Is the Order a Rabbit? (Manga)

What will your order be today?

Is the Order a Rabbit? (Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka?, abbreviated as GochiUsa), is a Slice of Life Yonkoma manga by Koi (the pseudonym for two people who share the drawing and writing duties) that has been serialized in Manga Time Kirara Max since March 2011.

Taking place in an idyllic half-timbered town known only as "the half-timbered town", the manga follows the everyday lives of the teenaged girls who work in the eclectic mix of cafés and restaurants dotting its quaint, European-style streets.

The colorful personalities populating its rather large Ensemble Cast include: the ever-cheerful, energetic ditz Cocoa Hoto, who is determined to get her diminutive co-worker, the dour and deadpan Chino Kafū, to cuddle her and call her "big sister"; the elegant yet air-headed Chiya Ujimatsu and the dignified yet neurotic Syaro Kirima, two neighbors and Childhood Friends who couldn't contrast more if they tried; Rize Tedeza, a Military Brat who fancies herself the stern disciplinarian of the group but is far too easily flustered and embarrassed to actually fulfill that role; demure girly-girl Megumi Natsu and brash gamer tomboy Maya Jōga, who look up to the older girls and want to make them proud; the Ginger twins, Natsu and Elu, who are obsessed with being hired legitimately by the Bright Bunny coffee shop chain despite being the corporation's heiresses; Fuyu Fuiba, a gloomy-looking girl who has her head screwed on right, but whose attempts at smiling mortify friends and customers alike; and Rize's Childhood Friend Yura Karade, who is absolutely not stalking her cute juniors and absolutely did not get a job as a maid at Rize's mansion just to mess with her.

Light on plot and heavy on carefree atmosphere, Is the Order a Rabbit? offers a leisurely and relaxed look at the adventures, and occasional mis-adventures, this wacky group of oddball baristas get up to whenever their paths cross, and all the ways they can find happiness, wisdom, and camaraderie in everyday life as the seasons pass and they all grow a little older.

After an aborted attempt to be published outside Japan by the now-defunct Sol Press in 2020, the manga would finally see an ongoing English release by Yen Press starting in 2024.

Due to the manga's popularity, it has seen its fair share of adaptations, some of which can be streamed on Crunchyroll.^note

Adaptations

Season 1: Premiered April 2014, produced by White Fox
Season 2: Premiered October 2015, produced by White Fox and Kinema Citrus
Wonderful Party!, visual novel, released 2016
Dear My Sister: OVA, released November 2017
Sing For Me: OVA, released September 2019
Season 3: Premiered October 2020, produced by Encourage Films
~We Are Family!~, upcoming feature-length film by Bibury Animation Studio

Is the Order a Rabbit? provides examples of:

