Usagi Drop - Episode 11 (Completed)

Last week's penultimate episode of Usagi Drop brought us about as close as this series can get to a cliff-hanger, with Yukari falling ill with what was quite possibly Rin's cold - quite the trauma when you're a single parent, especially with a son like Kouki.

Still, at least Yukari has Daikichi and Rin to help out with the shopping, and although the latter feels a little guilty that her cold might have been passed on to Yukari such worries don't last for long, and Yukari herself seems to be doing well enough in terms of both fending for herself and keeping up with Kouki as she returns to health quickly enough.

With that little slice of drama out of the way, it's back to more simple worries for both Rin and Daikichi, as thoughts turn towards loose teeth and school skipping contests as Daikichi finds himself spending more time with his new parent friends while contemplating how amazing most adults are at handling the massive changes that come from having children and how he's adapted even as a relative newcomer to such things.

In the end then, this was a heart-warming little finale to a wonderful little series, that perhaps sensibly stuck to its simple blend of slice of life fare with the occasional and largely understated moment of drama rather than trying to race through to the end of the manga from which it is adapted.  If nothing else, Usagi Drop probably has most parents wishing actual kids were more like Rin and those of us without kids deciding that we'll only spawn children exactly like her - in other words, it's perhaps a slightly whimsical take on what it's like to be a parent, but it's no less entertaining for that as it still manages to weave plenty of home truths and moments that will provoke memories from our own childhoods into the bargain.  Even its initially scruffy art style ultimately turned out to be a charm point for a series that has been just that from beginning to end - utterly charming.