Chino Kafu

Full name: Chino Kafu

Nickname: Chino

Gender: Female

Birthday: December 4 (Sagittarius)

Age progression: 13 (middle school 2nd year) → 14 (middle school 3rd year) → 15 (high school 1st year)

Height: 144 cm in middle school 2nd year → 149 cm in high school 1st year

Blood type: AB

Family: Father Takahiro Kafu, late mother Saki Kafu (maiden name Saki), late grandfather (former owner of Rabbit House, spirit resides in Tippy for a time)

Residence: Lives above Rabbit House with her father, her grandfather’s spirit in Tippy (until he passes on), and later Cocoa Hoto as a live-in lodger

Occupation: Waitress and barista-in-training at Rabbit House, student

Voice actress: Inori Minase

Dream: To inherit the family café, become a distinguished barista, and eventually transform the shop into a café that reflects her own style

Chino has long, straight, pale light-blue hair and blue eyes, giving her a cool, delicate look.

Her most recognizable feature is the pair of crossed hairpins worn on both sides of her bangs.

Outside of school, she almost always wears Tippy, a fluffy angora rabbit, on her head like a living hat.

When she holds the rabbit Anko, she still tends to place it on her head, as if her head simply feels “empty” without something fluffy on top.

Her hairstyles vary by situation: she usually wears her hair straight, but she also appears with ponytails, twin tails, buns, and other styles.

In high school she often uses a two-side-up style that Cocoa Hoto arranges for her, under the idea that she needs something to “replace” the missing Tippy on her head during commute.

Chino is short for her age and has a very youthful appearance, which she views as a complex.

She worries about her height and bust size and pays special attention to foods and habits rumored to help her grow taller, even though she has many likes and dislikes in food, especially vegetables.

The Rabbit House uniforms she and the others wear, along with the nighttime bar uniform for Midori Aoyama, were originally designed and sewn by her late mother Saki.

Different color variations such as green and yellow are unfinished pieces that were left behind, later completed by Cocoa.

Chino is calm, quiet, and very reserved, often giving a cool impression that feels older than her actual age.

At the beginning of the story she is extremely shy, speaks little, and rarely shows a big smile.

She speaks in polite, formal language to essentially everyone, regardless of age or familiarity.

Because she is used to working in customer service and being surrounded by older people, she habitually adds honorifics like “-san” and keeps a respectful tone even with close friends.

As relationships deepen, Chino gradually becomes more expressive and emotionally honest.

She eventually raises her voice enough to shout things like “You really are hopeless, Cocoa!” at Cocoa Hoto and the others, surprising everyone who remembers how quiet she used to be.

She is straightforward and dutiful, carefully following plans and promises once she accepts them.

For example, she faithfully follows a study and training schedule proposed by Rize Tedeza.

At the same time, Chino can be surprisingly sharp and strategic.

When Cocoa and the others fail to finish their summer homework, Chino motivates and “handles” them by cleverly giving them just the right incentives, to the point that Rize sees clear potential in her as a teacher.

Chino dislikes being treated like a little kid and is sensitive about her childlike looks.

She also has a sweet, needy side: when Cocoa returns home for a visit and is absent from the café, Chino falls into a kind of “Cocoa-sickness,” missing her deeply.

When she accidentally eats brandy-filled chocolates and gets tipsy, her personality flips into that of an overly attached little sister.

Her polite language becomes more casual, and she clings to Cocoa as “big sis,” revealing how much she truly depends on her.

Overall, although she often acts distant and blunt, she is honest at heart, easily flustered, and gradually opens up to show a playful, slightly mischievous side.

Cocoa Hoto

Cocoa is Chino’s senior by two years and lives at Rabbit House as a boarder.

From the moment they meet, Cocoa aggressively treats Chino as her “little sister,” showering her with affection.

At first, Chino is bewildered and repeatedly denies being Cocoa’s sister, maintaining a cool and somewhat cold attitude.

However, over time she slowly begins to rely on Cocoa emotionally, even if she rarely admits it in front of her.

Chino becomes jealous when Cocoa calls Maya Joga and Megumi Natsu her “new little sisters,” or when Fuyu Fuiba looks up to Cocoa as an older sister.

