Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka? Bloom

Tea or coffee? Maybe just a piece of cake? No matter what you like, GochiUsa has something for everyone!
One of the cutest and most laid-back anime is finally back with a third season! Just enjoy the everyday life of our girls. Not only they do have a lot of fun, it also makes us happy.

All those who have already seen the first two seasons (+ OVAs) know what this series is about. There is no big plot or action happening, but the typical slice of life with CGDCT (Cute girls doing cute things) can be found here. It's just wonderful to see our cafes / ... tea houses Rabbit House (Kokoa, Chino, Rize), Ama Usa An (Chiya) and Fleur de Lapin (Syaro) with their young waitresses again. Our five protagonists should be familiar to all of us. We love them and we also know how much fun they have together. Whether it's a Halloween party, Christmas party or just for no big reason, they always come up with something to make the others happy. The harmony and deep friendship are especially evident through the small actions, our girls also pay attention to the smallest detail.
In addition to them, a harmonious duo stands out more in the third season:
"Blue Mountain" Aoyama and Rin Mate. We get to see these two quite often. We already know the personality of our author. She is really relaxed when it comes to work. She is looked up to and is wise, but she hides a perverted nature and enjoys peeking up girls' skirts. Rin, on the other hand, didn't appear for the first time until the end of the second season. We learn more about her and her relationship with Midori as they have known each other since high school. Rin can be very strict when it comes to the submission deadline of Aoyama-sensei, but otherwise she is also one to have a lot of fun with. Megumi and Maya are of course also an important part of the group of friends.
But what generally stands out is that everyone really gets along well with every other person. They are all truly lifelong friends. You can feel how they appreciate this close friendship.

The third season surpasses the second even more in terms of art style. It is fascinating how amazing everything looks. The colorful and happy city, where all the things happen, can be recognized again. The bright colors and the colored effects harmonize perfectly with each other. It's beautiful and puts a smile on everyone's face.

The happy songs of "Petit Rabbit's" should be already known. Our five members have not only released many singles, but their music videos are also very enjoyable. We see the same scheme as before here as well: The OP is sung by the five main characters, while the ED is taken by our small group of three around Chino, Megu and Maya (Chimame-tai). Everyone loved the OP "Daydream café" from the first season, it just puts you in a good mood. But even with the actual OP "Tenkuu Cafeteria" we hear a song with a similar quality. The ED "Nakayoshi! ○! Nakayoshi!“ shows how good along the all get. It underlines the deep friendship again. Not only the music is nice to hear, but all the rest of the sound part also fits perfectly. Everything is wonderfully in harmony.
When you're in a bad mood, listen to their songs and you'll feel better right away!

As someone who has already loved all other parts of GochiUsa, I was very happy that we got the third season to see even more of their everyday lives. In my opinion, the third season surpassed even the rest. I can't tell if it's because of the studio change a reason in this direction, but I can say for sure that I enjoyed every single minute. It’s great how our girls got even more closer and always have fun together. This is just wonderful. GochiUsa was THE highlight of the fall season 2020 for me and I can really recommend it to every CGDCT fan. Despite the current somewhat difficult situation, our girls manage to conjure up a smile and a joy!

In the end all I can say is: We need a fourth season!

Sometimes after a long day, I have the desire to watch something lighthearted and fun. This show continues to provide that.

It’s nice to see that in the age of sequels, GochiUsa has been one of those whose quality has not diminished. Despite years of waiting for another season and being made by a different studio this time around, the show has retained its charm and all of the things that made it great. If you’ve seen the first two seasons, you will know what to expect. It’s still cute, the characters are still funny and lovable, and it is still wholesome.

The look of the show ... is relatively the same with some showcase of beautiful artwork in many scenes. I particularly liked the Halloween episode where the streets had a gorgeous color palette with all the different shops and decorations. The background art of the town is still highly detailed and still makes me wish I could live in it with it’s comfy nature.

