Usavich


Usavich is a series of animated short films created for MTV Japan by Satoshi Tomioka and his studio Kanaban Graphics from 2006 to 2015. It is about an odd pair of rabbits imprisoned in a Soviet prison in 1961. The first season shows the absurd everyday occurrences of the two rabbits' prison life, and the subsequent seasons show the two rabbits' life on the run from law enforcement. So far, 6 seasons and 78 episodes have been released.

Setting

The episodes are quite musical. Almost every action has a sound associated with it and most episodes in the first season begin with a quiet jazzy beat accompanied by the rhythmic squeaking noises of Putin dancing Kozachok on his bed. Each episode usually ends with the punchline accompanied by the chorale Jesus bleibet meine Freude from J.S. Bach's cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147. The animation style is a clean, rather sparse, linear style with broad swatches of color. There is, generally speaking, some incomprehensible whispering but usually no intelligible speech. Speech is heard in the second season, when some Russian phrases can be heard quite clearly, although they are few and far between. Everything is communicated through either incidental sound or by a character expressing emotions.

Characters

Main characters

;Kirenenko
;Putin
;Leningrad
;Komanetsyn
;Mechanenko

Additional characters

;Prison workers
Several guards and other prison workers visit Putin and Kirenenko in their cell. They are never fully visible, and the character on the other side of the door is indicated by one of several door designs that slide into place. Episode 3 briefly reveals that they too are rabbits. In season six/zero, it's revealed they used to not wear the doors all the time. They are the main antagonists of season 1 and six/zero.
  • Kanschkov – various guards
  • Roudov – work boss
  • Zenirov – paymaster
  • Shocasky – executioner
;Komanetsyn mother
;Sharapova
;Boris Koptsev
;Zrzolov
;Zoya Jiriya
;Zuruzorobo
;Kirunenko
;Kedamsky
;Mikhail

Vehicles

Season 2 features some Soviet cars and military vehicles. Moskvitch 410 is the car Kirenenko and Putin use for their escape, civilians drive Lada VAZ-2101, and the militsiya-use Lada VAZ-2105 police cars, BA-20 armored car and even a KV-2 heavy tank. The aircraft brought down by Kirenenko is also a MiG-21 Fishbed fighter jet. During the story, Putin put many parts from the other vehicles together to maintain their original car, and after season 4 he combined it with Mechanenko to escape.

Episodes

For every fifth episode of each season save for Season 6/0, there is an impromptu percussive performance in the show, often involving Leningrad's ribbits, Putin's gasps, and Kirenenko's punches. In Season 6/0, such performance plays in "The Beginning of Dancing", the eighth episode of the season.
; Season 1
  • Episode 1 "Time for Food"
  • Episode 2 "Time for Work"
  • Episode 2.5 "Time for Work "
  • Episode 3 "Time for a Shower"
  • Episode 4 "Time for Games"
  • Episode 5 "Time for Dancing"
  • Episode 6 "Time for Visitors"
  • Episode 7 "Time for Exercise"
  • Episode 8 "Time for Cards"
  • Episode 9 "Time for a Snack"
  • Episode 10 "Time for Toilet"
  • Episode 11 "Time for Execution"
  • Episode 12 "Time for Torture"
  • Episode 13 "Time for an Exit"
  • Episode 13.5 "Time for Departure"
; Season 2
  • Episode 14 "Beware of Road Rage!"
  • Episode 15 "Beware of Distractions!"
  • Episode 16 "Beware of Cliffs!"
  • Episode 17 "Beware of Snipers!"
  • Episode 18 "Beware of Dancing!"
  • Episode 19 "Beware of Missiles!"
  • Episode 20 "Beware of a Flat Tire!"
  • Episode 21 "Beware of Speeding!"
  • Episode 22 "Beware of Tanks!"
  • Episode 23 "Beware of Repairs!"
  • Episode 24 "Beware of Fakes!"
  • Episode 25 "Beware of Checkpoints!"
  • Episode 26 "Beware of Assaults!"
  • Episode 26.5 "Beware of Extreme Masochist!"
; Season 3
  • Episode 27 "The 1st Floor"
  • Episode 28 "The 2nd Floor"
  • Episode 29 "The 3rd Floor"
  • Episode 30 "The 4th Floor"
  • Episode 31 "The 5th Floor"
  • Episode 32 "The 6th Floor"
  • Episode 33 "The 7th Floor"
  • Episode 34 "The 8th Floor"
  • Episode 35 "The 9th Floor"
  • Episode 36 "The 10th Floor"
  • Episode 37 "The 11th Floor"
  • Episode 38 "The 12th Floor"
  • Episode 39 "The 13th Floor"
  • Episode 39.5 "The Sound Floor"
; Season 4
  • Episode 40 "Cooking Machine"
  • Episode 41 "Cleaning Machine"
  • Episode 42 "Merge Machine"
  • Episode 43 "Washing Machine"
  • Episode 44 "Dance Machine"
  • Episode 45 "Refrigerator Machine"
  • Episode 46 "Washroom Machine"
  • Episode 47 "Game Machine"
  • Episode 48 "TV Phone Machine"
  • Episode 49 "Magic Machine"
  • Episode 50 "Broken Machine"
  • Episode 51 "Window Wipe Machine"
  • Episode 52 "Car Machine"
; Season 5
  • Episode 53 "Forest of Fur"
  • Episode 54 "Forest of Hide-and-seek"
  • Episode 55 "Forest of Mushroom"
  • Episode 56 "Forest of Komanetsyn"
  • Episode 57 "Forest of Dance"
  • Episode 58 "Forest of Frog"
  • Episode 59 "Forest of Brother"
  • Episode 60 "Forest of Hole"
  • Episode 61 "Forest of Sleep"
  • Episode 62 "Forest of Trap"
  • Episode 63 "Forest of Fishing"
  • Episode 64 "Forest of Horror"
  • Episode 65 "Forest of Dash"
; Season 6 – Usavich Zero
  • Episode 66 "The Beginning of Revival"
  • Episode 67 "The Beginning of Food"
  • Episode 68 "The Beginning of Nap"
  • Episode 69 "The Beginning of Toilet"
  • Episode 70 "The Beginning of Shoes"
  • Episode 71 "The Beginning of Doors"
  • Episode 72 "The Beginning of Jail"
  • Episode 73 "The Beginning of Dancing"
  • Episode 74 "The Beginning of Work"
  • Episode 75 "The Beginning of Frog"
  • Episode 76 "The Beginning of Invention"
  • Episode 77 "The Beginning of Neighbor"
  • Episode 78 "The Beginning of Freedom"