The man who was dominating Europe was no match for a battle with bunnies. The attack ceased only as the coach rolled away. According to historian David Chandler, “with a finer understanding of Napoleonic strategy than most of his generals, the rabbit horde divided into two wings and poured around the flanks of the party and headed for the imperial coach.” The flood of bunnies continued-some reportedly leapt into the carriage. Napoleon retreated, fleeing to his carriage.
#BATO RABBITS CRACKED#
The coachmen cracked their bullwhips to scare the siege. Napoleon tried shooing them with his riding crop, as his men grabbed sticks and tried chasing them. The rabbits allegedly swarmed the emperor’s legs and started climbing up his jacket. The sea of long-ears was storming Napoleon quicker than revolutionaries had stormed the Bastille. But as the onslaught continued, their concern grew. Napoleon’s party had a good laugh at first. Hundreds of fuzzy bunnies gunned it for the world’s most powerful man. Instead, they bounded toward Napoleon and his men. The hunt was on.īut something strange happened. When Napoleon started to prowl-accompanied by beaters and gun-bearers-the rabbits were released from their cages. Regardless, there were a lot of rabbits, and Berthier’s men caged them all along the fringes of a grassy field. Some say Berthier took in hundreds of bunnies, while others claim he collected as many as 3000. Looking to celebrate, the emperor proposed a rabbit hunt, asking Chief of Staff Alexandre Berthier to make it happen.īerthier arranged an outdoor luncheon, invited some of the military’s biggest brass, and collected a colony of rabbits. Most agree it happened in July 1807, after Napoleon signed the Treaties of Tilsit (which ended the war between the French Empire and Imperial Russia). There are a couple versions of this story. Or it may have occurred eight years earlier, after the French emperor was attacked by a relentless horde of rabbits. It’s a perfectly serviceable series, but if you’re looking for supernatural action or pretty boys, there are many better options out there.History tells us that Napoleon’s most upsetting defeat came at Waterloo.
#BATO RABBITS SERIES#
This is a josei manga after all, so there are a lot of pretty-boy characters, but thankfully the female designs get some attention as well.īattle Rabbits feels like an awkward halfway point between a “magical boy” series and a male-targeted light novel, but the first volume never escapes the archetypes of those two genres. Thankfully, Battle Rabbits doesn’t disappoint in terms of visuals, combining high-contrast artwork, expressive, angular character designs, and rabbit-themed costumes reminiscent of the designs in 07-Ghost and traditional onmyouji robes. Unfortunately, this twist doesn’t carry the story beyond its bland premise, so don’t expect the goofy antics of that better known magical boy series, Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE. What’s interesting is that Ameichi plays it like a male twist on the magical girl genre rather than a typical light novel story, complete with a peculiar fascination with twee imagery like rabbits and candy.
On its face, there’s nothing too unique about this setup, since anime and manga have been going back to the well of “kid has special powers and fights monsters who feed on negative emotions” for decades now. The references to Japanese mythology like moon rabbits and ogres isn’t accidental-the Battle Rabbits are essentially a sci-fi version of onmyouji, the famed Japanese scientist-sorcerers known for their exorcisms. The Battle Rabbits have been awaiting for 1,200 yearsĪnd proceeds to move in with him (of course).Īs their leader, Kaguya must fight back against “ogres”: aliens that feed on negative human emotions in the form of little pieces of imaginary candy, and it turns out the demon who killed his dad was one of these ogres. Our hero Kaguya hews pretty closely to the modern anime template:Ī sullen teenager whose father was killed by a “demon.” But when he gets onĪ strange bus one day, a girl named Mao dressed in rabbit-themed robes reveals that he is the leader In Battle Rabbits, a manga by story/artist duo Ameichi ( 07-Ghost), the moon doesn’t just look like a rabbit it’s populatedīy aliens called Battle Rabbits who defend Its place is the “moon rabbit” or tsuki no usagi, best known by anime fans for inspiring the punny name of Usagi Tsukino in Sailor Moon.