NOVA’s receivers are giving the beleaguered company a month to find some money or else go bankrupt, according to Mainichi Daily News. But the daily adds that “an important question about the English conversation chain remains unanswered: what’s going to happen to the NOVA bunny?” Indeed. If (when?) NOVA finally goes bankrupt, all its assets with be monetized and sold off–including the bunny.

Apparently the NOVA bunny first appeared in a highly successful TV commercial in 2002. Merchandising followed, first with the release of a CD that reached No. 12 on the Oricon chart then came soft toys, mobile phone straps, T-shirts, etc. Within months, the NOVA bunny was one of Japan’s hottest properties, but like NOVA itself, Bugs soon slid downhill:

“When the bunny merchandise first came out, it was only sold to students of the chain, so it was regarded of something of a rare commodity and also served to boost student numbers. I wanted to buy a bunny doll myself, so checked out the prices on an online auction site and saw that they were selling for several thousand yen apiece,” Dokkyo University professor and economic analyst Takuro Morinaga tells Shukan Asahi.

“The bunny was as cute as hell, but soon it was being sold everywhere and eventually turned up in game centers all across the country, losing that ‘rarity value’ that had made it so popular in the first place. I think, like NOVA itself, it wasn’t good for the bunny’s fortunes that it became too popular too quickly. It’s really unfortunate, but I think in terms of the value of intellectual property and commercial rights, it’s a bit much to expect anything from the NOVA bunny now.”