Chino does not immediately recognize this as jealousy, but others can see it clearly.

Despite her outward denial, Chino gradually accepts Cocoa as a true older-sister figure.

Internally she considers Cocoa her “own big sister,” and in key scenes she says that the time they spent together has created a bond as real as family.

When Cocoa is not around, Chino becomes anxious and lonely, highlighting how important Cocoa has become in her life.

Conversely, Cocoa feels a quiet sadness when she imagines Chino having sides of herself that only Maya and Megumi see, which reassures Chino that the feeling of exclusivity goes both ways.

Rize Tedeza

Rize first meets Chino in a slightly chaotic way while changing in Rabbit House, leading to an awkward introduction.

Over time, Chino realizes that Rize is not “scary,” but rather someone who is so intense and energetic that being around her can be exhausting.

Rize acts like a tough, military-style mentor, giving Chino schedules, guidance, and even handmade gifts.

One of her most important gifts is a handmade rabbit plush toy, something that deeply comforts shy, younger Chino even if she is confused by Rize’s naming sense.

Rize sees strong potential in Chino’s ability to instruct and motivate others.

After watching Chino manage Cocoa and the others during homework sessions, Rize comments that Chino might have a talent as a teacher.

Chiya Ujimatsu and Syaro Kirima

Chiya Ujimatsu and Syaro Kirima are friends of Cocoa and Rize, and by extension become part of Chino’s circle.

Because they are older, Chino also speaks politely to them and treats them with a similar mix of respect and low-key exasperation.

As Chino becomes more open and cheeky, both Rize and Syaro remark that she is starting to resemble Cocoa.

Her growing mischief and willingness to play around highlight her shift from an isolated child to someone comfortable in a loud, playful group.

Maya Joga and Megumi Natsu (Chimame-tai)

Maya Joga and Megumi Natsu are Chino’s classmates in middle school.

Together, the three form the trio commonly referred to as “Chimame-tai,” derived from the first syllables of their names.

Chino meets Maya and Megumi when they invite her to join a treasure-hunting game called “Syst.”

This event helps her open up socially, and they become some of her few close friends in middle school.

At first, they misunderstand Chino’s dream of becoming a “barista,” confusing the word with other meanings.

Despite early misunderstandings, they quickly grow close, and Chino feels relieved that her middle school has no class reshuffling, ensuring she stays with them.

When considering high school, Chino decides that even if she must attend a different school from Maya and Megumi, she will prioritize going to the same school as Cocoa.

Eventually, Chino passes the entrance exam and enters Cocoa’s high school.

Fuyu Fuiba and Classmates

When Chino reaches high school, she ends up in the same class as Fuyu Fuiba.

Fuyu admires Cocoa as an older sister-like figure, which sparks some jealousy in Chino.

Chino’s natural politeness and shy demeanor initially make her seem distant to some classmates.

However, as time passes, she slowly builds new relationships, helped by her experience with Cocoa, Rize, Chiya, Syaro, Maya, and Megumi.

Chino is the granddaughter of the original owner of Rabbit House and the daughter of the current nighttime barkeeper, Takahiro Kafu.

She lives above the café and helps run the shop every day after school and into the evening.

During the day, Rabbit House functions as a café staffed by Chino, Cocoa, and Rize.

At night it transforms into a bar, with Takahiro taking charge behind the counter.

Chino is deeply involved in the daily operations: brewing coffee, serving customers, and managing the mood of the shop.

Her professionalism and polite demeanor often make customers forget how young she actually is.

She has a remarkable sense of smell and can identify coffee origins and brands by aroma alone.

Despite this refined skill, her taste preferences remain childlike, and she needs sugar and milk to drink black coffee comfortably.

Chino can also perform coffee divination (café de mancie), using coffee grounds to “read” fortunes.

This blends her barista skills with a more mystical, playful side that she occasionally shows to customers and friends.

Coffee Expertise

Chino has an advanced knowledge of coffee for her age.

She can distinguish coffee varieties and origins by scent, something Rize explicitly praises.

She is meticulous about brewing and presentation, reflecting both her training and her desire to live up to her grandfather’s legacy.

