Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS NON-CRUCIAL SPOILERS FROM ONE EARLY EPISODE

Raskal Does Not Dream of Copyright Infringement

There is going to be a lot of mentions of Monogatari series in the review, because you need to understand that this series is not just similar, or inspired, or derivative. No - it’s an unbelievably blatant plagiarism, it steals everything from Monogatari, and I mean EVERYTHING, except for a couple of elements stolen from Oregairu and Haruhi instead. Comparing it to the famous cases of literary plagiarism ruled by court (Like Harry Potter’s rip-off called Tanya Grotter), it would 100% be ruled a copyright infringement if Nisio Isin/Kodansha ever bothered ... to sue (and it baffles me that they didn’t). If you’ve seen Monogatari before, you might get a kick out of spotting entire scenes and minute-long dialogues meticulously copypasted word-for-word (don’t make it a drinking game, you’ll die) but there really isn’t much point in doing that over an actual rewatch, because production values are not as good as Studio SHAFT.

Well, one might ask, wouldn’t a carbon copy of a good series also be good? No, because there is another element in play - the author is a talentless hack. Something called “stupidity” manifests in multiple aspects of this story making it impossible to enjoy. Here are some examples:

1. Primitive surface-level copying results in nonsense. The best example is the show's title - it’s terrible for marketing purposes because it made many people believe this is going to be some ecchi harem. Well, the title comes from the female lead wearing a bunny-girl suit ...for approximately 15 seconds that basically amount to nothing plot-wise. You see, in Monogatari heroines have animal leitmotifs, and that got copypasted - except the writer couldn’t think of any actual reason for this inside the story, so it’s just an awkward non sequitur, sitting there, doing nothing except making the title stupid - and there are many other examples like that.

2. Insufferable protagonist. There is a certain trope familiar to most anime watchers - “badass loner”, aka “Gary Stu”, aka “Self-insert Jesus-kun”, aka “literally me”. Araragi from Monogatari looks like one - until he isn’t, because writing anime cliches as complex real people is what that series does. Hachiman from Oregairu is another take - he is also real, i. e. an awkward teenager who has trouble socializing. Being a talentless hack he is, the writer of Aobuta couldn’t do anything but write this trope completely straight. The MC is supposedly antisocial pariah, but he has social skills and confidence of a god. When some dumb females give him shit he just says “begone thot!” and they run away in shame, defeated by his awesomeness. He beats a jock twice his size in a fist fight by “outsmarting” him, nevermind a gang of jock’s friends standing there doing nothing. It’s just so cringy to watch. Kirito from SAO is a better protagonist, at least that guy farmed levels or something.

3. Idiotic non-logic. Monogatari has supernatural phenomena explained with ghosts. Aobuta has supernatural phenomena explained with quantum mechanics. That is, dumb and cringy “is math related to science?” level of quantum mechanics understanding. That’s not my point, pseudo-science is just a particular case of a bigger problem of nothing making sense. This is also better explained with an example. Spoiler ahead:

**Spoiler begins here**

Here is a conversation between two characters:
Person A: “I’m trapped in a day-long time loop.”
Person B: “That means there is another person also trapped in the same loop.”
Nonsense, right? Well the conversation is slightly longer but boils down to exactly that. Here is a full version with my play-by-play:
Person A: “I’m trapped in a day-long time loop.”
Person B: “What if you're not trapped, but instead perfectly predict the future, and experience it as an advanced form of jamais vu?” //How could this possibly be a first idea in reaction to the time loop? How does that work? Why is it a time loop that repeats multiple times instead of just being clairvoyant? You what?
Person A: “How so?”
Person B: “Laplace’s demon. A theoretical intelligence that can perfectly calculate position and behaviour of every particle in the universe, therefore, can predict the future.” //But why would it make a repeating loop instead of just being clairvoyant??? Why would Laplace’s demon be your first idea if it doesn’t actually fit the nature of the situation?
Person A: “But I’m not a Laplace’s demon, I’m a normal human”
Person B: “That means some other person is Laplace’s demon and they do the calculations. You’re quantum entangled with that person so you experience their time loop.” //Again, how could this possibly be your first idea? Other person being Laplace’s demon doesn’t actually answer any of the questions posed. Also, quantum entanglement... a) Is an actual physical phenomena, not a theoretical construct, and it doesn’t fit the situation at all, so it wouldn’t be a thing that comes to mind here; b) Doesn’t have anything to do with Laplace’s demon, so it wouldn’t come to mind based on that; c) DOESN’T EXPLAIN WHY THE TIME IS REPEATING IN A LOOP, INSTEAD OF TWO PEOPLE BEING CLAIRVOYANT.

**Spoiler ends here**

Notice the pattern? Wrong physics aside, none of the conclusions of Person B logically follow from the previously reached conclusions, it’s a bunch of random lines arranged one after another. Either the author is a moron and “lines arranged one after another” is his understanding of how logic works, or he thinks the audience are morons and he can scam them with this garbage if he talks fast and sounds confident. Incidentally, if someone tries “but that’s just Person B’s theory, it doesn’t have to be true” on you - spit them in the face because the characters act on those assumptions and they are proven to be 100% correct.

2/10 because this series provides nothing of value and has no reason to exist, except to give an answer to a weird thought experiment - what if some acclaimed series was the same, but written by an author 50 IQ points lower.

‘I live life everyday hoping that I’m a slightly kinder person than I was the day before’ - Makinohara Shoko

If you thought this show was about literal BUNNY GIRLS, boi should you be prepared to be bamboozled by the most misleading title that you mightve ever come across. I was watching the first few minutes of the first episode expecting something probably as ecchi as it seems on the cover art, but hot damn did I got hooked by the quirky characters, mainly the interactions between our main protagonists. This show within the first episode reminded me of Bakemonogatari, which till this date I ... still think has one of the best monologues and dialogues, and now at the end of it, I think we have a great contester to dethrone the monogatari series, and here I present you, Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai.

Story / Character -10-
Revolving around the idea of ‘Puberty Syndrome’, this story mainly focuses on how our male protagonist, Sakuta settles this problem for the ones undergoing this syndrome. Albeit totally supernatural, there are sufficient backstory and explanations relating to quantum physics and what not (if you can understand that is), in which I think is always a great touch to the story to not let the audience sit in confusion. Puberty Syndrome is where you might find random bruises or cuts throughout your body, or having a juxtapose of yourself that takes your rightful place etc. However, because the setting of this story is actually in high school, it can be very relatable to some due to the fact that the problems usually are involved with gossiping, bad mouthing or simply falling in love. Consequences of not properly solving Puberty Syndrome can lead to severe problems, just like in real life, one wrong move and it might cause you the win or lose.
Now moving on to our protagonist, ladies first, and it is our best girl Sakurajima Mai senpai. Humorous, bold, outgoing, what more can one ask for, it’s an all in one package here for your service. Sakuta, again humorous, kind, and mostly perverted. With the encounter of Makinohara Shouko, Sakuta starts to treat others kinder and is the core of why Sakuta helps (perpetually) everyone out throughout the story, because he wants to be kind. As of the side characters, imouto, kouhai, thicc af girl IN LAB COAT, theyre all really great and likeable characters, with each of them having their own unique personalities. They also contribute a lot to the story, making this entire show a very wholesome one. Catchy settings and directing is what makes this anime stand at the top against the others this season, maybe even the year of 2018, you get so invested into the characters by the first episode it is hard to just not love this anime.

Art -10-
Cloverworks ( A-1 Pictures) nailed the crap out of it this time. The art style is really smooth to the eyes, and looks a lot like Oregairu (which is definitely an extra point), animations are fluid and some compositions are seriously on point. Subtle emotions are well laid out on the characters and they really add up to the feelings and they convey well to the audience.

Sound -10-
Another big part that contributes to the wholesomeness of this show is the voice acting and the OSTs. The opening which at this point everyone probably knows how to sing, is hella catchy, and is like a blackhole sucking you in, once you heard it, theres no turning back. Same goes for the ending, every character had their own uniquely designed ending, just like how the monogatari series has the VA sing the OP for their respective arcs (in which case is the same here). Voice acting is top notch, whats better than having a quirky conversation? A lively and energetic one. And its all here in this show, cocaine for your ears my buddy.

Overall -10-
Definitely my top pick of this season (year as well), if you haven’t watch it, please do so already, you really don’t want to miss out this show, even if the cover art turns you off (or the otherwise ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) You want some fun time watching some slice of life-y anime? Check! You want some home hitting feelings or tear jerking moments? Check! Having doubted this anime at first was my single worst mistake Ive ever made, because this series has proven itself worthy of being one of the best animes possibly out there. With an movie adaptation for another arc in the future, I can safely say that everyone should be looking forward for that, just like how Sakuta looks forward getting teased by Mai everyday.

