Sakuta Azusagawa spots a girl wandering through a library
in a bunny girl outfit. To his
amazement, he is the only one who can see this girl. She is Mai Sakurajima, his Senpai and a
former popular child actor. Her ability,
or curse, to not be seen by the public ties into a mysterious phenomenon known
as “Puberty Syndrome”. As the two pair
up to investigate Mai’s affliction, Sakuta and Mai discover there are other
bizarre cases of Puberty Syndrome, each more strange than the next. As they
search for answers, Sakuta and Mai may find more than either bargained for when
they start developing feelings for one another.
When you see the promo images for a show like Rascal Does
Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, I’m sure you’d expect some sexy adventures
involving one of the most beautiful Anime girls ever created.
In a way, I kind of equate this shows beginning
to that of Madoka Magica or Angel Beats: you expect one thing but an episode or
two in throws the whole premise on its head and youre sticking with it for new
reasons that’ll hopefully be good reasons.
I’m rambling, I know but I wasn’t sure what to expect from Bunny Girl
Senpai beyond the gorgeous Mai Sakurajima…and now I’m looking forward to
whatever is next for her and the titular Rascal.
As far as titles go for a Valentine theme for
February, this could be a good one folks.
(So much so I’m even giving this a special Valentine’s Day Premiere).
Let’s start with the Bunny Girl Senpai herself: Mai
Sakurajima.
Beautiful beyond
compare.
Honest but kind.
Proud but very shy.
Mai is an Anime girl who seems impossible to
get close to but once you do, it’s impossible to think of life without her in
it.
Mai just brings this sense of
goodness to the show and truly, it wouldn’t work without a strong lead,
particularly when you need to be invested in her plight: which is the world
slowly and scarily forgetting about her existence.
Mai’s definitely got a fun and naughty side
to her, just look at her wandering around in the sexiest outfit she could find
to test the theory about people not being able to see her.
While it isn’t funny to think about her being
forgotten: girl is hot and she knows she knows this and isn’t afraid to show
off how good she looks at any given moment.
Regardless of her immense beauty, Mai is the girl you would go to bat
for, the one you’d stand up for and risk anything to help her out.
And I felt that for sure by the end of
Episode 1, nevermind Episode 3.
At Mai’s side is Sakuta and he…takes some getting used
to.
Maybe it’s the voice acting but
Sakuta’s near deadpan delivery of about 80% of his dialogue makes him
unlikeable.
His monotone voice makes
even the creepiest of comments towards Mai seem worrisome, even if he is
joking…or is he (SEE THE PROBLEM!!!???).
The further I got into the opening set of episodes though, Sakuta did
grow on me but that’s because once the plight of Mai being erased from his
memory really took hold, more emotion seeped in, leading to one of the best
love confession scenes I’ve ever seen in Anime.
Come on dude, act more like this and I’d like you much more before
now.
Up until the confession, there was
a bit where Sakuta was desperately trying to stay awake in order to remember
Mai and everyone was pointing out how he looked like a Zombie…but honestly I
couldn’t tell the difference from how he normally spoke, Sakuta just sounds so
lifeless and disinterested at times, even when there’s a super hot Senpai
walking right next to him.
For all of my gripping about Sakuta, I do enjoy his
banter with Mai and the romance that’s blossoming from it and solving Mai’s
mystery feels genuine.
The opening act
of Bunny Girl Senpai could be a short film all it’s own with a nice, self
contained tale centered on these two and I’d give that alone a pretty high
rating for various reasons.
In spite of
Sakuta’s soulless line deliveries, the reactions he gets from Mai are cute and
she doesn’t let him get away with anything.
And yet I could always feel the concern Sakuta felt for Mai, partly
because she’s cute but also because he knows a thing or two about what Mai’s
going through, having had his own Puberty Syndrome experience himself as well
as his sisters own dilemma.
Romances
take time to build in most Animes but Bunny Girl Senpai’s core relationship is
critical and the opening act had to work to establish how important Mai and
Sakuta’s connection was by the end of Episode 3.
I’m happy to report that the show was
successful and I look forward to these two solving more Puberty Syndrome cases
together..and Mai getting more “Human” reactions out of Sakuta.
The Puberty Syndrome phenomena gives Bunny Girl Senpai a
kind of Haruhi Suzumiya kind of otherworldly mystery, or at least this is the
kind of thing I could see Kyon and the SOS Brigade looking into.
The idea that someone can remain so far
outside the public eye that their very existence can be erased from their
memory is incredibly scary and incredibly sad, that’s something no one should
ever have to go through.
But this goes
one step beyond as we saw even Mai’s name was blurred out of written warnings
Sakuta left for himself when he tried not to fall asleep and risk forgetting
about her.
I don’t think this is
supposed to be a supernatural occurrence but there’s a very X-Files/Twin Peaks
feel to Mai’s mystery.
As
aforementioned, Sakuta and his sister, Kaede, have had their own Puberty
Syndrome cases: Kaede refuses to leave her apartment now and Sakuta has a very Shonen
scar across his chest.
It begs the
question what other instances of Puberty Syndrome could be happening out there
and could there be some even worse than Mai’s predicament?
I’ve gotta say that in having Haruhi Suzumiya vibes while
watching Bunny Girl Senpai’s premiere, I could’ve sworn this show was another
Kyoto Animation project cause it looks gorgeous.
Actually, this one’s from Cloverworks, who’ve
worked on the Fate/Grand Order TV Anime and The Promised Neverland.
Everything from the backgrounds to the hustle
and bustle of the city to Mai’s gorgeous design gave of KyoAni vibes but I
might have to say they have a rival thanks to CloverWorks providing some
beautiful visuals for Bunny Girl Senpai.
Seriously, the direness of Mai’s situation not withstanding, if you
focus on just her and Sakuta walking around and hanging out/falling for one
another, this could be a pretty chill slice of life Anime in the vein of K-ON
with how relaxing the visuals can make you feel.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Rascal Does Not Dream
of Bunny Girl Senpai but three episodes in and I want to know what other
Puberty Syndrome cases need solving and I want to see the continued growth of
Mai Sakurajima and Sakuta Azusagawa’s relationship…and in general I just want
to see more of Mai herself.
Yes, we got
the super hot Bunny Girl Senpai but there’s something deeper and perhaps far
more special here with this show…and I’m gonna find out more about it.
Just a heads up though, we’ll be taking a break this
Friday cause I’ll be doing a Katsucon Celebratory Week in lieu of me not going
this year, featuring bonus reviews I’ve had in reserve for a while and a double
sized Toonami Special come Friday. So we’ll be back to Rascal Does Not Dream of
Bunny Girl Senpai, Next Monday, right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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