Series Review – Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?
Is your order a blog post? (I hope so)
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It’s time to let go of all the spring shows so I can really get into the summer shows. That means tying up all loose ends with the anime that have ended. So, why not say goodbye to the season of old by reviewing the delightfully adorable Gochiusa? My impressions changed so much from my original first impressions post that I couldn’t resist writing about it. |
lolis are the latest fashion accessory
I had originally pegged Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka? (Is your order a rabbit?) as mindless, mediocre, moe amusement. I wasn’t too fond of the characters, the jokes were dull and the premise seemed only mildly interesting. The most sinful part of the show was that it had NO RABBITS! With a name like Is your order a rabbit? I expect those little fuckers to be hopping out of every opening imaginable. Episode 1 gave us one feral rabbit hiding in the background and a cafe mascot that was the least rabbit-looking rabbit in the entire animal kingdom. Rabbit screentime aside, Gochiusa continued to be rather average for another episode or so before suddenly grasping the secret to good comedy. It’s like they realized they didn’t have to make the same dumb jokes every other 4 koma makes, and it became a much better show once this happened. It fleshed out the characters beyond being tiresome cliches and made their wacky interactions all the more hilarious.
It’s hard to explain the shift, but I’ll try. At first, it was just jokes about Cocoa hugging everything and being ditzy while Chino responded in a very tsundere fashion. Boke-tsukkomi. Rinse and repeat. It gets old veryyyy fast. Once the other characters arrive, the formula starts to change and we get more delightfully bizarre scenarios. My favourite comedy moments are when the usually regal Chiya makes dirty jokes in a way that is somehow still in-character for her. From trying to give wine to Cocoa when she has a fever to people constantly assuming Sharo works in an exotic dancing Playboy cafe, Gochiusa takes some sharp left turns to keep you guessing. The punchlines are unpredictable as a result and the payoff is so so good.
Best girl
But what really makes the show shine is the way it blends rapidfire jokes with healing elements. Gochiusa isn’t just a comedy show about cute girls doing cute things. It’s an incredibly cathartic comedy show about cute girls doing cute things. It’s light-hearted and the message at the end of the day is always sweet. They talk about fluffy issues like what it means to be a good big sister, treasuring your friendship, and teamwork. You’ll never tune in one week to hear about the failing economy or see your favourite girls covered in blood after a Red Wedding-esque episode. Each and every episode is calming and serene, with a nice dose of pretty scenery and cute rabbits every now and then to amplify the effects.
It’s hard to define what a healing anime really is, but I’d go out on a limb and say Gochiusa falls in that category. It’s mostly comedy, but I judge healing shows by how they make me feel on a consistent basis. I felt so relaxed after each episode that I would have to put it in the same category as Non Non Biyori. It’s just one of those shows that makes you unbelievably happy when you watch it. It’s unlike Madoka or Grave of Fireflies, which are very good shows but can make you want to cry until your tear glands rupture. Yes, fluffy shows have their own important purpose.
Even the animation improves each week!!!
Gochiusa became one of my favourites of the season, and I’d highly suggest any fans of good comedy or moe series to check it out. By the end of the series I was in love with all the characters. I loved all the care and time taken to show us delicious food. I loved the exponential increase of airtime given to rabbits and rabbit-theme paraphernalia after episode 1. I loved seeing Tippy with twintails. I loved Sharo’s floppy bunny ears so much I wish it was mandatory for all maids. Finally, I appreciated that it had mild fanservice but never became so skeevy that I felt alienated. All in all, Gochiusa is one of those shows that steadily gets better and better as it progresses instead of becoming a trainwreck. Now isn’t that enough of a good thing to start the healing process already?
Gochiusa: a healing show about FUCKING RABBITS UP YEAAHHHH
About Overcooled
A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I think my favorite was Sharo. She always feels second best, and has to try harder. It made for good comedy, and some of the finer moments you mentioned. Her friends never dogged her for not being all wealthy like…
And I loved how Chino and Cocoa’s relationship deepened as the show progressed. They stopped that just short, cause Cocoa will have to leave one day…
…nope, not going there.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Diabeetus inducing… Cocochino. We ship Cocoa x Cappuchino!