I am sure that several spectators started to watch the show after seeing the cover art and the Bunny Girl title. However, you aren’t going to watch a girl wearing a bunny outfit all the time … sorry to disappoint. Also, the audience can relate the anime with Bakemonogatari, Sakurada Reset to name some and the similarity between the main characters' behavior, the mystery in the plot, and the supernatural events.

On the other hand, as a positive aspect about the series, we have the characters chemistry and an entertaining plot. The story is interesting and mysterious, it could be a bit confusing for some, but ... it has a taint that boosts the characters interactions and hooks the spectators with good pacing. In this anime, the author cared to develop a world where the school is the center, and the events affect the characters and the interaction with the outside world.

We have two main characters, but their personalities differ a lot, so the contrast makes the characters more vivid. They aren't the typical high schoolers with the same generic background as most of the high school series. The main male character Sakuta has a nice introvert attitude and with an awkward past and could be a weirdo. Furthermore, he is ironic, sarcastic and with some sense of humor executed flawlessly. The main female character aka the Bunny Girl Mai (her face looks like a bunny :3) is a famous actress but with a mature air that is not normal in this kind of series. I am finding the background very interesting, but she will experience some unexpectant events related to a certain syndrome that I am not going to explain because we have only seen four episodes and this syndrome will affect the plot outcome in several ways.

The art is clean and precious. I am surprised by the quality and color management. However, it is not perfect, and some camera angles could have been improved, but you won't notice them.
The OP (Kimi no Sei) is marvelous. I think the peggies did a great work performing the song; the lyrics are magnificent and have a great score that helps to follow them.

Lastly, the series is good so far, albeit there are some plot mysteries related to the “puberty syndrome” that need to be revealed and explained but there are good theories in MAL’s forum.

Bunny Girl Senpai is an anime about this famous child actress who turns invisible, a main character dude who doesn't give a fuck about anything, and his little sister who was verbally assaulted to a point that she started bleeding blood and became a shut-in. All of this happens because of some magic disease called a puberty syndrome.

The events include our main bro being some sort of women-helping Jesus except if the women are bothering him in which case he roasts them by claiming they are on their periods or otherwise strips in front of them to make them awkward blushy blush, because apparently, he ... is the only person in the series who doesn't get embarrassed over nothing.

Our series relies on certain levels of edge and apathy when it wants to, but usually these things are forgotten in 3 seconds when our main bro starts roasting someone. Be it him calling a dude who is using a camera a wannabe photographer or just appearing superior to anyone else for no other reason than others being inferior to him.

Nothing really makes much sense here. Our dude cares so little about anything that he can see the invisible bunny costume-wearing senpai and then they become friends or something and chat about the supernatural things that occur in this series with the same disinterest the main bro is already radiating regarding everything that exists because that's the sole point of his character.

There has been quite a few series that have dealt with similar themes in highly similar manner. These include Bakemonogatari, Oregairu and Suzumiya Haruhi. The problem here is that everything in this one feels forced and fake. The main cast can be believable and realistic at times, but most of everyone else isn't. Rather they seem to exist just for the main characters since they so often are some one-dimensional buttholes or angry lil girls who get served by the mc and then disappear. Especially scenes such as random girl appearing just to fuck with the mc's shit and call him a pedophile are cringe and feel nothing other than stupido filler.

I think melancholy, vanity, disinterest and in generally being the outcast offer incredible potential under these settings, but I fail to see what makes Bunny Girl a good exemplary of these. The best thing about this series is how familiar and welcoming it feels, but unlike so many other series similar to it, it seems like a good example of a series that is not living up to its potential at all. Real zero effort stuff. I also feel physically ill from the existential philosophies presented in the series. I feel like this series is disrespecting its audience. It's like asking philosophy student "know who Sigmund Freud is?" The dialogue can also be pretty meh seasoned with lame. Lewd and sexual remarks presented in a highly teenage manner and not with the level of maturity and awareness that is usually seen in the dialogue of similar anime series. I'd much rather have the cast hit the tarantino-effect instead of this nonsense.

Despite this series promoting itself and its characters with the "I am not like all the rest" -attitude, what I am seeing here is pretty much like most of the rest: A completely average anime series, soulless and empty version of what it could have been. Attempt to make the next big hit under these settings, but failing to see what made any of the earlier ones worth of praise in the first place. I give this a 4 instead of a 5 just to show how little effort it takes to be as edgy as the mc.

Story: 7/10

The story of Seishun Buta is relatively simple, there is a supernatural phenomenon that happen and that its origin is unknown. This phenomenon is known as ''puberty syndrome'', the protagonist's little sister has been a victim of this phenomenon in the past. The anime begins with Sakuta meeting Sakurajima Mai, who is also being the victim of this phenomenon, from there the protagonist decides to help her.

Sound: 8/10

The opening and ending are very good, when they starts you get so excited. The soundtrack also is good, although it is not perfect, but it is enough to cause impact during drama scenes.

Characters: 10/10

The main ... character, Sakuta, is so badass! man, i wish be like he. Sakuta in only 5 episodes prove be a excellent character, he goes against all protagonist cliches and surprise you in each new episode. The heroine, Mai, is also a good character, she isn't like the others girls that you usually see in animes, she is racional and not a stupid tsundere. The others characters is also good, in special the cientist girl (dude, i like much her)

Enjoyment: 10/10

Dude, I honestly would give 10 easily to this anime just for the entertainment. You start the episode and when you realize it is over. You become totally focused, the time seems to accelerate. The fact that each episode brings up something new that breaks down cliches surprises us more and more (Especially the protagonist, who goes against 90% of other animes).

Overall: 8/10

If you like animes that are not cliches, in which there are great characters, romance that progresses, and of course, an excellent protagonist, I highly recommend watch Seishun Buta.

Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai is a short series adapted from "Light Novel" this series has thirteen episodes, six years after the release of Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo from the present screening Kamoshida Hajime who is the creator of this series at once The creator of the series "Sakurasou" recently also produced a work that Cloverworks studio appointed to become an anime.

Story

What happens when you experience a strange puberty, for example, can you exchange your body to be someone else? A story that focuses on a young man named "Azusagawa Sakuta" who finds himself meeting a bunny girl, ... it turns out Sakuta knows that person she is "Sakurajima Mai" who is a senior in his school. But strangely only Sakuta can see the form of a rabbit Sakurajima, both of them are looking for a way out together to uncover the mystery that happened to him.

Talking about the mystery of the series has several chapters that they must complete, if counted there are five chapters available in this series. Having supernatural themes, this series is highly anticipated by various people, but the solution they provide is forced as if they only gave a very simple impression but we can accept it.

Not forgetting this series is also in the romantic category, indeed some of the scenes that are displayed are very simple and limited to such as holding hands (therefore this series can be watched from among the ages, but there are some scenes that contain sexual jokes that are not worth watching for children but it's still natural). The conflicts they are not very significant, they only argue about the problems they and they can solve them very simply.

Art

Recently, exactly two months ago a company called "Cloverworks" which was the parent company of "Aniplex" released a number of popular anime series, for example they collaborated with several studios in the recent "Darling In The Franxx" series. cause controversy in the whole world. In their adaptation they have no shortcomings, arguably in every adaptation they have worked very well.

The series has a rigid animation design and does not have a special characteristic, a simple character design adds to the impression that this animation becomes very simple. But the audience does not care too much about it, they only focus on a very interesting story.

Sound

An anime series will not be good if it is not supported by the sound part. From the voice part or seiyuu they are very good, the match between the voice and the characters is very suitable they can produce good sound quality according to the age of the character they are playing.

The opening theme of "Kimi no Sei" sung by The Peggies is very simple but has its own characteristics, while for the closing theme "Fukashigi no Carte" they are very good at replacing singers in each chapter based on their respective characters.For their BGM they are very careful in their selection, sometimes BGM is at the center of attention, for example when fighting is not only important animation but BGM also plays an important role in this matter.

Character

This series has two main characters, telling about their school life is not an ordinary student they have strange puberty. Sakuta is a student who is boring in the eyes of many people, he has a dark past therefore he is shunned by many people but he still live his life as usual. After meeting Sakurajima Mai Sakuta's life changed which initially had no purpose in life now with the spirit of living his life.

Has a strange youth Sakurajima Mai is very bored because at any time she can disappear in the eyes of everyone, but one time when she was in the middle of a meeting she met a Sakuta, he was able to see the form of Mai wearing a rabbit costume. artist who has ignorance to everyone.

After him meeting with Mai, Sakuta is now acquainted with a girl named Koga. She is the younger sister of Sakuta's class who has a cheerful nature but behind her cheerful nature, she has a strange youth. Different from the others, Koga can return time based on her will.

Having a smart and beautiful friend is the hope of everyone. Futaba, who is Sakuta's classmate, has an easy to talk nature, but this Futaba has a strange youth where he can split into two.

Mai has a half sister named Nodoka, she is an artist like Mai. Nodoka has jealousy towards people who are stronger than him, as a result of his character he can exchange bodies with other people so that he can feel what the person can feel.