Tropes A-E

Accidental Hand-Hold: In chapter 6, Cocoa and Syaro first meet when they both head to the store and try to grab the same coffee mug. Chino and Rize, watching them, quip that it seems like something out of a romance manga.
Action Girl: The theatre club at Rize's school rewrites Christine from The Phantom of the Opera into a gun-toting, grenade-wielding badass to better fit Rize's personality.
Actually, I Am Him: In vol. 4 ch. 4, after Mocha praises the novel Caffeine Fighter, Aoyama says she wrote it, but Mocha dismisses it as a prank by Aoyama.
Adaptational Early Appearance: Aoyama-sensei first appears in chapter 19, when Cocoa meets her on a park bench, but the anime adds her to the first season's credits and gives her a cameo in episode 1 before she's properly introduced in the adaptation of chapter 19, S1E06.
Adapted Out: Vol. 3 ch. 1, where Cocoa buys a bicycle, is skipped over by the anime adaptation.
Afterlife Express:
- A flying train, with Kafuu Saki its passenger, occasionally pulls up to the roof of Rabbit House to collect Chino's grandfather. According to Chino in chapter 138, it "seems to get closer every day."
- It makes a return appearance at the end of chapter 170, ferrying the souls of the departed back to the afterlife as Halloween draws to a close.
Age-Inappropriate Art: Rize decides to put on a puppet show for children in chapter 148. Since this is Rize, she stages a military thriller about a traitor trying to bring down the state.
Alice Allusion: The school festival arc in the 150s involves Chino and Cocoa's classes both putting on Alice in Wonderland-themed presentations. Right after that, in chapter 156, Cocoa overhears ChiMaMe and Chiya talking about Through the Looking Glass, which leads her to pose in front of the mirror to raise her "onee-chan levels". Then, she goes "through the looking glass" and either slips back in time to when Chino was a little girl, or has a very vivid daydream.
All Part of the Show: During the big Christmas party in chapter 183, Cocoa keeps messing up her magic show due to being, well, Cocoa. However, Chino and Rize are so experienced at covering for her gaffes that even Chiya and Syaro (let alone the strangers in the audience) can't tell what was a genuine mistake and what was part of her shtick.
Alternate Reality Episode: Chapter 168 shows Chino visiting a world where Cocoa never moved to the half-timbered town, and how everybody's life is different. She goes to the "gokigenyou" school, the older girls aren't close with each other, and her grandfather's spirit is still inhabiting Tippy.
Alternate Universe:
- In vol. 9 ch. 8, Megu falls down a flight of stairs and wakes up in a sci-fi universe where everybody has a floating rabbit-shaped computer. In the end though, they're still best friends.
- Every April Fool's Day, the manga creates a What If? parallel world. Chapter 167 implies they're all real parallel universes, and can be visited by the main characters.
Ambiguous Time Period: The series mixes modern-day technology while also heavily invoking pre/inter-war Europe, especially during the city arc. Aoyama-sensei, who is in her mid-20s, apparently had wet nurses, a practice that died out in the west once baby formula was invented, and the Royal Cats Hotel's maid costumes look like something out of the Edwardian era. Later in the series, though, it is strongly implied it takes place in a parallel universe to our own^note, and the aesthetic confusion is because its historical development doesn't need to match ours.
And the Adventure Continues: Vol. 4 ch. 1 ends with Cocoa and the other high schoolers setting off in search of treasure with the ciste map Chino made for her.
Angry Cheek Puff: In vol. 5 ch. 11, Syaro gets angry at Chiya, which causes Chiya to marvel at how Syaro resembles a blowfish.
Animal Theme Naming: The cafés where the girls work are named in different languages, but they all have words for "rabbit" somewhere in their names:
- English: Rabbit House and Bright Bunny
- Japanese: Ama Usa An
- French: Fleur De Lapin
April Fools' Day: The series runs an annual April Fool's Day prank, which sometimes gets brought back into the show.
- In 2015, the official website "revealed" that there would be a Spin-Off titled Is the Order a Magical Girl? starring Chino as a Magical Girl. While the announcement was fake, the idea was well-received and there was some official merchandise that was released later that year.
- In 2016, a spin-off starring Syaro in The Phantom Thief Lapin was announced. This would become an book written by Aoyama in-universe.
- April 2017 presents the sky pirate-themed online card game titled ChiMaMe Chronicle: the artwork can be found here.
- 2018 saw the release of "Daydream ⭐ Show", a fake game where you train the Rabbit House girls to become top idols.
- In 2019, they presented the "CLOCKWORK RABBIT" theme, where the girls are depicted living in sci-fi Tokyo with floating Tippy-shaped droids. Vol. 9 ch. 8 would "canonize" this concept by having Megu either cross over into that parallel universe while walking down the street, or just knock her head and imagine it. Chapter 167 implies it was, in fact, real.
- In 2020, they released "Regene Play Rabbits", about a future where most people have left Earth and the girls scavenge for relics from the ruined remnants of the old world. In chapter 166, when Cocoa is feeling unwanted, she walks through a mysterious doorway and seemingly gets transported to its world. Then, in the next chapter, the Megu of that world says she's been dreaming about the half-timbered town and the world of CLOCKWORK RABBIT, implying the dimensional traveling is more than just a dream.
- 2021 saw the release of "Seven Rabbit Sins", depicting the girls as demons based on the Seven Deadly Sins. Like "The Phantom Thief Lapin", chapter 132 depicts "Seven Rabbit Sins" In-Universe as a book published by Aoyama.
- In 2022, they produced "Take Out Blue Bird", starring the Ginger twins as Mons catchers who must find and hatch eggs that contain tiny, birdlike versions of the other girls. It would form the basis of a very weird dream the Ginger girls have in chapter 159.
- In 2023, they introduced the Galaxy Train event, featuring the girls as sci-fi themed train conductors on a voyage across the stars. Notably, the head conductor was Tippy, who by that point in the manga had already passed into the great beyond on an Afterlife Express with Chino's mother.
- 2024 returned to the CLOCKWORK RABBIT universe with "The 2nd Gear", showing off the designs for the Bright Bunny group, who didn't take part last time.
Armor-Piercing Question: In chapter 166, Cocoa laughs off the idea of people missing her after she leaves for the city to attend college. Then Yura asks, "I guess it'd be easier for you to enjoy the city if we all forgot about you huh?" which causes Cocoa to go catatonic.
Artistic License:
- Mate Rin's job blends together three separate kinds of "editor" that are all very different from each other. She's introduced chasing Aoyama around to get her to work on her manuscripts, suggesting she is a developmental editor for Aoyama's literary publisher. But Aoyama doesn't seem to have an agent, which typically acts as an intermediary between a novelist and an editor, implying that Koi are using their experience with their manga editor as reference, even though Aoyama is implied to be part of a western-style literary publishing system, which (unlike Japan, where the same companies publish magazines, manga, and light novels) is usually separate from periodical publishing and doesn't have as much of an emphasis on tight deadlines since they don't need to rush a new issue out on a monthly basis. Later, in chapter 162, Rin is shown to also be the managing editor of Walker magazine, a Bland-Name Product for Tokyo Walker (published by Houbunsha's rival Kadokawa), even though being the literary editor of a successful novelist and the managing editor of a cultural magazine require two completely different skillsets and intimate knowledge of two very different markets to do the job effectively.
- Aoyama is also able to keep up an abnormally fast production pace more typical of manga than traditional literary works, getting complete books written, edited, proofread, published, and shipped to bookstores in what seem like weeks. She first meets Mocha in vol. 4 ch. 4, in April. By vol. 5 ch. 4 (mid-summer), she already has a book inspired by Mocha, Bakery Queen, on store shelves.
- Chapter 163 muddies the water even further. Even though Rize explicitly points out to Cocoa that Aoyama is a (literary) novelist and not a manga author, she is apparently getting a very manga-like exhibition for her novels (probably a reference to the manga's then-recent 10th anniversary exhibition). Aoyama decides to celebrate by making her own manga (described as a bande dessinee, a term used for Franco-Belgian Comics like The Adventures of Tintin) complete with every single "making manga on a deadline" cliche ever.
Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: In chapter 34, Chino and Megu are proud of themselves for tailing Maya without being spotted and announce they're like detectives for their ability to remain on-task. Then they spot a feral rabbit and immediately traipse off to play with it.
Audience Participation: In chapter 30, when Cocoa and her friends are dead tired from trying to handwash all their clothes, Cocoa turns to an imaginary audience and shouts "Everybody! Lend me your strength!" like she's performing in a live-action Tokusatsu show for kids. Rize shouts that they (the only four people present) are already working as hard as they can.
Autopilot Artistry: While working as a barista at the Rabbit House cafe, the idiot protagonist Hoto Cocoa laments that she doesn't have a special skill like her co-workers. She then quickly and effortlessly calculates a very complex receipt in her head for a customer. Afterwards, she goes right back to lamenting that she doesn't have a special skill.
Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Although Rize spends the entirety of chapter 157 fuming at Yura (including at one point threatening to throw "the drunkard" out of Rabbit House and onto the street), at the end she still worries about her catching a cold.
Bad Guy Bar: Chapter 178 is about Yura shepherding Chino into "Axe Bar", a subterranean tavern where the timber-framed town's "scary looking women" gather, such as Fleur de Lapin's manager. Aoyama is also there, getting drunk and crying her brains out over the prospect of Rin quitting.
Badass Adorable: There is a rabbit with a badass cross-shaped scar and glowing red eyes, who is always seen chewing on a straw. It's the same rabbit Rize saved Syaro from when they first met, and Rize later names him "Wild Geese".
Bait-and-Switch:
- In chapter 8, when the girls have a sleepover, Chiya recommends they share things they're hiding deep in the their hearts. Syaro expects she is talking about romance, but then Chiya says, "Like our best ghost stories 𝅘𝅥𝅮," with an embarrassed blush.
- In chapter 36, Maya and Megu announce they're going to pretend to be interviewers and interview Chino about Rabbit House. Then, they start harassing her with questions about her love life and threatening to release embarrassing photos, like paparazzi.
Battle Aura:
- In chapter 4, Cocoa gets fired up (literally) at the prospect of making bread, and Rize approves of her fiery aura. It's enough to make Rize fall in line and shout that she's ready to serve.
- In the adaptation of chapter 15, S1E05, the anime adds a glow which surrounds Chino while she attempts a badminton serve that Rize had taught her earlier.
Be Careful What You Wish For: Although Chino and Rize often chide Cocoa for not taking her job seriously, when she actually does start working hard in vol. 4 ch. 3, both of them are unnerved and a little scared.
Bedmate Reveal: Chapter 158 opens with Cocoa waking up to find Elu sleeping in her bed, for reasons unknown. Naturally, Cocoa immediately lays back down and starts cuddling her.
Big "NO!": Tippy shouts out in frustration when Cocoa is cuddling him too aggressively. At first, Cocoa becomes confused by it, but Chino tries to pass it off as ventriloquism. Tippy is later revealed to be able to talk.
Big "OMG!": In the third season's third episode, after Chino jokingly remarks that if she likes Syaro and Rize's school enough after a tour, she might consider taking the entrance exam, Cocoa cries out "Oh my god!" in English and falls over in shock.
Biopic: In chapter 24, when the girls discuss Rize's potential acting career, Chiya says she's counting on Rize to play the role of Chiya in the film about Amausa An, causing Rize to shout, "Just how wild are your ambitions?"
Blank White Eyes: The girls' eyes take this form in response to something outrageous or shocking.
Blatant Lies: In vol. 9 ch. 2, when the girls learn Aoyama-sensei started working as a maid in the Royal Cats Hotel, she claims she lost all her money at the casino as a way to get material for her next novel. Rize immediately sees through that.
Bluebird of Happiness: In chapter 159, the Ginger twins dream about searching for the titular blue bird in the Take Out Blue Bird universe.
Blue with Shock: In S1E05, Cocoa and Syaro turn blue with shock after Chiya launches a surprisingly-forceful serve at them.
Body Swap: Invoked. In vol. 4 ch. 11, Aoyama runs into Cocoa on the street while Rin is in hot pursuit. She makes a lame attempt to claim her soul got swapped with Cocoa's when they bumped into each other, but Rin is having none of it and drags her away to work on her manuscript.
Boke and Tsukkomi Routine:
- In chapter 14, as part of Cocoa's series of attempts to get Chino to smile, she brings Chiya over to Rabbit House to put on a Manzai act, even going so far as to refer to Chiya as her "comedy partner". However, it's Subverted when Chiya tells a totally ordinary story about something that happened to her with no punchline, and then Cocoa says, "Ahaha, that made me laugh," rather than act like the tsukkomi.
- In chapter 38, for the Christmas party, Chiya plans to deliver a manzai routine with Syaro. We don't see it, but we do see a little inset of Syaro giving Chiya a backhanded slap to the chest. Later, Megu has a misunderstanding and thinks Chiya is doing a manzai routine. Flustered and blushing, Megu plays the part of the tsukkomi and gives Chiya a backhand slap to the chest while delivering a retort. Chiya pats her head and grades her technique, while saying her slap needs more momentum.
- In vol. 4 ch. 11, Chiya and Megu go looking for food in the forest. They find a series of horrifying-looking mushrooms that resemble wailing ghost faces. Chiya winds her kouhai up by lecturing her about the savory qualities of each variety. She's expecting Megu to be the tsukkomi and tell her off, but Megu just says she's glad to be with Chiya and tosses the obviously-bad mushrooms into the basket. When they return to the others and Chiya shows off their haul, Syaro shrieks that they're obviously poisonous. Exuberant, Chiya scoops Syaro up in a hug and cries, "Thank you for a proper tsukkomi!"
Bookends:
- Chapter 26 begins and ends with Cocoa suddenly snapping upright in bed after somebody calls her "onee-chan". The first time, it's Megu and Maya. The second, it'a Chino.
- Chapter 133. It starts with a flashback to young Cocoa being given a tour of the half-timbered town by Saki, Chino's mother, while the other girls cameo as children. In the present, Cocoa gives Elu and Natsume the same tour, and the older versions of the other girls mirror their appearance in the flashback. Chino is also shown giving a lost girl a tour of her own, just like her mother.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: In chapter 168, when Syaro offers a smile that's surrounded by roses, Maya quips that the rose border is an eyesore.
Brick Joke:
- In one chapter 13 strip, the girls complete a jigsaw puzzle together. Everybody celebrates putting the chunks they've been working on together except for Chiya, who laments that she hasn't contributed a single piece and doesn't have the right to sit with them. "What a pain," Syaro says. In the next strip, Syaro and Rize have a drawn-out No, You Go First moment over whose puzzle piece goes into a particular slot ... only for Chiya to slip between them at the last minute, slap her piece down, and say, "It fits!" ending the stalemate.
- Chapter 27 begins with Cocoa showing off her new bicycle to Rize and asking for training on how to drift. Rize says it's not possible. At the end, when Cocoa is chasing after her runaway bike before it hits the wall and crushes Tippy, she hops on it and stops it with a drift, shocking Rize.
- At the beginning of vol. 4 ch. 8, Maya proposes Chimame do the moonwalk for their dance performance. Near the end, after Maya pledges to teach Cocoa how to do ballet, Cocoa runs up to the others to show off what she's learned ... and does the moonwalk.
Broken Treasure: In chapter 17, Rize instinctively reaches for the nearest blunt object to smash a bug with. Unfortunately, it turns out to be her father's prized bottle of wine. Now, she needs to work multiple jobs to pay for a replacement. When it was adapted into S1E05, it was changed to her hitting a badminton shuttlecock to tie it in with the adaptation of chapter 15.
Brown Bag Mask: In chapter 18, adapted into S1E07, Cocoa comes across Syaro sitting outside of Amausa An, afraid to go inside. She confesses that Anko tries to bite her every time he sees her face. Cocoa's solution is to cover her head with a brown paper bag. It works, until Syaro is overcome with emotion and rips the bag off, at which point Anko chases her out of the shop.
Bunnies for Cuteness:
- Exaggerated: the half-timbered town has them everywhere, on coffee houses and board games and in books. In some cases, it's the Central Theme of this series.
- Averted in the city arc. The characters lampshade it has Cute Kittens everywhere instead of bunnies. The three city girls — Eru, Natsume, and Fuyu — are likewise associated with cats instead of rabbits.
Busman's Holiday:
- In vol. 6 ch. 3, Rin bursts into Rabbit House to see if Aoyama is there. Chino asks if she's late with her manuscript, but Rin explains they're just playing a game of tag in their free time. The girls wonder how that's any different than usual.
- When Rin and Midori take a trip to the city during the city arc, Rin ends up spending the whole time corralling Midori under control, which is what she does normally. She even gets roped into working as a maid at the Royal Cats Hotel for Midori's old wet nurses/nannies when Midori goes to the casino against their wishes. When Rize asks her about it, Rin says, "It's all right. I'm on paid vacation." Ironically, when Midori slacks off working as a maid to write a manuscript, Rin yells at her to get back to cleaning.
- In chapter 174, Syaro goes into Fleur on her day off to study, but she bemoans her fate when she ends up having to do the things she does when she's working, like explain the menu to Aoyama.
But You Were There, and You, and You: In chapter 132, Fuyu reads Aoyama's latest novel, Seven Rabbit Sins, which features thinly-veiled caricatures of the main characters. However, Fuyu doesn't know that Aoyama knows the others, and she mistakenly believes her brain filled in the blanks on its own, causing her to mentally apologize for her impertinence.
Call-Back:
- In chapter 18, when the Rabbit House girls theorize why Chiya might be depressed, Rize mentions that she was overly critical of Chiya's naming conventions when she worked at Amausa An in the last chapter.
- In chapter 30, the wind picks up a handkerchief and carries it away. Chiya then mentions some of Syaro's underwear might be getting whisked away too, referring to an incident in chapter 18.
- When Cocoa first steps into Rabbit House, she says "There're no rabbits... there're no rabbits? There're no rabbits!" Later when Mocha first arrives at the shop, she internally says the same thing, only Cocoa instead of rabbits.
- In vol. 4 ch. 7, when Chino talks about Cocoa being a natural airhead, she remembers the time Cocoa solved the jigsaw puzzle Chino was working on in chapter 13.
- When Chimame and the Bright Bunny Group have a sleepover, Chino's dad shoves the Rabbit Monopoly game through the door just like he did when Chino had her sleepover with Maya and Megu in chapter 29.
- In vol. 4 ch. 2, the middle schoolers go to a cafe with the high schoolers, but they get seated at different tables due to the crowd. Chimame are forced to admire their senpai from afar and try and figure out the "proper" way to eat their fancy meal all on their own. In chapter 134, the now-high school-aged Chimame go to the same cafe and see a group of middle schoolers watching them from afar to figure out the proper way to eat their fancy meal. Maya just turns around and yells at them to dig in.
- In vol. 5 ch. 2, Maya and Megu repeat the "ghost story" about Syaro's house supposedly being haunted, which originated from the events of chapter 31.
- In chapter 167, when Cocoa first meets an alternate universe version of Chino who is a post-apocalyptic scavenger, Cocoa cries out in sadness that there's no rabbits in her world, a line she said to the real Chino when they first met.
- In vol. 6 ch. 3, when Rize is chasing after Chiya in a game of tag, Rizr brings up the "special training" she gave to Chiya in vol. 5 ch. 7 to help her run a marathon.
- In chapter 169, when the ghost of Kafuu Saki leads the Ginger twins out of the haunted arcade, they mention the time she popped into their dream in chapter 159 and told them to look after Chino.
Call-Forward: In chapter 133, when Kafuu Saki is guiding a young Cocoa through town during a flashback, the main characters (minus Chimame, who were apparently babies at the time) all have cameos: Rize holds her mother's hand as they walk past a person in a bunny suit; Syaro and Chiya look at blooming flowers in an alleyway; Cocoa waves to a young Yura riding a gondola with her mother; and Aoyama and Rin pass each other in the street.
Calling Your Attacks: In S1E05, an adaptation of chapter 15, the anime gives a name to the devastating badminton serve that Rize teaches to Chino. They both shout it out loud while attempting to pull it off.
Rize: Patriot ... SERVE!
