Kirenenko and Putin.
Usavich (from Usagi, Japanese for rabbit, and -vich, which is faux Russian) is a short CG-animated comedy that airs on MTV Japan. Briefly, Usavich is about two anthropomorphic rabbit fugitives. The first is Putin, a carefree and happy-go-lucky rabbit who always follows orders, dances a lot, is very skilled with repairing things, and panics quite often. The second is Kirenenko, an apathetic and ultra-strong rabbit who cares only about reading his shoe catalog or cleaning his shoes, and is oblivious to the fact that he lives in jail. Minor characters in the spare cast include Leningrad, a frog, and Comaneci, a strange hermaphroditic chicken... thing.
The first season focuses on prison life. The second season follows their adventures after escaping prison in a run-down car on a precarious mountain road. The third season deals with their stay at a high-rise skyscraper in the city. The fourth season observes Putin's attempts to perfect a robot duplicate of Kirenenko. In the fifth season they are trying to live in a forest while fending off attacks of a savage rabbit. The sixths season is a prequel ("Season Zero") about prison life when Kirenenko was still recovering from his wounds and before they became cellmates.
The comedy could best be described as adolescent. There's a bit of Toilet Humour, a lot of Slapstick (Kirenenko goes berserk quite often), and some surreal Black Comedy moments. Its lack of dialogue also makes it very accessible for a casual observer.
This show provides examples of:
- All There in the Manual: There's very little dialogue or writing in the show; the characters' names and backgrounds are found on the official website and DVD materials.
- Art Shift: Season Zero starts (mostly) Deliberately Monochrome and gradually gains colours as the setting acquires familiar elements. Also background music is creepy.
- Bandage Mummy: Kirenenko and his brother in the prequel.
- Butt-Monkey: Comaneci, who's usually eaten by Leningrad (and pooped out) or killed. Also practically any villain in the show.
- To a certain extent all chickens/hens. The amount of abuse they get is of astronomic proportions.
- Call-Forward: Kedamsky is a background inmate in the prequel and a whole episode focuses on Killnenko.
- Came Back Wrong: In the flashback in Season 3 Kirenenko and Killnenko were torn to pieces by an explosion. They've been put together, but some parts got mixed. A chunk of Kirenenko's skull has wrong colour and breaks off easier.
- In Season 2 Kirenenko loses said chunk after blasting off a jet engine together with Putin. In the next episode Putin puts him back together but attaches the chunk wrong.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: One sip from anything is enough to make Putin drunk.
- Carnivore Confusion: None of the characters have any problems with eating meatnote despite being, well - rabbits.
- Didn't See That Coming: When overtaking the protagonists' car Boris and Koptsev indeed didn't see that narrow tunnel coming.
- Disproportionate Retribution:
- The reason why Putin was in jail in the first place is because he was late for a job due to a hangover. And the judges conclude that he was jailed as a capitalist agent (This show takes place in somewhere similar to Soviet Russia).
- Implied with Putin again if Kirenenko's death glare is of any indication after Putin accidentally pokes a hole in Kirenenko's shoe catalog with a toothbrush.
- Do-Anything Robot: The premise of Season 4. Putin gives Mechanenko several different upgrades to do just about anything. Except he's not very good at it or he's intrusive to the others about helping.
- Ears as Hair: Putin has his ears tied in a top-knot.
- Embarrassing Old Photo: Zrzolov has one hidden inside the safe. Kirenenko doesn't react to it well.
- Enormous Engine: Halfway through the 2nd season Kireneko makes Putin mount a jet engine from a downed fighter jet on their car. It goes horribly right the first time but works properly the second time when the emergency arises.
- The Faceless: The Kanschkov operating the doors. Though we know they're yellow rabbits, for most of the series they use their doors as 24HourArmor that shows only their eyes and, in cases where Kirenenko is roughing them up, bits of the back of their head, arms and feet. It isn't until Season 0 that we really get a good look at them.
- Hair-Raising Hare: Once somebody pisses Kirenenko off, he makes them exhibit a serious Oh, Crap! before delivering a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to them.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Each season has a template for the names:
- Season 1: "Time for ..." (Food/Work/Shower/etc.)
- Season 2: "Beware of ..." (Distractions/Cliffs/Snipers/etc.)