Sakuta is also just like Mai, she also has a younger sister, but the difference is the younger sibling. The sister of Sakuta named Kaede, she is a confined and timid girl but she has a reason why she is moody. from his classmates, therefore he became a confined and timid girl.

Enjoyment

This season has many interesting anime series and one of them is Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai tells about puberty syndrome, this series has a very interesting story in each episode even we are invited to think how to solve the problems they are facing.

"Never judge a book by its cover." - Some random person.

This Fall 2018 anime season, there are a lot of shows to watch on. Honestly, on my opinion, I enjoy this season pretty much more than any other seasons this year. From Goblin Slayer giving us memes and war, SAO back at it again with another season of Kirito OP-ness, to Jojos returning to TV screen with its title "Golden Wind", Fall season this year is definitely a must-see season.
Let us not forget the romance or drama genre of anime which are plenty this season as well. One of them, giving us audience a pretty ... much click-baiting cover is "Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai" or in short, "Bunny-girl Senpai". When I looked at the cover picture of the anime on its MAL page and its synopsis I was like "Oh... It is another typical and generic harem anime that the protagonist is always at the center of everything and he is not that lovable to the audience perspective I bet."
That WAS my statement until I watched up to episode 3 and kept going until I finished it. I was so damnnn wrong.

Story:
We follow the story of Azusagawa Sakuta to his daily high-school life. It was normal, until he met Sakurajima Mai wearing a bunny suit in a library. Weird am I right? But as the story goes on, we get to follow that Mai is suffering to a what is called as a "Puberty Syndrome" which incase for her, turning invisible to other people (except Sakuta because he is the protagonist).
This was the starting point of the story. We get to know so many types of Puberty Syndromes that revolves around Sakuta's girl colleagues not only Mai. Does this sound pretty familiar? Yes.. It is almost like the plot of the Monogatari series. In spite of that, Bunny girl senpai tends to create a unique atmosphere to the audience. It is more on drama, feels, romance and the sufferings of the girls along with Sakuta in the story, portraying real-life issues on our society. One of the girl suffered bullying, one suffered jealousy or envy, one suffered hatred on herself and not knowing how to act what she wants, one suffered ignorance to reality and wanted loneliness and one suffered one of the harsh reality of love. Every single bit of this issues complements the story's goal and the main protagonist Sakuta who really is the center of them all. But making him the center of it doesn't make it
as your typical and generic harem anime unlike other anime out there that the protagonist is the center of everything and the harem is very plain. In fact, it is not even labeled as a harem on MAL which totally makes sense because the vibes of it being a harem is not there. Instead, we get the vibes of every character's problems or issues they are encountering along with Sakuta which is totally fine for the story. Hence, Bunny girl senpai's story unveils problems or issues of teenagers to our modern society that make it more of a story foreshadowing this topics and having the audience learn from it because of the experiences of the characters.

Characters:
Speaking of the characters, there are soooo many waifus on this show. But let us talk about the one, the only, man of culture, Azusagawa Sakuta. Unlike any generic protagonist out there who cannot portray their real feelings in real life in front of a girl, Sakuta is different. He will say anything that comes to his mind whether it is a perverted one or someone that makes someone offensive. His replies to the girls especially to Mai-san always get me and say "How do you have the guts to say that?". In any case, Sakuta is one of the best male characters I've ever seen this season or maybe this year as well. Now for the waifus. My favorite Sakurajima Mai have like some sort of unique trait on her. She doesn't really care about what Sakuta is saying even it is something perverted. She is always composed but have the blush to protect. She have some little tsundere vibes but not that much unlike her little sister Toyohama Nodoka. Nodoka is like the opposite of Mai-san. She is your typical tsundere type of girl but her story gave us more details about their relationship as a sibling to Mai-san. Next girl is Koga Tomoe, which I think represents a girl that is a tryhard and wants to keep updated always to whats happening whether in real life or social media. She fears loneliness and because of that she tries to become like her classmates. Then there is Futaba Rio, the one who wears lab coats on every scene she is on and the one that advices Sakuta of the causes of Puberty Syndrome through the power of SCIENCE!. We can say she is a very smart girl considering her intelligence on quantum mechanics, physics and all sorts of mumbo-jumbo science stuff. But then like any other girl in the series, her fear or Puberty Syndrome complements to the story of the anime. It is something most of us wanted to do for the sake of others but we are unsure if we can really do it... and again because of love.. Of course we shall never forget the little sister of Sakuta, Azusagawa Kaede. Because of her I tend to like Sakuta as a main protagonist because Sakuta.. surprisingly... not in love with her little sister! Like how many times we get to see incest in anime. Like literally every season I guess? But here, Sakuta doesn't like Kaede hugging him while he was in bed and he even quoted this statement "Who'd get excited over their little sister?" Sakuta aside, Kaede probably have the worst type of Puberty Syndrome and it impacts Sakuta as a brother of her as whole as well. Even the parents of Sakuta and Kaede are devastated. That's why I can describe Kaede as Sakuta's challenge that makes him a hard challenger and never give up on her. And finally the little girl Makinohara Shouko is just a pure mystery to me. I mean this girl is someone important to Sakuta but there are circumstances that makes her a mystery and somewhat special. Overall, the characters are lovable to the audience that makes it entertaining to watch on every week.

Art:
On the art side, it is good. It is not that special or anything but it is indeed watchable and pleasant. the character designs are pretty much cute as well with their eyes big but bright. It is fairly a unique art style among other art style this season.

Sound:
Unfortunately, unlike the good OST of Monogatari, Bunny-girl senpai doesn't have much of that. The soundtracks are good and thats it. It just fits into the atmosphere but it is something that I will not put on my music playlist as it is not my taste. But... the opening and endings are veryy good for my ears. The opening have good sound that catches my ear and the ending portrays some sadness because..... the episode ended of course. But i said "endings" earlier. The endings have different characters walking in a beach. For example, if the episode is mainly about Futaba, you will see Futaba walking into the sands of the beach. The same applies to every character of each arc. Overall in terms of sound, opening song and ending song are likable while OST's are good but not for my playlists.

Overall thoughts and Enjoyment:
Hence, Bunny-girl Senpai is one of those anime that makes the story sounds pretty similar to other genre or anime but its intake to it are unique. The fact that it implies some weakness or fear of teenagers makes it relatable to people and gives out feels to us. If you are looking for an anime that have a bunch of girls but have a good story and a well-narrated protagonist, this is it for you and I highly recommend it to anyone.

TLDR: A really good Romance/Mystery anime with a lot of potential. Definitely a must watch this season.

STORY:
Although I have seen similar stories in anime but so far the execution is pretty good and Far Better than MOST anime. It is a Mystery surrounding "Adolescence Syndrome" where different characters face supernatural phenomena while going through adolescence and how it affects the main couple.
The show has built a lot of intrigue this far.

CHARACTERS:
The 2 mains are compelling. The main guy is an outcast with a mysterious past. He cares about people but can give someone a verbal bitch slap if needed. He is kind ... but courageous enough to stand up for himself and say what he wants. He is not a wishy-washy pussy like most romance protagonists.


The girl is serious but not stuck-up. Her responses are honest yet measured. She is sometimes blunt but never rude. She is mature enough to admit her mistakes but not dwell on them.
She is neither a Puritanical Prude nor an overtly seductive bimbo.
Most anime often have a difficulty finding a balance between these 2 traits.


They have great chemistry. They tease each other and constantly try to one up one another, while also sharing their secrets with one another.
Their conversations are interesting even when talking about mundane things.

NO fountains of Nosebleeds/accidental boob-grabs or any silliness of that sort.
Everything is talked about openly and there seems to be a genuine connection.

Supporting cast is fine too.


ANIMATION & ART:
It is really good. Kind of looks like "My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU".


SOUND:
Good. For some reason the Opening song reminded me of "Your Name" opening song. May be they share similar beats, rhythm and instruments.


Highly recommend this show to Fans of Romance with supernatural/mystery elements.

I have given this an 8/10 because I don't know how the story will be handled in the next episodes.
The score can go up or down depending on that. It definitely has the potential to be one of great ones.

Fingers Crossed

This review contains some light spoilers.

Oftentimes the word “pretentious” is thrown around to criticize shows with complex plots or extravagant visuals with the assumption that calling the anime “pretentious” with no explanation of how that detracts from the quality of the show is a valid criticism in and of itself. However, in the case of “Bunny Girl,” Kamoshida’s pretensions are detrimental to the quality of the writing to the point that the incredibly simple ideas presented in this show become unnecessarily difficult to understand solely so Kamoshida can stroke his ego.

