There is this thing in anime that drives toward kawaii, to see the cuteness in people and things. That's perfectly fine, if there is some sense to controlling how much and to what extent. This we find in Is the Order a Rabbit? There is a cuteness that is sweet, but the contents of Rabbit? is saccharine sweet, almost nauseatingly so.
Haven't we learned our lesson from Strawberry Marshmallow? Is the Order a Rabbit? makes the same mistake. The five girls are unqualified kawaii, but their antics push them to make the cute girl sexy. We find the five in all sorts of fanservice, in acts of dressing, odd poses, the gratuitous swimsuit scenario and visits to the baths. The typical fare, and then you ask ... what are these girls up to? And in a series of vignettes you basically reply ... same-old-same-old. If nothing else, Cocoa's friendliness is infectious ... getting others to realize this, there's your premise.
The series spins the varied personalities of the five main characters. Cocoa is a transfer study who come to a picturesque European town and finds employment in a local coffee house, the Rabbit House. Cocoa is characteristically hyper-upbeat. Contrasting Cocoa is Chino, the coffee shop owner's daughter who is hyper-subdued. Chino rebuffs all attempts of Cocoa becoming the hyper-devoted 'big sister.' Rize is the gun-toting military-minded girl who moderates these two girls' activities. Chiya is a 'pure Japanese girl' whose kindheartedness makes her the perfect hostess of her sweets shop. She employs Syara, a girl whose elegance and good taste hides the fact that she is dirt poor, something she doesn’t want other to discover. Add to this mix Chino's grandfather who has been reincarnated as a short-eared rabbit, and Aoyama, a novelist who has been inspired by him (though she never finds out the secret of Tippy the Rabbit). Then there is Maya and Megu, Chino's livelier classmates who are usually up to some mischief.
The humor is the best thing to Rabbit?, and it runs from the gentle (usually on rabbit-based themes) to the sketchy (based on fanservice). And the humor spins about of a set of twelve unrelated and disjointed episodes. And the plots are predictable down to the Christmas episode near the end of it all. Still, I found myself laughing at some of the jokes which often come fast and furious, when it does.
The animation is based on elaborate background scenes which introduce us to the simpler settings where the girls engage in conversation in any of the inns, pools, baths, and shops the girls frequent. The technique is standard, creating almost chibi-style characters doing grown-up stuff. Like children acting like adults and not quite getting it right. One quaint feature is the closing theme, where a roulette wheel of playing cards spin and flip, usually displaying one of the girls on a face card (Cocoa is the Joker, go figure!). No closing feature is exactly the same and you concentrate to catch the nuances.
The music is peppy though not sensational. It tries to engage the cheerful spirit of the comradery which develops throughout the season.
There are more seasons for Is the Order a Rabbit?, but seeing the first, will the same-old-same-old persist? You can get sick if you get too much kawaii.