Inaba Rabbits by Taro Chiaki

 Happy Easter! Man, its, like, really early this year. My choices for Easter stories didn't really pan out, sadly. I should have just re-read last years choice again and enjoyed myself. Instead I spent a bunch of time on these three reads. My colored eggs turned out okay, though, I guess.

Inaba Rabbits by Taro Chiaki 

Art and story (c) Taro Chiaki

Genre: Shonen, Harem
Length: 2 Volumes – 10 Chapters


           The art is appropriately… bouncy and fleshy for it's genre. The faces are a little too much all
the same, but the hair flows and is interesting in shape. The clothes fit the body shapes well, but really aren't worth looking at. The backgrounds are pretty much MIA, and instead there are unnecessary panty shots and whatnot that are expected from this type of manga. The art is good, but not particularly original.
           Kenichi made a promise to work at his grandfather's shrine, the Inaba shrine that is famous for binding relationships together, but had to leave the area when he was still a kid. Now, ten years have passed, but Kenichi has returned to fulfill his promise. The only problem is, of the four shrine maidens working at the shrine, how can he tell which one is the girl he made his proposal to?
           I avoid harem manga, but when looking for a manga with a 'rabbit' theme, this one was perfect, I regret deciding to go for it. I did not enjoy myself at all. The concept was slightly interesting at first glance, with a bit of a supernatural tinge. All the same it grew stale quickly and to make things worse it had a 'nothing has changed' ending that makes your time
basically wasted. Seriously, there is nearly a whole volume of these rabbit girls being “in heat” as they so bluntly put it and then it sort of just ends. I can't stand the trope-filled harem genre in the best of times and usually that is because the same thing happens that happened in this manga, that is, sexy hi-jinks but no real heart or plot line. There were tidbits that showed that perhaps something could have been interesting in the long term but that simply just doesn't pan out, those plot points should have been given right at the beginning instead of a three chapter long bath scene. Also, it starts with the 'childhood promise but I don't remember the girl' premise and that is literally the oldest trope in the book. I mean, really, hasn't the world had enough Love Hina clones yet?



1.5/5 An interesting world reduced to usual harem smut.




Honey Rabbit by Souta Kuwahara



Genre: Shojo
Length: One Chapter – 17 Pages

That face sure is cute, though...

           Cute and modern, there is a simplistic look to this manga that gives it a fluffy look. The rabbit
is very well done and realistic looking, to boot. The clothes and the backgrounds, though are unremarkable.
           When Fumiko finds herself watching the house alone on the weekend once more, she goes to bed grumbling. In the morning, though, a cute boy wakes her up? He claims to be her pet rabbit, Kotarou, and he does seem to share the rabbit's habits…
           This is really cute, but there isn't much to it even for a one-shot (what much can you do in 17 pages, really?). Its just a story about her pet not wanting her to be alone again, but it really seems to make no difference whether he is a rabbit or a boy because he does nothing different for her as a human as he did as a rabbit. Its just kind of meh.



2.5/5 Cute and with a rabbit.





Dr. Rabbit by Akane Ogura



Genre: Shojo
Length: One Chapter – 40 Pages


           The artwork is well done, still it was a little generic at times. The backgrounds were mostly
tones, but they added well to the action, which is pretty good on its own. The glasses sometimes looked a little bit like they were just floating instead of being worn.
           Saeki is a genius who created artificial intelligence and put it in a doll that looks like a rabbit after many years of painstaking research. Just as she is about to release her results, though, it seems someone is out to steal the robot. So Saeki hires a bodyguard with what little money she has, only to find out its someone who looks totally unreliable.
           The story is cute, but its not really compelling, things just keep happening and the two of them sort of chit-chat in between. It is also kind of meh.


2/5 I dunno, it was okay.

Is that something to say so proudly?