Otachan! Rabbit Season🐰 – Behind the Scenes!

So, I thought I’d do a little write-up for each episode after they’re released.

A place to look at the concept art, set design, and all the random production bits we never show. Stuff that just sits in the old Otakuvaults gathering dust - but we’re rectifying that today.

Episode Inspiration

First off, the episode title itself is a play on Kinji Fukasaku’s 1970s Yakuza classic Battles Without Honor and Humanity.

Fun fact: we also watched another Fukasaku banger this year in the Discord server - Battle Royale! Hmm… possibly another title inspiration someday? Bunny Royale, Bunny Battle Royale? Write that down please, class.

Writing & Direction Notes

From a writing standpoint, the title pun gives it away - this was me channelling my inner Yakuza movie fanatic. As I’m getting older, I feel like I could probably cook up something a bit moodier, more heartfelt, really leaning into those old-school shots and pacing. But for a first attempt? It’s cute. I’ll take it.

Looking back at the dialogue… I wrote this script a while ago. We’ve been working on it and waiting on assets for a hot minute. With it being completely Otachan-absent (apart from her little YouTube cameo at the top), I was honestly a bit worried. The entire point of this one was to build up Yakuza-chan as a legitimate threat.

Now! Maitaining the spirit of full disclosure, I still feel like I’ve got a LOT of work to do when it comes to character writing and dialogue. They’re cool, but I wanna strive for better depth and development the next time I'm lucky enough to write. However!!

Once Gianni got going with Boss Kakeda’s intimidating little speech to Yakuza-chan! Yeah, I was really happy. It felt like a real series moment. I was fucking with it.

Backgrounds & Set Design

I want to take a minute to highlight the background artwork in this episode — the team really went crazy with the details.

Background Design / 美術設定Lily Wang

Backgrounds / 美術ParsnipCloverKam K’emonflouNica ChanThin VhanMonday

They captured the red-plush Yakuza-office perfectly, and the Hard-Boiled-inspired Triad gambling den came out so good. Proper noir grime. Loved it.

Character & Concept Art

Here’s some more Yakuza-chan development sketches! Early looks versus her final design.

Fun fact: originally, the Bodyguard was supposed to be the Triad boss.

Which is why she has such a sick design. But the episode director thought it would be better to have Yakuza-chan beat the face in of a huge beefy guy rather than a cute girl (my original idea). I followed their lead on that one but the bodyguard’s design is too good to waste… so who knows, maybe she’ll return as a sub-boss before they reach Kakeda 👀

Post-Credit Shenanigans

The little epilogue with Kakeda calling his cute barmaid girlfriend was a last-minute addition by the series director.

They felt it would be odd if Kakeda was completely out of the loop, and wanted to show him as a more looming/scheming/aware presence. So we cooked that tiny scene up VERY quickly. I think it came out adorable.

Fun fact: I had to fudge the lip flaps WHILST the camera was panning because we got the voice lines back before the final animation… and our comp guy was literally out of the country during the final edit. LOL. I had to really fucking pull my AMV / Abridged skill set out to get those lip flaps right!

Thank You For Watching! ❤️

I hope you enjoyed this little look behind the scenes on the production of Episode Three.These episodes take months of everyone’s lives, and sharing the process with you makes it feel worth it.

I’ll be writing up Episode Four soon and I can’t wait to show you what’s coming next! As always gang! Thank you for supporting the studio and keeping the garage anime dream alive. 💜🐇