Usagi Drop - Episode 2

Whether it's fate or mere folly, Daikichi has now well and truly lumbered himself as Rin's guardian for the time being - is he really up to the task of looking after a little girl?

Certainly, some of the difficulties of Daikichi's task quickly become obvious - while clothes shopping is simple enough and he seems to be getting on well enough with Rin, suddenly the prospect of needing to work and find a nursery school for Rin to attend looms large into view.  Cue a panicky phone call to Daikichi's cousin, Haruko, to ask for advice.

While Daikichi manages to find a suitable temporary nursery to care for Rin during the day, as an additional problem to his already fraught daily commute it's an extra layer of hassle that he could really do without, to the point where he almost forgets about Rin's feelings at being dumped some place else given her history of abandonment.  So we go on, with Daikichi trying to juggle work and playing at being a dad, to the point where inevitably both sides of this nigh-on impossible work-life balance begin to suffer.

After a touching opening episode, this second instalment of Usagi Drop shows a similarly deft touch in melding moments of light-hearted fun and humour (with a fantastic rapport between the two main characters already developing) with some more emotional yet never overblown fare.  Just two episodes in you can't help but love both Daikichi and Rin for all of their foibles (although arguably the latter is a little too well behaved for any kid), and even at this early point in their journey I've found myself enraptured and charmed by the whole thing, leaving me very much looking forward to more of the same.