*This review contains significant content spoilers*

Usagi Drop (Bunny Drop as its called in English) begins as a wonderful entry into the slice of life genre and carries itself quite competently... until the last moments of the narrative. The story is mostly character driven and follows the livelihoods of thirty year old Daikichi in the first part and his adoptive daughter Rin in the second.

The first part focuses on Daikichi learning the sacrifices and struggles that come with raising a child as a single parent. The writing for this part is excellent; Daikichi's inner monologues detail his thoughts well and I found it easy to follow his character through the intricate trappings of his new found daily life. His interaction with six year old Rin is also well done, she acts and responds like a typical child and he quickly learns to work his way through many "ah ha" moments which one takes for granted if they don't have a child. Shedding light on what it involves to be a parent is what I would consider the main theme of the first part, and I think it succeeds without question proving to be a very enjoyable read.

The second part of the story is more focused on Rin's daily life ten years into living with Daikichi. It is typical high school drama/romance/comedy and is, for the most part, successful. Characters are believably written and the story is fairly easy to follow, though it is not as easy as the first half because the focus is romance triangle drama. I found story became less interesting to read as it shifted away from Daikichi learning to be a parent and waded into the life and times of high-schoolers.

It is the end of the story which comes out of left field so quickly, I was left dazed and needed to re-read the last couple of chapters. The story reaches its climax when Rin falls into romantic love with Daikichi, and decides that she is okay with these feelings. When Daikichi is made aware of this, without any thought or deliberation he accepts these feelings and equally returns them, making the two characters a romantic couple. The writing falls incredibly flat at story's end: large, deus ex machina-esque plot points are introduced in order to facilitate the romance between the two and other plot threads for different characters are swept under the rug or hastily tied up. The romance between Rin and Daikichi feels very forced and seems to blossom at an alarmingly fast pace. Furthermore, because of the familial relationship the two shared up until the end, the incestuous nature of their romance didn't provide me any kind of satisfaction what so ever. The ending really ruins my ability to reminisce about the story as a whole, which is disappointing because three quarters of the story is engaging and entertaining.

The art of the manga is simple, but elegant which gives the manga a very clean look. I like the character design of Daikichi who is portrayed as a lanky, tall man which lends to the awkwardness of his character. The character design for young Rin and other small children are fantastic. They appear energetic and durable which is balanced with the sense of vulnerability that young children possess and the artwork succeeds at portraying this. There are a few instances where I though character movements looked stiff, but it never left a lasting impression. All in all, the artwork is competent and consistent and I like the simple, clean look to the manga.

As stated above, the end to the story really hurts my ability to enjoy the complete product. It feels like the author had more planned out, but then ran out of time and cut the ending short with something half assed. Had the characters had more time to contemplate and discuss the shift in their relationships, it might have been able to work, but that is only theory and nothing more. As it stands, Usagi Drop is a lovely series until the last quarter and worth a read for the first part where Daikichi learns to be a guardian to Rin. I gave this manga a 7 out of 10 for the fun I had reading the first part and its enjoyable artwork.