However, when it comes to actually drinking coffee, she prefers a sweetened version with milk, reinforcing that she is still very much a teenager.

Ventriloquism and Tippy

Tippy is an angora rabbit that usually sits on Chino’s head.

For a long time, Tippy speaks with the voice and personality of Chino’s late grandfather, whose spirit is residing inside Tippy.

To hide the supernatural truth from most people, Chino claims that the voice is just her ventriloquism.

Her friends initially believe she is simply very skilled at making Tippy “talk.”

In reality, up until around the eleventh volume of the manga, it is Tippy (with her grandfather’s spirit) who is truly speaking.

After the grandfather’s spirit eventually departs from Tippy and “returns to heaven,” Chino quietly teaches herself real ventriloquism to maintain the illusion.

When she uses ventriloquism for real, Tippy’s voice becomes slightly higher and more feminine compared to her grandfather’s original tone.

Chino later performs this act for small children in the café, combining her love of kids and her developing performance skills.

Strategic Thinking and Teaching Talent

Chino’s reserved nature hides a sharp, analytical mind.

She enjoys structured, solitary activities like chess, puzzles, and building bottle ships, and she applies similar logic to handling people and problems.

When Cocoa and friends fail to complete assignments like summer homework, Chino instinctively designs “systems” of reward and motivation.

She knows how to offer the right incentives and leverage their personalities, effectively “handling them in the palm of her hand.”

Rize takes note of this and says Chino shows clear talent as a teacher.

This complements Chino’s child-friendly demeanor and her growing confidence in front of others.

Chino’s hobbies lean heavily toward quiet, solitary activities, reflecting her early isolation and shyness.

She has said that if her grandfather had not been a café owner, she might have aimed to become a professional chess player.

Main hobbies include:

Chess – Often played with her grandfather; she is skilled and enjoys strategic thought.

Jigsaw puzzles – She likes the process of slowly completing an image.

Bottle ships – She builds ships inside bottles, a meticulous and patient craft.

Coffee divination – Using coffee for fortune-telling, mixing her barista skills with a whimsical side.

Love of Animals and Rabbits

Chino loves cute animals, especially rabbits.

When she sees a fluffy animal, she becomes visibly more excited and animated than usual.

Ironically, animals generally do not warm up to her.

Aside from Tippy and the rabbit Anko, most animals stay wary, which Chino finds frustrating and a bit sad.

She enjoys children’s books and fairy tales that feature adorable animals.

She treasures the rabbit plush toy she received from Rize, treating it as a very special possession.

Words like “rabbit” and “fluffy” trigger a strong reaction from Chino, much like Cocoa.

When others point out these similarities between her and Cocoa, Cocoa is delighted, while Chino herself is flustered and denies it.

At the beginning of the series, Chino is emotionally guarded and has trouble interacting with anyone besides her grandfather and father.

She rarely initiates conversation and keeps people at a distance.

Through daily life at Rabbit House and her interactions with Cocoa, Rize, Chiya, Syaro, Maya, and Megumi, she gradually opens up.

Her expressions become more vivid, her reactions bolder, and she slowly allows herself to be playful.

Over time, she develops a slightly mischievous, “cheeky” side.

Rize and Syaro both comment that she is becoming more and more like Cocoa in her reactions and behavior.

Chino also commits to her own future, not just as an heir to Rabbit House but as someone who wants to shape it in her own way.

By the time she is a first-year high school student, she openly states that she wants to inherit the café and also remake it into her own kind of coffee shop.

Emotionally, she goes from a girl afraid of attachment and loss to someone who admits, at least indirectly, how much she values her found “family.”

Her acceptance of Cocoa as “my best, irreplaceable big sister” is a key milestone in her personal growth.

Chino has one of the heavier backstories in an otherwise lighthearted series.

She has lost both her mother and her grandfather by the time the story begins.

Her mother, Saki Kafu, passed away earlier in Chino’s childhood.

Saki had light-colored hair and the same blue eyes as Chino, and she used to sing on stage with Takahiro and friends when they played jazz.

