Book-It 'o11! Book #67
The Fifty Books Challenge, year three! (Years one and two, just in case you're curious.) This was a library request.
Title: Bunny Drop, Vol. 3 by Yumi Unita, translated by Kaori Inoue
Details: Copyright Copyright 2007, Shodensha Publishing Company; translation copyright 2011, Hachette Book Group Inc
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "As an impromptu dad to Rin, his late grandfather’s illegitimate child, Daikichi Kawachi has experienced his share of firsts while caring for his little aunt (?). Now it’s Daikichi’s turn to battle the initial wave of separation anxiety as Rin leaves the nest…for her first day of elementary school! Rin’s elementary school isn’t the only place with new faces, either. Daikichi’s office is also inundated with first-timers, some of whom have their eyes on their gangly new coworker! And while father and daughter are experiencing (coping with?) all these firsts left and right, the first anniversary of Gramps’s death also sneaks up on the pair… as does the first anniversary of their paths crossing…"
Why I Wanted to Read It: Having enjoyed volumes one and two in this series, I was happy to find the third book requestable.
How I Liked It: Unlike the first two books which were page-turners and seldom wasted ink, this one struck me as almost bloated at times.
Storylines regarding Daikichi's work life, for example, track a lot of pages for what seems like little pay-off (he encounters a female coworker interested in him romantically and he deliberately puts her off by mentioning Rin; her fleeing reaction is prompting for him to come to the conclusion that that's what it will be like with every single woman and that's he's little closer to understanding women as a whole).
Likewise getting what seemed to be an excessive amount of attention was the interplay with Rin and her school friend Kouki. Perhaps the author's attempt to cement Kouki as a more identifiable character, he appears most frequently in this third volume and we witness his bonding with Daikichi (including an odd moment of Daikichi's praise for Kouki pulling Rin along with him after sounding what turned out to be a false alarm against the attentions of a well-meaning elderly neighbor) as well as garner some idea of his struggles at school (and Rin's relationship with him with teachers and classmates). And of course the reader is bought a few lovely panels (and hopeful romance) with Kouki's mother, particularly an optimistically sweet domestic scene ("What's with this really homey feeling...?" Daikichi wonders) in which she and Kouki join Rin and Daikichi for dinner.
Rin's biological mother Masako gets some face time too (and even gets to glimpse what Rin looks like now) although she's made no less a cipher. The reader is provided with more insight into Masako's roommate/friend/possible boyfriend (who appears to have as much trouble understanding and interacting with her as Daikichi), which is an... odd choice, particularly since Masako's profession (the same, incidentally, as that of the author) has been such a huge part of her personality and motivations. There's a flashback to a toddler Rin playing in the dirt while Daikichi's grandfather (Souichi) fondly looks on (and Masako herself is busy vacuuming), is one of the highlights of Masako's appearance.
Definitely the most uneven of the three volumes I've read, but the artwork is no less stellar,
Notable: Another amusing translation trip-up occurs when Kouki watches television as Daikichi and Rin get ready for school. Kouki runs laughing to tell Daikichi that the news has reported that the bullet train "has the runs". Daikichi explains (with increasing frustration at Kouki's glee) that the report was that the trains were "running".
The original joke was better:
“"Page 111
The bullet train's got the runs: In the original, this is a pun on the word unkou ("to be in service or operation"). Kouki confuses this with the word for "poop" or unko (the difference between the two is a long o sound at the end of the word).” Translation Notes
It's actually kind of surprising the dialog was able to be salvaged at all.
Title: Bunny Drop, Vol. 3 by Yumi Unita, translated by Kaori Inoue
Details: Copyright Copyright 2007, Shodensha Publishing Company; translation copyright 2011, Hachette Book Group Inc
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "As an impromptu dad to Rin, his late grandfather’s illegitimate child, Daikichi Kawachi has experienced his share of firsts while caring for his little aunt (?). Now it’s Daikichi’s turn to battle the initial wave of separation anxiety as Rin leaves the nest…for her first day of elementary school! Rin’s elementary school isn’t the only place with new faces, either. Daikichi’s office is also inundated with first-timers, some of whom have their eyes on their gangly new coworker! And while father and daughter are experiencing (coping with?) all these firsts left and right, the first anniversary of Gramps’s death also sneaks up on the pair… as does the first anniversary of their paths crossing…"
Why I Wanted to Read It: Having enjoyed volumes one and two in this series, I was happy to find the third book requestable.
How I Liked It: Unlike the first two books which were page-turners and seldom wasted ink, this one struck me as almost bloated at times.
Storylines regarding Daikichi's work life, for example, track a lot of pages for what seems like little pay-off (he encounters a female coworker interested in him romantically and he deliberately puts her off by mentioning Rin; her fleeing reaction is prompting for him to come to the conclusion that that's what it will be like with every single woman and that's he's little closer to understanding women as a whole).
Likewise getting what seemed to be an excessive amount of attention was the interplay with Rin and her school friend Kouki. Perhaps the author's attempt to cement Kouki as a more identifiable character, he appears most frequently in this third volume and we witness his bonding with Daikichi (including an odd moment of Daikichi's praise for Kouki pulling Rin along with him after sounding what turned out to be a false alarm against the attentions of a well-meaning elderly neighbor) as well as garner some idea of his struggles at school (and Rin's relationship with him with teachers and classmates). And of course the reader is bought a few lovely panels (and hopeful romance) with Kouki's mother, particularly an optimistically sweet domestic scene ("What's with this really homey feeling...?" Daikichi wonders) in which she and Kouki join Rin and Daikichi for dinner.
Rin's biological mother Masako gets some face time too (and even gets to glimpse what Rin looks like now) although she's made no less a cipher. The reader is provided with more insight into Masako's roommate/friend/possible boyfriend (who appears to have as much trouble understanding and interacting with her as Daikichi), which is an... odd choice, particularly since Masako's profession (the same, incidentally, as that of the author) has been such a huge part of her personality and motivations. There's a flashback to a toddler Rin playing in the dirt while Daikichi's grandfather (Souichi) fondly looks on (and Masako herself is busy vacuuming), is one of the highlights of Masako's appearance.
Definitely the most uneven of the three volumes I've read, but the artwork is no less stellar,
Notable: Another amusing translation trip-up occurs when Kouki watches television as Daikichi and Rin get ready for school. Kouki runs laughing to tell Daikichi that the news has reported that the bullet train "has the runs". Daikichi explains (with increasing frustration at Kouki's glee) that the report was that the trains were "running".
The original joke was better:
“"Page 111
The bullet train's got the runs: In the original, this is a pun on the word unkou ("to be in service or operation"). Kouki confuses this with the word for "poop" or unko (the difference between the two is a long o sound at the end of the word).” Translation Notes
It's actually kind of surprising the dialog was able to be salvaged at all.