Camping Episode: Vol. 4 chs. 12 & 13 are about the girls spending a weekend in a cabin in the woods owned by Rize's father. They were adapted into S2E11.
Can't Hold Her Liquor: In chapter 37, adapted into S2E07, Cocoa and Chino become drunk from consuming chocolates made with brandy.
Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them:
- In chapter 28, Cocoa has a study party/sleepover at Amausa An. Chapter 29 follows what's going on back at Rabbit House in her absence. At first, Chino seems to enjoy how quiet it is, but she subconsciously makes nothing but hot cocoa because she is, as Rize exclaims, "cocoa-sick." Even Chino is startled by how much she misses her self-appointed onee-chan. When Cocoa returns, Chino mentions that were it not for her, she probably never would have invited her friends Maya and Megu for a sleepover and worries that she might not be a good enough host without Cocoa around.
- When Cocoa is about to leave to visit her hometown in vol. 5 ch. 3, Chino gets annoyed when Cocoa bawls and turns clingy at the train station. Chino yells at her to go. But as soon as Cocoa is actually gone, Chino has a "cocoa-sick relapse" and makes nothing but cocoa at Rabbit House. When she visits Amausa-An and learns Chiya is redesigning the menu to abandon matcha tea and move towards cocoa-themed drinks and sweets, she realizes the sickness is spreading.
Captain Ersatz: The eponymous protagonist of Aoyama's novel Phantom Thief Lapin is based on Aoyama's image of Syaro.
Cassandra Truth:
- In chapter 15, adapted into S1E05, while walking to the park for badminton practice, Chino claims she could play twice as well if she had Tippy on her head. She claims she's not lying about it, but because Rize merely smiles, Chino stresses that she's not lying.
- In vol. 4 ch. 4, Mocha is first introduced sitting on a park bench talking to Aoyama. Aoyama suggests Mocha prank her sister by wearing a disguise when she enters Rabbit House. Mocha approves of the idea and then whips out her copy of Aoyama's novel Caffeine Fighter, which she praises for having so many "surprise jokes". Aoyama says she wrote the novel, but Mocha dismisses it as another prank and says she won't be fooled. The anime changes it to be a conversation about Aoyama's film adaptation instead.
Cast Herd: With eleven main characters and only eight pages per chapter, naturally the series involves a lot of characters pairing off. Usually it's by workplace, like the Rabbit House girls and the Bright Bunny Group, or by school, like the rich girls' school and the public high school.
Central Theme:
- The gratitude of being together in this world under one roof.
- The beauty of always creating memories for the future to enjoy.
- The importance of family, rather it be blood-related or not.
Chalk Outline: In chapter 15, when Chino and Rize stumble on Cocoa and Chiya lying facedown in the park and claim it's like a murder scene, Chino draws an outline around Cocoa's body.
Childhood Friends: Chiya and Syaro live right next to each other and have known one another since they were children.
Childish Pillow Fight: Cocoa and Chino have one in episode twelve of season two. Chino's father and Tippy comment on the noise they're making, with the latter commenting on how much livelier it seems.
Christmas Episode: The eleventh episode of the first season illustrates the girls and the side characters working at Rabbit House to serve customers during this Christmas, before partaking in Christmas festivities themselves. Cocoa also secretly gives Chino a present while she's sleeping, but then falls asleep next to her, though Chino appreciates the thoughts behind the gift.
City with No Name: The half-timbered town the manga takes place in is only ever referred to as "the half-timbered town".
Clingy Jealous Girl:
- In episode three of the first season, Syaro says she would like to make Chino her little sister. Cocoa immediately gets jealous, and proclaims that Chino is her little sister.
- Syaro responds coldly when Chiya emails her in episode six of the first season about Rize having a "new little sister" in Maya, one of Chino's school friends.
- Chino does this in episode seven of the first season, though it turns out to be an Imagine Spot by Cocoa.
Color-Coded Characters:
- Each of the main cast dresses in a particular color scheme. In vol. 5 ch 1, they discover that if they take off the vests and ribbons and work in plain white shirts, even Maya and Megu can't recognize them.
  - Cocoa: orange/pink
  - Chino: cyan
  - Rize: purple
  - Chiya: green
  - Syaro: yellow
  - Megumi: red/pink
  - Maya: dark blue
  - Mocha: lime green^note
- Defied during the city arc. When Cocoa advises the girls to try on swimsuits they'd usually never wear, Syaro wears green and Chiya wears yellow.
Color-Coded Castes: In the manga, Chino remarks that a bylaw requires buildings to be coloured to denote the occupant's occupations. For instance, fishermen will need to paint their houses blue, and bakeries are pink.
Comically Missing the Point:
- In a bonus strip after chapter 21, adapted into S1E07, Syaro wishes she could be as cool and confident as Rize. She then has an Imagine Spot where she walks through a store using a model handgun to force shoppers to get out of her way.
- At the end of chapter 21, which was adapted into S1E07, the Rabbit House employees go to Amausa to ask where Syaro lives so they can give her bread. Syaro then comes out of the dilapidated house next door. While Chino tries to apologize for assuming she was Secretly Wealthy, Cocoa instead asks Syaro where she lives. Syaro ends up having to point to that house she just came out of.
- In chapter 23, Cocoa says it would be sad if Rize left Rabbit House and joined the theatre club ... because Cocoa can't do CQC to protect the shop in her stead.
- In chapter 167, when Cocoa gets sent to the scavenger world of Regene Play Rabbits, Chino tells Cocoa there's feral animals everywhere. Naturally, Cocoa's first reaction is to gasp and cry out, "There's no rabbits?!"
Connected All Along: In ch. 142, the girls follow a ciste map to the beach. When they find the treasure, they discover the map was created by "Usagi & Choko", the pet names Kafuu Saki and Hoto Chiyoko had for each other. Cocoa and Chino fail to realize they've been literally following in their mothers' footsteps.
Continuity Nod:
- In vol. 9 ch. 1, Rize explains the buttons on her school uniform are different because the originals were stolen as mementos by a flock of ravenous schoolgirls during her graduation. Syaro, who was also present, blushes beside her.
- In vol. 9 ch. 10, as the new school year starts, Cocoa and Chino reminisce about Cocoa's first day of high school and all the events that happened — like how Cocoa confused Rize by getting lost constantly.
- In vol. 10 ch. 5, the rich girl school and the public high school hold a sports tournament. Syaro's classmates beg her to help the volleyball team since the public high school have a girl who unconsciously aims for the head and a girl who will dope others to win. Chiya and Cocoa cringe in embarrassment at their past escapades.
- In chapter 168, the Ginger twins say their Halloween costumes were partly inspired by their trip to the Royal Cats Hotel during the city arc.
Contrived Coincidence: Hotto Chiyoko and Kafuu Saki were best friends in high school, so over time it seemed there would be a revelation that Chiyoko had sent her daughter to live and work at Rabbit House on purpose. However, when Chiyoko talks to Chino about it in chapter 144, she says it was a complete coincidence that Cocoa ended up boarding at Rabbit House. Later, it's implied Kafuu Saki's spirit is guiding certain events, so Saki may have had something to do with it, but it hasn't been clarified.
Cool Big Sis: The eldest in the Hoto family, Mocha fulfils this role for Cocoa and the latter's older brothers. When she is introduced in the manga, she is also seen as such by the rest of the girls.
Crazy-Prepared: In episode ten of the first season, when Chino tells Megu and Maya that she only has a chessboard, so only two players could participate, her father then shows up by her door and gives them a board game to play.
The Cuckoolander Was Right: In chapter 31, when a panicked Syaro goes to Rabbit House for help with a "mysterious presence" inside her house, Chino tries to distract ger from thinking about rats and ghosts by blurting out the idea a rabbit is renting her spare room. Lo and behold, three pages later, that's exactly what turns out to be the case.
Cute Oversized Sleeves:
- In chapter 22, Maya puts on the bartender uniform Saki made and pretends to serve drinks behind the bar, with its giant sleeves flopping all over the place.
- Maya does it again in chapter 114, when she dresses in Takahiro's uniform to try and trick Megu into thinking she got a job as a bartender on April Fool's Day.
Cuteness Proximity:
- Cocoa's heart melts when she first meets and cuddles Tippy. Several other characters are similarly drawn to him, such as a group of random girls at the pool in episode eight after Chino leaves him alone in a small washtub.
- Cocoa's influence leads Chino to be distracted by some wild rabbits while she's headed towards the bathhouse with Rize, Megu, and Maya during the tenth episode in season one.
- Mocha enjoys cuddling with everyone.
Dancing Theme: The second season's ending credits has Chino, Megumi, and Maya dance to the music.
Delirious Misidentification: In chapter 169 (part of the third-year Halloween arc), Cocoa wakes up in the mystical Bunny Arcade and mistakes Chino for her mother Saki, whose ghost Cocoa encountered on the prior Halloween.
Depth Deception: In vol. 4 ch. 14, Chino wants to take a picture of Syaro and Chiya having a naturalistic conversation, but Cocoa keeps walking past in the background and spoiling the shot. First, she seems to be inside Syaro's tea cup, then it looks like Chiya's fork is stabbing her in the back and making her trip. Finally, Chino has had enough and snaps.
Chino: Why do you keep getting in the way!?
Cocoa: I was working and still got told off!
Didn't Think This Through:
- In chapter 8, adapted into S1E03, Rize says she'll call for a cab to take Syaro home after the rain begins to intensify. Chiya, remembering Syaro exclaiming she didn't want Rize to know where she lives, instead volunteers to take her. However, she attempts to carry her home, and collapses a short distance from the Rabbit House.
- In chapter 13, adapted into S1E07, the girls work on a large jigsaw puzzle. As they get closer to finishing it, Rize asks what they're going to do with it when it's done. Cocoa says they should frame it and hang it up on the wall, but then Rize clarifies she meant there's no cardboard under it to keep it in place, which makes the other girls feel like idiots for not noticing. The anime shows Takahiro putting it up in the coffee shop to replace an older picture of a rabbit.
- In chapter 28, adapted into S1E10, Chiya asks Syaro to hit her and Cocoa on the head with a Paper Fan of Doom if either of them get distracted when they're supposed to be studying. Then Cocoa starts looking for her handout, and Chiya realizes she used it to make the paper fan, completely forgetting they asked Syaro to hit them in the head with it. Syaro is easily annoyed by their forgetfulness and asks if she can go home.
Syaro: Can I go home?!
- In vol. 4 ch. 2, adapted into S2E04, Cocoa and Chiya start discussing the difference between general relativity and special relativity in an attempt to sound more grown up in front of Chino, Megu, and Maya. Later, Chimame ask them what the difference is, but both girls just have a blank look on their faces. Rize mentions that's what they get for talking about something they had no clue about.
- In S2E11, Chino gets stuck in a sandbar and is unable to get back. She waves at Maya and Rize, both of whom think she went out there on her own. Rize then assumes Chino is waving at her to join her, and dives into the river to swim towards her. She later realizes she jumped in without thinking about it while wearing regular clothes instead of swimming gear, and that she didn't realize Chino was stuck there accidentally.
Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: Chiya hums a snippet of the second season's opening in episode eleven, when she and Megumi are out gathering food.
Digital Avatar: When Natsume shows Rize how to play a mobile game in chapter 164, we see them as Super-Deformed fairy tale characters, while their opponent is a hulking Jason Voohees-like bunny which turns out to be Cocoa.
Distinction Without a Difference: In chapter 121, Maya and Megu refuse to tell the Ginger twins which cafe Chino works at because they don't want the twins to turn her into their personal barista. The twins swear they won't — they just want to take her home and pay her to brew coffee for them.
"Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: The opening songs for all three seasons are sung by the voice actresses for Cocoa, Chino, Chiya, Rize and Syaro, while Chino, Maya and Megu's respective voice actors perform the ending songs for each seasons.
Double-Blind What-If:
- The manga takes place in a very non-Japanese timber-framed town. During the April Fool's Day chapter in vol. 9, Megu hits her head and gets "transported" to a parallel world where the girls all live in the Tokyo metropolitan area, which is far more typical and true-to-life for a manga set in Japan. Yet the girls also have floating Tippy-shaped computers, which is well beyond even Japan's standards of technology. While she's in this parallel world, the others discuss Megu's recurring dreams of living in a timber-framed town. Syaro looks at her like she's crazy, while Chiya quips that a life like that has an element of romanticism to it.
- Later, when Cocoa is sent to the world of Regene Play Rabbits, Megu's counterpart references both the half-timbered town and the futuristic Tokyo, implying that both worlds are real.
Dramatic Unmask: In chapter 18, after Cocoa puts a Brown Bag Mask on Syaro's head and leads her into Amausa An, Syaro takes the initiative and rips the bag off while announcing she wants to bake food for Chiya.
Dream Land: It's implied the characters can travel to the various "What If?" alternate realities created for April Fool's Day (which are literally real) via their dreams, and it has something to do with Kafuu Saki. Her ghost is associated with a pumpkin-headed child who gives Cocoa an invitation that whisks her off to a post-apocalyptic parallel universe, and Megu's counterpart on the other side casually mentions she dreamed about her other selves living in both the half-timbered town and the sci-fi metropolis Megu Prime once dreamt she visited. On top of that, when the Ginger twins have a Shared Dream about a bizarre universe where they catch bird-like versions of the other girls, Chino specifically points out the book that gave them the dream was from her mother, who appears in their dream as "The Witch" and asks them to look after Chino.
Dreaming of Times Gone By: In chapter 156, Cocoa stares into a mirror and slips back in time to see Chino's grandfather comforting her after her mother passed away.
Drowning My Sorrows:
- After Syaro reveals that she's a poor Scholarship Student, Chiya takes Syaro to three consecutive coffee houses in a row to drown away the latter's sorrow.
- Mocha chugs a glass of milk at Rabbit House during its bar hours after feeling rejected by Cocoa during the second season's sixth episode.
Drunk on Milk: Somehow, Aoyama's editor Mate Rin gets drunk on the apple juice Cocoa's class serves in their fake beer hall in vol. 5 ch. 12.
Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Done by several of the girls from time to time, though Chino uses it the most, usually after disapproving of something Cocoa says or did.
Early-Bird Cameo: Aoyama first appears in chapter 19, which was adapted into S1E06. However, the anime shows her in the OP and gives her a cameo walking past Cocoa on the street in the first episode.
Easy Amnesia: In chapter 23, when Chiya helps Rize get into character for her role as a demure, ladylike character, Rize barks her annoyance and impatiently asks if Chiya can just hit her over the head with a flower pot to change her personality instead.
Edible Theme Naming: All of the characters are named after a beverage of some sort, with their personalities being inspired by their namesake's attributes.
- Cocoa's cheerful, bubbly personality mirrors hot cocoa's sweet taste and familiarity.
- Chino is mature and slow to warm up to people, much like how cappuccino is bitter and takes a bit of skill to properly prepare.
- Rize's dual interests in cute and military themes is reflected in the Thé des Alizés tea's incorporation of a down-to-earth green tea with fruit to yield an interesting flavour combination.
- Chiya is a Yamato Nadeshiko representing the beauty and simplicity of the Uji Matcha tea.
- Syaro's personality is inspired by the complex flavours in Kilimanjaro coffee.
- Maya is quite boisterous, and named after Jogmaya tea, a variant of Darjeeling tea, which has a light and floral flavour.
- Megu's friendship helps Chino become more open; she's named after nutmeg, which is commonly added to various beverages to enhance their flavours.
- Aoyama is mysterious, refined but also childish at times. She's named after Jamaica's Blue Mountain coffee, which has a mild, nutty flavour that also lacks the bitterness of other coffees.
- Cocoa's older sister, Mocha, has a similar personality but is but is otherwise more mature. Caffè mocha is essentially cocoa with a shot of espresso, retaining all of the sweetness of cocoa, but with added bite.
Elaborate University High: Maya compares Rize and Syaro's high school to castles in Eastern RPGs. Its main hall looks like an opera house, and it grounds is akin to an European palace. In addition, its students use very formal language to one another.
Eldritch Location: The Bunny Arcade transcends reality, with gateways to parallel universes and endless mirror mazes with illusory temptations, and it is implied to be a sentient force which gathers up those who feel unwanted and makes then stay in its confines for the rest of time. Cocoa, Chino, and the Ginger twins are nearly trapped inside, but they're saved when the spirits of the dead appear and guide them home.
Embarrassing First Name: Aoyoma's actual first name is Midori. It's sufficiently embarrassing such that it's enough to motivate her when one of the juniors from her literature club, now an editor, threatens to refer to Aoyoma by this name should the latter fails to submit her manuscript for review.
Embarrassing Nickname:
- In chapter 29, Rize announces she's going to be referring to Chino, Maya, and Megu as "ChiMaMe" (Chino, Maya, and Megumi). However, Maya and Megu immediately reject this, and even Chino finds it unflattering. This stems from the fact that "Chimame" (血豆) translates to "blood blister". In time, though, all three come to embrace it.
- Later, Rize dubs Maya, Megu, and their Mirror Characters Natsume and Elu as the MaMeNaE, or "Pea Sprouts".
Entertainingly Wrong: In chapter 160, Fuyu crosses paths with Mocha as she tries to stay hidden from Cocoa and comes to the most sensible conclusion: she's Cocoa from the future and she needs to avoid creating a time paradox by meeting her past self.
Epic Fail:
- In chapter 13, adapted into S1E07, Cocoa attempts to flip a pancake into the air. It lands right on Chino's face.
- In chapter 15, adapted into S1E05, the girls attempt to practice sports, but it becomes a constant parade of misery and failure. First, Chiya overreacts to Cocoa'a volleyball set; her instincts cause her to slam the ball into Cocoa's head, knocking her out, at which point she passes out from a lack of stamina. Next, Cocoa plays badminton with Chino and boasts about her "splendid form", only to totally whiff it and get bonked in the head with the shuttlecock. Then, despite ostensibly trying to teach Chiya how to play volleyball, Rize gets so into it that Chiya is forced to sit on the sidelines cheering. Finally, Chino attempts to use the incredible badminton technique Rize showed her in gym, only to slam the shuttlecock into the net and knock herself out with the blowback.
- In chapter 21, adapted into S1E07, Cocoa misspells "Rabbit House" on a flyer as "Rabbit Horse".
Episode Title Card: The anime uses them, but there's no consistent time in which they show up. It could be right after the opening, at the halfway point, or right before the credits.
Everyone Calls Her "Barkeep": The Class Representative of Cocoa and Chiya's class is only only known as "Class Representative," even in such formal situations as an election. Even when she becomes Student Council President, they continue to call her Class Rep.
Evolving Credits:
- The cards seen in the ending vary slightly: more girls as they are introduced in the show as the season progresses.
- In episodes eight and nine of the first season, it switches from blue to red cards about halfway through, with multiple cards being shown at once instead of one at a time. Additionally, at the end of episode eight of the first season, instead of Chino's father and Tippy at the end, it's Aoyama and Tippy. He doesn't say anything, and instead just turns around and notices it's not his son.
- In episode ten of the first season, it reverts back to the original ending, though it doesn't always shows face cards initially. A couple of cards then drop on top of it until one of the correct cards is seen, then the rotation begins again until a set of Royal Straight Flushes with two Jokers (containing all girls) is completed. Chino also pops up at the next episode preview, when Tippy mentions wanting a quiet Christmas to announce they were throwing a Christmas party next episode.
- During episode eleven of the first season's ending, the red and blue cards are shown simultaneously, along with the face of the cards on a third deck. After a short while only one card is seen, and it rotates between the face cards with the various girls on them. Additionally the background is Christmas-themed and switches images occasionally.
- Chino, Maya and Megu individually play a game of Rock–Paper–Scissors with the viewers at the close to the ending sequence in the second season.

