Bunny Drop, Vol. 5 [Paperback]

** Note: it is impossible to talk about this volume without some spoilers, so SPOILERS AHEAD. Although if you've read the product description above, you've already been spoiled on the main thing I'm referring to. **

Bunny Drop Vol. 5 marks the beginning of the second half of the overall manga. Vols. 1-4 followed the day to day life of thirty year old Daikichi and his adopted six year old daughter (technically his aunt, being a secret child of his recently deceased grandfather). It was an engaging, charming slice-of-life story of two people "Growing Up" in different ways.

Vol. 5 (and presumably onward) is not. The story opens with an immediate ten year time skip. Yes, ten years. Obviously this changes the dynamic drastically, as Rin is now a teenager with concerns like dating, grades, and planning her future. The primary focus is on Rin and her childhood friend Kouki, though as usual there are other things going on and other people involved.

There's nothing really wrong with the execution of the story being told here, but it's a bit jarring and I do miss what the manga used to be. It's still interesting and well told, but not quite as engaging. This volume also suffers a little in the pacing department. At points it seems the author's trying to tie some things up to get them out of the way of the rest of the story, and it felt a little rushed.

The art is still very good, although the simplistic style worked a little better when the series was populated by a lot of small children as opposed to high school kids.

I hesitantly put a vague warning in my review of Vol. 1 about the second half. I chose to do so because there's a widely held opinion that deserved some mention before people started the series. I'll do so again here because the timing is appropriate. The way the story unfolds from here on has left many readers... not pleased. I know the cause of complaint, and understand it, so I'll say if you're expecting more like the first four volumes you're probably best off stopping here. Despite my minor issues with this volume I still want to read the rest and will be finishing the series, but it's definitely not for everyone.

A drastic change for what was a near perfect manga, I recommend Bunny Drop Vol. 5 only for those who can look at it for what it is as opposed to what it was, and can keep a open mind going forward.

I don't wanna spoil it, but will say this much. I was skeptical about Rin becoming "all grown up" and losing the cuteness factor of being the little girl that we all fell in love with. They do a good job though, and it's worth exploring. Many surprises await you.

I have been eagerly anticipating the start of the second half of the Bunny Drop series. After watching the anime adaption I quickly looked for the English manga release. These books have good binding and paper stock. They are fortunately sized an inch larger then the standard manga size. For me this is a big plus as the art isn't packed in too tightly and has room to breath. Good volume overall, it went by so quickly I'm craving more. Will definitely collect the rest of the series.