Usagi Drop - Episode 4

If there's one thing you can be sure of with young children it's that there's no such thing as an off-limits conversation, and tact is a word which is both literally and figuratively missing from their vocabulary.  With that in mind, it's no surprise to see Rin's nursery school classmates finding themselves a little confused as they quiz her on her family situation.

Luckily for Rin, she isn't quite alone, as her classmate Kouki is himself the child of a divorced couple who now lives alone with his mother - a piece of information which serves as a flag towards a potential love interest for Daikichi as the these two parents (well, one parent and one guardian I suppose) end up meeting up quite frequently at events related to their children.

While Rin moves forward apace towards taking a place in elementary school, so Daikichi's search for Rin's mum also makes great strides forward as his theory that she is his grandfather's maid seems to be proved correct.  A little more digging and Daikichi finds out a little more about her and her circumstances, before hitting a big payload in the form of her telephone number.  The big question is, what should he do with this information, and does either Rin or her mother really want to see one another again?  In the midst of such dilemmas comes plenty of wonderful slice of life material, as Daikichi has to come to terms with the opinions of his co-workers about his departmental transfer be they good and bad, while the preparation for Rin's future life as an elementary school student also brings about some interesting firsts for Daikichi.

Once again, everything within this episode is superbly played - utterly believable despite its outlandish aspects as they concern Rin's true parents, and even more utterly heart-warming and enjoyable to watch throughout.  It's actually rather hard to do the series so far justice in words - it's the kind of show you have to feel and experience rather than verbally dissect and discuss.  Still, those limitations don't prevent me from throwing a few more adjectives around regarding Rin's adorable turns where nary a line she says is wasted, or Daikichi's mature yet decidedly human personality as he does a surprisingly good job of "playing Dad".  It's almost enough to make you want to have kids.  Almost.