Tropes F-M

Face Your Fears: Rize and Chiya encourage Syaro to befriend the delinquent rabbit in chapter 31 to help her overcome her fear of rabbits. Although she hesitates at first, she works up the courage to make him her pet.
Failed a Spot Check:
- Whenever Tippy speaks with anyone other than Chino or her father, this is Played for Laughs, as the other characters assume Chino is using ventriloquism.
- Chino and Cocoa fail to recognize "Rose" as Rize (with her hair down wearing normal girl's clothing) on two separate occasions; the first instance is in episode 6 of the first season while the latter was simply walking down the street, and later in Chiya's tea shop in episode 9. Rize does not bother to correct them on either occasion. Subverted later in the third occasion, where they encounter her again in episode 9 of the third season, Cocoa does realize it's Rize when she pulled out her gun, while Chino was oblivious until being told by Rize.
- This is Played for Laughs in episode ten of the first season: after Chino and Maya both put on twintails and stand next to Rize, Megu claims she can't tell who the real "Rize" is. The latter remarks that she doesn't have to play dumb.
Family Business:
- Rabbit House and Ama Usa An are both family-owned, with the owning families operating the stores.
- Bright Bunny is a large national chain, but it's also technically a family business since Natsume and Elu are the daughters of the owner. Unlike Chino and Chiya, they refuse to start working there until they can legitimately pass a formal interview.
Fanservice with a Smile: The cast originally imagine Fleur de Lapin to be a seedy place partly because of that café's seemingly risque uniforms based on the flier's portrayal, but later learn that the uniforms are maid outfits with lop bunny ears added to the headdress.
Fantasy Creep: Initially, the series was a fairly grounded Slice of Life about quirky teenage girls having fun, with a single magical twist about the spirit of Chino's grandfather inhabiting the body of her pet rabbit. Over the years, usually on Halloween, it has gotten progressively weirder, to the point it now has magical mirrors transporting people back in time, an Afterlife Express, the spirit of Chino's mother visiting people in their dreams, dimension-hopping across The Multiverse, a mystical arcade that appears and vanishes when you aren't looking, and sinister shadow-people trying to trap the girls in mirror mazes.
Ferris Wheel Date Moment: In chapter 172, Cocoa wants to see the town's Christmas decorations from up high. She decides to ride the Ferris wheel nine times, once with each of her friends, in a parody of romancing different girls in a visual novel.
Feud Episode:
- In chapter 13, Cocoa tries to be helpful and puts together a jigsaw puzzle Chino was working on, However, she fails to consider that Chino enjoys methodical puzzle-solving, and that she ruined something Chino wanted to do on her own. It leads to a whole chapter of Cocoa attempting to make it up to Chino and then screwing up in other ways, like accidentally flipping a piping-hot pancake onto Chino's face.
- Chiya becomes distressed when Cocoa seemed unconcerned about the possibility of the two being split up in the new year. As it turns out, Chiya asked the question in an extremely indirect manner, and Cocoa was unaware that Chiya had been upset with her.
Fictional Video Game:
- During the city arc, the girls visit a cutting-edge arcade and play an immersive fantasy game with VR headsets.
- In chapter 164, several of the characters play a Dead by Daylight clone where a bunch of fairy tale characters have to try and elude a hulking bunny.
First-Episode Twist: At the end of chapter 2, it is revealed that the reason Chino's pet rabbit talks like an old man is because she houses the spirit of Chino's grandfather.
First Law of Metafictional Thermodynamics: The first seven volumes covered two years of time, ending with Rize graduating from high school and Chimame getting ready to enter it. After that, the next one-and-a-half volumes followed the seven main characters taking a two-week trip to the city, where they met three new main characters (in addition to Yura, who became an Ascended Extra when they returned). At that point, the pacing slows way down to accommodate all eleven characters and focus on how their stories interweave and play off each other, to the point that it takes the series another four volumes just to reach Halloween, midway through the school year.
Flash Back:
- A bonus strip at the end of chapter 25, adapted into S1E09, shows Chino's grandpa sitting on a park bench with Tippy, lamenting that he can't pay off his debts to keep Rabbit House afloat and wishing he could be a rabbit and not have to deal with human stuff like money. Then a young Cocoa, who is visiting the town, sits down next to him and "casts a spell" to turn him into a rabbit.
- Chapter 133 shows us Cocoa's side of the flashback — her mother took her to the half-timbered town to visit her best friend, Kafuu Saki. Saki showed Cocoa around the town and then "cast a charm" on her so that she'd become a magician and a big sister, which is then immediately followed by her talking to Saki's father(-in-law?) as seen in chapter 25.
- Megu and Maya tell Cocoa how they met Chino at school in episode twelve of season two, and how they took her along with one of their treasure hunts. Cocoa wonders if the two girls purposely took a long time because they wanted to get to know Chino better.
Foreshadowing:
- In chapter 23, Aoyama fawns over Syaro while Syaro is giving Rize pointers for her role in The Phantom of the Opera. When Aoyama calls the girl both an idol and a fighter, she noticably perks up, like she's just been hit by inspiration. It seems like, at that moment, she just got the idea for Phantom Thief Lapin.
- At the end of vol. 7, right before the girls leave for the city, Cocoa points out there's a building under construction. When they return a volume and a half later, it's revealed to be the new Bright Bunny location.
- In vol. 9 ch. 9, Megu and Maya angst about being placed into different classes in high school and making new friends. In the end, they resolve to become friends with each others' new friends. This foreshadows the fact that the Ginger twins they met in the city will become their new classmates.
Forgotten First Meeting: Chapter 135 elaborates on how Cocoa met Chino's mother when she was young. When Cocoa wakes up from her dream, she comments on how she forgot all about the incident (without realizing who the other person is).
Forgot Their Own Birthday: In vol. 9 ch. 13, Cocoa is so busy trying to throw a party to celebrate the new school year she forgets its opening day falls on her birthday, April 10th. Luckily for her, her friends all remembered and offer a toast not only to her birthday, but the second anniversary of her moving to the half-timbered town.
Four Lines, All Waiting: After the city arc, the manga added four new characters to the main ensemble, while keeping all of the old ones (minus Chino's grandfather, who ascends to heaven). So now we have the original five girls, Maya and Megu, Aoyama-sensei, and the Bright Bunny group (Fuyu, the Ginger girls, and Yura) to keep track of, and the way all their stories weave together with all the others', while only getting a single eight-page chapter every month.
Freeze-Frame Bonus: In vol. 8 ch. 6, the Ginger twins can be seen sitting behind Megumi and Syaro at the ballet.
Friendship Trinket:
- The little crown ornament on Anko's head signifies Chiya and Ayaro's friendship. The ninth episode of the third season is mainly about Chiya (briefly) losing it.
- During the city arc, Cocoa has Syaro's mother make a set of mugs with "We Are Family" printed on the side to commemorate the trip. The girls each get one in chapter 111, and from that point the mugs can be seen all over the place.
Funny Background Event:
- In episode nine, after Syaro snaps out of her depression in Chiya's tea shop, Anko, the latter's pet rabbit, starts to fall off Syaro's head and clings onto her shoulder/arm. It then grabs hold of her hand and starts to nibble on it while she's talking to Rize and Chiya. The comedic factor is compounded by the fact that Syaro normally fears rabbits, but completely ignores it during this scene.
- In chapter 33, when Syaro disappoints Rize by failing to give her any useful information, Syaro bashes herself over the head with her serving tray until she becomes dazed. The anime adaptation has Syaro continue to do it in the background after Cocoa and Rize move on to questioning Aoyama-sensei.
- In vol. 4 ch. 14, Chino wants to snap a picture of Syaro and Chiya having a normal conversation, but Cocoa keeps walking past in the background in a way that makes it seem like she is interacting with their table wear. Eventually Chino gets fed up and snaps at her for ruining the picture.
Fun with Homophones: In chapter 143, when Fuyu announces her intention to dominate the Ginger twins in chess, Natsume replies "Such a serious aura!?" When Yura creeps up behind Fuyu, the text around her then says "Serious Yura".
Fuzz Therapy: In chapter 174, Aoyama observes that Syaro treats her kouhais at Fleur like therapy dogs. Once they're gone, Aoyama gives Syaro the same treatment. Within seconds, Syaro has her head on Aoyama's lap.
Garage Sale: Season three's first episode sees Cocoa, Rize and Chino running a stall at a local flea market to sell unused items from Rabbit House.
Generation Xerox:
- Hotto Chiyoko and Kafuu Saki were best friends in high school. The overarching story of the series seems to be about Saki's spirit positioning Chiyoko's daughter into her own daughter's life, so they can have a similar relationship their mothers did, thus helping Chino overcome her grief.
- Syaro and Chiya have the same relationship their parents do — Kirima-san is poor but a hard worker who gets flustered easily, while Ujimatsu-san is a cool and collected woman who is somewhat spacy and enjoys riling Kirima-san up.
Ghost Story:
- In chapter 8, adapted into S1E03, the girls trade ghost stories while having a slumber party at Rabbit House due to a torrential downpour. Chino tries to get dramatic and tell them about the "mysterious white entity" that haunts Rabbit House, but it's painfully obvious she's talking about Tippy. Rize relates a ghost story her maid told her, about something hiding in the bushes and stalking her, but then she ruins the mystery by revealing that "something" was Rize herself, learning how to tail people. Finally, Chiya, a Nightmare Fetishist, is eager to tell the girls the story of "Rabbit the Ripper". We don't hear it, but we do cut to the girls' Thousand Yard Stares as they try and sleep.
- In chapter 31, Chino tries and fails to scare Cocoa with a ghost story. They are then interrupted by Syaro, who ran out of her house because she thought it was haunted for real. In a bonus strip after the chapter, Chino tries to scare Maya and Megu with a ghost story about a pillow that demands to be called "onee-chan", but they both peg the "ghost" is really Cocoa. Megu then relates a ghost story about a girl's voice near Amausa An who shouts, "No, not the herbs!" unaware that she's describing the same incident that led Syaro to run out of her house in the first place.
Giftedly Bad: In vol. 6 ch. 1, when Aoyama comes into Rabbit House and hears the kouhais playing their recorders beautifully and the senpais playing their accordions and melodicas horrifically, she gets a sparkle in her eye as she calls the cacaphony "skillfully awful."
Gilligan Cut: In vol. 5 ch. 11, Cocoa and Chiya announce to their classmates they have the willpower, determination, and school pride to resist catching "gokigenyou syndrome" when they visit Rize's school. Then there's a Smash Cut to their return several hours later, where they immediately say "Gokigenyou!" to their classmates.
Given Name Reveal: Cocoa has two brothers who went unnamed until their mother Chiyoko casually mentions they are Kei and Itsuki in chapter 133.
Going Home Again: Aoyama-san used to frequent Rabbit House. She was close enough to Chino's grandpa that he mentored her and served as the inspiration for The Barista Who Became a Rabbit. She stopped going there for a long time. When the film version of her novel is released in chapter 24, she works up the courage to return at last, determined to look "master" in the eye. However, when she is greeted by Takahiro, she runs off, moaning that she met eyes with a man who wasn't "master".
Got Volunteered: Megu and Maya do this to Chino when they first met at school in a Flash Back shown in episode twelve of season two. They raise her arms in unison and claim that they obtained another member.
Grand Theft Me: In chapter 167, after Cocoa Prime returns to the half-timbered town, it's revealed she was mentally possessing the body of her Regene Play Rabbits counterpart.
Gratuitous English:
- In the volume 1 omake, adapted into S1E02, Cocoa gleefully uses the term "sister complex" without fully understanding what the term entails.
- Chino says "Simple is best" when Cocoa comments that the mugs they use for the coffee shop is really ordinary looking.
- In episode ten, Syaro tries to help Cocoa and Chiya study for an English test. She wonders why they fail to pronounce simple words such as "like", whereas Cocoa can say "coffee" without difficulty and Chiya does the same with "green tea."
- In episode twelve of the second season, Cocoa says "me?" at two different points when someone points out that the pictures she's holding is of her. Mocha additionally doesn't recognize Cocoa in a picture, and after it's pointed out by their mother, she says "My sister?"
Gratuitous German: Numerous shops in the town have German names.
Group Reacts Individually: In vol. 4 ch. 0, when Aoyama says she wants to base her next novel on "someone close to me", Cocoa poses with a wink, Chino ducks out of sight behind the counter, and Rize turns to the side with a bashful blush.
Growling Gut: From chapter 4:
Cocoa: Fresh-baked bread is delicious!
Rize: Less talking, more working!
Rize's gut: Grrrrrrrrr...
Cocoa: (to Rize) Fresh-baked bread is really delicious!
Rize: ( covering ears, embarrassed) I know that!
Hair-Raising Hare: In chapter 164, Rize and Natsume play a Dead by Daylight clone where they play fairy tale characters who must flee from a hulking Jason Voorhees-shaped killer rabbit who wants to capture all the players and turn them into its little sisters. Naturally, it turns out to be Cocoa.
Halloween Episode: The series has had three Halloween arcs so far, and they tend to have some very weird stuff. The third one (chapters 166-170) alone has the spirits of the dead coming back to life, sinister arcades that disappear when you're not looking, haunted mirror mazes with doppelgangers of your friends, and a trip to a post-apocalyptic parallel universe.
Head Butt Thermometer: Chino does this to Cocoa in episode twelve, and learns that she's got a fever.
Head Pet:
- Cocoa does this briefly with Anko in episode four. He also sits on Syaro's head as well when Cocoa and Chiya visit her tea shop.
- During the first season's sixth episode, while visiting Chiya's tea shop, Chino puts Anko, the former's pet rabbit, on her head while talking about being lonely.
- Anko uses Syaro's head briefly in episode nine after she goes through a brief Heroic BSoD.
Hell Hotel: The Royal Cats Hotel from the city arc makes everybody who sees it yelp in fear. It's old and gothic and run by two not-all-there old ladies, but Aoyama-sensei vouches for it since the co-proprietors were her old wet nurses.
Hero-Worshipper: In chapter 20, when Maya and Megu temporarily help out at Rabbit House, Maya gushes over how cool Rize is and Megu says Cocoa is her role model. Both of them turn to Chino and ask her who she looks up to. Chino replies, "If I had to choose ... Syaro-san?"
Heroic BSoD: Cocoa suffers one right before her sister comes to visit her working at Rabbit House.
Heroic Second Wind: After a brutal Christmas shift in chapter 38, Syaro races to Rabbit House to attend Cocoa's party. However, when she gets there, she finds all her friends helping out with the Christmas rush. At first, she slumps over and bemoans her fate, but when Cocoa tells her she doesn't have to work, Syaro jumps to her feet with a battle cry and does it anyway.
Rize: She released powers from beyond her limits!
Hoist by Their Own Petard:
- In chapter 30, after everyone works hard on the laundry, Chiya prepares green tea as refreshments. However, she adds a glass of vegetable juice into the mix for fun. She ends up getting stuck with the vegetable juice and sagging to the ground retching at the unpleasant taste.
- Volume 4, chapter 2 (adapted into S2E04) has the senpais and the kouhais get seated at two different tables when they go to a fancy cafe.
  - After Cocoa notices Chino, Megu, and Maya observing them, she and Chiya attempt to discuss "grown up topics", such as the theory of relativity. When the kouhais later ask them about the differences between general and special relativity, neither Cocoa or Chiya are able to answer, prompting Rize to quip that they had it coming.
  - To solve the dilemma, the senpais and the kouhais push their tables together. Cocoa then proposes drawing straws to determine which table to sit at, which Rize (correctly) assumes is her ploy to sit with the kouhais. When they actually do draw, Cocoa is seated the farthest away from them. The last panel is her sobbing into her hands.
Horrible Camping Trip: Rize thinks this happens at the end of volume 4 (adapted into S2E11). She was planning on taking the girls out to have some fun out in the woods. Unfortunately things don't go very well for her, as her father didn't pack any food for them in a container that was clearly labeled food. They also don't have enough beds in the cabin, but mysteriously enough, some sleeping tents and sleeping bags, prompting the girls to camp outdoors for the night. Despite this, the girls improvised and had a lot of fun anyway, such as fishing and foraging for the food, and watching the stars at night.
Hostage Situation: This is Played for Laughs in chapter 29, adapted into S1E10, when Aoyama holds up Tippy with the water gun Megu gave her during their shoot-out at the public pool.
Hot Springs Episode: Episode eight doubles as a Beach Episode, with the girls visit a hot springs that also has a swimming pool.
Hypocritical Humor:
- In chapter 1, when Cocoa and Rize first meet, Rize (in her underwear) points her model gun at Cocoa and says she's up to no good. Cocoa wonders who the suspicious one truly is.
- At the end of chapter 1, Cocoa comments that Rize and Chino both have cool talents, and wishes she had something like that. She then looks at Chino's homework, and tells her the answers. Rize then asks her a difficult math question, and she answers it instantly. Then Cocoa goes back to lamenting about not having any talents whatsoever.
- In chapter 6, Cocoa and Syaro meet for the first time. Syaro gushes and fawns over a coffee mug, leading Cocoa to gleefully declare she has "strange tastes". Rize immediately calls Cocoa out on it, while thinking about the way she glomps onto Tippy.