The first arc of Bunny Girl is dedicated to Mai Sakurajima’s case of adolescence syndrome. ... This syndrome caused Mai to turn invisible and made everyone forget except for the Sakuta (the MC) and his friends to forget that she exists. While I think this is all fine, the issue arises from Kamoshida’s attempt to explain this simple concept using Schrodinger’s cat. Not only does Kamoshida fail to explain Schrodinger’s cat correctly, but it isn’t even an accurate representation of Mai’s situation. There is a much simpler and more widely known thought experiment that goes: "if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" If no one perceives Mai, does she exist? The tree falling thought experiment reflects Mai’s syndrome so much better that it is just dumbfounding that Kamoshidadecided to incorrectly apply Schrodinger’s cat to the situation instead. This is just terrible writing. Kamoshida takes a concept that could easily be understood with little explanation, and then makes it as complex as he possibly can for no reason other than to show of his poor understanding of Schrodinger’s cat. Unfortunately for us, this isn’t the last time Kamoshida shoves his lack of knowledge of quantum mechanics down our throats.

The second arc of the series focuses on the Sakuta’s underclassman whose case of adolescence syndrome created a time loop that caused everyone to relive the same day 3 times. This isn’t a complicated or novel idea. Hollywood movies like Groundhog Day and even children’s shows like Cardcaptor Sakura have made use of time loops. Of course, Kamoshida decides to make it as convoluted as possible by using Laplace’s Demon to explain this simple plot device.

For an anime to be be pretentious in the way it is written, it has to present itself as being deeper than it actually is. I don’t even think that’s inherently a bad thing While I think this word gets overused as a lazy criticism to describe any “smart” anime, in the case of Bunny Girl, Kamoshida’s pretensions significantly diminish the quality of the writing. Kamoshida takes straight forward ideas and makes them unnecessarily complicated by introducing unnecessary quantum mechanics that he doesn’t even fully understand. But if you think this is the end to the terrible writing present in this anime, you’re dead wrong.

Every line of dialogue in this anime sounds as if it was painstakingly crafted by the author to sound as clever and witty as possible. Unfortunately, Kamoshida is neither clever nor witty and the dialogue just ends up feeling incredibly stilted. The dialogue is composed of the kind of lines that people wish they had said when thinking about a conversation they had minutes ago. No one speaks like this! It’s unnatural and unrealistic. Everything that comes out of Sakuta’s mouth is just an obnoxious one-liner. Kamoshida clearly doesn’t even understand the most basic rules for writing passable dialogue, and the fact that it’s the primary point of praise for this show is astounding.

Although less bothersome than Kamoshida’s sheer incompetence as a writer, the fan service in this show is almost offensive because it’s the kind of fan service that thinks it’s not. I don’t mind fan service or being blatantly pandered to as long as the show is honest about it, but Bunny Girl tries to justify its fan service in the most pathetic ways possible. The worst example of this is in the beginning of the series when Mai dresses as a bunny girl to test whether other people can see her as if that’s the most logical thing she could do. It’s not reasonable, it’s just a pitiful attempt at disguising fan service because Kamoshida thinks he’s above it.


Sakuta is a bit more cynical and edgy than most generic self-insert main characters. Mai is slightly more understanding than most tsunderes. Those are the only things that make the characters in Bunny Girl unique. If you’ve seen a light novel adaptation before, you’ve seen these characters before.


There isn’t much to say about the art, it’s just very average. If Cloverworks didn’t take every available opportunity to assault my eyes with a mob of hideous 3DCG background characters, I would give this category a 5/10.

Enjoyment: 2/10

The writing in Bunny Girl is just godawful and nothing else about this anime is really worth mentioning.

What do I think about Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai? It’s an amazing show. That’s the simple way to say it but the complicated way is explaining it from my perspective. To be fair, I think this anime gets judged based on a lot of facts before it even aired. Like for instance, the brainchild behind the light novels is the same person that made Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo. (The Pet girl of Sakurasou) Anyone who has seen that anime may think what to expect from this show. But I think a bit differently. Hajime Kamoshida helmed the ... storytelling for both series but there’s quite a bit of differences. I don’t want to talk too much about comparison because the fact is, Bunny Girl Senpai pretty much stand out a lot on its own feet.

But let’s get the most obvious out of the way first. When you see that key visual on the anime entry page, what really comes to mind? On the front is a beautiful long haired beauty dressed in a sexy bunny outfit. When you look at it, she could probably resemble a playboy girl on the front page of a magazine. The visual impression alone had my interest although it’s clear that the anime isn’t just about a bunny girl. It’s about a boy named Sakuta Azusagawa in which his life changes forever after encountering our poster girl, Mai Sakurajima in the library. At the heart of the series is also a mysterious phenomenon known as the “Adolescence Syndrome”.

Now I should say right off the bat that you’d better be prepared for social commentary. This is essentially a very talky show with no shortage of dialogues. In fact, it explores many social problems that is very real in our world today. Anxiety, depression, bullying, inferiority, isolationism, lack of confidence. You name it. If I had to guess, there’s probably someone out there in your life that also suffers from something along those lines at one point or another. So in many ways, it’s easy to say this show is relatable on a realistic level. But you’re probably thinking that logic makes no sense considering the set up for the first few episodes. Indeed, Mai’s debut in the anime is perhaps way too bizarre to be considered real. It could even be considered surreal. I mean, who has ever seen a girl in a sexy bunny outfit walking around in a public library?

Until I realized what this show really wanted us to experience, it sort of reminded me of an anime known as “Bakemonogatari”. My first impression of the fated encounter between Mai and Sakuta felt similar compared to that series. We have a regular guy meeting a girl under unusual circumstances and they begin to connect on a more personal level. What does make the first few episodes for this anime more distinctive is the amount of human emotions shown. Early in the series, we get a confession from Sakuta as he expresses it with brutal honesty. That love confession defines Sakuta as a character who isn’t afraid to hold back his feelings. In fact, Sakuta seems like a guy who doesn’t care much about what others think of him. Some people would call his behavior as cynical and anti-social. Indeed, Sakuta isn’t a guy that’s easy to make friends with but he does truly have people he cares about. Mai and his sister, Kaede are perhaps the two most important people in his life. That brings about his relationship with them. From the beginning, he and Mai develops a strange bond that blooms from strangers, to friends, and to a couple. Their relationship develops more and more despite some of their similarities and differences. It’s shown that both characters suffers from some anxiety issues. However, Mai’s problem suffers more as she fears about being forgotten. On the other hand, Sakuta is indifferent about how the world and doesn’t even care if everyone hates him. (with exception of his closest loved ones) The first arc details the show exploring their deep inner problems. In fact, these inner struggles manifest in the form of the mysterious “Adolescence Syndrome”.

As I watched more and more of this series, it became easy to see the direction of the overall storytelling. Each arc contains a story that deals with a different issue and a different character. However, several recurring themes apply and the most prominent is the amount of social psychology. There’s meaningful interactions that is essential for the plot and character development. I’m quite impressed how much every arc made me feel invested by these different characters. The second arc explores Tomoe, a schoolgirl that gets involved in a time loop. Think of Groundhog Day or the Eightless Eight. At this point, I knew what this show as aiming for: having the main protagonists help conquer their problems while solving the mystery of the Adolescence Syndrome. Tomoe’s problems involves her fear of losing friends is another example of a social problem. It paints the picture of people suffering from problems that they try to avoid yet seemingly need help in doing so. That’s where Sakuta comes in to deal with them. He’s like an anime life coach.

With the pattern of the story structure, I knew what to expect as Sakuta also helps deal with problems involving Rio Fubata, Nodoka Toyohama, and even his own sister, Kaede. I should say that at times, the manifestation of their problems feels like a superstition. We get doppelgangers, body switching, and memory loss. It’s rather creative how they represent each of the characters’ inner struggles while capitalizing on the psychological appeal. One character that manages evade these social problems is Shoko Makinohara. Regrettably, I’d say that compared to the other cast members, her presence is easily forgotten despite her connection to Sakuta’s past. Speaking of which, Sakuta has problems of his own that includes his troubled past. He even suffers from a physical scar on his chest due to his sister’s Adolescence Syndrome. Throughout the series, I think it’s important to realize how the creators managed to capitalize on its emotional content. The final arc in this anime adaptation shows Sakuta as a kind brother who is willing to do anything to help his sister. It’s the type of family bond that is emotional and contains a lot of heartwarming moments. And even as emotional as the story gets, this show still finds time for comedy such as with Sakuta’s lewd comments about girls and his dry sense of humor.

It’s interesting to note that CloverWorks is involved in this project. They’re a studio rebranded from A-1 Pictures as its own identity. To my delight, they managed to capture the essence of this show perfectly. The main selling point of the quality is the character interactions. Because this anime consists of a lot of dialogues and interactions, it’s important to capitalize on their social lives. Thankfully, Cloverworks knew what it was doing as it draws out human emotions of the various characters. Characters such as Mai, Kaede, Tomoe, and even Sakuta are firm examples of this during more of their emotional moments. The visual quality also stays consistent throughout the duration of the run without relying on it too much. Bravo CloverWorks, you’ve made quite an impression this year already.