Later, the year before Cocoa arrives (and before Rize comes to Rabbit House), Chino’s grandfather also dies.

However, his soul ends up inhabiting Tippy, the angora rabbit, allowing him to continue speaking with Chino for a time.

Because of these losses, Chino is initially closed off and reluctant to talk to anyone besides her grandfather and father.

Her hobbies naturally drifted toward things she could do alone, like chess, puzzles, and bottle ships.

The café uniforms and fabrics left by Saki linger in Rabbit House as a quiet reminder of her presence.

Cocoa later completes some of the unfinished uniforms, such as color variations and a pink summer outfit, symbolically connecting Saki’s legacy with the new “family” formed at Rabbit House.

Eventually, Chino’s grandfather’s spirit departs from Tippy, finally moving on.

Chino responds to this by independently learning ventriloquism, preserving a link to that earlier “talking Tippy” while accepting that her grandfather has truly gone.

Middle School

During middle school, Chino is in the same class as Maya Joga and Megumi Natsu.

There are no class reshuffles at her school, which comforts Chino because she does not have many friends.

Together with Maya and Megumi, she forms “Chimame-tai,” a cute trio identity that binds them as a unit.

Their school life is marked by small adventures, such as the treasure hunt that originally brought them together.

Chino’s behavior at school is influenced by her café work and her older surroundings.

She speaks politely even to classmates and maintains a somewhat grown-up demeanor, although she can relax around Maya and Megumi.

Transition to High School

Chino eventually decides that for high school she wants to attend the same school as Cocoa, even if it means being separated from Maya and Megumi.

She studies hard, passes the entrance exam, and enrolls in Cocoa’s school.

In high school she becomes classmates with Fuyu Fuiba.

As she adjusts to a new environment, she relies on what she learned from her earlier friendships and her time at Rabbit House.

During commute, without Tippy on her head, she initially feels “unstable.”

Cocoa responds by styling Chino’s hair into a two-side-up as a symbolic replacement for Tippy’s comforting weight.

Chino appears in the crossover mobile game Kirara Fantasia as a playable character.

She first joins the game alongside Cocoa as a mage-type unit.

She has a 4-star water attribute version and a 5-star light attribute version, both categorized as magic users.

She also receives additional variants, including a swimsuit 5-star version and a second-part 5-star version.

Her exclusive weapon can be upgraded to a “final limit” stage.

At maximum enhancement, its weapon skill “Isekai Coffee Magician Flavor” greatly boosts her own magic attack and guarantees a critical hit once, followed by a powerful single-target light attack.

At sufficient investment, Chino’s 5-star forms can deal enough damage to one-shot powerful bosses like the Seventh Sage Hakka in chapter 7 and, with further development, the Seventh Sage Fennel in chapter 8.

Main Story – First Appearance

Chino’s first appearance in the main story is in Part 1, “The Sealed Goddess,” in the side story “The Chief Priest’s Oath.”

After the main conflict is resolved, the goddess Sora sends chief priest Archieve away from the temple for a “vacation,” and Archieve visits the Rabbit House-like café in Chino’s world.

There, Archieve encounters Chino working at the café.

This shows Chino’s world framed within the Kirara Fantasia setting as one of the many connected realities.

Main Story – Part 2, “Is the Order a Guerrilla?”

Chino reappears in Part 2, “Severed Bonds,” chapter 5, titled “Is the Order a Guerrilla?”.

This time, she is forcibly summoned by the Order power used by the realist leader Highpris.

Unlike her earlier appearance, this summoned Chino does not remember meeting protagonist Kirara and her companions.

When she is called forth, she appears with Rize, Chiya Ujimatsu, and Syaro Kirima, but Cocoa is missing.

Cocoa, meanwhile, is in another place where the enemy “True Hand” uses the stone Sunstone to sever bonds.

Cocoa’s connections to Syaro, Chiya, and Rize are cut one after another, leaving Chino as the only one not yet severed.

Unable to bear staying with friends who have forgotten Cocoa, Chino isolates herself in the underground Rabbit House-like base.

There she meets Kirara’s group, who ask for help in rescuing Cocoa.

Chino at first says she cannot fight for someone she does not remember, and she tries to remain at the café.