- In chapter 26, Cocoa and Chiya reassure Megu and Maya that as long as you strike a healthy balance between work and school, everything usually turns out alright. Then they pivot away from the little girls and, shaking, beg each other for help with their homework.
- In episode twelve, Cocoa and Chiya run into Rize and Syaro at the market despite there being a large crowd. Chiya jokes she found Syaro due to smelling the herbs from the shop she works at. Syaro then immediately starts to sniff herself, and Rize tells her not to take it so seriously. Cocoa then mentions being able to smell gunpowder on Rize, causing her to also sniff herself. Cocoa then also mentions she was joking.
- In chapter 37, Syaro expresses surprise that Cocoa and Chino became drunk after eating chocolates with alcohol in them. Rize counters that Syaro easily gets drunk off of caffeine.
- Mocha, Cocoa's older sister, shows up to Rabbit House wearing a paper mask and dark shades. Later, Cocoa comes back wearing the same exact disguise, prompting her sister to comment at how silly said disguise looks. She is called out on it immediately by Rize, who says she was using the same exact disguise just moments earlier.
- In vol. 4 ch. 11, Chino tries to take a crossword book with her on their trip to the mountains. Cocoa confiscates it for being too introverted, then gets engrossed and starts solving it herself.
I Have This Friend: In chapter 25, when Aoyama-sensei sets up a life advice booth, Cocoa and Chino both give her letters from totally unrelated third parties asking for advice about a self-professed big sister trying to force her little sister to eat vegetables she hates.
I Will Fight Some More Forever: Rize declares she is ready to do whatever it takes to win in clothes shopping after she's too exhausted by the heat to stand up straight during the third season's opening episode.
Ignoring by Singing: When Aoyama's editor tracks her down and chastises her for missing her deadline, Aoyama covers her ears and says "Ahhhhhhhh~" to drown her editor out.
Imagine Spot: The characters have a propensity to imagine things in response to something another character said.
- A couple happen in the first episode, such as when Cocoa thought Rabbit House was literally a place to play with rabbits, and Rize imagining herself wearing a Playboy Bunny outfit.
- Rize does this in episode three, imagining herself in a Playboy Bunny costume, except this time with a floppy-eared headband like the one worn by Syaro. She decides that it works equally well.
Immediate Self-Contradiction: In vol. 6 ch. 1, after Syaro can't squeeze an accordion and Chiya chuckles at her, Syaro demands Chiya show her how it's done. Chiya accepts and pledges to "put my cultivated Japanese sound on displa—" and then immediately sinks to her knees, drained of stamina just holding the thing.
Improbably Female Cast: There are only two male characters of any importance, Chino's father and grandfather. Her father isn't seen too often, and Tippy is mostly silent, serving more as a mascot than an actual character.
I'm Taking Her Home with Me!: In episode three, Syaro jokingly suggests taking Chino home with her and making her a little sister. Cocoa doesn't take that too well, and claims Chino is her little sister.
Imagine Spotting: In chapter 172, Cocoa uses a visual novel route selection screen to sort out which girls she plans to take with her on the Ferris wheel, prompting somebody off-panel else to ask, "Why are you hallucinating a selection screen..."
In Another Man's Shoes: When Natsume is pretending to be Chino's little sister in chapter 158 and calls her "nee-sama", Chino is suddenly empowered and flush with energy. Chino claims she now understands how it feels to be Cocoa.
In Medias Res: Episode S3E04 explains Cocoa and Chiya's appearance in Rize and Syaro's school by starting with a flashback of Cocoa and Chiya's class meeting on how to improve their School Festival exhibit.
Inconsistent Spelling: Rize is seen as "Lize" in some translations, such as Crunchyroll's. Sentai Filmworks flip-flops between both, initially using "Lize". However, this was later revised to "Rize", but their apparent use of a search-and-replace resulted in errors such as "speciaRize" appearing in some episodes. Yen Press' localization also uses Rize.
The Infiltration: Treated like Serious Business in S1E03, after Chiya shows an advertisement flyer to the other girls of where Syaro works, and thinks it's a seedy place. They all attempt to peek in the café to see what kind of illegitimate business dealings go on in there, only for them to find out it's a regular tea café, and Syaro spots them peeking through the window immediately.
Innocuously Important Episode: Chapter 114, "CLOCKWORK RABBIT". It's a simple story where Megu declares she Won't Get Fooled Again on April Fool's Day, which is immediately put to the test when she seems to end up in a parallel universe based on the series's April Fool's What If? event, CLOCKWORK RABBIT. In that event, the girls all live in modern day Tokyo and have floating Tippy-shaped droids. Megu reaffirms her friendship with the counterparts of her friends, then wakes up back in the real world, unsure if what happened was real. It seems like a simple, Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane one-off. But in hindsight, knowing the Fantasy Creep that would set in, it foreshadows later chapters like chapter 159 (the Ginger twins dream about another April Fool's event, meet the ghost of Chino's mom in her "Witch" disguise, and have premonitions of things their friends will say when they wake up) and the volume 13 Halloween arc (where the Megu from the Regene Play Rabbits universe casually refers to the events of "CLOCKWORK RABBIT" to explain why she recognizes the dimensionally-displaced Cocoa).
Insignificant Anniversary: In chapter 22, Cocoa tries to make "My little sisters did something for their onee-chan" into a holiday to celebrate the day Chimame made her scones, but Chino isn't having any of it.
Instant Bandages: Cocoa sports one after she bumps into a cabinet in episode three while shopping for mugs.
Insult Backfire:
- In chapter 38, Rize chides Cocoa for slacking off during the Christmas rush.
  Cocoa: Demon instructor! Grim reaper of the battlefield!
  Rize: Fufu~ I take that as a compliment.
- In vol. 5 ch. 12, Chino visits Cocoa's school for the cultural festival and profusely apologizes to her classmates for her "no-good big sister". Cocoa squeals with delight about being called "big sister" while Maya points out from the sidelines that she should have taken offense at being called "no-good".
Internal Reveal: In chapter 144, Chino finally learns her mom was best friends with Cocoa's mom, a revelation Koi have been teasing their audience with for years.
Intoxication Ensues: Chapter 37, which was adapted into S2E07, involves Cocoa and Chino getting drunk off of chocolates made with brandy.
It Was with You All Along: In chapter 159, the Ginger twins dream about the Take Out Blue Bird universe. "The Witch" (the ghost of Kafuu Saki) appears and asks them to find the blue bird of happiness for her daughter. They hunt for eggs that hatch tiny winged versions of the other girls, but they aren't able to locate the fabled blue bird of happiness until the witch's daughter (Chino) points to their hitherto-unseen wings and tells them they were the blue bird of happiness all along. Then they wake up.
Item Get!: In vol. 4 ch. 1, when Chino finds the treasure chest the ciste map was leading them to, she raises it over her head and gazes in awe at it.
It's a Wonderful Plot: Chapter 168 is about Chino being whisked to a parallel timeline where Cocoa never came to town. Chino attends the "gokigenyou" school with her friends instead of the public school, and they don't know Syaro except as an upperclassman. The fact that her grandfather is still inhabiting Tippy's body in this timeline implies that she never discovered her true path in life.
It's All My Fault: Cocoa bops Chino on the head in S2E11, after the latter got stuck in a sandbar island while attempting to retrieve Cocoa's hat which flew off her head, which she also managed to catch a fish in the process. Though Chino is a little upset that she made Cocoa worry instead of the other way around, she then sees Cocoa repeatedly hitting herself over the head for leaving Chino out of her sights.
It's the Journey That Counts: In vol. 4 ch.1, when Cocoa finds the treasure chest that the ciste map was seemingly leading them to, it's empty. Wistfully, she says the real treasure was the memories etched on their souls. It's then subverted when Chino realizes there's another map tucked inside the empty box.
Iyashikei: The girls' experiences in their everyday lives are peaceful and soothing.
Japanese Ranguage: In vol. 4 ch. 1, which was adapted into episode S2E12, Maya recounts the story of how Chimame first met. On her self-introduction to her class, Chino said she wanted to be a barista. Maya confused that for a ballista, as in the medieval siege weapon. Maya took that to mean Chino wants to barge through all the obstacles in her life, and she convinced Chino to go looking for treasure with them due to her implacable nature. In the anime, Cocoa is also confused about this, and Chino has to clarify that she wants to serve coffee, not destroy the world.
Kitschy Themed Restaurant: Fleur de Lapin starts off more similar to a Cosplay Café, but as the series progresses, it becomes more family friendly and thus into this trope.
Laser-Guided Karma: During their camping trip Rize makes a wish on a shooting star that whoever screwed up her plans for the camping trip, such as not packing any food in a container clearly labeled "food", gets some karmic backlash. The scene immediately cuts to a drink her father was having at Rabbit House suddenly spilling completely on its own. Chino's father mentions this probably happened because someone wished for it, prompting Rize's father to say sometimes it's better if things don't go as planned, indicating he purposely sabotaged her plans for the camping trip. Fortunately for Rize, the girls tell her they had a lot of fun despite the supposed setbacks.
Late for School: Cocoa at first thinks she's going to be late, but Chiya points out that their school doesn't start until the next day. She turns red from embarrassment after finding out.
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In vol. 4 ch. 0, Aoyama says that it would be "interesting" if Cocoa was a protagonist.
Letting the Air out of the Band: The background music fades out when a touching moment is ruined by a mistimed or misinterpreted event.
Let Us Never Speak of This Again: In vol. 8 ch. 6, Syaro helps Megu pick out a pair of shoes and proudly remarks they'll be Senpai/Kohai at the same school soon.
Syaro: Leave everything to your onee-san!
Megu: Okay! You sounded like Cocoa just now.
Syaro: [grimacing] Let's just pretend this never happened.
Megu: Why?!
The Little Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday: A mysterious game center known as the Bunny Arcade will appear in a back alley to people who feel unwanted and abandoned, then vanish as soon when they leave. It first appears in vol. 7 ch. 2 when Cocoa and Maya are kicked out by Chino and Rize, respectively, because they can't focus on studying. It then reappears during the volume 13 Halloween arc, where it helps Cocoa and Chino come to terms with Cocoa leaving the town to attend college by sending them on an odyssey across dimensions.
Local Reference: The series has a near-fetishistic obsession with its pseudo-European ambiance — except for the school system, which is thoroughly Japanese: it starts in April, it doesn't seem to be co-ed, all the girls wear Sailor Fuku, it has a School Festival, etc.
Lost in Translation: In chapter 23, Rize announces she's going to play the part of Christine in The Phantom of the Opera. Cocoa then says she once played the part of a dog too. It seems like a Non Sequitur, but it's a pun on "Christine" being pronounced with an "-inu" at the end, so it sounds similar to a dog breed like Shiba Inu. The scanlators had to explain it in a translator's note.
Lotus-Eater Machine: Chapter 168 sees Chino get sent to a world where Cocoa never moved to the half-timbered town. There's nothing outright villainous about it (in fact, it's implied her mother sent her there), but she can't shake the unsettling feeling that something is wrong with the world and her friends.
Luminescent Blush: The normally reserved Chino blushes bright red after she spends a segment acting like a little sister around the others.
The Magazine Rule: In vol. 5 ch. 2, Syaro is seen reading a copy of Tableware Monthly, a magazine devoted exclusively to tableware.
Magical Realism:
- Several characters appear as ghosts, and later they ascend to Heaven together, but beyond that it's an ordinary Slice of Life show about schoolgirls living out their lives.
- Chapter 166 adds "going to a mysterious arcade and getting transported to a post-apocalyptic scavenger world" to the list of weird mystical happenings.
Malaproper: In chapter 29, Maya asks for Rize to teach her about Argentina. Rize is confused, but Megu points out she means "al dente".
Male Gaze: The camera is conveniently placed to show off the girls in their swimsuits during the eighth episode, and it seems to focus heavily on the lower half of Syaro's maid outfit from time to time.
Man Versus Machine: In chapter 30, after the washing machine at Rabbit House breaks, Cocoa and friends are totally spent after one whole hour handwashing their clothes. It causes Cocoa to yell, "Is humanity no match for the machines!?" but Chiya yells back, "Don't give in! With our strength combined, we can do this!"
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: When Megu takes a brief foray to sci-fi Tokyo in chapter 114, it's played off as if she just fell down the stairs and hit her head, but there's always that tease, that sliver of doubt, that it really happened. Chapter 167 implies it was actually real, because Cocoa wakes up in the body of her counterpart in a third alternate world, where Megu's counterpart states she's seen the other two universes in her dreams.
Medium Awareness: In chapter 14, as Cocoa takes a picture of Syaro sitting elegantly, Cocoa says she can almost see a backdrop of roses. The panel depicts Syaro with an actual backdrop of roses.
Megaphone Gag: When Cocoa and Rize get sidetracked petting rabbits in vol. 5 ch. 1, Chino (who is hated by rabbits) gets angry and humiliates them by using the store's PA system to make a lost child announcement for them, telling them their onee-chan is waiting.
Missing the Good Stuff: In chapter 14, Cocoa tries to get Perpetual Frowner Chino to smile in a photograph. Teary-eyed, Cocoa begs Rize to help her. In the next panel, Rize notices Chino smirking at how the last photograph looks like a mug shot and yells for Cocoa ... only for Cocoa to pop her head out of the kitchen and say she was checking the bread in the oven.
The Mirror Shows Your True Self: When Chino wanders into the mystical Bunny Arcade in chapter 168, she heads into the hall of mirrors. Rather than see her Halloween costume (a witchy magician), her reflection shows her wearing the uniform of the rich girls' school, looking dour and cold.
Modeling Poses: In chapter 14, Cocoa wants to take a picture of Chiya at work to send to her family. She tells Chiya to "act natural". Chiya immediately pulls a sultry Leaning on the Furniture pose, causing Cocoa to shout, "I said to act natural!" Chiya goes Super-Deformed and balances two trays in her hands and another on her head with a goofy smile while shouting, "Three-tray style!" Cocoa says, "That's more like it!"
Monkey Morality Pose: The Chimame pull this in vol. 8 ch. 13, when they try and "forget" that Cocoa blurted out the fact that their senpai got them a present.
The Movie:
- ~Dear My Sister~, a theatrical OVA released two years after season 2. It focuses on Cocoa's trip back home to visit her family, and Chino realizing how much she misses her.
- ~Sing For Me~, a theatrical OVA released after another two years. It focuses on Chino giving a performance at school, and the others' attempts to support her.
- ~We Are Family!~, a theatrical film releasing six years after season 3 ended. Judging by the promo art, it'll adapt Chimame's attempts to pass their high school admission exams from volume 7.
The Multiverse: Chapter 167 strongly implies that Gochiusa's various April Fool's settings (the universe where Chino is a magical girl, the universe where they live in a futuristic Tokyo, the universe where they're post-apocalyptic scavengers, the universe where the Ginger twins have to catch tiny birdlike versions of the other girls, etc.) aren't just funny, out-of-universe "What If?" ideas, but actual parallel universes that the characters can visit. Megu is revealed to be a Dimensional Traveler in her dreams, and the ghost of Chino's mom and that pumpkin-headed child associated with her seem to have some control over the dimension-hopping the other characters experience. The next chapter would take this even further, sending Chino to a parallel world where Cocoa never moved to the city, Chino goes to the rich girls' academy, and their senpai aren't friends with each other.
Mundane Fantastic: In volume 13's Halloween arc, after Cocoa and Chino hop across dimensions, fend off shadow-creatures in a haunted mirror maze, and escape the Bunny Arcade with the help of the spirits of the dead, they arrive at the Ginger Twins' mansion and enjoy the party, only mildly flustered by their ordeal. When they tell Chiya about what happened, her exact words are, "Oh my~ You had a profound paranormal experience!? I'm so jealous~"
Mundane Made Awesome:
- While teaching Cocoa how to make latte art, Rize flips the milk and coffee with grand gestures, then stirring as she's making the art.
- The girls hilariously turn a simple outing of practicing for a sports event in episode five into a life-and-death event.
Mutual Envy: Rize envies Syaro's ojou mannerisms and wants to be more feminine, while Syaro envies Rize's cool and confident personality.
My God, What Have I Done?:
- In chapter 16, when Cocoa realizes that her calling Chino "soft and fluffy" day-in and day-out has given the girl Weight Woe, Cocoa claps her hands to her cheeks and screams, "This is my fault!? Uwahh!"
- In chapter 33, Syaro flashes back to the day she and Chiya, as six-year-olds, looked at the menu for Rabbit House. Syaro realizes the reason Chiya gives snacks such bizarre names is because Syaro cried out in alarm that Amausa-An's menu couldn't compete with Rabbit House's strong-sounding selection. In the present, Syaro reacts to this with shock and dismay.
Mysterious Stranger: On two consecutive Halloweens (in vols. 6 and 13), Cocoa meets a little kid with a pumpkin-headed mask. In the first Halloween, they seem to just be an ordinary kid in costume, but on the second they seek her out and give her an invitation to the otherworldly Bunny Arcade to help her work through her issues, prompting the question of just who this kid is.

