Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Bunny Drop: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Accidental Family Affair.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 22, 2012

Eastern cultures seem incredibly ordered and more cognizant of protocol and accepted modes of behavior than those of us in the relatively chaotic and unkempt West. Witness the unbelievable display of “group think” (or should that be “group beat”?) on display during the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Summer Olympics a few years ago. But even on a more personal level, decorum just seems to be more highly prized in the East than it is in the West, which makes the central conceit of Bunny Drop all the more surprising. This recent anime, culled from a manga by Yumi Unita which was geared toward a female audience, deals with a young man named Daikichi Kawachi who is shocked to discover that his recently deceased Grandfather may have fathered an illegitimate little girl named Rin. Rin is shunned by most members of Daikichi’s family, but the young man feels honor bound in a strange way to help care for the girl, and the slowly developing relationship between the two provides the bulk of the “action”, such as it is, in Bunny Drop. It’s a little reminiscent in a way of the gentle humor that used to inform that long ago Brian Keith – Sebastian Cabot television series Family Affair, where “Uncle Bill”, the gallivanting playboy, had to come to terms with suddenly raising three young charges. Daikichi would hardly fit in the same lothario category as the Keith character, but there’s a somewhat similar tension in Bunny Drop with its depiction of an “instant parent” who has to juggle new responsibilities while at the same time attempting to maintain his own longstanding lifestyle.

Bunny Drop is certainly one of the odder “entertainments” to come down the anime pike recently. It starts with a rather dour examination of death and twisted family interrelationships (including what is obviously at least a little intergenerational dysfunction), and then moves on to a sometimes slightly disturbing look at what it means to suddenly become a parent. The opening arc of episodes deals rather frankly with Rin’s reaction to her father’s death and how that colors her very young worldview, and to the series’ credit, it doesn’t flinch from some of the more troubling aspects of an innocent and naïve child confronting mortality, leading to such problems as serial bed wetting.

Cult television freak that I am, there’s another Family show that Bunny Drop started reminding me of once Rin meets a little boy named Kouki, and Daikichi and Kouki’s single mother Yukari. Few will probably remember a show that only lasted for a few episodes in the late sixties called Accidental Family, another “kinder, gentler” sitcom which saw single parents (one widowed, one divorced) Jerry Van Dyke and Lois Nettleton cohabitating in a dilapidated farm, each with one child of their own. Bunny Drop doesn’t really push a romantic angle between Daikichi and Yukari, although it perhaps hints at it, and instead slowly but surely details the growing relationships between all of the main characters in a thoughtful yet deliberate manner.

Daikichi makes for a rather unlikely lead character, and few would probably characterize him as overtly heroic, despite the fact that he takes Rin under his quasi-parental wing. He’s kind of a curmudgeon, not especially well equipped to be dealing with a child, and his lifestyle, which is semi-hedonistic at times, is certainly not conducive to raising an emotionally balanced human being. However, that’s precisely what makes Bunny Drop so interesting at times, as it quite admirably shows the sacrifices that Daikichi makes, either voluntarily or not, that allows his relationship with Rin to blossom.

Though it was actually released before Ghastly Prince Enma Burning Up, due to some production delays, NIS America didn’t get Blu-ray.com a review copy of Bunny Drop until recently, but that makes it all the clearer that Ghastly Prince Enma Burning Up does indeed stand out as a rather unusual offering for this label, which continues in its “kinder, gentler” mode with Bunny Drop. This is another series that doesn’t have huge story arcs or hyperbolic dramatic moments, and instead is built out of often quiet, introspective moments between the characters. However, Bunny Drop is itself unusual in how it deals with a number of adult situations with an unblinking attitude which doesn’t shrink from life’s twists and turns. The fact that everything isn’t wrapped up with a pretty little bow by the series’ end is just another nice touch that only augments the rather bracing realism that this interesting anime offers.

Bunny Drop: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Bunny Drop is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of NIS America with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. While this is a very nicely sharp and clear high definition presentation, the first thing that will probably strike most viewers is how intentionally restrained the palette in this series is. While some of the backgrounds are filled with elegant pastels, more prevalent elements like flesh tones and costumes tend to be almost desaturated at times. The design aesthetic here looks almost like water colors a lot of the time, with interstitials that resemble colored pencil drawings, and both of those techniques lend a certain Impressionistic ambience to the series, techniques which pop quite nicely here, albeit with an overall appearance that tends toward the softer side of things quite a bit of the time. But much like the emotional tenor of Bunny Drop, the visual appeal of this series is rather understated, without a lot of "wow" elements that will impress viewers at first glance.

Bunny Drop: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Bunny Drop features an uncompressed LPCM 2.0 stereo mix that delivers the original Japanese language track quite well. The dialogue here is more often than not on the quiet side, although occasionally things get out of hand and Daikichi or Rin will get more animated (no pun intended), leading to some expressive dynamic range. One of the best things about this track is the very nicely done underscore, which offers a lot of very pretty cues featuring piano and strings. It's subtle, elegiac music that really helps to establish the kind of melancholic emotional feel that Bunny Drop excels in delivering. Fidelity is excellent throughout all the episodes of the series. Per NIS America's recent tradition, subtitles are indeed optional and can be removed for those wanting to just enjoy the image without any superimposed text.

Bunny Drop: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This is another NIS America Premium Edition which comes housed in a sturdy oversized slipcase which includes two slimline cases, each containing one BD and one DVD, as well as a nicely illustrated hardback book which has episode recaps and information on the various characters. The actual on disc supplements include:

• Episode 2.5: Leafy Aquarium (HD; 4:44) finds Rin doing an art project with leaves.


• Episode 3.5: Dear Santa (HD; 5:54) deals with Rin's Christmas list.


• Episode 6.5: Sky's in Full Bloom (HD; 5:05) is a sweet look at some of the seasonal changes when the cherry blossoms fall, as well as Rin's desire for a picnic.


• Episode 8.5: Path Home (HD; 4:37) finds Rin and Kouki going on a little adventure on the way home one night.


• Clean Openings (HD; 6:04)


• Clean Endings (HD; 16:53)


• Japanese Commercial (HD; 00:16)


• Trailers for Other NIS America Releases

Note: NIS America would do well to talk to its authoring house about redesigning its Menu system. This disc is authored so that after one supplement plays, the disc returns to the Main Menu, meaning the viewer has to reselect the Extras Menu and then get back to the nest Supplement. A better system would be to have the disc return to the Supplements Menu with an option in that menu to return to the Main Menu if wanted. Most people are probably going to want to watch the supplementary material in one fell swoop.

Bunny Drop: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Bunny Drop isn't an in your face entertainment, but it manages to deal with some surprisingly mature subject matter, something that might seem at odds with an animated feature, especially one that kind of trades on a childlike ambience and an Impressionistic visual style. Daikichi is kind of a crusty main character, and Rin has issues of her own, but watching these two forge their bonds and establish a new kind of "family" is really rather emotionally affecting, and though the manga (and probably the anime) are geared toward females, guys who don't mind having their heartstrings tugged at will probably enjoy this series too, even if they're not prone to admit it. The visual style here is really subdued, with an intentionally pallid palette, so those who want bright primary colors and a carnival like ambience might want to look elsewhere. But the supplementary package here is quite nice and the audio features a really expressive score. Recommended.