Stamps for good kids! Stamps for those who do their work! Stamps for those who try hard! Stamps for everyone!
What They Say:
Bunnisode 8: “Stamp, Sleep, Study, Smile”
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
If there is an overarching theme for this season (which in itself is something slightly odd for this franchise, as previous seasons didn’t really pay this much attention to narrative or developmental cohesion, though I suspect that is owing to the source material and not a conscious choice of the series adaptation team), it is future ambitions, life goals, and personal growth. In other words, Rabbit, which had previously inhabited a fairly timeless world, seems to have taken notice that you cannot remain forever locked into a single moment (unless you are the The Simpsons, located in an ever-changing cultural present, but not themselves experiencing the aging process). The passage of time has been marked in both clear ways (the Chimame-tai trio planning their choice of high school) and in ways that are perhaps a bit crude (in this episode, there is an unsubtle nod towards the younger girls…at least one of them…finally hitting puberty).
For this episode, the focus now moves to Rize Tedeza, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy friend of Takahiro Kafu’s, who has worked at the Rabbit House since before Cocoa came to town and is probably the oldest of the girls. Rize, whose first appearance for us, many moons ago, was holding a gun to Cocoa’s head while in her underwear (……don’t worry, this is Is the order a rabbit? and it makes (non)sense in context…like everything else in Rabbit), has an ambition: she wants to become an elementary school teacher. Now…while gun-toting, military-trained (her father is a former soldier) Rize might not seem like the best fit for looking after adorable toddlers as they play with putty and draw rainbows and unicorns and puppies in crayon, on another level it makes a certain amount of sense, since Rize likes to take care of others and help those who are weaker than she is.
Granted…most of us who know her would laugh at the idea a bit. That is what provides the excuse for getting Rize into the Rabbit House full time, as her father appears to scoff at the idea of her becoming a teacher for small children and this drives her to run away from home. For the first part of the episode, we have the amusing spectacle of Cocoa and Chino trying to offer lessons in how to be a teacher (laughable as Chino is more a model student and Cocoa…a lazy child). This of course drives a certain amount of competition as Cocoa, then Chiya and Sharo all come onto the scene as teachers and tutors for the younger girls, largely an excuse for some cosplay.
Rize takes over, however, to provide some lessons on building stamina for studying…done at the local heated pool, an excuse for a swimwear episode of sorts. We end with a party back at Chino’s home to celebrate Rize. All of this episode has, to some degree or another, just been a long, loving look at how much Rize takes care of all the others and really would make a good teacher for younger children.
If personal growth and development are the theme for this season, we can expect perhaps a future episode to give us a look at Sharo or Chiya’s future plans. Cocoa I would expect to go last. I do have to give some credit to the original author, Koi, and to the adaptation team for making this transition from a timeless world into one where the passage of time is being quite explicitly noted pretty seamless. There hasn’t been anything jarring at all about it. It may be because the show itself continues to be mainly comprised of silly little skits, slightly offbeat jokes at not always appropriate times, and funny visuals that stay on screen for a while (for a show that does so very little animation, composed of so many static shots with the occasion pan, Rabbit does at least manage to be visually interesting). The seriousness of these kinds of life decisions could weigh heavily…but Rabbit wears them fairly lightly.
Fun and humor as always, but with a touch a sentiment. That’s what this show mainly does. A formula? Certainly, but an enjoyable one.
In Summary:
Rize wants to be an elementary school teacher, an idea that her father laughs at. This drives Rize to run away from home and spend time with Chino and Cocoa at Chino’s home. The latter also find the idea of schoolteacher Rize a little hard to swallow…but they are always there to support their friend. Through a series of little skits, we get to see that, actually, the idea of Teacher Rize is not so strange, for she is good at taking care of other people. Has Rabbit? turned serious? Hardly. It’s still mainly filled with odd gags and still shots with plenty of sparkles. With a little heart thrown in.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 12GB RAM, Mac OS 10.13 High Sierra