However, as corruption of the holy texts advances and the situation worsens, something in her heart refuses to let it end there.

When Syaro eats a rationed bread that was never distributed in the altered history, she suddenly starts crying.

She cannot recall the person connected to that bread, but she remembers the taste and feels as if there is a huge hole in her chest.

Chino realizes that this hole represents “Cocoa.”

She then resolves: “In that case… I will go to save this person myself.”

At that moment, responding to her desire to see “that someone” again, Chino’s outfit transforms, signifying a miracle triggered by her feelings.

She joins Kirara and the others, heading to an enormous fortress-like café where the enemy awaits.

Inside, they find True Hand member Suisen, Cocoa, a massive Guardian named Utskai, and chains powered by Cocoa’s despair.

The battle goes badly until Lamp suggests that Chino shout something that embodies her memories of Cocoa.

Chino calls out, “I want to eat Cocoa’s bread! Please come and fluff us!”

These words light up Cocoa’s eyes, and Kirara uses her power to reconnect the severed bond.

Chino and the others recover their memories of Cocoa.

Chino then declares to Suisen that Cocoa is not a “fake sister,” but her own irreplaceable big sister, whose time with her has created a bond as strong as real family.

After Suisen is defeated and the “Creative Tank” is destroyed, Chino and her friends return to their original world.

The experience further solidifies Chino’s sense of Cocoa as a true sibling figure and shows her capacity for decisive, courageous action.

Relationship with Utsutsu and Chaos

In Kirara Fantasia, Chino often teams up with Utsutsu, a character whose circumstances somewhat resemble Chino’s.

Utsutsu, who usually sees most characters as outgoing “sunny types,” is surprised to find Chino relatively introverted.

They grow closer through quiet scenes, like late-night coffee time and conversations inside the fortress café.

Before parting, both vow to grow more before the next time they meet.

In another crossover scenario, Chino pairs with Kaos (Moeida Kaoruko) in a story titled “Chaotic Sketch.”

Chino hears that Kaos is a drawing teacher and asks her to teach her how to draw.

Chino uses Kaos as a model and produces an image that Kaos describes as “cubist” and avant-garde.

Chino admits that people often tell her she is bad at drawing, leaving her discouraged.

Determined to improve, Chino continues practicing under Kaos’s guidance.

As they draw, Chino’s art slowly becomes more recognizably “illustration-like,” while Kaos’s sketches grow more experimental and abstract under Chino’s influence.

Kaos becomes scared of how avant-garde her own drawings are becoming and starts muttering “ababababa” in panic.

Chino misinterprets this as a special technique for improving, so she starts copying the phrase while drawing, thinking it will help her get better.

One distinctive trait of Chino as a character is the sheer number of songs she has.

She belongs to two main in-universe music units: Petit Rabbit’s and Chimame-tai.

Counting group tracks and character songs, Chino has more than 50 songs associated with her.

Including remixes and solo variations, the total exceeds 70 tracks.

For a non-music-focused slice-of-life series, this is an unusually high output for a single character.

Even many characters from dedicated music or idol series have fewer total songs.

Her voice actress, Inori Minase, is known to pour a great deal of passion into these performances.

Official interviews and fan commentary often highlight how her singing brings out both Chino’s coolness and her hidden warmth.

Fans who want a detailed breakdown of Chino’s songs often refer to specialized databases and discography sites dedicated to Is the Order a Rabbit?.

A notable piece of Chino-related trivia involves a scaled figure of her and a coincidental address pun.

A plastic mold and figure manufacturer named PM Office A (PMOA), based in Nagano Prefecture, operates the figure brand “PLUM.”

In 2020, PMOA opened a new office in a district called “Chino” within Chino City in Nagano.

At the same time, they re-released a 1/7 scale “Chino (Cafe Style)” figure, printed with the new “Chino City, Chino” address on the package.

This led to the playful phrase “Chino figure shipped from Chino City, Chino,” echoing the series’ famous coffee line “café latte, café mocha, cappuccino.”

The figure’s re-release coinciding with the new location made it a small but fun piece of meta-humor for fans of Chino Kafu.