Health disclaimer warning: May require the use of Insulin after watching.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…I am reminded now of just how much moe/kawaii tolerance I’ve built up over the years…
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
I would suggest watching Nyan Nyan Taruto if you can get a hold of it.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Hey, I already survived Chocoto Sister….
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Quote: Imoutos should do Hadaka apr0n for their onii-chan.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I love Sharo too. She tries so hard even though she doesn’t need to because everyone loves her anyways. It’s really endearing.
Although the show was light on plot, I liked the development of sisterly bonds week by week. I don’t want to think about them being separated now T_T
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
As a reader of the source material, I am very pleased with the way White Fox adapted the manga into an anime. IIRC only two volumes for Gochiusa are out and White Fox did a good job with the anime original contents. (I only read the first volume so I can’t comment how many material is used frm the second volume)
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
That was only 2 volumes? Wow, I kind of expected there to be more. But I guess with 4-koma you can easily go at a leisurely pace to spread out only 2 volumes across 12 episodes.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
GochiUsa was fun, if not necessarily appointment watching for me. They had a good number of characters to keep it interesting but not overwhelming (I thought that maybe the addition of Megu and Maya was a little much).
I was hoping that Aoyama would finally find out that Tippy was the Master she was looking for, but that didn’t happen.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Megu and Mayu were definitely extra, but I thought they had good enough personalities to actually be pretty interesting in their own respect.
I wish more was done with Aoyama and Tippy as well…Such a good opportunity and it was totally ignored!
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Well, I think that was a lot of the point of Aoyama and Tippy: Tippy doesn’t really want anyone else to know that he used to be the Master / Chino’s grandfather. So that worked well throughout the show that he was trying to hide it from Aoyama. I think it would have made a huge change in what Aoyama did throughout the show if she knew about Tippy.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Yes, and I think those changes might have been rather wonderful
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Ah, I see the likely result of that being that Aoyama is shipped off the show.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
This was easily one of my most looked forward anime of the season! I loved every moment especially all the interaction between the girls <3
Chiya and Rize win for best girls! I loved watching the two of them xD
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
It was great! I didn’t expect much from it at first but it turned out to be a damn good spring show.
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
This was an adorable series from start to finish. I went into it looking for exactly what I got: relaxing happy fun cuteness and friendship from cute girls. And bunnies.
Sharo is love. Poor girl is so hard on herself, and it seems like the universe just has it in for her, too. I found it rather unsettling, however, in the Christmas episode when she started comparing herself to the Little Match Girl…
PS: You don’t think Tippy looks like a rabbit? Do a Google image search on “Angora rabbit”. Tippy is typical of the breed.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Ahhh angora rabbits are so adorable. Here I thought that Japan just made Tippy round because that’s what they generally do with mascot characters.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Awww they’re so cute! Yeah, now that I see a comparison to angora rabbits I can kind of forgive him for looking so unrabbit-like. Kind of. His cat ears still bug me for some reason.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Proof that anime teaches you good things. Like cute angora rabbits, Hot Cocoa, CappuChino, Blue Mountains and KilimanSharo.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Cute, sweet and fluffy to the point diabetes is imminent. I may need insulin after this, a heavy does. It was a quiet and entertaining show. By comparison, I liked this a lot better than Tamayura. Cocoa was adorably airheaded with her optimistic behavior and made some good punch lines now and again. Aside from her, my favorite is the military otaku, Rize Tedeza. Risa Taneda was excellent handling her character and gave her a nice voice. She’s strict but so vulnerable where cute things are concerned.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I think I ended up liking this more than Tamayura as well, although I have a bit of a soft spot for the series since it really hit some strong emotional notes every now and then.
So many cute characters in Gochiusa! It’s so hard to pick just one favourite.