There is definitely a shift in focus on the school that the older girls attend as well as other areas of the town instead of just the Rabbit House cafe. There is a sense of progression with the characters despite the fact that this is just a cutesy slice of life. As the younger members of the cast, Chino, Megumi, and Maya get a taste of high school life as they scout the place which signifies that yes time is indeed moving in this story and the characters are getting older. We get to see them feeling anxious and worry about the future. It’s subtle but the slow development is there which is an element of the show that I really like. Sharo gets the whole alter ego thing going for her and seems to be more confident. If you’ve seen Yuru Yuri, there was a character in a tv show that resembles Sharo in appearance similar to how Chinatsu looked like Mirakurun. I love this addition to her character since she uses it for gags in many scenes and just embraces it plus her outfit is pretty cute. Meanwhile Chiya gets more development as she has a stronger relationship with Rize and Chino’s friends. Every member of the cast feels like they are on equal footing here and the moments of emotional merit indeed hit all the right notes if not more in this season. There are some new characters who get some screen time in the form of the other students at their school.

The OP definitely grew on me and became very catchy. It’s light and energetic and has a similar feel to the first two openings just a higher pitch. The ED is not my favorite in the series (that would be the second season’s) but it does have very pretty colors and gorgeous visuals.

Overall, it’s just more GochiUsa which fans should be excited for. The characters are still bubbly, cute, and air headed and the art style is still much the same. I like cute things and this show is the living embodiment of everything that can both give me cancer and cure it at the same time. If you liked the first two seasons, you can expect much of the same with just a little bit more endearment and progression by the characters.

From someone who hated the first season and loved the second season and the movie.....I personally was dead afraid that this series would be ruined after it was announced that it was being handled by Encourage Films, as they have almost never done a successful adaptation prior to this......I hoped for a miracle and that is exactly what was given.
GochiUsa Bloom not only lives up to the high bar the 2nd season set it to be, but from what it has already shown, it has already surpassed it....what made GochiUsa so great prior to this was its amazing character interactions, loveable characters and it's great ... and soothing artstyle and eventhough the artstyle surprisingly hasnt changed from it's previous iterations, everything else however is preserved and improved on
The first 4 episodes as of yet, has a lot less focus on the cafe theme the previous seasons mostly used, and focuses a lot more on the city it takes place in and the schools attended by the cast, eventhough the cafe setting was great before, the change in atmosphere fit the series better than it used to. And I hope that the previous cafe setting, if and when revisited is also made better than it used to be in the coming weeks.
The cast was always loveable, but was never equally looked into, characters like Chiya and Sharo felt like they were more left in the sidelines compared to the rest of the cast, but this time around, it feels like each of them are looked into equally and each and everyone's personality shines in the right times they need to....
GochiUsa Bloom has certainly blown away my expectations so far and I hope it stays that way for the the next 8 weeks, and is one experience I recommend not to sleep on this season.

If you liked the other seasons, this is the best one yet. The cute fluffiness is ramped to the max in this third season. The colors are vibrant, the stories are engaging, and the characters are as loveable as ever. Watching each episode, I had this uncontrollably involuntary silly grin fixed on my face. Honestly ended every episode with manly tears ;^;

GochiUsa is the kind of show that's impossible to have a favorite character. Right when you decide, "Yeah, that's my favorite character" -- you realize, "Ah, but what about that character!? ...and that character!? and that one too! *raaarrrrghhh*" This season preserves that feeling, ... giving each character its proper time-in-the-sun with much appreciated development.

As with the other seasons, the opening theme, ending theme, and insert songs are on point.

I do recommend watching the previous entries beforehand, as there is a lot to be appreciated from previous occurrences.

The fuwa-fuwa quality is off the charts here, and I am certain you will like it. Well, if you've watched the others, there's little question you would try this one.

So let this review affirm any questions and wonderings you may have had!

