Long before he glimpsed a beautiful wild Bunny Girl only
he could see in a Library, Sakuta Azusagawa was already dealing with his own
personal experiences with Puberty Syndrome.
An incident from two years ago returns and the results could be
catastrophic to not just Sakuta but his sister, Kaede, as well. Sakuta finds himself in the most difficult
situation of his life and for once, he has no idea how to fix what is
coming. Will a renewed spark of hope
come from a girl who appeared to him similarly two years ago…or the beautiful
Bunny Girl who he has fallen in love with?
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai’s Series
Finale isn’t one that wraps up every single mystery.
It leaves plot threads dangling.
It doesn’t offer a sense of finality.
By rights, the fact that the story feels
incomplete should be enough to make me very unhappy with the final three
episodes of the series.
That isn’t the
case, not at all.
For a series that
suckered me in with the promise of a sexy Bunny Girl who could steal all
hearts, I never expected to feel so emotional at the pause point (I wont say
Finish Line…yet).
The final mystery of
the series hit all the right marks and was a good final test to show how far
Sakuta had come not just from the beginning, but all the way back from before
the beginning.
It makes sense that the most important Puberty Syndrome
case Sakuta had to deal with wasn’t Mai’s or his own, but that of the most
important person in his life: his little sister Kaede.
Based on what Sakuta revealed to Mai about
Kaede’s situation early on, you’d think we had the full story.
So its surprising that the extra twist that he
left out a key detail can still work here, particularly when that key detail is
a pretty big one.
I’ve noticed a theme
of dual identities and personalities in several spots of Bunny Girl Senpai,
most prevalent with Futaba’s doppleganger case.
So while Kaede having two sets of memories shouldn’t seem like anything
shockingly new, it still hits hard, particularly when the Kaede we’ve come to
know realizes she’ll be fading away soon and the Kaede from two years ago will
resume her existence without the memories she’s collected since her Puberty
Syndrome kicked in.
What followed after Sakuta revealed the truth to Mai and
Nodoka was nothing short of waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Kaede’s insistence of following through on a
list of plans and the spreading marks on her body indicated something bad was
about to happen and it was going to hurt when it did.
And boy did it.
For all the grief I’ve given Sakuta when it
comes to his stone dead delivery of erotic fantasy wishes, I would never wish
upon him the anguish he went through when Kaede reverted to her previous two
years ago state.
This was the most
emotional we’d seen him in the entire series and it looked like his world was
being crushed and he felt so isolated and alone.
You’d think that he would call Mai while she
was away to have a good cry.
But I get
that the shock of what happened affected Sakuta so bad he couldn’t figure out
what to do when it came to the simple act of moving once he collapsed.
And then she came back.
Shoko’s been absent from a few episodes now and we’ve heard nothing from
her or what’s kept her off screen.
Here
is probably the biggest of the pet peeves with the Series Finale.
The Shoko that Sakuta met two years ago
returns and helps him find his way back from the despair he’s been feeling,
just as she did back then.
Her sudden
reappearance and the existence of a younger version of Shoko is the biggest
unsolved mystery of the show and I can only assume that the follow up movie
will address this dangling plot thread.
In spite of that, Shoko’s unwavering optimism and kind words were
exactly what Sakuta needed to hear and the sequence where she reads Kaede’s
diary to him, detailing her two year journey as the New Kaede had me feeling
the most heart tugging emotion I’ve felt in an Anime, up there with Angel Beats
and Madoka Magica.
New Kaede knew her
time was almost up and did all she could to spend time with Sakuta and live out
some fun dreams with him while keeping Sakuta’s hard working and ever loving
spirit active.
While she isn’t around,
the Old Kaede did get her hands on the Diary and I think reading her own words
and how much her existence has changed Sakuta for the better, I think we’ll see
a fusion of the two sets of memories and a stronger Kaede as a whole in The
Movie or future Bunny Girl Senpai installments down the line.
This was good, tear worthy stuff guys.
As for our titular Bunny Girl Senpai, Mai’s screentime
was wisely used and when she did show up on screen, it was always at an
important moment in Sakuta’s story.
I
was a little worried that Mai would be jealous of Shoko helping Sakuta but in
truth, she was angry that she wasn’t there for Sakuta when he needed her the most
and it hurt her a lot.
Thankfully, Sakuta
isn’t about to let Mai go under any circumstances.
For once, with no lewd jokes and random
declarations of love, Sakuta made it perfectly clear: anytime Mai is by his
side is when he’s the happiest and at his best.
You’d think this would earn Sakuta that kiss at last…nope, instead he
gets his cheek pulled because Mai knows that little act is something he wants
far more…wow she knows him.
The duo
huddled in a jacket overlooking a snowy hill was just beautiful: Mai Sakurajima
and Sakuta Azusagawa might just be one of my favorite couples in Anime.
Final Thoughts?
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai is one of the best Anime I’ve
seen in a while with a surprising premise hidden behind the image of a Goddess
in a sexy Bunny Girl outfit.
Sakuta proves
to be the ultimate shoulder to lean on when anyone needs it, inspite of his
mostly deadpan honest delivery of most of his dialogue, especially his openly
lewd jokes and fantasy thoughts.
Mai is
the most flawed and perfect popular girl you’d be lucky to fall for.
Together, the mysteries these two solved
together were both familiar and unique in the Anime genre.
At times they felt like something out of
Haruhi Suzumiya, with a mix of Twin Peaks esque weirdness for good
measure.
At all times though, the
Puberty Syndrome cases were serious matters that were tackled with great care
so as not to be insensitive and it felt like the writers were trying to help
out anyone in this age bracket who felt the pressures of adolescence
overwhelming them.
You could say this is
an actual Self Help Anime in disguise and it works.
The supporting cast didn’t really have any
weak links (save maybe for Kunimi’s girlfriend) with Futaba being the MVP and
Kaede’s endearing cuteness becoming a strong focal point for the conclusion of
the series.
The animation was KyoAni
levels of gorgeous, especially since Bunny Girl Senpai could be a school/slice
of life Anime.
The writing, I guess I’ve
gone over, solid all across the board.
My only problem is the one plotline with Shoko Makinohara that was
introduced and then pushed to the side in favor of letting it be the focus of
the sequel movie.
Truth be told though,
given Shoko’s vital role in the finale, I’m kind of willing to not hold it against
the shows final score.
Speaking of which, Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl
Senpai gets a very strong 9.5/10.
Come
for the hottest Bunny Girl you’ve ever seen in the genre…stay for the amazing
characters, smart and challenging writing, and the stories that will hit your
heart in all the right places, challenge your emotions…and in the end help you
feel good about life and that you got all this goodness from a well done Anime
series.
As to WHEN I’ll ever get to
Rascal
Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl well who knows…Anniversary Title perhaps?
Hopefully it wont be too long til we see
Sakuta and Mai back here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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