I saw this anime on the list of upcoming anime around the first couple of days it was put on MAL back around the beginning of September. There was almost no information on it whatsoever. However simply by looking at the cover art for the series and the title I thought to myself that it would be the kind of anime for me to watch occasionally as a guilty pleasure. I mean the premise is a good looking girl in a bunny outfit, it only makes sense, right? But never have I so misjudged an anime before. I completely forgot that I added it to my to watch list until it suddenly popped up as a notification the day it started airing. Of course I was curious so I checked it out as intended. I also held back writing a review at first until now, when around half the episodes of the series are out. This was just to make sure I believed the series would stay consistently good. So with all that said:
I love the series. Now as aforementioned I was curious about this anime. Over the recent few years romance has slowly crept up and become one of, if not my favourite genre of anime. So naturally seeing this as a tag for a show that looked the way it did was intriguing to me. However after watching the series you can see that the tag is very much appropriate as it is very much a romance based anime, and a good one at that. One of the biggest complaints by people in regards to many romance anime especially is the idea of an extremely dense protagonist. There are many romance anime where the protagonist is extremely dense towards the love advances of the females within the anime. I was therefore really worried about this going into the anime, given my first impressions before starting. However again, I've never been so wrong. Sakuta is one of my favourite MC's in recent times. Sakuta knows what he wants, and he goes for it. He's extremely sarcastic and I love that. As I said, Sakuta pushes for the romance he wants and he's willing to fight for it. He's a nice and caring guy, whilst giving off a sarcastic and nonchalant impression. Therefore he's an actual relatable protagonist for me. I love that, because I often dislike and can't relate to the main character.
In addition to this, the other main character, Mai Sakurajima, is to the same effect. She is also equally sarcastic and nonchalant about things. This is great as it means that the conversations which often happen between the two main characters are both comedic and enjoyable. The chemistry which they both have due to this being the case is what makes their budding romance so enjoyable to witness and to see grow over time. While Mai simply starts off as an extremely attractive girl in the perverted view of Sakuta, she slowly becomes so much more to him over time until he is willing to fight in many ways for her and what they have between them.
There is also a twist to the anime which entices me even more. Due to how I originally assumed the anime was going to be, I assumed that the idea of 'Puberty/Adolescence Syndrome' was simply going to be shoved into the plot to give an excuse to do things such as put Mai in the bunny costume. Therefore assuming it was going to be used for fan-service like that I thought nothing of it. However it actually is a very important and interesting dynamic to the series. To me, romance anime needs an important, unique dynamic like this. There is a lot of romance anime out there, and so something is needed to make a series with this tag stand out. Adolescence Syndrome is what that is for me in this case. It forms and drives the story, as well as putting the characters through situations which really builds and makes them understand their relationships with those around them. This mixed with it also having reference to ideas presented within quantum mechanics such as quantum entanglement and Laplace's Demon really settle it for me.
I think overall this turned out to be one of the biggest shocks I've gotten from an anime in terms of how I perceived it was going to be versus how it turned out; and I mean that in the most positive sense possible. It's a story of romance and the forming and strengthening of relationships whilst going through the struggles of puberty. For CloverWorks to have taken a concept this open and simple and have it be expanded upon and made great to this extent is truly what I love about this show.
Fall 2018 has been a phenomenal season for anime, and many great and enjoyable series have aired. However for me none could beat out Bunny Girl Senpai. Many people are now discovering this too and I'm simply glad to see it getting all the love and attention I believe it deserves. Oh, and both the opening and ending are both extremely good. Just an added bonus overall.
If you love romance anime with an element of mystery and a cast of enjoyable, sarcastic characters, then this is most definitely the anime I would recommend to you.