After 2 lackluster OVAs, I was pleasantly surprised that the Halloween episode of Bloom delivered a much more heartfelt Mother-Daughter bonding episode than Sing For You ever did. Indeed, Bloom is always exceeding expectations and consistently topping itself, making it the best, no questions asked, season of Gochiusa to date.

As it usually is for these 3rd season shows, all the experience by the creative staff has truly paid off spectacularly in the third season, and all the buildup in the past 2 seasons spent learning about the ins and outs of each character finally culminates in unique and memorable adventures for each member of the ... cast. The artwork in particular received a noticeable upgrade, Japanese Colmar has never looked this beautiful, this peaceful, this vibrant, before. A special highlight is Aoyama's and Rin's date around the town. The beautiful townscape combined with the stunning lighting of that final carnival setpiece just totally sells the deal on this. Just an incredible moment all around.

The third season of any given SoL show would usually be used to experiment with different group compositions to see what sticks and what doesn't, while also exploring other facets of existing character dynamics to a deeper level. And Bloom does exactly just that and struck a perfect score in all of them. Secondary characters are also given more time to shine and express themselves to great effect. My one gripe is that Mocha hardly appeared in the show, but at the very least we have tons of Aoyama to make up for it.

I'll admit, I wasn't the biggest fan of Gochiusa even in the first two seasons, I always felt the series was lacking in something extra needed to elevate it to the next level, and I think Bloom made me figure out what had been missing so far: Heart. Bloom is filled to the brim with it. You can truly feel the blooming relationships between each character, and the show is packed with many genuine moments examining the characters themselves as well as their relationships, motivations, and sense of being. Extra so since a large focus is placed on Chimame's graduation as well as the anxieties within. Chino's and Cocoa's final moment especially calls this to mind, the gradual progression of their friendship leading to her heartful thank you to Cocoa being also extending to the viewer for their many years of following the series. It really tugged at my heartstrings and left a hole in my heart that can't be easily filled (until Non Non Nonstop next season at least).

Even the weakest episode in Bloom is still as good as, if not better than the better episodes from the first two seasons. Everything from comedic pacing, to general scene direction, to setpieces, to that always brilliant soundtrack are all improved and accounted for in this season.

Bloom stands out among Gochiusa and even other Kirara shows as one of the best SoL the industry has on offer. After close to seven years of being with the Rabbit House girls, it's honestly difficult to bid them farewell once more, but I do hope we'll meet each other again, in that ever present cafe on the streets of Japan-Colmar.

8/10

Gokigenyou!
Welcome! Come on!
GochiUsa: Now, thrice the fun, for thrice the feels!

In this third iteration of "Is the Order a Rabbit?", we get to see more of Cocoa, Chino, Rize, Syaro, Chiya, Megumi, and Maya at work, study, and play between Rabbit House, Ama Usa An, and throughout the city.. This season continues off from the events in the movie "GochiUsa: Sing for You", with Chimame-tai in their last year in middle school, and Petit Rabbit's getting a chance to wear each other's school uniforms.

Beyond the slice-of-life fun that GochiUsa brings in heaps and cups, GochiUsa Bloom is perhaps the most emotional of all the anime ... adaptations so far – not just because of the story, but with how it delivers that story. I was teary-eyed at the end of one its most outstanding episodes. But it does not just limit that to our main cast: not only do we get more appearances from the side characters, like Aoyama-sensei and her editor Rin, Chino's and Rize's fathers, and even an important person in Chino's past besides her grandpa, we also get to see their backstories and even some character development in them too.

Speaking of that, this series shows that superb character development can become a story in itself, and GochiUsa Bloom lets its characters "bloom" through amazing storytelling in quirky situations, and supported by the tried-and-tested soundtrack of Ruka Kawada. No need for intricate stories here though, despite the theories devised by many of GochiUsa fans (me included).

