Is the Order a Rabbit Manga Is Such a Cute Manga

There are so many manga that feel designed just to people looking for something cute to read, and Is the Order a Rabbit may just be the epitome of cute overload. The slice of life series is incredibly adorable and often silly. The result is something that’s easy to enjoy, both thanks to its cute character designs and light storylines. Especially since the first volume wastes no time in getting to examples of the heroines’ daily lives.

Editor’s Note: There are no spoilers for the Is the Order a Rabbit manga below.

The setup for Is the Order a Rabbit is pretty simple. Cocoa is a young woman who moves to a new town to attend high school, and her home stay and job while she’s there is at the Rabbit House cafe owned by Chino and her family. There the two also work alongside Rize, and the mascot is an angora rabbit named Tippy with Chino’s grandfather’s spirit in it. Cocoa also is friends with her classmate Chiya, who works at the rival Amausa-an cafe. We also eventually meet Rize’s classmate and friend, Syaro.

But the story isn’t really important. In fact, the first volume of the Is the Order a Rabbit manga quickly breezes through Cocoa’s arrival in town and introductions to get to what’s important: being cute. That is, highlighting each character’s unique personality traits and showing how they play off of each other in part. For example, we learn Cocoa is something of a math genius and great baker, but she’s not super aware of at least the former talent. Rize’s artistic abilities and more girly nature contrast with her militaristic approach and tough side. Though she’s the youngest, Chino often seems mature. However, we see her softer side when she meets Amausa-an mascot Anko. 

The rest of the volume also quickly gets into opportunities for Koi to make sure everyone looks adorable. As I read, I almost wondered if characters attended different schools just so they could have more fashionable uniforms appear. Chiya presents an opportunity to wear more formal kimono. While it’s a four-koma series, there are splash panels ahead of new storylines and sections that feature the cast in usually precious costumes.

The only thing that really felt jarring would be the sudden insertion of certain types of fanservice. Given the characters are all in high school and Koi’s art direction feels designed to make everyone look as cute and young as possible, it felt incredibly out of place. Especially when compared to the rest of the storylines and characterizations present. Fortunately, it isn’t terribly frequent or graphic, but I was a bit surprised to see it both times it came up in the first volume given the tone otherwise.

Is the Order a Rabbit is a manga as light and cute as the mascot character Tippy. It’s a series about enjoying the developing relationships between the high school girls working at cafes, and the silliness that comes from enthusiastic lead heroine Cocoa. It’s all quite lighthearted and heartwarming, which is a comfort during more serious times.

The first volume of the Is the Order a Rabbit manga is available now, and Yen Press will release volume 2 on February 18, 2025. The anime adaptation is streaming on Crunchyroll. A game based on it appeared on the Vita in Japan.