The opening theme song “Kimi no Sei” is perhaps one of the catchiest ones for its usage of lyrics and delivery. It contains a variety of characters and while it’s not anything too unique, it captures the surreal-like feeling of the show. There’s even Mai in her iconic bunny outfit. Additionally, there are interchanging ED theme songs performed by the various voice actresses of the characters. Each of them follows their respective arc but all of them earned my praise for their consistent delivery.

This show may have a long title but it only took me a short time to accept what it really is. The amount of social psychology content made the story flow on many levels with each arc. Almost every character in the end felt important for the overall themes of the series. And while I can’t say Bunny Girl Senpai may be recommendable for anyone, I’d definitely giving this a try if you’re thirsty for meaningful character relationships and dialogues. It’s not a Bakemonogatari 2.0 and in fact, I’d say Bunny Girl Senpai is much more appealing than what it appears to be.

“I’ve seen enough Pornhub videos to know how this series is going to end.” — Krunchyman

This series truly speaks to me as a fellow “puberty syndrome” sufferer, as I use to “baste my ham” five times a day on a regular basis, and let me tell you something folks: rug-burn is an inconvenient truth. But enough about my own troubles, because this anime is troubling enough in its own right.

First of all, allow me to propose a theory that I kicked around in my head since viewing the first episode. The Bunny Girl Senpai, otherwise known as Mai, is simply a figment of ... Sakuta’s imagination, brought about by the “puberty syndrome” phenomena that he has superimposed on her to convince himself that she is in fact real. Given that Sakuta has yet to experience a sexual relationship (as far as we know, at least), he envisions a girl in a scandalously lewd outfit in a public library. Despite having a golden opportunity to live out his lustful fantasy, he decides to slow play his hand, by initiating a methodical, emotional approach to getting into Mai’s pants. If you wish to deceive yourself into believing a fantasy girl is “real” — like Sakuta was attempting to do — then she has to seem authentic; otherwise, the imaginative experience will fade away into the ether (just like their first encounter).

If you think about it, the concept seems plausible from a demographic perspective. Many of the consumers watching this show are young, adolescent boys who have yet touch a girl. And what is abundantly clear about male, anime consumers from the various salacious photos posted on their profile’s? They fantasize about provocative senpai’s, whom they will never meet in their lifetime’s. Literally every anime fan has this phase in their lifetime, but, unlike most people, Sakuta had the courage to sprint toward his convictions, and make his fantasy become a reality.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: the Tyler Durden theory.

…….<ahem> Welp! Episode three blew that theory out of the water, back to the drawing board.


Quick recap: the series is banal, the character’s are ill-explored, the character designs look remarkably similar to one another, and the entire concept is so uninteresting, that I concocted a version of it in my head to maintain my level of sanity. The scene where Sakuta started screaming towards the school, professing his affection for Mai was the lone bright spot, because I nearly fell out of my chair from laughter. That being said, the entertainment value for Bunny Girl Senpai is noticeably absent, and I would ardently recommend that you look elsewhere for anime-related amusement.

Contrived, school-aged bullshit; nothing more need be said. “Then why did you write the review in the first place,” random MAL user — because, silly billy, hateful comments recharge my power crystals.

This is my first and probably last review on MAL. I think there are a couple of things to say about this anime which are not said yet. I don't want to go to much into detail so it would be better you have watched the anime before reading this.

This anime is a fanservice trash anime that pretends to be not trashy nor fanservice and attracts all people who love trash and let them believe they have found a superior good and deep anime which is at the bottom of it's heart as stupid as SAO or any other harem ecchi anime out there.

I ... don't want to offend anyone. I also enjoy those kind of anime like yamada kun for example. But this anime is on the one hand stupid as hell and on the other hand every single charakter and problem is a 1 by 1 copy of bakemonogatari.

Main charakter: He is absolutely one dimensional. He has no emotions and acts indifferent to everything what happens arround him but at times he make some couple of unfunny sarcastic jokes and tries to solve the problem of the girls from his harem (which gets bigger by almost every episode).

Sakurajima mai: Maybe the waifu of the year. The relationship between her and the mc is fanservice at it's finest. You have a celebrity good looking and cute girl who is attracted by the lowkey lowlife loser mc, which maybe represents the average consumer of that kind of anime. This is maybe why this anime gets such high ratings. Because this kind of relationship satisfies the needy needs of the male consumers.

(Apart from mai you have all over the anime those ecchi moments like panty, boobies and so on)

Futaba: Honestly this anime is not that bad but also not that good but this character wants me to smash my head with lightspeed against the pyramids of gizeh.
Everytime our beloved main character is confronted with the puberty syndrome he has no idea what's going on because he is stupid. This often take a couple of time until he realizes it and than goes to futuba who is supposed to be the smartest person in that anime. And wow every conversation between them which is about the puberty syndrom gives cancer to my ears. He tells her that person xy has problem z. She responds with some pseudo sientific and deep answers which contains some phenomens of the physics. Those responses are totally random and make absolutely no sense. This is how a conversation between her and me could be:

Me: Futuba-chan my stomach doesn't feels so good
Her: Have you been to the toilet today
Me: Eeeeh no?
Her: Well i think this is because schrödingers cat.-blabla explains it- and so is your stomach. The answer to the question what's going on with your stomach is that you have constipation and diarrhea at the same time.

Really those conversations are so boring and stupid. If you are not familiar with quantummechanics or physics at all this might sound very deep and intellectual to you but trust me. It's just shit.

And the last point is really everything of this anime is equivalent to bakemonogatari but only like 10 dimensions worse and boring.

Sakuta = araragi (both lowkey and lowlife persons)
Mai = hitagi (one is a soft tsundere the other tsundere and yandere in one person)
Futaba = meme oshino (mc come always to them because they have no idea about their mysterys)
Nodoka = nadeko

And the rest of the characters are almost the same

At last i want to say is something good. If it comes about teenagers and their problems in that school age this anime has it's strength. Most of them feel very realistic and autehntic. If the mc wouldnt be that one dimensional the relationship to mai would feel a bit refreshing because their contact feels alive and not that exxegerated. But the anime deals it very bad or with other words it packs it in a very shitty way.

All in all this anime is a bit disappointing to me. It had much more potential if the writer would have been courrageous and made something independently and not that trashy fanservice copy of an anime.

The challenges we face during our adolescence may be irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, though their magnitude in the moment can feel overwhelming. It's no surprise then that media which intensifies these issues through supernatural phenomenon would be popular, since teenage audiences feel as if the weight of their problems is understood. However, does this media actually help its audience to overcome their problems, or is it merely wish fulfillment to escape from them? Seishun Buta Yarou may have something compelling to say about the adolescent experience, but it's unfortunately buried under layers of tropes and cliches.

But of all the elements of the ... show that feel superfluous to the narrative, the protagonist Sakuta sits at the top of the list. Unlike the girls of the show, he doesn't undergo any development over the series, and only exists as the self-insert lens through which we view their arcs. He hardly exists as a character, and his only trait seems to be his tendency for frequent dehumanizing sexual harassment directed at basically every girl he meets. He's presented as the catalyst that instigates the girls' growth, but instead he just comes across as a plot device that knows exactly what to do to solve their problems for them.

Speaking of, each arc of the show is modeled after a classic thought experiment, and wow do I wish they hadn’t done that. Not only do these allusions not add anything to the narrative, but their integration feels completely unnatural. (“Surely you’ve at least heard about the cat in the box, right?” a friend asks the protagonist, nearing the end of the first episode) Seishun Buta Yarou is hardly the first series to have pulled this allusion, but at this point, referencing Schrodinger’s Cat seems like shorthand for a light novel thinking it’s smarter than it is, and I can’t think of anything else that had the audacity to follow it up with “Have you heard of Laplace’s Demon?” three episodes later.

As for the contents of each arc, the conflicts that the girls deal with mostly come off as artificial. Still, even if the substance itself is lacking, I can’t fault the presentation. The animation and vocal delivery is expressive, and it’s also neat how there's some overlap between events that help to make each one feel less like an isolated incident. However, I think that Seishun Buta Yarou’s most compelling asset is how the characters behave outside of the central narrative. Despite everything else, it’s fun to see these characters relax and bounce off of each other. It's a shame that the show's best feature is also its least central.

My feelings towards Seishun Buta Yarou are conflicted. I went into it expecting a cross between Monogatari and Oregairu, and that’s not really what I got. It took a while for me to accept the show for what it actually was, but once I did, I was able to find a genuine emotional core underneath all of the light novelisms. Ironically, I think the more interested you are in this genre, the less likely it is that Seishun Buta Yarou will appeal to you. It leans hard into its genre trappings, and your enjoyment will be largely determined by your tolerance of them. Still, if you're a fan of deadpan loner protagonists, you could do worse.

Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai/Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai is a light novel adaption. And like many light novel adaptations, it's a rather uninspired attempt to sell more copies of the source. And it's possibly as bad as Cloverworks last badly made project Persona 5 The Animation. The Opening is objectively the worst Opening I've seen this year, consisting people running, poorly edited out of context pictures of the heroines, horribly blended in CGI, lifeless backgrounds. Which is actually a good indicator for what the show actually is.

