Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Is the Order a Rabbit?? (2015)


Is the Order a Rabbit?? (two question marks) is the second season based on the 4-panel manga of the same name, once again spanning 12 episodes.  It continues the story of Cocoa, Chino and Rize, who all works at Rabbit House, a (semi) rabbit themed cafe.  The anime is set in a fiction city with design cues inspired by French cities and apparently has rabbits running around on the street.  Cocoa, the protagonist, is clumsy, goofy and an airhead.  She still hasn't given up on being everyone's big sister.  Rize is outgoing, harboring an interest in soldiers and armaments.


While Chino is reserved and has Tippy, a rabbit that is little more than a ball of fluff (and is very cute).  Tippy has her grandfather's soul/mind embedded into it and can talk, but everyone else thinks that it is Chino practicing ventriloquism.  Tippy remains as charming as ever, he/she usually rests on top of Chino's head to the point that Chino feels uncomfortable and loses a little bit of confidence whenever Tippy is not there.  Rounding out the cast are Syaro (unique trait being getting drunk of caffeine), and Chiya who goes to the same school as Cocoa, is equally an airhead and between the two of them, the misunderstandings are hilarious.


There are more appearances by Chino's friends Megu and Maya, ascending from the supporting characters that only appear once or twice.  They turn up to get help at drawing, preparing a dance recital and going on adventures with everyone else.  One of the more significant events that occur in this season is Cocoa's sister, Mocha, who decides to come to stay for a few days.  Through her, we can see what causes Cocoa's inspirations to be a big sister, with very similar quirks.  It is funny when other characters point this out.  Mocha is a lot more capable though, not clumsy or airheaded at all.  However, even Mocha has her weakness and that is Cocoa.


Cocoa still has her sister complex, wanting to act as the big sister not only to Chino but to everyone else as well (although it is mainly Chino).  Yet, Cocoa manages to succeed more frequently in this aspect now.  It should be noted that the cuteness is dialed up to the extreme in this second season.  There's no real objective or direction in the plot except for the slice-of-life type of episode structure.  Each episode has around two main story arcs.  They can follow even the most mundane of things, such as spending half an episode on the characters handwashing their clothes.


Some of the later episodes' scenarios are great, such as the one with characters trailing each other, oblivious that if you take a step back and see who's trailing who, it comes full circle and each are waiting for the party in front to move, causing a stalemate.  It also explores a little bit about their friendships and how they managed to become such a close knitted group despite going to various different schools, being in different classes and working in different places.


Unfortunately, the anime seemed to have stopped the plot point of Chino's grandfather's spirit inhibiting Tippy.  The history behind it is not mentioned anymore, ever since we got their minor flashback in the first season that it somehow involves Cocoa, it doesn't make any effort to clarify it.  The season is finished off with a classic outdoor overnight adventure trip and a treasure hunt which allowed it to end on a high note.  Overall, Is the Order a Rabbit?? is exceedingly cute and manages to even make the most mundane of activities interesting enough to keep watching.

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