As with the artstyle, the change of studios (this time, it's done by Encourage Films) did not break the cutesy charm of GochiUsa's world. However nothing of significant value in terms of animation and design was added, and this could be a proof of the effectiveness of GochiUsa's visual design and appeal since the first season. A little blush is very welcome, however.

Of course, the seiyuus behind GochiUsa Bloom never fail to imbibe their characters with their signature charm. One thing that I just knew thanks to their running gag of playing catch was the voice of Rin Matou, Midori Aoyama's editor: Juri Kimura, who is also the voice of Aoi Miyamori from SHIROBAKO.

And so from "blooming" characters to a "blooming" story, "Is The Order A Rabbit? Bloom" is a definite watch for Fall 2020, a great show for those who want to find enjoyment and heartwarming happiness beyond shounen, harem romance, and the reality that is (or was) 2020.

Now I just hope you don't get the ojou-sama syndrome, lest you end up greeting everyone with the words "Gokigenyou!"

Bonus: The OP song, "Heaven Cafeteria", is a real banger!

This is one of the most pleasant anime series I've ever seen; the characters are personable, and the environment is grand and lovely to the point of being captivating. I also enjoy the character interactions, which always bring a smile to my face each episode, especially the opening and ending themes of this anime, and I'll never forget the wholesome and heartwarming moments of this show. I really wish that this anime had more seasons, such as 4-10 seasons or even a movie. I'll miss all of the characters in this anime and will revisit it when the opportunity arises.

The first two seasons, when I watched them, were charming. But S2 was five years ago. The first season introduced the girls and focused on their quirks. The second season introduced Chino's friends to the mix. This season, S3, brings them all together. This season looked much better visually than the first two seasons. Technology has advanced to the point where there's shadowing and lighting glare on everything. But as I kept watching, it dawned on me... I was finding all of this boring.

Have my tastes changed? Or has the slice-of-life genre evolved to the point where simple CGDCT (cute girls doing cute things) just ... isn't enough anymore? I feel that slice-of-life shows today must contain some sort of progress, or must have a unique gimmick to be interesting. Laid-Back Camp has the camping gimmick, and How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift has the exercise gimmick. Endro has the fantasy gimmick. The Demon Girl Next Door involves befriending the supposed antagonist. Sakura Quest had the backdrop of a conservative town. These are all slice-of-life shows that went beyond everyday school life.

Is the Order a Rabbit has been such a staple of the CGDCT sub-genre that it didn't transform itself, instead preferring to do more of the same. But S3 didn't focus on the cafe setting, instead shifting many of the skits to everyday school and off-work settings. S3 went through all the motions in a lazy manner, such as doing the Summer culture festival, then the Halloween festival, then the Christmas festival. Too many skits involved the entire cast of 7, instead of doing more focused skits with 2 or 3 girls. The season attempted to show character growth by not relying on each girl's quirks as much. But that just made the skits bland, because you could exchange the girls and the skit would turn out the same way.

If you just want more fluffy, sugary friendship skits, then this show does the job. But S3 to me was disappointing, because the show didn't grow up and evolve like the rest of the slice-of-life genre.

Now you may be wondering, “Why did you watch the 3rd season of a rabbit themed moe show if it’s just the same thing as the same 2 seasons?” Well, I just wanted to see if there would be any answers as to why Grandpa Tippy is a freaking Angora rabbit. Now did I get those answers? Well…no, but that’s not the point.

Story:

I mean…it’s a moe show where 5-8 different colored girls spend time in a European-themed town amidst rabbits and cute incidents. It was the same for the first two seasons, so why would it be any different here?

Well, contrary to the other two ... seasons of Gochiusa, Bloom somehow feels like a way for the story to move forward. While a majority of the story is still set in this cutesy atmosphere of moe blobs having fun with life, a surprising amount of the show is set in deciding in the futures of the girls, whether or not that be deciding where they’re going for high school or what’s next for them in life. It’s not a lot, but it’s surprisingly insightful and is genuinely cute in a show that’s already filled with insulin-filled moments.

