Ask John: Will there be More Usagi Drop Anime?

Question:
Do you think more Usagi Drop will ever be animated? The series seemed popular enough at the time to warrant more animation. Is it the jump 10 years into the future and the changing relationship between Rin and Daikichi that’s holding back more animation (as that change in the story might offend people)?

Answer:
I’d like to see a second Usagi Drop television series, or feature film depicting the second half of the story, as much as anyone. But sadly I don’t suspect that such a production will ever happen. The first half (technically, first 40%) of Yumi Unita’s ten-volume manga revolves around co-protagonist Rin at six-years-old. The second half of the manga skips ahead ten years. Production I.G’s 2011 television series adapted only the first half of the manga series. Given the short 11-episode length of the TV series and certainly an effort to parallel the anime series to its concurrent live-action feature film, which also adapted only the first half of the manga, there’s ample reason why the TV series didn’t time-skip forward to illustrate Rin as a teenager. While the relationship between Rin and her guardian Daikichi evolves from a parental to partner relationship in the manga, that subtle change is unlikely to be controversial or offensive enough to derail any potential adaptation of the later half of the manga story. Countless existing anime are far, far more provocative than anything contained in Usagi Drop. Moreover, Production I.G has already demonstrated a willingness to dramatically reconstruct one of its anime series mid-way. I.G’s 2004 television series Otogizoshi time skips from roughly 800AD to present day mid-series.

However, now that the core nine-volume Usagi Drop manga and its single volume epilogue have been completed and the live-action feature film come and gone from theaters, there’s very little remaining reason for any sponsors to commission the production of a subsequent anime series or movie. With the exception of infrequent original concept anime like the currently airing Sekai Seifuku ~ Boryaku no Zvezda and Hamatora television series, anime based on existing media are typically produced to serve as promotional advertising for the original media. Just as Hollywood doesn’t produce new trailers for old movies, Japan doesn’t typically produce new anime to promote non-current manga or novels. Considering that the original Usagi Drop television series didn’t become a massive home video or merchandise sales hit, there’s no considerable financial incentive for anyone to pay Production I.G animators to draw more Usagi Drop anime, and no matter how much the Production I.G staff may like a particular work, they’ll obviously prioritize anime that they’re contracted and paid to create over developing non-budgeted sequels.