Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?

Kokoa Hoto is a positive and energetic girl who becomes friends with anyone in just three seconds. After moving in with the Kafuu family in order to attend high school away from home, she immediately befriends the shy and precocious granddaughter of Rabbit House cafe's founder, Chino Kafuu, who is often seen with the talking rabbit, Tippy, on her head.

After beginning to work as a waitress in return for room and board, Kokoa also befriends another part-timer, Rize Tedeza, who has unusual behavior and significant physical capabilities due to her military upbringing; Chiya Ujimatsu, a waitress from a rival cafe who does everything at her own pace; and Sharo Kirima, another waitress at a different cafe who has the air of a noblewoman despite being impoverished.

With fluffy silliness and caffeinated fun, Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka? is a heartwarming comedy about five young waitresses and their amusing adventures in the town they call home.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kafuu, Chino Main

Minase, Inori Japanese

Hoto, Kokoa Main

Sakura, Ayane Japanese

Kirima, Sharo Main

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Tedeza, Rize Main

Taneda, Risa Japanese

Ujimatsu, Chiya Main

Satou, Satomi Japanese

Tippy Supporting

Kiyokawa, Motomu Japanese

Jouga, Maya Supporting

Tokui, Sora Japanese

Aoyama, Midori Supporting

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Natsu, Megumi Supporting

Murakawa, Rie Japanese

Hoto, Moka Supporting

Kayano, Ai Japanese

Iwasa, Gaku Producer

Kobayashi, Hiroyuki Producer

Ogura, Mitsutoshi Producer

Yoshikawa, Tsunaki Producer

Reviews

Jun 27, 2014

Veronin

Recommended

Alongside the frequent harem and superpower shows, anime involving cute girls (generally of the loli variety) living their daily lives has become a common sight in the industry over recent years. If you have watched even one cute slice-of-life before, you already know what kind of anime Gochiusa is going to be. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Gochiusa finds a sort of equilibrium in its plainness. It is nothing that anime veterans and newcomers will find to be anything too special, but it is not as though every anime needs to be a life-changing experience. Something that merely allows you to relax and forget ... the troubles of the real world is also an equally valid (though perhaps less important) source of entertainment... especially when it contains cute girls.

The set-up can be explained in just a few words: "Girl starts working for café and makes new friends over time." There is no exposition, no infodump, no profound characterisation - it is simply a light-hearted story of a young group of girls living their daily lives and joking around along the way. I suppose the setting is a bit different from the norm (just how many high-school themed anime are there, anyway... ?) as it is focused almost entirely on the café itself, but it still follows the genre's trend of 'been there, done that'. That being said, if you enjoy the genre and don't mind feeling a bit of deja vu every now and then, Gochiusa can be a surprisingly pleasant experience.

Anyone looking for a cast of cute characters to fawn and giggle over will find just what they are looking for in Gochiusa. None of them are especially fleshed-out, but that's actually OK here. Gochiusa is not concerned with climaxes and drama. It is simply comprised of a few chapters in Cocoa's and Chino's daily life. Rather than focus entirely on creating sentimental value, it instead crafts a believable (somewhat- the talking rabbit is pretty weird!) world that the audience can identify with. There are no superheroes, no end-of-the-world scenarios. And that's fine.

The main cast comprises of Cocoa, the ditzy sort of protagonist found in nearly every slice-of-life show; Chino, an adorable, quiet girl that will get your heart pounding on more than a few occasions; Sharo, the timid worker of the rival café (who also wears a maid uniform!); Chiya, the ojou-sama and the sole source of reason in the story; and Rize, the most beautiful girl this world has ever known.

Rize is by far the most interesting character in the story. She is somewhat of a military otaku (ミリオタ), obsessed with guns, combat and all things violence. Her father brought her up in such an environment and consequently she does not have a great understanding of how 'normal' girls behave. The moments where Rize misunderstands completely ordinary things as something military-related are often hilarious, and the moments where she reveals her tender side, desperate for human attention, are unbearably cute. Her military background makes her a type of character that has not really been seen in slice-of-life anime, so her presence is very much appreciated. I am just not quite sure whether she looks better with her usual twintails or her hair down. Either way, her cuteness is probably enough to immediately send any human being into cardiac arrest.

The format of the show is structured similar to Aria the Animation and its sequels. There is a subtle Italian vibe to the setting and the episodes usually succeed in putting a smile on your face by the end. There are certainly episodes that are more exciting and more boring than others, though, and the blatant fanservice during the bathhouse episode is a bit on the pandering side. For a show so innocent and so heart-warming, close-up shots of the characters' ass and titties felt quite unnecessary. It didn't need to stoop itself down to that level. It could have done without.

And where was the episode focusing on Rize's father and home situation? I was waiting, waiting for it to happen and received nothing of the sort. It could have been a great source of comedy, a way to portray Rize's military obsession as something genuine rather than a simple joke. It's nothing so severe as to lower the quality of the anime, but it definitely feels like a missed opportunity.

