Ririrko wasn't just "not the best mother". She was a bad mother all around. Imagine Touma and Sentarou were shitty perverts? Gurl was beyond irresponsible in her life. She was an adult, but seemed to have the maturity of a child. Meguru's life would have gone bad to worse if things didn't end up going in her favor. I don't condone name calling her, but the criticisms towards her are all very valid. Even if something is done for the sake of the plot, it doesn't make the characters' choices any less shitty.
Honestly can we even call her a mother? The only time she was present in Megu's life is giving birth to her. Besides, Ririko wasn't a child when she had Megu, she was old enough to know what she did was bad but would still do it anyway (her words, not mine). So it isn't misogyny, it's just stating the facts.
Secondly, grandma isn't in the right either. I know it's for the sake of the plot but you're telling me it's ok to just go with the flow of some half-baked will? She's got no other relatives out there? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. She was eager to wash her hands of Megu just as Ririko did. And no DNA test my ass. If I loved a child enough, I would never haphazardly leave such a young child with two adults I knew nothing about. Grandma may not have been the main villain but she sure wasn't a saint either.
goddd the misogyny in the comment section after reading such a cute manga is so tiring. yeah ririko wasn't the best mother but like so what??? it was all for the sake of the plot. moreover she knew none of them are father & the real one is the yakuza guy and sge obviously didn't want megumo to live in that sort of world. and grandma is right lol. even if none of them turned out to be the father, the father in question is still responsible for the child. and she /is/ getting old. and about megumo, she's a kid ffs. with a dead mother who used to neglect her while she was alive and no other parental figure in life. give that kid a break lawd.