The one thing that I still don’t really have a handle on still is the magical aspect of the series. Much of Chino’s family seems to have some kind of affiliation for the magical, or the supernatural, something that shows up a multitude of times especially given the fact that Chino’s grandfather is the rabbit that sits on top of her head for a majority of the series and now her mother is a part of all of this. The fact that we don’t get a lot of information on that still is a little sad because it’s one of the few things about Gochiusa that genuinely interests me as a viewer, and seeing more of that being added instead of being solved is a little disheartening since by the end of the series, surprisingly enough, there’re more questions being asked than answers given.

That being said, still a solid season around. Of course you can’t really go wrong with moe and its derivatives, but it’s still kind of nice to go back to something that’s a reliable piece of media every once in a while, especially when it’s been a while since you’ve seen any kind of significant moe fluff amidst any of your other seasonal picks.

Characters:

Chino, Cocoa, Rize, Chiya, and Syaro aren’t really much different this time around unless you’re talking strictly about their interactions with each other. The show plays around with the idea of different flavors mixing with others and putting characters that typically aren’t seen together, together. Something that becomes even more prevalent when you add in the rest of the Chimame corps. Since both Megumi and Maya add two more players that can mix and match weird combinations of characters that aren’t seen with each other. I think this season is the most they’ve ever played with the concept, and it’s kind of fun to see that since for the most part, the series has been pretty sparing with making weird combos with all of the girls involved.

The side cast isn’t much different either, but there seems to be some heavier emphasis this time around of showing off Aoyama and the weird game of hide and seek she and her editor play, and Grandpa Tippy being way more vocal than ever before. Which, still don’t have an answer for that one, but fine. I’ll just wait for Season 4. Which may or may not give me the answers I want, but I can hope.

Aesthetics:

I don’t know what the hell happened to the license of this series, but it’s changed hands like three times. Yet somehow looks the same. Encourage Films doesn’t make the show look much different if at all. The art is still colorful and very pretty and cute with a heavy emphasis of rabbit imagery since that seems to be the only animal in this town that’s worth a damn. There’s not a lot to praise or criticize about it since Gochiusa is very consistent and hardly screws up or stresses the budget like other shows can. Which I guess it the nature of moe.

For the record, both of these OP and ED songs are cutesy seiyuu pieces. “Tenkuu Cafeteria” sung by the seiyuus of the main five girls and “Nakayoshi! ○! Nakayoshi!” sung by the seiyuus of the Chimame corps are are very similar and I don’t think I need to spend much time on a pair of songs that sound almost identical and have a very similar flair to it.

Final Thoughts:

Some day I’ll get my answers about Grandpa Tippy. But for now, I guess a 3rd season will do. Gochiusa is one of those series’ that’s so inoffensive that there’s not much to say without repeating the same points over and over again. If anything, the series edging itself ever so slightly in a new direction is the biggest thing this series has ever done in terms of story development. Which is barely a step forward if this was any other show. By no means a bad thing, but it puts into perspective the kind of series we’re dealing with here.

That being said, one thing I do like about the series is its hilariously large amount of dry wit and comedy. Chino and a number of the girls’ comebacks are actually pretty funny, made even better when some of the topics they talk about make you want to do a double take because something they said just sounded a tiny bit too absurd, and we’re gonna need to back the fuck up to make sure I read that right. It happened a lot more than I expected, so I guess that’s a personal boon for me on my enjoyment factor for this show.

All that being said, it’s still moe fluff, and if you’re into that, go right on ahead. There’s a surprising amount of context in the first two seasons that still need to be watched prior, but aside from that, pretty good show all around. Not too much to hate on, but by contrast, not a lot to talk about either.

One of those pure purely-slice-of-life shows the humour of which you have no idea who laughs to and where comes from.

