This rabbit with これ
Vocabulary Explanation: This with これ
Cocoa stops by the coffee shop “Rabbit House” to rest. When she notices something shaggy sitting atop the Chino, the barista, Chino explains:
- チノ:
- 「これですか？ これはティッピーです 一応うさぎです」
- “Do you mean this? This is Tippy. It's sort of a rabbit.”
Key Points
これ points to something near the speaker
In this scene, これ refers to Tippy, the rabbit-like thing sitting atop Chino’s head.
Chino is the speaker, so これ fits better than それ or あれ because the thing being identified is in her immediate space.
First これ asks what Cocoa is talking about
これですか？ means “Do you mean this?” or “This?”
The pronoun is enough because the object is visible in the panel; Japanese does not need a noun like “rabbit” yet.
Second これ introduces Tippy
これはティッピーです uses これ as the topic: “as for this, it is Tippy.”
The name comes after は, so Chino is identifying the thing Cocoa noticed.
一応 softens “rabbit”
一応うさぎです means Tippy counts as a rabbit, at least technically or sort of.