Is the Order a Rabbit? Season 1 Review: Cute Comedy Gold

Is the Order a Rabbit?

Do you have your very own side hustle? Something that you do with your own time to make ends meet, outside of your formal employment and/or academic activities? Well, many do because life can be just that demanding most of the time. Whether you create content, make products, or offer a service, everything you do plays a role in our society of co-dependence. Maybe it is a thankless task or is consistently underappreciated, but most would feel the void when you take a break or cease doing what you do. So be proud of what you have done and continue to do every day, as long as you aren’t hurting someone or damaging something, because those actions are the building blocks of a functional society!

“Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?” also known as “Is the Order a Rabbit?” or "GochiUsa," is a 12-episode TV anime series that aired from the 10th of April until the 26th of June in spring 2014. Sentai Filmworks obtained the license, and Studio White Fox brought it to life. The producers included Frontier Works, Sotsu, Magic Capsule, Showgate, Houbunsha, NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan, and RAY.

The main staff behind it are Iwasa Gaku, Kobayashi Hiroyuki, Ogura Mitsutoshi, and Yoshikawa Tsunaki as producers. Featuring the genre of Slice of Life, it boasts the themes of CGDCT (Cute Girls Doing Cute Things), Iyashikei, and Workplace. This stretch of 23-minute episodes earned a rating of PG-13 for teenagers 13 years of age or older.

The anime is adapted from the 4-koma manga titled “Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?” which is typically done in the form of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size from top to bottom. It began publication on January 19, 2011, and is still ongoing. It features the genre of comedy alongside the themes of CGDCT, Iyashikei, and the workplace.

It was serialized in Manga Time Kirara MAX and is the work of author and artist Koi. The anime received a sequel series titled “Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka??” (“Is the Order a Rabbit??” or “GochiUsa 2”), which also ran for 12 episodes from the 10th of October to the 26th of December in Fall 2015. Done by Studios Kinema Citrus and White Fox, it featured a genre and themes similar to the prequel. A sequel to Season 2 was released as a movie titled “Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?? Dear My Sister” (“Is the order a rabbit?? Dear My Sister”).

It aired on November 11, 2017, thanks to the producer Showgate and Studio Production doA. Additionally, a single OVA episode titled “Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?? Sing for You” (“Is the Order a Rabbit?? OVA”) was released on the 26th of September 2019. Finally, Season 3 of the anime titled “Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka? Bloom” (“Is the Order a Rabbit? Bloom”) was released as a 12-episode series in Fall 2020.

The story is centered around protagonist Kokoa Hoto, who is a very positive and energetic girl with the ability to become friends with almost anyone within the span of three seconds. This is truly a valuable ability to have, considering she has to move from her hometown for her studies, which brings her face-to-face with so many new people.

In order to attend high school, she moves in with the Kafuu family and instantly befriends Chino Kafuu, who happens to be the shy and precocious granddaughter of the Rabbit House Cafe founder. Chino is often seen alongside a talking rabbit named Tippy, who is always perched on her head.

As our protagonist begins working as a waitress at the cafe in return for room and board, she starts making even more friends. This includes the part-timer Rize Tedeza, who displays quite unusual behavior and possesses significant physical abilities thanks to her military upbringing; a waitress from a rival cafe, Chiya Ujimatsu, who just does things at her own pace; and yet another waitress from a different cafe, Sharo Kirima, who emanates an air of nobility despite being impoverished.

With a cast of characters like this, you can bet that life at the cafe is full of silly fluff and caffeinated fun, so strap in for a very heartwarming comedy revolving around five young waitresses going about their daily lives. Their vivid adventures within this town they call home are nothing short of amusing and adorable!

There isn’t really much of a plot here, as we see Kokoa moving into the cafe in the first episode itself, and it’s just about how her life is afterwards. Each episode is more or less self-reliant, with little to no connection between the episodes. If you are searching for a solid story, look elsewhere because they placed the greatest emphasis on comedy here. We simply get treated to five distinctive waitresses working at three different cafes and the misadventures they have together in an episodic manner.

Most shows like this go downhill due to focusing on moe or cuteness over proper comedy and quality. Luckily, “Is the Order a Rabbit?” avoids this pitfall by giving you good humor and a bit of character development here and there. Like I stated earlier, this series is actually hilarious, something you don’t see done properly in a CGDCT series. While these cute characters go about doing their thing, there are laughs to be had in almost every moment, interwoven with moments of cuteness and slight fanservice. It is highly probable that you will be laughing aloud while viewing this if you also enjoyed Nichijou.

The character department is really strong in this one! Every member of the main cast is great, and they are a treat to watch together. These girls are just pure fun and laughs for 12 episodes straight, and they do so by being a very tightly knit group that can seamlessly bounce off each other in various situations.

For starters, Chino is so shy that she even has trouble talking, but luckily for her, Kokoa is there to be her big sister figure. We see this dynamic constantly in the show, as she continuously attempts to get Chino to call her “older sister.”. Meanwhile, Chiya and Sharo are lifelong friends whose main dynamic revolves around Chiya constantly revealing something about Sharo, which she clearly doesn’t want her to.

Then there’s Rize, a military girl working as a waitress who aspires to be a normal high school girl like the rest. Her dynamic lies with Sharo, who looks up to her and thereby leads to a number of comedic moments. These are the recurring gags of the show, but they are played in a non-repetitive way and feel funny from a new angle every time. Of course, there are plenty of other jokes as well, owing to how the characters face different situations in colorful ways that bring out good comedic fun. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind rewatching this show for this chill cast evoking a good laugh!

In terms of the art and animation, the main task involved making the girls look cute, and they did a splendid job. The character designs are distinctive, colorful, and popping with life, accompanied by consistent animation that didn’t fuzz up as far as I can remember.

What’s more, the characters are super detailed, and they don’t resort to the moe/chibi blobs too much. The creator even went the extra mile to give these girls different outfits, all of which are nice and quite fitting for their aesthetics. The color palette is soft, and the characters’ anatomy is not too out of place either, outside of the fact that teenagers look like middle schoolers here. The backgrounds are nicely done, and we see all sorts of different places within this town to accommodate the hectic adventures.

The music and sound department are well in line with the overall vibe of the show. You probably won’t be adding these songs to your playlist, and they’ll be forgotten pretty fast after you finish watching, but they tie in well to the atmosphere and serve to enhance the moments.

The opening theme is "Daydream café" by Petit Rabbit's (Ayane Sakura, Inori Minase, Risa Taneda, Satomi Sato, and Maaya Uchida), and the ending themes are "Poppin Jump♪" by Chimame-tai (Inori Minase, Sora Tokui, and Rie Murakawa) and "Nichijou Decoration" by Petit Rabbit's (Ayane Sakura, Inori Minase, Risa Taneda, Satomi Sato, and Maaya Uchida). Be warned that some of the above may get stuck in your head while you’re still watching!

The voice actors did a great job, and they all suit their characters perfectly; none of them felt out of place, but none of them delivered groundbreaking performances either.

Overall, “Is the Order a Rabbit?” is a hilarious show about a group of cute girls. It is perfect to help you relax and draw out some laughs while not having to pay much attention to the story. I recommend this show to anyone simply in search of a good comedy, but perhaps not to those who don’t enjoy Slice of Life much. Like I said, there’s no story here, and this anime isn’t winning any awards either. It’s just a nice little show with likeable characters, great visual quality, and solid humor!