By Yumi Unita. Released in Japan as “Usagi Drop” by Shodensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Feel Young. Released in North America by Yen Press.

We’re up to Volume 3, and I continue to be impressed with how the author balances the various aspects of Daikichi’s life. Most of it revolves around Rin, as you would imagine, but we also continue to see him at work, where he deals with an over-amorous coworker, to school, where he struggles far less, mostly as Rin turns out to be a fantastic kid. We also return to Rin’s birth mother, Masako, and though she’s still not very sympathetic, we do at least see a bit of her determination in becoming a mangaka.

Bunny Drop runs in a magazine for young women, Feel Young, and many of the issues are ones that the readers are either dealing with right now or can expect to deal with once they marry. It’s emphasized over and over how many things you have to think of as a parent, things that Daikichi tries to keep up with. Talking with the other fathers at the office, he realizes that he and Rin don’t have health insurance, and that’s something else he has to add on to his list of things to do. We also see him looking back at his own childhood, and realizing that a lot of things that happened as a kid make more sense to him looking back as an adult.

Romance is still not the series’ emphasis. Sure, Kouki’s mom is cute, with that combination of attractive and exhausted that always brings the guys running (I’m not sure if she has bedroom eyes or if she’s simply flat-out tired all the time – I suspect both), but any interaction revolves around the children, as you would expect. In fact, Daikichi actually uses Rin as a ‘weapon’ to get rid of his clingy female colleague, who spots a single guy that she can use to work her way up the corporate ladder and tries asking him out. The whole thing makes Daikichi uncomfortable, so he mentions Rin, and WHOOOSH, she’s gone. This depresses him, as he notes he’d likely get the same reaction if it was someone he actually cared about.

Speaking of Kouki, I really sympathized with him in the chapter that shows him and Rin at school. Rin’s teacher is the sort of ‘tries his best and good at heart’ sort, but Kouki gets the type I used to have as a child, who are very much of the ‘why are you causing problems for everyone’ school of teaching. It can be very hard when a child is pigeonholed, and Kouki, who is naturally rambunctious and loud, is already being thought of as a troublemaker. And once again, it’s Rin who is able to bring out the best in him, smacking him down so easily that everyone stares at her, including Kouki’s teacher, in awe. Part of it is meant, naturally, so show Kouki has a bit of a childhood crush, but I think it’s also a small example of how children’s learning experiences can be very different depending on how they’re taught.

This is a very slice-of-life series, with the pacing remaining at a steady walk, and with no hideous or unforeseen events happening. At one point we think Rin and Kouki may be in trouble, but it turns out the creepy guy greeting them is merely their next-door neighbor (and I note they are praised there for doing the right thing, even if he wasn’t a threat, which is smart.) There isn’t quite as much heartwarming as the first two volumes, but it’s settled into a general sweetness all around that is impossible to resist. And if Daikichi and Rin seem a little idealized, well, no one ever said stories just have to be about people having horrible things happen to them.

By Yumi Unita. Released in Japan as “Usagi Drop” by Shodensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Feel Young. Released in North America by Yen Press.

The second volume of Bunny Drop reminds you that parenting is a never-ending process of trying to remember 80,000 little things. Just when Daikichi feels he’s got it together with cooking and nursery school, he finds he has to get Rin into a good primary school, and find out what sort of hobbies she likes so she can have some good well-rounded activities. Heck, he can’t even remember to bring a camera to her graduation!

Still, Daikichi is in general a nice, dependable, rock solid sort of dad, bumbling on the surface but usually understanding what needs to be done fairly quickly. In a way, he’s almost idealized, but then this is a manga written for the magazine Feel Young, which is marketed towards young women in their mid to late 20s. Just as titles like Margaret and ShoComi feature either cutie-pie nice guys or sexy jerks with hearts of gold, Daikichi represents a fantasy figure for the Feel Young reader. He’s more realistic, of course, not being devastatingly handsome, and awkward around women, but he’s got the makings of a great husband and father.

Not that Rin isn’t a major part of this volume as well. After dealing with major life-changing tragedies last volume, she’s settled in to being far more of a typical young girl here. And just as we follow Daikichi working out what parents have to deal with when raising kids, we see Rin dealing with what kids have to go through – peer pressure, popularity based on looks, and of course wanting to grow up as fast as possible. (And frankly, I thought Rin’s tricked out hairstyle Daikichi gave her was great. Also love the Sukeban Deka ref.)

The main plot point in this volume, besides the usual ‘single dad raising little girl’ stuff, is finding and meeting Rin’s mom. Who proves to be a less than likeable person, but then this is a long-running series, and I’m sure we’ll see her again. Daikichi comes into the meeting with her with some expectations that are pretty much shattered, and his thought processes while Rin’s mother is talking are the funniest part of the book, in a darkly cruel way. Sometimes young people aren’t ready to be parents, and the combination of selfishness and self-hatred we see from Masako underlines that. Clearly we’re going to see more of her, but in the meantime she does inspire Daikichi to make the decision to be a permanent parent, and not just take care of Rin ‘for the time being’.

This is a slow-moving series, so the twice-a-year release from Yen, while financially sensible, can be frustrating. I was expecting there to be a romance starting between Daikichi and the divorced mom he’s bonding with, but that’s clearly not the focus of this series if it ever does happen. Instead, it’s simply a sweet manga about a nice guy and his cute girl, filled with sweet moments. Which is fine with me.