Tropes: N-Y

Naked First Impression: In chapter 1, Cocoa first meets Rize when the latter is clad in naught but her underwear.
Never the Selves Shall Meet: Invoked. When Fuyu spots Mocha creeping through the town, staying out of sight, in chapter 160, she thinks it's a version of Cocoa from the future trying to prevent a time paradox by avoiding her past self.
New Job as the Plot Demands:
- Megu, Maya, Elu, and Natsume have permanent jobs at Amausa An (Megu and Elu) and Fleur de Lapin (Maya and Natsume). However, they also tend to work everywhere else when a chapter requires it, like Megu and Elu working at Fleur because they need to work off their bill or Maya and Megu covering for Cocoa and Chino at Rabbit House during their vacation.
  - In chapter 20, Megu and Maya come to Chino's house to play, but since Cocoa and Rize are late, they get roped into working instead.
  - In chapters 28 and 29, Cocoa sleeps over at Amausa An while Megu and Maya sleep over at Rabbit House, and naturally they all end up working where they're staying.
  - In vol. 4 ch. 0, Aoyama-sensei starts working at Fleur de Lapin for inspiration.
  - In vol. 4 ch. 10, Chino works at Amausa-An as part of a school assignment, while Megu works at Fleur de Lapin and Maya works at Rabbit House.
  - In vol. 5 ch. 12, when everybody goes to Cocoa's school foe the festival, Cocoa's class let them try on the Oktoberfest-style uniforms for fun ... and then immediately scarper, leaving them to run the class's "beer" (actually apple juice) hall by themselves. Even Aoyama and Rin get roped into working there.
  - In chapter 154, during the school festival, the visiting Elu and Natsume take over for Chino at her class cafe (at a school they don't even go to) so Chino can enjoy the festival with Maya and Megu.
- In chapter 180, Rize heads to the Christmas market to find a way to replace Cocoa's accordion, which she accidentally broke. Naturally, when she gets there, she learns Cocoa just got a job as a greeter.
Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: In chapter 10, which was adapted into S1E03, Cocoa announces she wants to become "the town's international lawyer". After Chino discusses her dreams for the future, Cocoa then declares she wants to be "the town's international barista lawyer". In chapter 19 (adapted into S1E06), when she meets Aoyama-sensei for the first time and learns she's a novelist, Cocoa thinks about how nice it would be to become "the town's international barista-lawyer-baker who follows the path of the writer."
No Name Given: Aside from the businesses, nothing in the setting is ever given a proper name. The town they live in is just called "the timber-framed town". The city is "the city". The rich girls' school is "the gokigenyou school". Coupled with the strangely out-of-place European aesthetic, it lends the series a timeless, dreamlike quality. On the other hand, when Megu goes to the CLOCKWORK RABBIT universe in chapter 114, her friends' AU counterparts explicitly say they live in the Tokyo metropolis, which weirds Megu out due to how strange it looks, whereas Chiya says that Megu's claim of living in a half-timbered town sounds romantic.
No, You Go First: In chapter 13, when the girls are putting a jigsaw puzzle together, Syaro and Rize find a spot that seems to fit both of their pieces and urge the other to try it out first. It leads to a stalemate that is only broken when Chiya slides between them with the right piece.
Noodle Incident: After Chino tries asking Cocoa her how school day went in the second episode, the latter keeps changing the subject, but then eventually just tells her to stop asking in light of Chino's persistence.
Not So Above It All: In episode three, after Cocoa dons Chino's school uniform, Syaro sees Rize wearing it as well. Out of embarrassment, Rize hides behind the curtains and claims that she lost at Rock–Paper–Scissors.
Not What It Looks Like: In chapter 18, adapted into S1E07, Rize lends her model gun to Cocoa to protect herself while walking to Amausa An at night. Outside Amausa An, Cocoa finds Syaro sitting on the curb, scared to go inside because Anko will bite her if he sees her face. So Cocoa puts a Brown Bag Mask on her head to hide it. The instant they go inside, with Cocoa packing heat and Syaro hiding her face, Chiya yells out, "Is this a robbery!?"
OOC Is Serious Business: In vol. 4 ch. 3, when Cocoa actually takes her job seriously for once, Chino and Rize are visibly unnerved. Chino actually says, "This feels like the wrong shop. Please make it stop." Cocoa reveals she wants to seem like a capable worker to impress her sister Mocha, who is coming to visit. Later, things get turned on their head when Rize and Chino pretend they can't do simple tasks to make Cocoa look better by contrast, but Cocoa moans that she can't stand to see her friends acting like morons, even if it is for her benefit.
Oblivious to His Own Description: In chapter 174, when Aoyama sees a sign stuck to the door of Fleur de Lapin warning a "certain novelist" they're not welcome, she is absolutely livid ... on behalf of this unnamed novelist that she doesn't know.
Oh, Crap!:
- In chapter 21, adapted into S1E07, Chino and Rize both let out shocked gasps as they notice Syaro coming out of her rundown house and realize they were gravely mistaken about how wealthy she is.
- In chapter 38, Syaro panics when she realizes that Fleur de Lapin making her hand out flyers in a cold Christmas winter matches the circumstances of the classic, but tragic, story The Little Match Girl
One-Hour Work Week: Despite all the main characters having jobs, they have no problem leaving to take part in wacky adventures.
- In chapter 8, Chiya and the Rabbit House girls collectively leave their posts to spy on Syaro.
- In chapter 14, Cocoa fetches Chiya from her job to put on an impromptu Manzai act.
  Rize: Isn't Chiya supposed to be working?!
- In vol. 6 ch. 1, when somebody insults Rize's maraca playing, she stomps out of Rabbit House declaring she's going to get better for next time. Chino shouts after her, "And what about work?!
One Size Fits All: Despite having fairly different body sizes, Cocoa's work uniform fits both the larger Aoyama and smaller Megu reasonably well when they're seen wearing it. This also occurs when Maya wears Rize's outfit.
Only Sane Man: Chino frequently remarks on the ridiculousness of some of the things that her friends say or do.
Out-of-Genre Experience: The Halloween arc in volume 13 briefly turns the series into some kind of kids' fantasy movie from The '80s, in the vein of Time Bandits, The NeverEnding Story (1984), and Labyrinth. After it concludes, the series goes right back to being a relaxed Slice of Life.
Overshadowed by Awesome: In chapter 15, adapted into S1E05, Rize tries to teach Chiya how to play volleyball. But Rize gets so into it that Chiya becomes The Load, and is reduced to simply cheering for her from the sidelines, leaving Rize to wonder what happened.
Paper Fan of Doom:
- In chapter 20, a blushing Rize slaps Cocoa on the back of the head with a menu because she's too embarrassed to admit she's jealous of Chino and Cocoa living together.
- In chapter 28, adapted into S1E10, Chiya asks Syaro to hit her and Cocoa with a paper fan if either of them become distracted while studying. Though they don't study that much in the emd, Syaro never uses it and instead just wants to go home.
- Chiya spends the entirety of vol. 5 ch. 2 trying to get Syaro (who hates horror) to watch a horror movie with her. In the end, she finally succeeds ... only to doze off five minutes into the film. An angry Syaro whacks Chiya over the head with a paper fan for it.
- In vol. 7 ch. 2, when Megu and Chino are being tutored by Chiya, Megu goes on a kick where she slaps Chiya with a paper fan in a kooky bid to raise Chino's concentration. Chiya encourages it because the fan makes a funny sound. Later, when Maya worries Megu by disappearing, she pulls the fan out again and whacks Maya over the head repeatedly.
- In vol. 7 ch. 10, a very gloomy Megu goes to Chiya with the letter from the rich girls' school telling her whether she got in. Megu asks Chiya to open it for her. With trepidation in her eyes, Chiya opens it, and ... finds out Megu passed with flying colors. Then she lowers the letter to see Megu sticking her tongue out. They trade a few whacks with a paper fan before embracing each other, laughing and crying at the same time.
Paper-Thin Disguise:
- "Rose" is Rize with her hair down and styled, sporting a more feminine blouse and skirt. However, this is sufficient to deceive Cocoa and Chino, who nonetheless find "Rose" curiously familiar.
- Mocha attempts this after Aoyama suggested she go into Rabbit House with a disguise. Unfortunately she just wears a breathing mask and dark shades, and Cocoa isn't in the cafe when she arrives. Instead, she just creeps out both Rize and Chino, who assume she must be a drug dealer, especially after she complains about the bread's flavor and pulls out a large bag of flour, which to the other girls looks suspiciously like cocaine.
- Cocoa also attempts a similar disguise a few moments later using the same disguise, but is immediately recognized by Mocha.
Parental Abandonment: This is ultimately averted in a conversation between Cocoa and Chino when the former asks the latter where Chino's guardian is at. Chino says the store used to belong to her late grandfather, prompting the Cocoa to offer her condolences, but Chino follows up and notes that she lives with her father. He's seen at the end of the day, getting ready to run Rabbit House at night as a bar.
Playing a Tree: In chapter 23 (adapted into S1E09), when Cocoa asks Chino if she's ever had a role in a school play, Chino replies that once played a tree. She says the best part about playing a tree is that she gets to stay quiet.
Please, Don't Leave Me:
- In chapter 23, adapted into S1E09, both Chino and Cocoa worry that Rize might enjoy acting to the extent that she would quit working at the Rabbit House and join the theater club. Fortunately for them, while Rize says she enjoys it, she doesn't plan to make a career out of it.
- In the third Halloween arc (chapters 166-170), Cocoa feels depressed about her decision to leave the half-timbered town for college. She frets about all her friends forgetting her. This inner fear forms the basis of the dimension-hopping odyssey she and Chino go on. When they're lost in a mirror maze with doppelgangers of each other trying to tempt them, it's revealed that Chino secretly wants Cocoa to say she'll stay and play with her forever.
Predatory Business: Bright Bunny tries to buy out Fleur de Lapin in vol. 10 ch. 8, troubling Syaro, Elu, and Megumi (who are temporarily working there since they didn't have the money to pay for dinner). However, Elu — who spent the whole chapter worrying she wasn't big sister material — grows a spine and puts the kaput on it by calling her father (the president of Bright Bunny) to get them to stop.
Pretty Fly for a White Guy: In vol. 8 chapter 6, Megumi tries to dress "street" because she's been told it's the style in the city, and it is absolutely adorable.
Pretty Freeloaders: This is averted with Cocoa, given that one of the terms for staying at Rabbit House is to assist with household chores and help run the café. Interestingly, while she's more than willing to help and is generally competent, but Chino constantly tries to do at least the chores by herself.
Prophetic Dream: In chapter 159, the Ginger twins (collectively) dream they've traveled to the world of "Take Out Blue Bird", where Kafuu Saki (whose book inspired the dream) pops in and asks them to look after Chino. The dream versions of the other girls then say things that foreshadow what their real life counterparts say after the twins wake up, like Megu claiming she'll give them a heart transplant and Chiya telling them to look at Amausa An's dango.
Pun: In vol. 5 ch. 3, when Chiya says that Rize might be out of it because Cocoa isn't around, Chino sums the situation up as Rize being "neutra-Rize-d".
Puni Plush: This is not particularly surprising, provided that GochiUsa is published in Kirara.
Putto: In vol. 5 ch. 9, Syaro puts on one of Rize's old shirts and instantly passes out in heavenly bliss from "senpai's scent". A winged Wild Geese and Anko flutter around her head, blowing tiny trumpets like cherubs.
Pygmalion Plot: Invoked. In chapter 149, Natsume and Megu are both up for a role in My Favorite Lady, a musical adaptation of the trope namer. Since Megu is a country girl and Natsume is a city girl, they decide to teach other how to embody both sides of the heroine's perdonality, so they have a better shot at winning the lead.
Quaking with Fear: Both Rize and Syaro quake in fear after the reveal that Maya is academically very strong despite acting like a energetic bonehead.
Questioning Title?: The manga is titled "Is the order a rabbit?", and the title to season two adds one additional question mark.
Reality Is Unrealistic: While shopping for coffee mugs in episode three, Cocoa thinks Tippy sitting inside a teacup would look really cute. Rize comments that there aren't any mugs that big, but then Chino finds one. However, when they put Tippy in it, they find that the result resembles a bowl of rice.
Real-Place Background: The locations seen in the show are inspired by Colmar, a town in the Alsace region of France. The pool that the girls visit are based on Budapest’s Széchenyi thermal bath.
Recognition Failure: Hilariously both Cocoa and her sister Mocha fail to realize that the girl in one of the pictures Chino took at their camping trip is of her. Justified however, because Cocoa was usually doing something silly in every shot she was in, so the "normal" one of her seemed out of place by comparison.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Cocoa, Chiya, Chino, and Fuyu in high school. Cocoa and Chiya wear red uniforms, have warm-colored hair, and are nurturing and bubbly. Chino and Fuyu wear blue uniforms, have cool-colored hair, and are reserved and taciturn.
The Remake: In chapter 23, the theatre club at Rize's academy scouts her for the part of Christine in The Phantom of the Opera. However, after a whole chapter of fretting about whether she's ladylike enough to play the role, it turns out the club was planning to rewrite the part to match Rize's personality as a gun-toting Action Girl anyway.
Rescue Romance: Syaro's recollection is that Rize saved her from some thugs in a dark alley in episode three, but Rize explains that Syaro actualy had encountered a feral rabbit and didn't want to go near it for fear of getting bitten, and she shoos it away for her. In either case, Syaro developed a crush on Rize as a result.
Rewatch Bonus: After chapter 114, there's a double page spread where the Prime universe characters and their CLOCKWORK RABBIT counterparts walk away from each other. However, the two Megus are both turning back to look at each other. Prime Megu is confused and uncertain, while CLOCKWORK Megu gives her a sly, knowing smile. Fifty chapters later, it would be revealed that traveling through The Multiverse involves body-swapping with your counterpart, who retains all the memories of what happened. So essentially, CLOCKWORK Megu is happy that her Prime universe counterpart found what she needed.
Rhetorical Question Blunder: In chapter 7, the girls discuss infiltrating Fleur de Lapin to see whether it's a shady place. Rize, in Drill Sergeant Nasty mode, shouts, "Do you have what it takes to become a ghost?!" Cocoa replies, "Probably."
Robot Buddy: In the CLOCKWORK RABBIT universe, everybody has a Tippy — a floating, orb-shaped droid that functions like a smart phone with Alexa installed. Most of them look like the Prime universe's Tippy, but Syaro and Rize have ones that look like their respective Wild Geeses, and Chiya has one that looks like Anko.