The previous seasons gave that aura of a 4-koma manga, retaining the advantages that a 4-koma manga offers, but this one feels like one long connected story with an actual conflict, minor though it is, while losing what 4-koma mangas can offer you. If you’ve ever read one before, you would know they usually are something that makes you humorously retort about something after having read one page of the 4 squares while giving you some comedy. This season loses much of the comedic atmosphere ... and gives character and plot progression to Chino (and maybe others later on). The plot develops to an extent that we see sceneries and settings outside of cafes and restaurants in this season; we get to see the flea market and school life; I had always wished to see some school life and they realized it, but by forgoing comedy.

In Gochiusa of previous seasons, the amount of laughter induced in one episode and how much it enhanced your friendship with the characters, whom you would humorously retort (tsukkomu) to and love, was like a gauge for rating the satisfaction of that episode. This season retains only the latter of the two factors of the gauge and will satisfy those who remember the friendship and family atmosphere that the previous seasons fostered in your heart; if you forgot about them like I did, you will be like me: yawning and waiting for the episode to end.

In the first episode, noticing the immaculate renditions of character art and backgrounds, I thought I would be very pleased, but it was only to my disappointment. The art is so clean that “cartoonish” animations, so essential in making you laugh about something impossible and ridiculous, seem to have been deemed unclean and removed. All the time, the art never disappoints and never breaks the rule to a fault. The art is good but there is nothing too spectacular.

The dialogue is too rigid; there is no silence in between each line of the characters, wearing out the listener by making him have to keep up, one of the kinds of animation mistakes I particularly dislike. There’s no punchline; you just keep waiting for it only to be rewarded with nothing but “slice-of-life” and “moe” in the final moments of a dialogue, and maybe if it was intended to be funny, it goes over your head.

It wasn’t until episode 4 I was reminded of the fact that Gochiusa was an anime I loved not just because of its comedic values but because of the love sort of fostered for the characters (but not too much) inside myself. Maybe I would have been really satisfied if I had watched this a few years ago.

This show only strives to display cute characters doing cute things and the life of those cute characters in the bunny town or whatever that town is called. I am not enjoying this anime very much; I think I would give a 7, though I rarely give 7s to anime whose art is good.

Reviews in 100 words or less:
This season plays very similarly to the other two seasons, basically just adding more episodes of our favorite bunny café people. This series is great because it doesn't try to oversell itself; it's not meant to be seriously, and so the show doesn't take itself seriously either. The characters are cute, and it's not overly complicated with subplots, backstories, and other nonsense. The feeling you get while watching is a sense of utter relaxation, it feels great to just be an observer in a cool world, and part of why slice of life is so great. Very nice lighthearted show.

Title: Charming but Repetitive

I had hopes for is the order, a rabbit bloom, not high hopes but hopes However, my experience with the series took an unexpected turn. While many viewers might find it to be a delightful and heartwarming show, I personally struggled to connect with it.

Is the order a rabbit bloom certainly possesses its own charm, with its cute characters and relatable everyday scenarios. The initial appeal is undeniable, and I appreciate the effort put into capturing the essence of slice-of-life storytelling. Yet, as the episodes progressed, I found myself being extremely bored and falling asleep it felt like ... a chore

The repetitive nature of the show made it an uphill battle to finish. There were moments where I felt like I was forcing myself to watch, rather than feeling genuinely engaged. The cute factor, which drew me in initially, quickly lost its impact as the same patterns and scenarios played out repeatedly.

I get that slice-of-life centers around the mundane aspects of life, but there needs to be a balance that keeps viewers me specifically invested. Unfortunately, is the order a rabbit bloom didn't strike that balance for me. I totally get how others might find comfort in its predictability, I couldn't help but feel that the charm wore thin quickly

In the end, my personal experience with this little nightmare was one of missed potential.

Overall, if you're a fan of slice-of-life and enjoy shows that embrace the everyday, you might find something to appreciate in this anime However, for those seeking a more dynamic and engaging narrative, DO NOT WATCH