.
Another thing I had a problem with was the horrible transition from the slice of life, comedy manga to a romance manga. It was as if the author had just decided out of nowhere that he will not draw about Rin as a child. That was probably why many people did not like the second part of the manga as much as the first part. -1 there.

[tacchan23]

The first part was very nice.
The second part was nice too.
I liked the ending too... the way they behave make it seems realistic and natural.

[keik]

Just finished it and I'm so disappointed!
This is totally like Woody Allen and now all I can do is sum up Daikichi same way as that old fart with thick glasses... I totally agree with thoughts like:"you can't change your mind set of a parent towards a kid" how can you? If you could, it would only mean there's few screws loose in your head and really, as much as I think everybody is overreacting with child protection and such, then after reading this kind of manga drawn by a woman. I get that some high school girls can have strange fantasies but this just killed something within my heart. It was so heart warming, nice and relaxed series and now I only fell betrayed.
To think mangaka made also great stories like sukimasuki,... really betrayal.

[dirtloot]

Any of you think the artwork in the earlier volumes is better than the latter volumes?

[svines85]

Any of you think the artwork in the earlier volumes is better than the latter volumes?

It's certainly different, no question about it. I pretty much liked it throughout though, so I don't know that I'd say "better" necessarily, I thought a lot of the art was really striking in the later chapters as well. I think it's just that the art in most longer running works like this tend to "evolve" or change/mature over time.

[inzaratha]

It was like a completely different manga after the time skip when she went to a teen, I liked it up til that and then I quickly started to dislike it and dropped it.

[svines85]

It was like a completely different manga after the time skip when she went to a teen, I liked it up til that and then I quickly started to dislike it and dropped it.

You certainly weren't alone in that opinion. The time skip and the ending were two things that caused a lot of people to change their view of this story. With the time skip I guess it's not that unusual for a story to change, possible a great deal, after such a fundamental shift in the character's make up. Not to mention the fact that, even with how cute the characters and the relationships were, it was really a story with a very dark backdrop............child abandonment and a person selflessly sacrificing their entire life to try to do the right thing. So I guess to me it wasn't a that big of a surprise to see the direction it went in.

I'm glad to see the final chapters coming out, though I could have done without ever seeing Rin's mom again.

[Mrporing]

the fact is for 20 years he raised her as daughter

It's not true, he raised her 10 years (From 6 to 16) and ultimatly, in the final chapter 12 years (from 6 to 18). But still, he HAS raised her as his daughter.

IF you guys really only liked the first part, I suggest that you go listen to the anime which is only the first part of the manga. Artworks are really great and the feelings are increased with the music and stuff.

[svines85]

this new chapter really sums up Kouki.....especially the title "Thoughtless Labyrinth". It's why he and Rin just couldn't have ever worked out.......not the way the author chose to characterize them. He was just too dumb (read thoughtless and inconsiderate)for her to ever be happy with him.

[svines85]

and now it's done? xD great last chapter, Rin and Dai like an old married couple

[gr8g]

I Liked the story very much up until the end.I could even understand Rin developing feelings for Rai . But like others I can't believe Dai would accept it. Even towards the end he behaves like a father giving into a daughter's every request . The author too doesn't help his case , I expected that the author would show Dai finding the feelings of love or coming to see Rin as a woman, in the two years they were waiting. But no, bam! it jumps two years in the future and Dai accepts her almost as a resignation to her wishes. The author gives closure to everybody except Dai who I feel is just going with the flow to maintain status quo.It almost feels like Dai saying "Meh! I've got nothing planned and 2 yrs are up. Let's do it."

[jshags]

Mmm, I'd probably give it 6-7/10. The beginning was perfect and the author identified that it would get repetitive and jumped. The biggest problem I had was with the length, that's really the root issue. If it was longer, say, 100 issues it could have jumped twice and gone to middle school given character development and fleshed out the character relationships instead of suspending them in time until DRAMA. It also would have allowed for actual drama that made sense before jumping off the deep end. Everything happens too fast and the characters are more like robots than humans in the second act. You're expected to believe that Dai literally did nothing for 10 years? No resentment? Nothing? And Rin, only momentary mixed feelings about her mother? No negative reaction to her having another child? It becomes very difficult for you to view them as human in the second act. The first act carries the series super well.