A self inset ball of snark has monotone banter ... with main heroine and becomes popular among teens. Is a quote that can also be used to describe, The Monogatari Series, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Oregairu, Hyouka as well as a few other popular shows. However where those shows had strong writing, visual direction, or well thought out characters to work with, it becomes obvious that Bunny girl is just a weak imitation. Even this could be forgiven if it weren't for the standard animation, lazy background art, terrible CGI and half-assed scene transitions that plague this show. I've heard people saying that they haven't noticed these issues but I'd ask them if they were being too focused on the subs to notice what's actually happening on screen.

This is the worst anime I've seen so far this season. Don't get me wrong this does have strong emotional moments. But you need to ask yourself if a few emotional highs are worth trudging the anime through.

As a finishing note I'll just leave an example of how this anime copies a far better show poorly.

Mai's backstory is a complete parallel of Hitagi from the Monogatari Series. Only difference is Hitagi's made sense.

Both have abusive mothers but while Mai's mother is just a lazy asshole, Hitagi's mother turned abusive because she got roped into a cult. Their breaking points happened when Mai was forced to do a swimsuit scene and Hitagi almost got raped. The interesting bit in monogatari is that Hitagi's mom got into the cult because it "helped cure" Hitagi in a prior incident. This complicates their relationship. Meanwhile Mai's mom is just an asshole.

Both girls instantly fall in love with their saviors. However in Bunny girl this is played lazily as possible Her savior is her romantic interest and the show pretty much forces them into a relationship instantly. Though they have good banter. Similarly Hitagi also has good banter with her Savior. Except Monogatari puts more thought into the actual concept. Instead of Hitagi being stuck into a relationship with the first person who showed her kindness and all problems being solved instantly, she doesn't end up with Kaiki. Instead she actually learns to deal with her problems and moves on.

Bunny girl senpai took Hitagi's entire character arc and just made it bland. And this is just what the show does with everything.

Its a bloody long name of a series but lets keep it short, we'll just call it 'Bunny Girl'.

So far the series has given me me a Bakemonogatari throwback too of their first arc quite similar and I would probably recommend if you liked Bakemono, you'll probably like this as well.

The interactions between the 2 main characters are really enjoyable and probably one of the best interactions among most shows. They are not the generic characters you see in most as they are quite interesting and hopefully shouldn't disappoint you at all. As the show go on, you'll find some relatable content and perhaps a ... few times make a weird noise that sounds like HNNG.

To say the least, if you like romance and good character interactions like I do, you'll definitely enjoy and have a fun time watching Bunny Girl.

The fall 18 anime season was great. Compare to the unfortunate lacklustre Summer 18 anime season it was the season that gave us back to back great titles that I consider anime of the year material such as theses following anime.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime aka the best Isekai anime I have seen in a while.
Golden Kamuy S2 A fantastic continuation to an already great series that has well-written characters and a strong narrative.
Boarding School Juliet: a nice portrayal of Romeo and Juliet in a school setting.
Bloom Into You is the best Yuri I have ever seen since Simoun.

Yeah, the fall 18 ... season did a couple of popular sinkers like Tokyo Ghoul re: S2 and Goblin Slayer as well as a few anime seasonal shovelware that no one cares about but compared to the summer 18 anime season these sinkers didn't stand out that much as all of them with the possibility of Goblin Slayer ending up being thrown in the seasonal anime scrapyard where they will be left to root until the end of time. While the sinkers from the fall 18 decided to beg their knees for forgiveness for sucking there was one anime from fall 18 season that mysteriously bunny hoped every single anime from this season to victory.
That anime is Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai done by Studio Cloverworks and no surprise this anime ended up being my favourite anime of the season thanks to its great use of witty dialogue, nicely written characters, well-executed supernatural elements and beautiful production values.

The story follows our male lead named Sakuta Azusagawa whose life takes a turn for the unexpected when he meets teenage actress Mai Sakurajima after she wanders into a public library while dressed in a sexy bunny suit and realizes only he can see her. Mai admits she has taken a hiatus from her acting duties and has been attempting to live a normal life, but people are unable to see her, except for Sakuta, who is no stranger to this phenomenon, which he calls "Adolescence Syndrome." Sakuta decides to solve this mystery while continuing to get closer to Mai and meeting other girls who suffer from Adolescence Syndrome.

I really liked the story of Rascal Does, not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai. It may not be the best story of 2018, but it's one of the more intriguing of 2018.

The one thing that makes Rascal Does, Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai interesting is that the show is the dilemma that characters are facing and don't have a black and white conclusion. For example at the end of the Mai arc, she goes back to being an actress but part-time balancing school road. If this was in any other show then Mai would have only chosen one opinion while completely giving up the other for example giving up her school life in favour of being a full-time actress. This alone element gives a lot of life lessons to the viewer where it teaches opinion c can happen if you simply make it happen. On top of that, this element really makes you empathize with the characters.

The best part about Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, is the unique use of witty dialogue. Most dialogue in anime these days is there strictly for exposition or telling crappy jokes but Rascal Does not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, is very clever in the way it uses its dialogue. Sakuta witty dialogue is way more complex than most would imagine where instead of Sakuta telling of what he feels but does it in these little one-liners and they are actually intriguing.

The pacing in Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl, is very good for the most part though at times the series slows down quite a bit in the middle portion of the series.
The mystery elements were nicely down as it perfectly plays with the themes of the series which I won't mention all that much in this review due to spoilers.

Before I close the story part of the review I want to talk about the misconception about Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai.
The misconception about Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, was how people wrote it off as poor-mans Monogatari Series. Well after watching this show I can definitely say it's not. Yes, it may be similar in terms of structures where the protagonist would have to deal with set problems for set girl for set character girl arc other than that series for its own thing. Furthermore, this series is more accessible compared to the Monogatari Series as you don't need to watch a big chunk of episodes, especially when not all the entries in the Monogatari Series are consistently good. For every Owargatari and Monogatari Series 2nd season there's Nisemonogatari and a Koyomimonogatari aka the not consistently good Monogatari entries in the franchise.

The characters is where Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, starts to shine as they were only nicely written but they are all interesting in their own ways.
If I had to choose the best male lead of 2018, it would be Sakuta Azusagawa. On first glance, he may appear as this boring light novel protagonist that we all saw before. However, during the first episode, he completely separates himself from the other boring light novel protagonist as he's not only a very intriguing character who loves to pull witty dialogue with his excellent one-liners but simply a flawed character who has a tragic background which caused him to have these large scars on his chest. At first glance, he may appear as this boring light novel protagonist that we all saw before. However, during the first episode, he completely separates himself from the other boring light novel protagonist as he's not only a very intriguing character who loves to pull witty dialogue with his excellent one-liners but simply a flawed character who has a tragic background which caused him to have these large scars on his chest. Great character.

My favourite character in Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, is Mai Sakurajima and no, she's not my favourite character because of her sexy bunny outfit. She's a famous child actress turned actor. She develops puberty syndrome and starts disappearing from reality until nobody in the world apart from our protagonist Sakuta can see her. This really makes her isolated towards the world as no one in the world could see her existence in the world and we the viewer slowly get to fill her pain of isolation.
The best part about Mai is outside of her character development she's not a typical walking tsundere. The other characters in Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl, are also very good. Some of the characters may be hit or miss depending on your tastes overall but they all had great character development.
Even I have a soft spot for tsundere's as a whole. It was a refreshing sight to see a main female character in the show to not be a total whiny girl towards the main protagonist.

The other characters in Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl, are also very good. Some of the characters may be hit or miss depending on your tastes overall but they all have great character development.
Overall the characters in Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, were very good, and it's easily the show's biggest strength by a long shot.

Compared to Persona 5 the Animation and Darling in the Franxx the visuals in Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai is beautiful.
Some would say that Violet Evergarden and Hanebado! were better-looking shows than Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai visually however unlike those two shows this show actually has substance as the show visuals have a perfect blend in the show's great writing and dialogue.
Character's designs were amazing and appealing to look at they are very drawn to the eye.

The use of flat colour palette for character and background designs is simply outstanding as not only it going to a realistic style of balance out the supernatural elements but makes the setting of Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai feel alive and modern. This is easily the best-looking anime from fall 18 season.
The same thing can be said for actual itself as it had fluid character movement, nicely done background animation for the most part and great facial expressions.
The only slight complaint I had with the visuals would be some use of CGI for the background characters, though it's nowhere near as bad as the dreadful CGI students in Cloverwork's previous work Persona 5 the Animation.

So far I have been praising Rascal Does, not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai but I feel it's time to talk about the weakest part of Rascal Does, not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai and that is the soundtrack.
I'm just going to say right now the music is Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai is by no means bad in fact I think the soundtrack is pretty solid overall with its a nice use of light smooth piano pieces that were played in the anime. The problem with the soundtrack is that is not only being pretty forgetful for the most part but I thought the music direction was a bit mismanaged where you think that light smooth piano pieces would play in key moments but they, unfortunately, don't.

