One of Funtom Toys' best-selling products, we're told, is a stuffed toy called Bitter Rabbit.

As you can see, in this first appearance (first volume of the manga) he's a simple, top-hatted bunny; even his hat is surprisingly plain for a creation of Ciel's (for all his austerity of manner, the Young Master is an absolute peacock when it comes to millinery). I suspect that his runaway popularity is, more than anything else, due to his being the first mass-produced soft animal toy in British history.

Kuroshitsuji is set in 1888, and the first company ever to mass-produce stuffed animal toys, Steiff of Germany, had only opened its doors a few years before, in 1880. I feel just about certain that, in the Kuro universe, Funtom Toys in 1885 became the first UK firm to follow Steiff's lead, and thus grabbed the commanding position in British toymaking that it enjoys at the time of the series.

(Incidentally, Funtom is a forward-looking concern in more ways than this: if you look closely, you can see video and computer games in the manga panel as well.)

When Square Enix decided to produce a plush Bitter Rabbit in this universe, they used a different design.

I don't know, I regret to say, when or if this version has appeared in the manga, though it made a cameo appearance in Series II of the anime.

This begs the question of which bunny one should copy if one wanted to create one's own, since both are licensed and must (I imagine) have Yana-sama's approval. Personally I'm inclined to stick to the manga, but I confess I get a real kick out of the vest and eyepatch.

So I decided to combine them. =)

My version is a Gund plush dressed in a commercial felt top hat (decorated with black ribbon roses, a double ribbon hatband and an acrylic gem for sparkle), and a satin and Japanese brocade swallowtailed two-button vest, completely designed, tailored and handsewn by me. (No eyepatch yet. =) I can now say with authority that sewing for dolls will NOT prepare you for sewing for plush animals! the proportions are completely different, and the body shape...let's just say you'll end up doing a lot more measuring than you expect. But it was a learning experience and I really enjoyed it. =) ==Those, BTW, are vintage brass buttons and real buttonholes, handsewn (not machine-sewn)--my first ones!

In the bottom pic you see Vincent--I named him for Ciel's dad--hanging out with my doll Tsuki, in his Ciel cosplay outfit, at Anime USA. (I also took him to the formal ball with me, where he got his head patted a whole lot. =)

...go back to phantomhive mainpage.

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