Gochiusa impresses with its audio. Many of the tracks evoke a sort of carnival theme, while others (again similar to Aria) are simply quiet orchestral pieces existing to create a sense of peace and tranquillity. The opening theme is lively and catchy, so catchy that it is likely to stick in your head for some days afterwards. It's one of few anime that time the opening track with appropriate visuals, rather than just pan over the protagonist's face or him/her walking for half the sequence. Seriously, what's up with that?

The artwork on the other hand is about average. Gochiusa is not a high-budget project and it shows. It's never offensive to the eye but it is never quite pleasant either. Sometimes the anatomy can get a bit wonky or the faces static and lazily drawn, but these scenes don't occur with too much frequency. Gochiusa is usually capable of hiding its modest budget.

Gochiusa isn't the kind of show that I would hold in high regard critically, but it is what keeps me entertained with the medium during the slow times where there is nothing better to occupy myself with. With all the battle shounen and harem titles dominating each season, I would much rather relax and watch a group of cute girls sipping tea and having fun with their day-to-day lives. And therein lies the appeal of Gochiusa. It is not sophisticated entertainment, but it is fine entertainment nonetheless.

Just do be prepared for more of the same. There isn't much to set Gochiusa apart from its contenders aside from the fact that it has Rize-chan. Actually, doesn't she make the show an easy sell... ?

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Dec 15, 2014

cuteisanarchy

Mixed Feelings

Gochuumon is a show I first picked up on off of some crossover art with Sora no Method, which in retrospect might have been a missed red flag given how that series has played out. But after a few episodes, reams of fanart of the most adorable and youngest of the main characters, and with its banging OP theme implanted firmly in my music line-up, I was hooked.

Unfortunately, this turned out to be a case of jumping the gun. The more I watched, the more I realized that the initial flash that had pulled me in was just that - frontloading the series with ... catchy content to give the appearance of a better show. Lots of shows do this, but the 'slump' in this case was half the series, and by the time it felt like it had found its stride there was a handful of episodes left. The high-energy theme belies a show that's happy to meander through 12 episodes not doing much of anything, rarely very funny and rarely very cute but enough of each that you probably won't drop it.

It's not a bad show, and it certainly has its moments - Chino, the daughter of the owner of the Rabbit House cafe, is great as the eternally nonplussed companion to the endearingly scatterbrained Cocoa. Their sparring relationship as 'sisters' is one of the better dynamics in the show, and is perhaps the 'story' of Gochuumon in a similar way to how Nano and Mio coming to terms with who they are are the 'stories' of Nichijou. The atmosphere, too, is - to risk a metaphor - comforting like the scent of coffee wafting through Rabbit House must be. Between the gentle pianica of the ost and the many shots of characters strolling cobblestone streets, you get a sense of the sleepy European town they apparently set this in (albeit one where characters eat cake on Christmas).

Unfortunately, both the story and the atmosphere get crowded out by so-so humor, extremely iffy art, and a cast that is far too large for its own good. The humor is played more for cuteness than for actually being funny, resulting in lots of mediocre jokes told poorly. Most of the side characters are made up of a few jokes played on repeat - the infatuated kohei, the spacey, awkward writer, the other sort of spacey and uncomfortably invasive mothering girl - though they manage to massage Rize's tsundere role over the course of the series.

This is a show that seems destined to be forgotten among the hoards of moe filler, occasionally recalled for its odd title, great theme, and a few characters that will perhaps live beyond the series itself. Perhaps the few interesting moments I mentioned make it worth watching - perhaps it's also worth mentioning that there's a decent amount of fanservice which, while often crass and silly, isn't unwelcome if you're partial to the characters - but in the end there are plenty of other shows that have all the ingredients that Gochuumon has and managed to do it better.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Apr 28, 2019

SINIU

Not Recommended

Funny

Preliminary (1/12 eps)

"Ehhh".

I'm just basing this off episode 1 but if that was really the most effective hook to the series that they could muster then I feel my judgement is valid.

It didn't have enough of anything. The girls weren't cute enough. The dialogue was bland and unexciting even for moe crap. The aesthetics were off (you've got modern moe in a Victorian style pub setting on first episode, like c'mon man), idc if it's "plot" it still looked trash. Not to mention the plot in itself (or lack thereof) was trash. I know most moe shit goes for something simplistic and easily expandable but I failed ... to pick up on even the littlest bit of substance in the plot.

Further problems: Only one yuri moment... and it was undertones not actual yuri. Like if you're going to have a show this boring at least spice it up by making it go full lesbo.

I'll give this show one thing to it's credit though; the intro and outro are actually really good. Judging by the standard of all the moe garbage I've watched, it did not fail to meet my expectations. If the show was constantly as good as the into and outro, and by that I mean just over-pandering with cute bs down my throat, then that would be easy 7.5/10.

For a show that handles their characters, tropes, dialogue, plot, archetypes, and cute moments perfectly (imo) check out: "Watashi ni Tenshi ga Maiorita!"

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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