The opening theme Kimi no Sei by the peggies is a pretty catchy song and while it wasn't the best anime opening of the season it was still a fun opening theme.
The ending theme Fukashigi no Carte is easily one of the best ending themes of 2018. Not only the song itself is beautifully calming to the ear but the way they constantly changed the Seiyuu who voiced one of the main female characters in every two episodes. Plus I really loved how each version of the ending theme uses a different colour palette for the background scenery. For example, the background beach scenery in the Mai Version is a blended mix of orange and red while the background beach scenery for the Nodoka version is all in yellow. This is a detail that I wish the anime would use more often as it gives the set more of an identity and purpose.

Unfortunately from the time of Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, hasn't got an English dub though you can expect a quality dub for Aniplex sometime in the future.
However, despite the lack of dub the sub is very good and well-acted.

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, is simply brilliant. While it did have a couple of small shortcomings during its bunny hopping journey, the character's themes, the visuals and dialogue completely make it up. If you're looking for a good slice of life romance anime that had dealt with supernatural elements in a grounded way than I recommend Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai.

The amount of high scoring reviews for this anime blew my mind, so much so that it drove me to writing my first review on this site. While yes, only 3 episodes have aired at the time of me writing this review, my main problems with this show will surely not change since the show would look entirely different if that were to happen. Before I start, warning there might be some slight spoilers for the first 3 episodes.

A lot of people are comparing this anime to Bakemonogatari or the Monogatari series in general and while I can sort of see the comparisons with the ... 2 main characters and the fact that there's a lot of talking, what makes Monogatari great is severely lacking in this show.


Story: 5/10

The only solid aspect of this show. Our MC and his close friends are the only ones who can see or remember who Bunny Girl and MC and Bunny Girl fall in love yada yada. It's fine as a story but there are some plotholes/questionable events which can possibly be cleared up in future episodes.

Art & Sound: 3/10

This is where 'Bunny Girl' starts getting very lackluster. If you want to make a story that is heavily based on dialogue, then you better have some amazing art and sound or I might as well have just read the damn source material. Everything from the setting to the animation to the character design is so boring and uninspired it's just uninteresting to look at. The sound does not help either as it being just boring light piano music is just as boring and uninspired as the art. Please take the time to just go and listen to any great soundtrack(Monogatari Series, Cowboy Bebop etc.) and then listen to the Bunny Girl OST and see how boring and bad it is in comparison.

Character: 3/10

We have all seen the characters in this anime before. Our MC is just a normal anime dude who has brown hair instead of black hair, which is fairly common but nothing out of the ordinary. Our 'Bunny Girl' is just your standard anime black hair girl except she has a bunny hair clip. The other characters so far are nearly irrelevant. Our MC's friends are basically just there to confirm Bunny Girl actually exists and he's not crazy. Scientist lady is also there to conveniently explain some things..

Overall: 4/10

"Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai" is, in short, wasted potential. If this show was done without a small budget and time constraints it could genuinely be a great anime, but right now what we have is a rushed show with nearly nothing redeemable outside of the story filled with question marks and plotholes. This is anime is the epitome of mediocrity and probably as close to a standard anime you can get. Go watch something genuinely amazing instead, it's a better use of your time.

“I don't mind if I only had one person, even if the entire world hated me, I could keep living if that person needed me” - Azusagawa Sakuta.

Before trying it, I was not expecting much by just looking at the name, synopsis and the cover art. I was expecting a typical ecchi rom-com harem with cliches and whole lots of fanservice, but as soon as I finished the first episode I knew I was in for a treat.

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai is extremely interesting and it's just... good. It's refreshing to see an anime with this potential, good story writing ... and character dialogue. The anime has a great balance between romance comedy and the touch of supernatural things. The show has great direction and it’s taking a smooth path while having a great pace. I’m not really a fan of rom-coms due to their predictable outcomes, cliches and how they leave the emotion reveal to the end. Said this, I can say Bunny Girl Senpai differs from most rom-coms I’ve seen.

◼️ Story: 8/10 ◼️

So far, the story is extremely entertaining and immersive. It instantly gets you hooked and you can't stop watching. I guarantee you will eat the first arc (the first 3 episodes) in no time. The story starts by introducing the main character, Sakuta and his younger sister Kaede, which both have suffered from the “Adolescence/Puberty Syndrome”, a syndrome that affects teens and makes them experience supernatural phenomenons caused by the social pressure or the person's instability. These symptoms include getting random cuts from the pain of being bullied online, altering time or people not being able to see you due to the fact that they forgot about you, which is the case of our main girl, Mai. Sakura meets Mai at a library by noticing that she is wearing a bunny suit, but it seems that no one can see her but himself. Sakuta knows that she might be suffering from Puberty Syndrome and decides to help her.

The mystery and supernatural side of the story is added in a superb way and makes it even better to watch. Once the first arc finishes another one just as interesting as the first one begins. I really like the "Puberty Syndrome" thing they have, it's consistent and explained really well; while also adding the touch of enigma and makes every character who suffers from it unique. The way they add scientific thoughts and use it explain the manifestations of this syndrome is just pleasing to watch, and it gives the surreal symptoms the characters are suffering from a logical and scientific explanation. In just the first few episodes you get to know the background of the main characters and get to see how the other's are, you get to like them very fast. Also, despite so many events occur in one episode, it never feels rushed or too fast for the watcher to enjoy. So far, the story is great and it lets you waiting for the next.

◼️ Characters: 9/10 ◼️

The characters is one of the best factors this show has, they're all written in a very unique and interesting way, and it’s by far my favorite thing about this anime; which isn’t a surprise considering the writer of it is the man behind the other good notable shows “The Pet Girl of Sakurasou” and “Just Because!”.

The protagonist, Sakuta, is a straightforward, awkward and honest guy who doesn't give in for the cliches. He’s definitely not the typical dense character you will find in rom-coms. He doesn’t or care about the opinions and if he likes something, he'll say it. Moreover, he's very mature at handling situations, yet being sarcastic and has an impeccable sense of humor. Sakuta will tell the other characters what they need to hear, whether it's good or bad, which is a key factor for the story to keep progressing and prevent annoying rom-com-like misunderstandings we all hate.

Furthermore, the female protagonist, Mai. Mai is a serious girl who was a very famous actress at her time. She is older than Sakuta, which leads to her sometimes trying to tease him, ending up in some hilarious interactions between the both of them due to Sakuta’s pure honesty, which causes Mai to get flustered. The dialogue is delightful and satisfying, especially the one with Mai and Sakura, they banter with each other back and forth. They both connect to each other without saying all the details and they're each other's balance, it's like they both are on the same wave length. The chemistry between all the characters is shown with the top notch writing and dialogue.

The other character we’re introduced in the second arc is Tomoe Koga, a first year who met Sakuta in a pretty hilarious way. She was a country girl with no friends that moved to the city. She’s excessively self conscious and lives for others opinions about her. Koga, does everything she can to get her friend’s approval and cares about simple things that might affect her status such as not being the last one to talk in the groups or being the first one to log off. Her character can become relatable due to current society caring too much about social media and other’s opinions.

We haven't yet seen much of character development for the other characters apart from the main ones and some side ones, but I'm sure they will explain each character's background and personalities further (more than they already have). Each character is unique, interesting and likeable

◼️ Art: 7/10 ◼️

The art is good but not outstanding. I like the way everything is drawn and colored and I don't have any complains towards it. The animation expresses the emotions of the character’s very effectively, and the pauses and movement of them are perfect for each particular scene.

◼️ Sound: 7/10 ◼️

The intro and ending songs of this anime are wonderful. The intro is a great song that gets you pumped and it's very catchy. However, it’s slightly louder than all of the other audio in the episode but it's not a big deal. Now, the ending... The ending song is just perfect, by far the best one this season in my opinion. The ending's vocals vary on which girl the episode was centered in, the first 3 being voiced by Mai's voice actress and the ones after that by the actress of Koga. The ending song is a chill jazz-like tune that gives me these relaxing vibes, I'm in love with it. The music and sounds during the episodes are good too, they improve the scene’s emotions and creates impact when it’s needed to.

◼️ Enjoyment: 10/10 ◼️

As you could probably tell from this review, I absolutely love this anime so far and I've been recommending it to all my friends and people who ask me about it. This anime gives me a reason to be excited for the middle of the week and watching the episodes is amazing. When you watch an episode you get so consumed and engaged to the story that time literally flies, the episodes seem so short and you barely notice when it’s going to end until you’re greeted by the amazing ending song. The episodes are so good that you have to rewatch it at least once, and it leaves you craving for the next one.

◼️ Overall: 9/10 ◼️

This is by far one of my favorite animes this season and I definitely recommend giving it a go. As I previously mentioned, Bunny Girl Senpai diverges from the typical rom-coms. I’m immensely excited to see how the story develops and what other cases of “Puberty Syndrome” we get to see. If you're like me and just jumped right in not expecting much due to the title and the first impressions you got, this anime will surprise you, in a very good way.

