Recommended Scanlations: Kappa Ball & an Inverted Aunt

Today, I have two recommendations from manga scanlations. The first is Higuchi Asa's "Ookiku Furikibatte" [1] or Oofuri. It's been made into an anime series already. The quickest description would be: what if Ikari Shinji played baseball? The main character's actual name is Mihashi Ren.

Ren loves baseball. He is caught looking in on the baseball team during practice and is dragged into the team meeting by the manager Momoe. Once Momoe learned that he was a pitcher in Jr. High, she tries to make him the ace. Strangely enough, he refuses. Ren confesses that his teammates hated him in middle school, because he was put into the position by his grandfather who owns Mihoshi Academy. They also lost every game with him at the helm.

The catcher tests Ren and finds out that he lacks power, but has incredible accuracy. The first roadblock to Koshien is Ren's insecurity stemming from his previous team's ostracizing him.

Ren (bottom) in action confronting his old junior high team.

Hisaguchi is effectively at creating and growing her characters, which takes Oofuri beyond just-another-baseball-manga. It's a human journey with lots of weird and quirky travelers. The artwork is effective, the action is well paced, and the writing is skillful, making Oofuri a standout work.

Ren in Kappa-deformed mode

The second recommendation is Unita Yumi's "Usagi Drop", which was scanlated by the relatively new group J-sis. J-sis, Josei Shoujo Independent Scans, specializes in older shoujo and josei, which is a welcome change of pace from the dominance of shoujo and shounen.

The story starts with 30 year old Daikichi who is attending his grandfather's funeral service. At the memorial, he runs into a quiet girl named Rin. He is shocked to find out that Rin is his grandpa's illegitimate and unwelcome daughter. Little Rin is actually his aunt.

After the memorial, all of his relatives want to pass off Rin and even talk sending her to government services. At that point, Daikichi becomes disgusted and rashly offers to take her in.

On the surface, "Usagi Drop" is reminiscent of "Baby and Me" [2], "Aishiteruze Baby" [3], or obliquely of "Asatte no Houkou" [4]. However, the snarky Daikichi and silent Rin gives it a very different atmosphere from these other works. Unita manages to connect the characters through the deceased grandfather with feeling, without resorting to sentimentality. The quiet main characters are also well served by Unita's clean dark lines.

Daikichi & Rin share a quiet moment.

Another well placed element is Reina. The other adults favor her energy. She also repeats and reflects the opinions of the adults, which are conventional and spiteful. Both of these aspects annoy Daikichi.

Daikichi spending a less quiet time with his niece Reina.

So far Daikichi comes across as a stand-up guy, who isn't popular because of his honesty. He is a sympathetic and realistic. "Usagi Drop" has a lot of potential, much of which depends on what Daikichi decides to do next.

The character designs are also fresh and well drawn. We can hope that more character driven works like Oofuri and "Usagi Drop" get brought over in the near future.

[1] Volume 1, most of 2, and parts of 3 scanlated by Entropy. The end of Vol 2 to 6 scanlated by Raep Time as of this entry.
[2] "Baby and Me" features a boy that takes care of his little brother in the absence of a mother. Featured in Shoujo Beat by Viz.
[3] "Aishiteruze Baby" has idiot, bishounen Kippei become a surrogate parent for his adorable cousin Yuzuyu. This one has a lot of heart. The anime is more focused than the manga. I count the lead female's unusual voice acting as a plus. The manga is available in the US an a takubon under the Shoujo Beat imprint.
[4] "Asatte no Houkou" starts with a man taking care of a young relation Karada. Karada makes a wish with her guardian's ex-lover and manages to switch ages with her. Things become awkward in a hurry.