Usagi Drop Episode 1 Discussion

helur said:

Yeah. I decided i wouldn't watch any manga adaptions and just read the manga, but i figured that since it is finished before airing it will be a complete adaption. Somehow 5 a episode is too much; most only manage to get 3 in.

Loved it though, i was in a bad mood and this cheered me up despite being rather depressing at the same time.

Bakazuki said:
So yes, that aside, I did really enjoy this first episode. It reminded exactly why I fell in love with this series when I first read the manga. What annoyed me, as you might have guessed, was the way they subtly manipulated our feelings toward Rin by changing and adding event's from the original narrative, just so the viewers can get a better impression of her from the get-go.

For starters, we're technically not supposed to find her cute at all until the scene with the grandfather's coffin and the bellflowers.

In the original, the narrative emphasized more on her social awkwardness than her cuteness prior to that event. Reina originally served as a comparison device for how a normal child should act, giving us a (temporary) impression that Rin's social development is stunted. They've changing it by overplaying Reina's childish traits to eleven, thus turning her into a bratty foil for Rin's calm demeanor, which was not the author's intent in the manga.

I can see why they had do it, but that is still something an adaptation shouldn't do lightly.

Bakazuki said:

If that's the case, you weren't one of the ones I was referring to, which is a given since this seems to be your first post in this thread. I'm referring to a few of the people who already posted here.

It's one thing to be annoyed, because for this one particular event she's made to be so (even more so in the original manga, where her only problem is her volume control; all that other stuff like taking credit for the band ladder was added in for this adaptation). However, to have such vitriol for a character to the point of openly admitting of wanting her to be in the coffin with the grandfather and/or to inflict physical harm...yeah. You can argue that, yes, she's just a character, but even if that were the case, saying that out loud gives a really nasty impression.

So yes, that aside, I did really enjoy this first episode. It reminded exactly why I fell in love with this series when I first read the manga. What annoyed me, as you might have guessed, was the way they subtly manipulated our feelings toward Rin by changing and adding event's from the original narrative, just so the viewers can get a better impression of her from the get-go.

For starters, we're technically not supposed to find her cute at all until the scene with the grandfather's coffin and the bellflowers.

In the original, the narrative emphasized more on her social awkwardness than her cuteness prior to that event. Reina originally served as a comparison device for how a normal child should act, giving us a (temporary) impression that Rin's social development is stunted. They've changing it by overplaying Reina's childish traits to eleven, thus turning her into a bratty foil for Rin's calm demeanor, which was not the author's intent in the manga.

I can see why they had do it, but that is still something an adaptation shouldn't do lightly.

ManInBlack said:
Was anyone else wishing that little brat Reina was in the coffin with the grandpa?