I'll keep updating this review as the series progresses.

“I don't mind if I only had one person. Even if the whole world hated me, I could keep living if that person needed me.” -Sakuta Azusagawa

Incredible. Absolutely frickin' incredible.

There is no doubt at all I enjoyed the heck out of Bunny Girl Senpai. Bunny Girl Senpai has so much to offer, whether it is an interesting story, likeable characters, captivating dialogue, sad moments, or just laughs. It is also really refreshing as it goes against many of your generic high school, romcom anime tropes to create an overall very enjoyable take on the genre as a whole. I am aware that Bunny Girl Senpai ... might have some flaws, but, for my own sake, I managed to look past those just so I would be able to have a better time watching it. Despite the title and cover art, this is NOT about bunny girls! I repeat: this is NOT about bunny girls! Like anyone who has not read the novels prior to the airing of Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai or “Bunny Girl Senpai” for short, I too have fallen for the biggest clickbait of this anime season. However, I was not the least bit disappointed.

[spoilers ahead]

Story:
The plot of Bunny Girl Senpai follows our main protagonist Sukuta Azusagawa the “Buta Yarou” as he encounters several girls who all suffer from “puberty syndrome.” This fictional ailment is recognized as various supernatural phenomenon being associated with the different common challenges faced by teenagers. I thought this device was ingeniously used as an analogy to develop a more interesting storyline by characterizing the mental and social struggles the characters face with physical manifestation. For instance, upperclassman Mai Sakurajima, the poster girl of the series, meets Sakuta one day in a library wearing a bunny girl costume; hence, the title of the series. The purpose of dressing up as a bunny girl is to test if other can see her as she develops invisibility and her existence gradually fades from the memory of others due to her stress of being a famous model and her desire not be as known publicly. Despite all odds, Sakuta manages to rescue Mai in a way that would only suit him. While he was doing this, I couldn't help but cheer him on from like I would cheer on a Saturday morning cartoon hero as a kid. Go Sakuta! Rio Futaba, a classmate Sakuta often seeks for advice about puberty syndrome and explanations in terms of quantum physics, attributes Mai’s case to Schrödinger's cat since everyone but Sakuta failed to “look in the box” for Mai. I personally am not an expert on quantum physics myself, but I still did find Futaba’s justifications for the supernatural occurrences fascinating throughout the various character arcs.

Characters:
The chemistry (*looks at Futaba brewing coffee*) of the cast is undoubtedly my favorite aspect of the show. Sakuta deviates uniquely from the typical male lead of this genre by having blatantly no concern for what others think about him and being extremely candid including when making perverted remarks. I oftentimes find Sakuta’s remarks hilarious since they are not only very well-timed, but also demonstrate his mastery of sarcasm for the sake of joking around. In addition, I actually really like that Sakuta is not portrayed as a classic optimist as he himself shows that he is not a fan of clichés either. This is exemplified in one of the best moments in the show when he tells Futaba “It’s all right if you hate yourself” and “Living with such as positive attitude is so exhausting,” comforting her with his honesty and prompting Futaba to resolve her crisis. Despite his nonchalant demeanor, Sakuta genuinely does care for all of those around him as he goes above and beyond to helps them all through their struggles. Mai, *ahem* the best girl *ahem*, lives up to being Sakuta’s girlfriend by not only tolerating Sakuta’s straightforwardness, but also reciprocating with her own witty remarks to produce immensely engaging exchange of banter between the two. It was very interesting to watch Mai grow to trust and rely on someone like Sakuta. Even when he gets further involved with the other girls with puberty syndrome, it is highly satisfying that the romance between the two is still maintained. Underclassman Tomoe Koga’s adolescence syndrome originated from her desire to fit in with her peers and had the ability, attributed to Laplace’s Demon, to create simulated futures that may be rewound back in time if she did not desire the outcome. Since Sakuta’s younger sister Kaede also suffered from social pressures, he sympathized with Koga to the extent that he would pretend to be her boyfriend while teasing her frequently, much to the audience’s entertainment (canned peaches lol). Koga’s story was enjoyable since it is the first of many arcs that were based on a more relatable difficulty during adolescence. Due to quantum teleportation, Futaba split into two versions of herself that were a result of the dichotomy between her wanting attention, but not using her body to do so. It was exceptionally touching to witness Futaba as a stoic introvert being able to properly acknowledge her own feelings with Sakuta's guidance. Nodoka Toyohama, Mai’s half-sister, switched bodies with Mai as a result of Nodoka’s envy of Mai’s success. Sakuta again makes an inspirational effort to help others by alleviating Nadoka from her inferiority complex. At first glance, Kaede appears to just be a comedic, reclusive imouto that happened to experience puberty syndrome; however, it is revealed that her condition is much more complicated. With the help of her Onii-chan~, Kaede makes tremendous progress toward being able to go outside in her wholesome, powerful attempt to reintegrate with the world.

Art:
Although relatively recently establish, CloverWorks has done a pretty good job animating the few series I have watched from them. The animation is consistently good throughout the series as facial expressions and body gestures are effectively used well in portraying emotions or personalities. The opening and ending songs are especially nicely animated to capture the tone of the respective songs.

Sound:
“Kimi no Sei” by the peggies is a very exciting like many other openings and overall pretty catchy song. It was also interesting to see how small details were incorporated into the visuals like the titles of all of the novels being shuffled through. "Fukashigi no Carte” is, in my opinion, one of the best ending songs this season. It is quite creative that the vocals are performed individually for each one of the girls during their own story arc along with a change in visuals. The lyrics to both pieces were also great. The soundtrack is works well in conveying the appropriate emotions and give more meaning to certain scenes. The voice acting is also superb in communicating the intended personalities of the characters and bringing them to life, especially Sakuta played by Kaito Ishikawa. Fun fact: This is the same seiyu that plays Iida from Boku no Hero Academia and Kageyama from Haikyuu!!

Enjoyment:
Besides all the other points I made, I also really loved this show for the sheer entertainment value it provided. Each and every week I would look forward to the Wednesday evenings when I could catch another episode of Bunny Girl Senpai. And, man, it would feel like such a quick ~24 minutes every time. Although some might say may this shares similarities with other series, I still feel the uniqueness of it that allows me to enjoy it. I understand that others may not enjoy that this series resembles the Monogatari series; however, I still thoroughly enjoyed both since they both excelled at story telling and character development while one or the other still did well with other respective aspect. As a result, I do not see this necessarily as a "rip-off" but possible more of an "inspired work."

Overall:
If this series taught me anything, it is to not judge a book by its cover. After the last episode, I am going to miss this show, but I am still really looking forward to the upcoming movie about Shoko, the next focal character. Bunny Girl Senpai has cemented itself as one of my favorite anime of all time and I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

“My thoughts are a hundred times more lewd than what you’re imagining.” -Sakuta Azusagawa

I consider myself diverse in what i have watched in my anime life. This, is simply amazing.

The cover art and the synopsis do not fully explain what is happening here. This Anime has hit the top of my list and it is going to be really hard to knock it off.

Story:

The story is great, incredibly intriguing and as far as I am concerned. I have never seen a primes quite like this one. It is not your typical romantic comedy as these two become very close very quickly. The struggles they go through are realistic ones for the most part and it sheds a really ... good light on the modern day struggles that a lot of kids that age have to go through. It's some fantasy and romance combined into one but what really makes it so good is the relationship between the two main characters.

Characters:

The two main characters are perfect for the two roles. The faults they do have are covered up by how incredibly clever they both are and the interactions between the two are absolute gold. Every interaction between pretty much every single character in this show is amazing. It fits perfectly.

Dialogue:

The dialogue is absolutely the best part of this anime. All the characters seem to be incredibly clever and none are afraid to say exactly what they are thinking. It is on the level of what you would see in Monogatari without all of the choppiness. The writing so incredibly intriguing that the most obsolete interactions between characters are made interesting or funny and even if you are a great reader of subtitles, you will inevitably have to rewind to make sure you got exactly what they said down. Its all pure Gold, that's all i can say.

Art:

Nothing incredibly special with the art, although it is good and perfect for the show. Nothing really stands out. The only real problem with the visuals is some of the dialogue moves so quickly it’s hard to get a good look at some of the art. The bunny suit is a nice touch though i won’t complain about that :)

Music:

The music fit very well into the show. The OP gets you into a good mindset for what your about to watch and the translation of the OP is quite funny and seems to fit.

Overall:

In a season where three of my favorite anime have gotten new life, Fairy Tail, SAO, and Index, this show completely overshadowed all three in my opinion. If you like romance, fantasy and mystery, as well as great characters, you should definitely check this one out. I loved this show more and more with every episode and the ending was almost perfect. I will say that if they do a dub, I don't think it will do the dialogue justice so, keep that in mind.