Is this episode, they break Cocoa’s thin grasp on sanity. But it’s funny.
What They Say:
Bunnisode 6: “Wood-Framed Town Mission Complete”
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
It would seem that Cocoa is being pushed to her mental breaking point as Mocha continues to dominate things, making all of Cocoa’s friends her little sisters (even if Chiya feels a bit left out, not being cuddled). Cocoa realizes she can never surpass her big sister until she stops allowing herself to be coddled by her. So, she overreacts by acting coldly. The strain of being ignored by her younger sister drives Mocha to drink…
…milk.
It would appear that Mocha has but a single weakness: her little sister Cocoa. When she no longer has her cute little sister constantly pulling on her apron strings (almost literally in this case), it drives her to drink (milk) and it makes her depressed when anything even reminds her of her youngest sibling (Chiya does not help matters by serving Mocha a “cold cocoa” at Ama Usa An).
Of course they’re going to reconcile. Of course Chino is going to continue to learn (and learn wrongly in certain respects—Thanks, Maya) what it’s like to have siblings. Of course we’re going to have really hilarious cutaway scenes like this one:
At this point in the season, the only people still watching are going to be those who really like the characters and the playful atmosphere and the funny gags tossed in. That’s the central and complete appeal of Is the Order a Rabbit? It was interesting to see Cocoa thrown off her game for a while when her much more reliable and competent big sister enters the scene, but two episodes is probably as much as the show could probably sustain of having Mocha around, as much as we all enjoyed seeing Rize turned into a cowering wallflower. Amusing as well was that Chiya’s mischievous side is matched perfectly by Mocha, who has the same like of teasing others. But the foundation of the show always has been Cocoa’s (usually hilarious) attempts at acting like a big sister to Chino, a younger girl who doesn’t really seem to be in need of having an older sister watch after her.
The apparent role-reversal is what makes the dynamic of the characters work. Mocha, however, is a competent older sister, so while it is nice to see Chino react to a real big sister in the way she might have had she had one of her own, there’s more sentiment than comedy coming out of that pairing. Heartwarming “dawwwws” but not usual driving force of humor. It was nice to have Mocha visit. It was funny too. We learned something of Cocoa’s past and what made her the (screwy, insane, wacky) girl she is now. But it’s time to move on. This is the mark of good execution when it comes to bringing in a new character who is not meant to join the main cast permanently. Mocha was very fun to watch, but she didn’t overstay her welcome, nor fundamentally unbalance the show.
In Summary:
Cocoa begins to feel down because Mocha is just too much the perfect older sister, stealing away all of her friends and making them her younger sisters. So, she begins to distance herself, as she wants to stop being the coddled youngster she was. But her coldness towards Mocha exposes the elder Hoto’s one weakness: Cocoa. Chino is slightly worried, but she learns that fighting, too, is all part of having siblings and of course the Hoto sisters reconcile by the end. And this episode is a lot funnier than this rather “serious” summary might seem to say.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 12GB RAM, Mac OS 10.10 Yosemite
