Category: Drama

February’s Manga of the Month: Bunny Drop

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Bunny Drop (うさぎドロップ) by Yumi Unita

Bunny Drop is a heart-warming story of growth, discovery, and family for two unlikely people, the 30-something bachelor Daikichi and the alone-in-the-world 6-year-old Rin.

Like so many stories, this one beings with a typical life-changing event, a death in the family in this case Daikichi’s grandfather. During the funeral ceremonies little Rin, the recently discovered illegitimate daughter of the grandfather, attaches herself to Daikichi who not only resembles his late-grandfather but seems to be the only adult not angry at her existence. As the family coolly discusses Rin’s future, Daikichi hotly proclaims he will become her guardian and raise her himself.

Dai is most certainly inexperienced but he has genuine affection for Rin and his commitment to bringing stability to her life makes you instantly root for him. Rin in what seems like child’s intuition connects with Daikichi right away. Their bond is an unspoken one that is written tenderly. They are learning about the world together as well as each other creating everything from hilarious outbursts to sweet realizations. It is also wonderful to see real change in each volume that stretches their relationship. This is equally felt as Dai’s family becomes more involved, we begin to learn about Rin’s past, and Dai starts treading the waters of love.

So despite the fun and sweet but not fully grounded premise, there are beautiful moments of wisdom interspersed among the comedy and drama. With an anime TV series coming out this summer and a Japanese live-action movie also due out mid-year, it is a perfect time to fall in love with Bunny Drop.


Karakuri Odette vol. 1: My Life as a Teenage Robot

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I had never heard of Karakuri Odette, not one bit. In a lot of ways, this is what I want from the Manga Movable Feast; I like being introduced to a series, but I get recommendations all the time as I’m sure many others do, so having the push to pick it up is helpful. Karakuri Odette also provides a story that has underlying themes to mull over so it fulfills another point when I think about what I want from the MMF. The series is rather subdued but combines coming of age moments with the moral ambiguity of what exactly robots are for. The storytelling somewhat reminded me of (wonderful) Nari Kasukawa in the quiet approach to humor and relationships but Julietta Suzuki folds in a darker look at morality with it.

As we stated in our Mushishi article for the MMF a compelling method of examining humanity is looking at people through an inhuman lens. Androids fill this niche extremely well because while they look exactly like a human they are still removed from humanity by virtue of their creation. Androids can commingle with humans without creating a fuss but still allow an outsiders perspective of what makes a human a human. Androids are also useful metaphors for those who are alienated or on the fringe due to their nature. They are at first glance part of the group but they are also fundamental removed. Karakuri Odette can be seen as a romantic comedy that uses robotics to examine more than just the concept of can a human love a robot and be loved back. Karakuri Odette takes the older concepts often used in classic science fiction to explore the heart of humanity. At the same time it is a sweet story with tales of friendship and romance mixed with dash of humor. It hearkens back to the day when shojo used science fiction to tell stories while having a more modern sense of whimsy.

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January’s Manga of the Month: Afterschool Charisma

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I will admit I have little understanding of what is actually popular on this site other than Narutaki talking about graphic design and Narutaki talking about sex. This explains the fact that when we retired the Manga of the Month last year we discovered it was apparently extremely popular. It just so happened no one ever mentioned it. Ever. So as Natalie Merchant once said we give em what they want. In 2011 Manga of the Month rises from the ashes like Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix. The Final Denouement is being retired as we try to put out more solo articles on Tuesday through Thursday. Since many of them would have been final denouements in their own right the Final Denouement has become somewhat redundant. Also like a phoenix the tears shed by Manga of the Month have immense healing powers. Hopefully these articles will get everyone to pick up some manga they might have easily overlooked considering how much there is to choose from.

Afterschool Charisma (放課後のカリスマ) by Kumiko Suekane

IKKI has always been VIZ’s attempt to try to broaden the manga market by letting people sample some more offbeat seinen series that would otherwise go over looked. With a few exceptions  what sells in the U.S. is shonen fighting and shojo romance. So while adults might read manga so far most adult manga has not caught on here. Afterschool Charisma is a quirky manga that has some appeal of the popular genres that sell books in the US while still distinctly being off the beaten track to hopefully broaden some reader’s horizons.

St. Kleio is a most unusual experiential school. All the student are the clones of famous historical figures who have been gathered together in hopes that with proper care they can surpass the accomplishments of their originals. Along side these luminary and sometimes infamous copies is Shiro Kamiya, the only student who is not a clone. When the clone of John F. Kennedy is assassinated Shiro learns that everything at the school is not exactly what  it seems. There are crazy cults, Byzantine conspiracies, and deadly experiments lurking in the shadows. Maybe even Shiro himself is part of some greater sinister machinations.

I usually see this manga compared to the old Clone High cartoon on MTV. They are both set at government controlled high schools that have characters who act silly in humorous contrast to their original  historical personas. But at the same time despite all the wacky hi-jinks in Afterschool Charisma we see from the first chapter there is a disturbing  undercurrent to the events at the school. This manga seems like a bizarre and goofy Hetalia at school but quickly turns into a taut thriller. It is definitely worth a look if you want something different that is able to mix humor and intrigue in equal measure.