Russian Roulette:
- In chapter 11, Cocoa asks Rize if she knows anything about telling fortunes. Rize replies, "I don't know much about fortunes, but...I do know a lot about trying your luck", while holding her figures to her temple like a loaded pistol, with a little revolver hovering next to it in case you didn't get it. She's probably just talking about watching a lot of war movies ... probably.
- In chapter 30, Chiya hands out glasses of iced tea while cheerfully telling her friends she put a kale-based vegetable juice in one of them. She is then Hoist By Her Own Petard when she ends up with the spiked drink.
- When Mocha visits the half-timbered town in vol. 4 ch. 5, everybody goes on a picnic.
  Mocha: But one of these [pieces of bread I baked] has mustard inside it!
  Chiya: What a coincidence! I brought some Russian Roulette botamochi with me too!
  Rize: They're the worst combination!
- During the Halloween celebrations in vol. 6 ch. 5, Megu and Maya head to Amausa-An in search of candy. Chiya hands them a tray of pumpkin tarts, with a word of caution that one has wasabi inside it. After MaMe gasp in shock, she reveals she was just kidding ... only for her granny to peek in and say she laced two of them with wasabi.
Scenery Censor: In the bonus strip after chapter 25, a soccer ball flying through the air hides the face of Chino's granddad back when he was human.
School Sport Uniform: The school Rize and Syaro attend has its girls wear bloomers during physical activities. It's a per-school thing in the town, as in the school Chino attends, the girls wear longer shorts or pants.
School Festival:
- Vol. 5 ch. 12 involves Cocoa's school putting on a festival, and the other girls attending it. Even though it's a quintessentially Japanese-style school festival (albeit with a strong Oktoberfest theme), the other girls don't seem to be familiar with what a school festival is and marvel at the sight of food stalls and people in costumes.
- The climax of vol. 12 involves next year's school festival, with a heavy Alice In Wonderland.
Schoolgirl Series: This is downplayed; while the main characters are schoolgirls, scenes set at school are rare and moreover, the girls attend different schools. Instead, the series focuses on their time outside of classes.
Second Episode Introduction: Chiya and Syaro are both introduced in episodes 2 and 3 respectively.
Secretly Wealthy: Due to the way she acts and looks, Cocoa and Chino assume that Syaro is a rich girl when they first meet her in episode three. In actuality, Syaro lives in a dilapidated house adjacent to Chiya's café.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: In chapter 23, when Rize angsts about playing the female lead in a play, Cocoa shouts at her to relax before she breaks the plate she's washing, but her loud tone and the fact that she calls Rize by her character's name causes Rize to break it anyway.
Sentai:
- In chapter 20, Cocoa says that if Rabbit House gets two more color-coded uniforms, she'll be able to realize her dream of forming a sentai squad to fight evil.
- When Cocoa discusses her idea for a band in vol. 6 ch. 1, she dubs them the "Rabbit Rangers" and has an Imagine Spot of all seven girls doing a "Super Sentai" Stance in color-coded Rabbit House uniforms.
Sequel Episode: Cocoa's second trip home, in chapter 144, is a followup to her first trip home in vol. 5. It riffs on the same gags, such as Mocha announcing there are X sisters before pulling her mother into a group hug and correcting herself to X+1 sisters, or Mocha upgrading from a bicycle to a Vespa in the first chapter and then from a Vespa to a delivery truck in the second, and both times making Cocoa sick with her crazy driving.
Serial Escalation: In episode eight, Rize has an Imagine Spot where she first shoots clay pigeons with a small hunting rifle. After taking a sip of coffee, then shoots down multiples in quick succession with an anti-materiel rifle.
Serious Business:
- In chapter 22, Syaro mentions to Chiya that Cocoa seemed down. Chiya considers herself a failure of a friend because she didn't notice. In The Tag, she shows up to school in samurai regalia.
  Chiya: I shall perform a funny joke now, if I fail I will commit seppuku.
  Cocoa: A JOKE!?
- The stakes for a chess game between Chiya and Chino in episode eight escalate after the former makes a bet that if she wins, Chino has to dip Tippy in the water so she can see what he looks like wet. Chino, meanwhile, makes a bet that if she wins, Cocoa has to call her "big sister". Naturally Tippy wants Chino to win, and Cocoa wants Chiya to win, and both "encourage" their respective players so much that the two can't play very well. Ultimately, Chino wins, as Cocoa calls her "big sister" in one scene shortly after.
- Chino and Cocoa become worried Rize might quit to pursue acting full time in episode nine, after the latter goes to Chiya's tea shop to learn how to act more womanly. Cocoa then gets jealous that Chino respects "Rose", actually just Rize with her hair down, more than her, and runs off crying, completely forgetting about Rize.
- In vol. 9 ch. 3, Maya, Megu, Elu, and Natsume all notice Chino and Cocoa are taking the pillow fight way too seriously, as a way to release their pent-up frustrations.
Seven Deadly Sins:
- In chapter 134, we discover that Aoyama-sensei's latest novel stars thinly-veiled caricatures of the girls as demons representing the seven deadly sins.
  - Greed: Cocoa wants to make the whole world into her little sisters.
  - Wrath: Sharo will outright contradict herself as an excuse to berate others.
&* Pride: Chiya is determined to expand operations until it includes world domination.
- Gluttony: Rize's appetite for fluffy things is insatiable.
- Sloth: Maya just wants to lounge on the couch all day long.
- Lust: Megu's charms have attracted a legion of fans who do her bidding.
- Envy: Chino wants to keep you all to herself, but she'll never admit it.
- Chapter 176 gives us a pseudo-sequel where Yura dreams she's a rich girl being serviced by the others as maids who represent the "ten defilements" of Buddhism.
She Cleans Up Nicely:
- In episode S1E06, Chino and Cocoa spot Rize checking out some clothing while they're walking around town. They don't bother her, and later in the evening, they run into a girl that Chino at first assumes is Rize with her hair down instead of her usual pigtails. The girl turns around surprised, but then the two girls assume she must not be Rize, and walk away. However, Tippy realizes that it was Rize, but had chosen not to reveal herself to Chino and Cocoa.
- In S2E12, the girls look at photos from their camping trip. Mixed in with the snapshots of Cocoa goofing off and making silly faces is a picture of her with a calm temperament and mature demeanor. Cocoa has no idea who it is until the others tell her. She later wonders if that's the version of herself Chino preferred, and even suffers a brief Heroic BSoD about it, until Chino clears up the matter.
Ship Tease:
- In chapter 159, the Ginger twins visit Amausa-an. Megu has a job as a waitress there, but she seems to be under the impression it's a maid cafe. When Elu (who is a Mirror Character for Megu) says she's nervous, Megu makes a heart with her hands, presses it against Elu's sternum, and clumsily shouts that she's going to cure Elu's nervousness by casting a spell to give her a "heart transplant". After Megu touches her, Elu blushes and looks away from the other girl.
  Elu: I think my heart is beating faster than before.
  Megu: Oh no, I made it worse!?
- In chapter 174, Aoyama-sensei observes Maya teasing a flustered Natsume on their shift together at Fleur and contemplates writing a romcom.
Shout-Out:
- In chapter 2, Rize has a stuffed rabbit with a camouflaged-patterned beret named The Wild Geese. The anime adds a poster of the film itself on her wall. Later, she would use that same name for Syaro's pet rabbit.
- In chapter 14, Cocoa wants to take a picture of Chiya working to send to her family. Chiya pulls a "three-tray style" pose, a reference to the "three-sword style" from One Piece.
- In chapter 19 (adapted into S1E06), Cocoa says Rize lent her a DVD of The Silence of the Rabbits and recommends Chino watch it with her, but Chino isn't too thrilled at the idea. The cover mimics the film's iconic facemask using a surgical mask with an X drawn across the mouth, delinquent-style.
- In chapter 20, Maya mentions she knows CQC because she saw it on what Megu describes as a "strange series on the TV". The anime adaptation turns it into a Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater reference, showing its final boss arena with flower petals blowing in the breeze.
- In chapter 23, Rize gets a part in The Phantom of the Opera.
- In chapter 29, Chino, Megu, and Maya play a mafioso-themed parody of Monopoly. In the anime adaptation, S1E10, Megu complains that she was shot to death at a toll booth on her turn.
- Chapter 31:
  - Rize declares that she's going to get rid of the "ghost" haunting Syaro's house. In the panel behind her is a rabbit-themed take on the Ghostbusters logo.
  - The anime adaptation, S2E02, replaces the Pyon! magazine that Wild Geese hides under with the copy of Walker from chapter 36 (which the anime shifted around to be the season 2 premiere instead).
- In a bonus strip after chapter 35, while the girls are playing the King's Game, Chiya declares, "Let them eat rabbit food," paraphrasing a saying often attributed to Marie-Antoinette. Syaro points out that a saying like that is bound to lead to a revolution.
- In chapter 36, Amausa-an, Fleur de Lapin and the Hoto family's bakery are featured in the Walker magazine, a reference to the Tokyo Walker family of urban guide magazines in Japan. The anime adaptation, S2E01, replaces the generic wine bottle ad on the back with an advertisement for Usashiki, an reference to Yuyushiki, another Kirara series adopted by Kinema Citrus.
- In chapter 38, adapted into S1E11, Syaro is tasked with handing out flyers for Fleur de Lapin on a cold Christmas night while dressed in a red, Christmassy cloak. As she imagines all the delicious food awaiting her at Cocoa's Christmas party, she realizes she's living out The Little Match Girl.
- In vol. 4 ch. 1, which was adapted into S2E12, Megu, Maya, and Chino crawl through a tiny hole in search of treasure. But Cocoa is too big to fit, so she tells the "hobbits" to go on without her on their journey.
- In vol. 4 ch. 8, when Chimame are trying to decide on a dance routine for class, Maya says they should do the moonwalk, while she splays her hand over her face.
- In vol. 6 ch. 5, when Chino is faced with the prospect of being replaced in ChiMaMe by Chiya, she sinks to her knees gasping. Somebody shouts from off-panel, "It's super effective!"
- Season One:
  - In episode three, Rize mentions liking junk food and military rations. A graphical interface screen pops up resembling one from Metal Gear Solid shows up shortly afterwards, scrolling through various food items.
  - In episode six, when Chino asks Maya a kind of movie she likes, Megu shows her the pamphlet of a movie she mentioned, which has a picture of a rabbit floating in space.
- Season Two:
  - When Megu and Maya are sketching Tippy in episode three, he resembles a Cute Slime Mook so much they threaten to turn him into EXP if he moves.
  - The ending title card for episode nine depicts Chiya in a bunny-themed Zero Suit.
- Season Three:
  - Phantom Thief Lapin uses playing cards as her weapon.
  - A flashback in the ninth episode shows Chiya, then as a child, climbed to a high point of the town, and then yelled "I will rule over the entire town!" with outstretched arms.
- In chapter 138, when Aoyama spots the Afterlife Express that's come to collect Tippy, she remarks that it looks like a galactic railroad.
- In chapter 149, Natsume and Megu practice for a role in My Favorite Lady.
- In chapter 169, when Chino is lost in a mystical mirror maze and meets duplicates of Cocoa, an 8-bit RPG text box claims, "Three wild Cocoas appeared!"
Show Within a Show: Phantom Thief Lapin is Aoyama's latest work and became immensely popular in-universe, receiving a TV show. The book starring a character resembling Syaro.
Sick Episode: The season one finale has both Cocoa and Syaro becoming sick with colds. Chino and Chiya take care of them, respectively. Chino subsequently falls ill with the mumps.
"Silly Me" Gesture: During the school festival in chapter 154, Cocoa and Chino accidentally swap top hats. Chino's top hat is for Mad Hatter cosplay at her class's cafe while Cocoa's is part of her class's stage magic routine and is full of props. When Cocoa is about to go on and realizes she has Chino's top hat, she tells her classmates she's forgotten how to do magic while knocking her skull and sticking her tongue out.
Sleep Cute: In S2E06, Cocoa and Mocha both fall asleep at the side of the bed. Chino joins them shortly after.
Slice of Life: GochiUsa deals with daily life in and around coffee shops.
Smash Cut:
- In vol. 7 ch. 9, there's an image of Cocoa and Chino peacefully slumbering next to each other in bed. The next page shows Cocoa, still asleep, sprawled everywhere on the mattress while Chino hangs off the bed with her face pressing against the floor.
- In chapter 114, there is a tender moment where everyone in the CLOCKWORK RABBIT universe agrees that, no matter what world they're in, they'll always be friends. Megu, who is from the Prime universe, heartily agrees with a smile. The next panel is Maya Prime giving Megu a brutal slap across the face to get her to wake up from her "dream".
Snap Back: Often, chapters will descend into chaos, with the girls wailing about how things have gotten completely out of hand or holding grudges against each other for getting tricked. Then, in the next chapter, their relationships will have reset to normal. However, since the anime adapts multiple chapters in one episode, sometimes this leads to weird mid-episode Snap Backs where a situation grows out of control in a way you'd think would have consequences, but we cut away and nobody mentions it again because we've moved on to adapting a different chapter.
Sneeze Cut:
- S1E10, which adapts chapter 29, adds a Sneeze Cut when Chino wonders if Cocoa's absence accounts for why she's accidentally makes nothing but hot cocoa. At Ama Usa An, Cocoa then sneezes and wonders if Chino misses her.
- In a bonus strip after chapter 31, Aoyama announces she will spin a spoon and when it stops it will point to a ghost. It points to Aoyama instead. She laughs it off, but behind her is Tippy, who sneezes in response to them talking about "the ghost".
So Proud of You: When the Bright Bunny crew take over Rabbit House for a day to cover for Chino, Chiya hovers on the sidelines watching them work and tells Syaro how proud she is about the progress they've made: Fuyu used to be so bad at smiling, Natsume used to be too shy to talk to customers, and Elu used to forget peoples' orders. However, it's subverted when Syaro interjects to point out they are still all of those things, and haven't improved at all. Chiya sighs in relief.
Syaro: Don't be relived after seeing them mess up!!
Something Only They Would Say: In chapter 169, when Cocoa and Chino are lost in a mystical funhouse with duplicates of each other, they both spot the fakes by what they say. Cocoa realizes Chino would never call her "onee-chan" without a struggle, whereas Chino quizzes the Cocoas about their Halloween costume and spots the real Cocoa by the fact that she screwed up the color scheme.