- Season 3: "The ...th Floor"
- Season 4: "... Machine" (Cooking/Cleaning/Magic/etc.)
- Season 5: "Forest of ..." (Fur/Hide-and-seek/Komanetsyn/etc.)
- Season 0: "The Beginning of ..." (Revival/Food/Toilet/etc.). Also, they are numbered from -12 to 0.
- Killer Rabbit: Kirenenko may be a rabbit but unless you're suicidal you definitely don't want to rile him up.
- Lethal Chef: Mechanenko always screws up Putin's cooking. It almost seems like he's doing it on purpose.
- Lemming Cops: Boris and Koptsev will keep going after Kirenenko no matter how many times he hands their asses to them.
- Magical Defibrillator: Through electrical discharge, Kirenenko gets revived thrice. Once from an overdose and twice through Mechanenko after getting split in half by a laser.
- Magic Mushroom: The savage rabbit tries to use them, with varying success. The results may include Mushroom Samba, Super-Speed and
mushrooms growing out of his body. - Musical Episode: Every fifth episode of each season, there is an impromptu percussive performance in the show, often involving Leningrad's ribbits, Putin's gasps, and Kirenenko's punches. In the prequel it is -5th — 8th from the start, 6th from the end.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: Pretty much anything directed at Kirenenko be it guillotines, sniper bullets to the head, or even artillery shells, will just bounce off him. Eating live explosives won't even faze him.
- Gory Discretion Shot: When Kirenenko is sliced vertically in half by Zrzolov's lasers, the two halves of his body swing open to face Putin, but away from the audience.
- Oh, Crap!: Whenever any character realizes they are on the verge of receiving severe abuse from Kirenenko. This trope is almost omnipresent it the show.
- Origins Episode: Much of Season 0.
- How did Kirenenko get his trainers and Shoes magazine.
- Why does Leningrad stick with Putin.
- Why do guards hide behind doors.
- Perma-Stubble: Comaneci, and probably its race as a whole. Episode 46 shows Comaneci being shaved only for the stubble to grow back instantly. Several times in a row.
- Police Are Useless: Kirenenko can get whatever he wants in prison if he doesn't like something and frequently beats the crap out of Kanschkov with little to no repercussion from the other guards.
- Reality Is Out to Lunch: With all the shenanigans happening even in the most mundane situations Reality may have even retired for good.
- Robot Me: Mechanenko is a robot made by Putin in the likeness of Kirenenko.
- Recurring Riff: At the end of most episodes or whenever things go in slow-motion, cue the light instrumental Bach music.
- This series' soundtrack practically consists solely of Recurring Riffs.
- Shout-Out: The car Putin and Kirenenko travel in has the license plate, UC 0079
- The same car and the road they are traveling on looks like Lupin's signature car, and specifically the famous chase scene from Castle of Cagliostro
- Kirenenko gets into an underground-boxing match in Episode 34. After both Kirenenko and his opponent get injected with some super-steroid, the crowd goes running and Putin jumps for cover. When he looks up, the opponent is embedded in the ring, but Kirenenko is sitting on a stool, a light shining down on him, in black and white, ala Tomorrow's Joe
- The Stoic: Kirenenko doesn't care about anything as long as you don't push his Berserk Button.
- Not So Stoic: When you do you'll barely have time to regret it..
- Toon Physics: The series basically runs on this trope.
- Transvestite: Comaneci the chick, who in his first appearance, confuses Putin by neither being obviously male or female. In later episode it is revealed that he's just part of a different species of bird.
- True Companions: Not Kirenenko and Putin, but Putin and Leringrad. In Season 5, when Leringrad's father (who already eats most of the cast) nearly eats Putin, Leningrad stopped him.
- Then in the prequel we learn that Putin has been giving food to Leningrad, helping him to quickly grow from tadpole to a young adult.
- Riding into the Sunset: Or at least toward horizon. The seasons end credits.
- Single-Minded Twins: Kirenenko and Killnenko. But they are not Identical Twins — their fur colour differs a bit.
- Unexplained Recovery: Comaneci usually gets revived at the end of an episode.
- Worthless Yellow Rocks: The savage rabbit doesn't care about money or gold, he's only after the carrots and soup.
