Month: July 2017

Volume 8
by Yumi Unita

Warning: there are SPOILERS in the second paragraph.

Rin continues to navigate highschool- making curriculum choices, looking at future career options; she seems to want to stick close to home. Her friend Reina bounces between boyfriends, while Rin still doesn\’t have one- there\’s a guy who likes her but she doesn\’t return his interest, and Kouki of course is still pining for her- constantly rejected. Rin meets with her mother Masako again- who is now married and has a second child (there was an odd scene where it looked like the baby was nursing but then Masako said \”it\’s time for her milk\” and gave it a bottle- so I guess it was just snuggled against her near-naked bosom?) Rin seems to have accepted who her mother is, and is delighted to be a big sister.

Now the final direction of this whole storyline becomes clear, and it doesn\’t make any sense. Rin can never accept Kouki\’s attentions because having grown up alongside him, it just feels weird- she knows him too well, can\’t see him as boyfriend material. Yet she appears to be developing feelings for Daikichi. Ugh no no no no no. He\’s been her guardian, as a father to her all these years. This isn\’t possible. Surely someone in that circumstance would have the same complete lack of romantic attraction to their father-figure as she does to the childhood friend who was so close they \’felt like siblings\’ (a phrase Rin uses frequently when referring to Kouki). So while I continue reading, really liking these people as characters, I don\’t at all buy the premise anymore. It just would not occur. Not to mention being distasteful and shocking.

Rating: 3/5                 208 pages, 2010

Volume 7
by Yumi Unita

This one was better again. The focus is on Rin and Daikichi, more than the high school drama stuff. Rin notices the mothering tendencies of women around her and starts to wonder about her own mother. She becomes determined to seek her out although Daikichi, having met Masako himself (and disliking her), is afraid that she will just get hurt. Then Daikichi sustains a back injury and has to depend on family and friends to tend to his needs. His brief time as an invalid makes him really wonder about the future: what will it be like when he really gets old? Who will be there to care for him? Because of course he expects the best for Rin- a good college, marriage…. and Nitani has made it clear she\’s not interested in a relationship. He fears he will be a bachelor again into old age.

More serious stuff, and I started enjoying the series again. I particularly liked that despite Daikichi\’s negative impression of Masako, when she and Rin finally meet although it is awkward, Rin\’s natural politeness and friendly manner smoothed things over. Having no expectations of what her mother was like, Rin didn\’t perceive her as an unpleasant person at all. It\’s refreshing to see how good some of these characters are, what decent people.

Rating: 3/5                224 pages, 2010

Volume 5
by Yumi Unita

The story jumped. It skips ten years; Rin is now starting highschool. Which is fine, but it\’s the not the same slice-of-life story I was enjoying about Rin as a child being raised by Daikichi a guy who himself had never quite grown up. There are a few flashbacks showing incidents from middle school; I think I would have liked an entire volume about that! Rin is mostly dealing with her studies, Kouki\’s crush on her (which she can\’t take seriously) and her plans for the future. It\’s more about her social life and a lot less about Daikichi\’s efforts in becoming a father figure. Which isn\’t nearly as interesting. Daikichi finally makes his feelings known towards Nitani- Kouki\’s mother- but that\’s about the most interesting thing that happens among the adults. There wasn\’t anything about Rin\’s mom. I was on the verge of giving this one a 2…

Rating: 3/5               224 pages, 2009

Volume 4
by Yumi Unita

I\’m really liking this series so far. It continues to be pretty interesting, full of realistic characters who struggle with everyday problems- and some not-so. Daikichi has a sudden problem arrive on his very doorstep when his cousin takes her kid and leaves her husband. Daikichi can\’t comprehend her reasons, and there\’s some very awkward moments between him and Kouki\’s mother when Kouki assumes the cousin is in a relationship with Daikichi. The kids all get along fine, the adults sometimes have issues. For the first time Dakichi has to deal with Rin getting sick. He continues to have moments of confusion seeing how other parents around him deal with things- coming to it so late in the game, as it were. Some really amusing episodes in this book were the jump-roping competition among the schoolchildren- and the parents all got involved, too, on pretext of helping their kids practice. Also the part where Rin looses her first tooth was pretty funny- another contrast between cultures. Daikichi tells Rin of an older tradition where baby teeth are thrown on the roof, but is taken aback when a fellow parent tells him nowadays kids get cute little boxes made especially for saving baby teeth in as keepsakes. He wants to go with the current trend so scrambles to find where those tooth cases are sold before Rin looses another. Then one of her school friends pipes up with the information that when she looses a tooth the \”money fairy\” leaves fifty yen under her pillow (about forty-five cents)! The other parents are all hoping this American custom will not become the new fad. Haha.

I have to say, Daikichi\’s character is really growing on me. Even though he\’s a typical guy through and through he\’s also really kind-hearted and compassionate, cares a lot about doing what\’s right for Rin. It comes across in spurts of anger at how other people treat or perceive her sometimes. He\’s not terribly attractive (judging by the drawings- another dad he meets used to be a model for clothing catalogs) and a bit awkward, but such a decent person, someone you\’d really want as a friend.

Rating: 3/5       224 pages, 2008

Volume 3
by Yumi Unita

Rin is now in elementary school, which brings new challenges. She has new friendships to navigate. So does her caregiver Daikichi- who has to deal with a bunch of new part-time coworkers, one of whom is determined to flirt with him (which behavior he finds baffling). He discovers that some of his male coworkers are also parents, so there is more companionship there. There are more glimpses of his family- visits to his parents, his sister who wants to stay single and carefree… and also some of Rin\’s mother. While I don\’t like the choices this young woman had made, I do find her character intriguing (she\’s an artist), and I know there\’s more backstory to be revealed. There\’s some amusingly awkward moments when Rin invites her friend Kouki over- or he invites himself– and the parents are a bit uncomfortable with the suddenness of it. I like learning little glimpses of Japanese culture via the story- such as how some children have a \”commemorative tree\” planted on the day of their birth- so they grow up together. In Rin\’s case, Daikichi wants to buy her a young tree to memorialize the day she began school. She wants to plant a seed instead, even though it will take longer to grow. Endearing.

Rating: 3/5       224 pages, 2007

Volume 2
by Yumi Unita

Daikichi continues to navigate life as a new parent- of a preschooler. Just as he\’s getting settled into the preschool routine, it\’s suddenly time to make preparations for elementary school- which throws him off base. Other parents are confused and sometimes angered at his lack of understanding what\’s expected of him- but a single mother he slowly befriends because their kids hang out together, she gets it. She points out to him that everyone assumes he is Rin\’s father and has raised her since birth, as they have such an obvious rapport and Rin totally trusts him. Daikichi teaches Rin some cooking skills and struggles with things like managing to do her hair up in pigtails for her. Meanwhile he\’s also dealing with issues at work, getting to know coworkers in his new department (a step down), and on a completely different note, following up some clues to figure out the identity of Rin\’s birth mother. When he actually meets her, it is a total shock- for this reader as well! Seeing Rin\’s mother face-to-face clears up a few questions, and raises many more.

Rating: 3/5       208 pages, 2007