Stalker Without a Crush: In chapter 34, Maya is curious about whether she should attend the rich girls' school, so she tails Rize to see what it's like. Rize finda her and tells her to tail Aoyama instead, because of how mysterious she is. Aoyama turns out to be tailing Syaro for inspiration for her latest novel, but Syaro is tailing Rize and Maya, leading to a stalemate where the circle of stalkers are all waiting for somebody else to make a move. Then it turns out they're all being tailed by Chino and Megu, who were curious why Maya rushed to leave school. And then it's revealed that Chino and Megu are being tailed by Cocoa and Chiya, since Cocoa considers it her duty to look out for her little sister. And finally, in The Tag, we see Chino's grandpa watching her from afar while Takahiro watches him from afar.
Standard Post-Apocalyptic Setting: April Fool's Day 2020 introduces the Regene Play Rabbits setting. There is a handwave about how everybody simply left Earth in favor of outer space to keep things light, but visually the overgrown foliage and crumbling skyscrapers are meant to evoke something much grimmer.
Stealth Hi/Bye: Aoyama does this during episode 10, when Chino is talking to Tippy whilst playing a game of chess. When she hears her grandfather talking in an unusually feminine voice, she wonders if his voice changed, but then sees Aoyama sitting right next to them.
Stronger Than They Look: Despite being depicted as having a relatively slender build, Rize is seen effortlessly carrying things that Cocoa struggles with. Because she wants to be seen as a normal girl, she tries to downplay this.
Sudden Video Game Moment:
- In S1E03 when Rize reflects her liking to junk food and sample rations, icons of rations with descriptions and health bars appears on the screen.
- In chapter 172, when Cocoa ponders which girls to take on a Ferris wheel to see the town's Christmas decorations from up high, it's presented as a visual novel's romance route selection screen.
Sugar Bowl: With the setting being a peaceful, tranquil, picturesque town where the wildlife consists mostly of bunnies, the atmosphere remains adorable even during the few times in this story where a character is frightened or upset. This accounts for why GochiUsa eventually became the best-selling Kirara: such a setting provides better escapism than the generic Japanese towns used by many Iyashikei series.
Super Drowning Skills: Rize isn't a good swimmer at first in episode eight due to not having any swim classes at school. However, Syaro manages to teach her enough of the basics that she can swim somewhat in a short period of time. Also, Chino can't swim at all. In the manga she went after chasing Cocoa's hat, nearly drowning in the process. This was changed in the anime by her being trapped on a sandbar and waving for help due to her inability to swim.
Super-Reflexes: Chiya is surprisingly nimble and dodges all the balls being tossed at her in episode five.
"Super Sentai" Stance: In chapter 26, Cocoa, Maya, and Megu pull off a Sentai pose in the middle of Fleur de Lapin in order to convince Syaro to do her cafe's "signature pose".
Suspiciously Specific Denial:
- Syaro bumps into something while attempting to go to the bathroom at Chino's house. Initially frightened, she then sees Rize sitting on the floor, who says her candle burned out and she didn't want to move, but then claims is not what happened there.
- When Rize asks Syaro why she's working a part time job in episode five, the latter turns red and replies it's not because she needs the money or anything.
Symbolism:
- Chiyoko and Saki nickname themselves "Choco & Usagi", or chocolate bunny. The chocolate bunny is a traditional gift given out on Easter in Europe, where it symbolizes renewal and rebirth. Cocoa, Chiyoko's daughter, comes to the half-timbered town at the beginning of the (Japanese) school year, on Eastertime. With guidance from Saki's spirit, Cocoa befriends Saki's daughter Chino and helps her cope with Saki's death and learn to enjoy life by repeating the same friendship their mothers had. And it is heavily hinted that Chino will need to learn how to deal with loss before Cocoa departs the half-timbered town to start her new life at college, which will again happen around Eastertime.
- On Halloween night in chapter 166, Cocoa conceals her worries that her friends will forget her when she leaves town to attend college under her usual peppy attitude. She and Yura (following directions given to them by a pumpkin-headed child associated with the ghost of Chino's mom) end up at a magical arcade which only appears to those who feel unwanted. There, they play a crane game filled with stuffed dolls, all wearing the same Halloween costumes as their friends, slipping out of the crane's claw and (by extension) Cocoa's grasp. After that, the arcade transports Cocoa to the post-apocalyptic scavenger world of Regene Play Rabbits, where the characters search for artifacts of the old world, symbolizing Cocoa's desire not to be forgotten.
Synchronous Episodes:
- Chapter 28 follows Cocoa, Chiya, and Syaro as they have a study session over the weekend at Amausa An, while chapter 29 shows Chino having a sleepover with Maya and Megu at the same time.
- In vol. 5 ch. 3, Cocoa leaves town and visits home for a week, and we follow Rabbit House as they try and get by without her. The next chapter depicts Cocoa's trip home.
- In vol. 5 ch. 10, Chimame attend an open house at the gokigenyou school and meet up with Rize and Syaro. The chapter ends with all five of them stumbling across Chiya and Cocoa, who are also at the school on unrelated business. The next chapter shows the events at Cocoa's high school that led her and Chiya to be at the gokigenyou school, then jumps ahead to when they return before finally going into the wrap-up for all seven girls at Rabbit House that night.
Take a Third Option:
- In chapter 18, adapted into S1E07, Chiya gets a hole in her tights along with a bruised knee after tripping. Cocoa asks if she wants a bandaid or if she wants her knee colored black with magic marker to match her tights. Chiya just takes her tights off instead.
- Also in chapter 18, Chino says she has a problem. Cocoa and Rize both enthusiastically offer to help her. Instead, she turns to Tippy.
  Chino: It seems like I've stopped growing.
  Tippy: Just reapply yourself.
  Rize: Is that all!?
- In chapter 20, Maya and Megu ask Chino who she admires more, Rize or Cocoa. Chino picks Syaro instead.
Talking in Your Sleep: When Chino tries to wake Cocoa up in chapter 26, Cocoa mumbles, "When the bread's done baking, let me know with a trumpet, okay~?"
Tempting Fate:
- In episode four, while having lunch with Chiya outside, Cocoa says she's really proud of the lunch she made and couldn't wait to eat it. Anko, Chiya's pet rabbit, then falls out of the sky and lands right on top of her lunch. Chiya explains that Anko occasionally gets carried off by crows to explain the unusual situation. Cocoa also drops the croquette she buys at the school cafeteria moments later after saying she wanted to try it.
- In chapter 21, adapted into S1E07, after Cocoa tells Rize about the misspelled name of the café ("Rabbit Horse" instead of "Rabbit House"), the latter says they'll fix the flyers right away. Then a gust of wind blows and several of the flyers go up in the air.
- In episode twelve, Cocoa worries she might pass her cold onto Chino. The latter says she's tough, having been trained by Rize. In the next scene, she's come down with a case of the mumps.
- In episode four of season two, Cocoa has the girls draw lots to see where each of them would sit at a large table. Rize tells her she better not have rigged it so that she gets to sit by Megu, Maya, and Chino. Cocoa says it's completely impartial, only to then end up sitting at the seat furthest from them.
Thousand-Yard Stare:
- Chino displays them in episode seven after getting upset at Cocoa for various things she did that episode, such as attempting to give her The Glomp.
- Syaro's eyes dull after opening the door to Chiya's tea shop, only to see a scary looking mask staring at her the moment she opens the door.
- Cocoa shows some in episode four of season two after getting a letter from her older sister saying she was coming for a visit.
Training from Hell: In episode five, Chino asks if Rize could help her with sports for an upcoming sports event at her school. Rize says she'll be glad to help, and will train her very well. Chino then backs down, saying she doesn't want to be killed on the assumption training with Rize would be highly intense.
Treasure Hunt Episode: In vol. 4 ch. 1, adapted into S2E12, Cocoa finds a treasure map hidden behind one of Rabbit House's paintings and she goes looking for treasure with Chimame. She doesn't finish the first hunt since she couldn't fit into a hole in a wall, but Chino makes her a second map which she does finish.
The Triple: In episode five, Syaro says buying stuff with money one's earned makes the items more enjoyable. While she was referring to a glass cup, makeup, and a glass bottle, Rize says she knows what the former means. The items she's referring to includes a bayonet, an assault rifle and a tank.
Trouser Space: Given that Rize does not appear to have a hoister for her pistol, this is presumably how she carries said pistol around.
Tsundere:
- Chino is generally cold towards Cocoa and unreceptive of her, but there are moments where she genuinely expresses concern for her well-being.
- In vol. 10 ch. 4, Chiya asks Syaro to help mend a (supposed) rift between Cocoa and Chino on the basis that they need the input of a Tsundere like Chino.
Twin Switch: In chapter 164, Natsume dons a wig and pretends to be Elu, complete with girly poses and peppy attitude. Rize sees through it instantly. At the end of the chapter, after Rize helped Natsume with her issues, she enters and sees what looks like Natsume being peppy by herself, but Rize again instantly pegs that it's Elu pretending to be Natsume.
Tyop on the Cover: In-Universe. In chapter 21, adapted into S1E07, Cocoa has created fliers to advertise "Rabbit House". However, a misspelling results in the flier saying "Rabbit Horse" instead. Chino catches it and then regrets not proofreading it first, and Rize notes she didn't even realize it until they pointed it out.
Unfinished Business: In chapter 145, after Chino's grandfather finally hears what he needed to hear Chino say, he departs this world and joins Saki in the afterlife.
Unique Moment Ruined: In chapter 24, the girls run through the rain to go to the movie theater. Once they get there, they see the breathtaking sight of the sun breaking through the clouds, and gaze in awe at the godrays shining down from the sky.
Chiya: Apparently they call lights like that an "angel's stairway".
Chino: Beautiful.
Cocoa: Really!? [Beat] I was always told it's Mr. sun's runny nose.
Syaro & Chino: [with dull eyes] . . . . .
Narration: MOOD RUINED.
Very Loosely Based on a True Story: In episode eight, Tippy seems a little startled as the girls begin discussing elements from the movie, they'd watched together that resembles the story behind how Rabbit House came to be.
Waking Up Elsewhere: When Cocoa wakes up at the end of chapter 166, she finds herself in the abandoned scavenger world of "Regene Play Rabbits", from the 2020 April Fool's event.
Watch Out for That Tree!: In chapter 9, Chino decides to skip home because Maya claimed that jumping will help her grow taller. But she gets distracted by a bunny hopping along with her and skips head-first into a streetlight.
Wham Episode: Chapter 145. Chino's grandfather passes onto the afterlife, leaving Tippy as an ordinary rabbit.
When She Smiles: Invoked. Chapter 14 is all about Cocoa's attempt to get Chino to smile in a photograph.
Where the Hell Is Springfield?: It's hard to pinpoint where exactly the town is supposed be. The architecture, general aesthetic, and German written signs suggest Europe (specifically, Colmar, a city in France very close to the border with Germany), but the general culture is not very different from modern-day Japan, and several characters have names that are at least partially Japanese.
White Glove Test: In vol. 4 ch. 3, when Maya is tasked with "training" Cocoa, she acts like a mother-in-law and checks for dust by running her finger along a surface.
Wingding Eyes:
- When Chino has a sudden revelation that Rize sewed Wild Geese herself in vol. 5. ch. 3, her eyes turn into exclamation points.
- Whenever anybody gets viciously slapped to wake them out of a daze, expect their eyes to become crosshairs, as seen in chapters 114 and 133.
Work Com: This is a comedy set in a coffee shop, featuring moe elements.
Wounded Gazelle Gambit: In vol. 5 ch. 4, when Chiyoko learns her daughters got into a tiff, she tells them to get ready for the morning rush at the bakery ... and then claims she injured her wrist and flees. After Mocha and Cocoa spend a few days working hard together, Chiyoko's wrist "heals itself" when it's time for Cocoa to head back to the timber-framed town.
Wrong Assumption:
- In chapter 7, Rize stares coldly at Syaro in her Fleur de Lapin uniform. Syaro freaks out because she thinks Rize is full of contempt for her, but Rize is actually thinking about how she'd like a similar outfit.
- In chapter 20, Maya pulls out some CQC moves. She and Megu both have an inner monologue explaining she got them from TV, but Rize thinks she's literally associated with the military, despite being 13.
- In chapter 22, Cocoa looks ill while talking about the time her sister Mocha made scones. Chino and Rize think she's homesick, but she is actually physically sick at the memory of how awful the Sichuan pepper-flavored jam her sister made tasted.
- In chapter 34, Rize grabs Maya and drags her behind a bush so they don't get spotted by Aoyama, who they're tailing. However, they themselves are being tailed by Syaro, whose "Syaro filter" misinterprets Rize manhandling Maya as a hug and causes her to get jealous.
Wrong Genre Savvy: In chapter 23, Rize asks Chiya to change Rize's personality by hitting her over the head with a flower pot, a common manga cliche. However, Chiya tells her that's the wrong way to solve her problem.
You Are the Translated Foreign Word: Chapter 176 has the main characters symbolize the Buddhist "ten defilements" inside a dream Yura is having. When a girl is introduced, we get a caption explaining what defilement they are and then an aside by Yura explaining what it means. Presumably, this was for the benefit of Japanese audiences who don't understand Sanskrit. But it seems the English scanlators decided to translate both the defilement and Yura's commentary into English, resulting in such redundancies as Yura explaining that "self-righteousness" means "convinced she is always right" and "pettiness" means "egotistical".
You Didn't See That: In chapter 27, Cocoa totally wipes out on her new bicycle and falls into the road. Then she spots Syaro running past and asks, cool as a cucumber, "Need a ride?"
Syaro: Didn't you just fall!?
You Just Told Me: In vol. 5 ch. 3, Chino suspects her rabbit plush was handmade by Rize, who would be too embarrassed to tell her the truth. The next day, she announces that fact out loud to Syaro and Chiya. Sure enough, Rize spins around, blushing, and asks how she noticed. Chino says, "I was spot on!"
You Keep Using That Word: In the volume 1 omake, adapted into S1E02, Cocoa says that a customer told her she has a "sister complex". She thinks it has a "cool ring to it" and happily runs across the cafe to tell Rize about it, while Chino mentally remarks that Cocoa has no idea what it means.

Is the Order a Rabbit?

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Alternative Title(s): Gochuumon Wa Usagi Desu Ka, Is The Order A Rabbit

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Is the Order a Rabbit? provides examples of:

Alternative Title(s): Gochuumon Wa Usagi Desu Ka, Is The Order A Rabbit

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Is the Order a Rabbit?

6 Following