Anime Review: Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai Episode 1

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai Episode 1

Studio: CloverWorks

Genre: Supernatural, Romance, Comedy

Stream: Crunchyroll

Okay, I’ll be straight up with you. When I first saw the poster and title of this anime (which at the time was only listed by its Japanese mouthful of a name Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai) I was prepared to draw the curtains, lock the doors, and leave my shame on the nightstand. These are the things I’m willing to do in the pursuit of journalism. But despite my willingness to sacrifice my morality, I’m more than happy to say that despite its name Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai appears to be putting storytelling before fanservice and giving us an atmosphere and characters that we can sympathize with on a deeper level than their looks.

The episode opens with a scene that, having seen the entire episode, takes place in the future. From this scene (which casts a somber tone on the episode upon reflection) we jump to a library where our protagonist Sakuta Azusagawa sees a girl in a bunny costume roaming around, but no one else in the library is apparently able to see her. The girl is revealed to be Mai Sakurajima, a teen actress who for inexplicable reasons is slowly becoming invisible to people around her. Sakuta explains this phenomenon as “Adolescence Syndrome,” and then decides to help Mai figure out how to reverse the effects.

While the bunny girl gimmick is used almost immediately in the episode, it’s not something that lingers too long, and it’s not used as an excuse to draw lewd scenes. Rather, it’s a captivating technique that draws viewers in before hooking them with a more serious tone and interesting narrative. Both Mai and Sakuta are characters who are established as outcasts, and their conversation about disrupting the “atmosphere” of society was surprisingly honest. They talk more about their pasts and lives, and through these brief interactions, both characters are already established as likable and people we want to see do well.

There is also plenty of humor peppered in throughout, so you don’t have to worry about coming into something depressing. It’s just worth pointing out how this anime seems like it will actually try to create some genuinely emotional moments for the audience as the story goes on.

Besides the characters and the tone, the actual plot seems like it will be an interesting twist on the standard romcom manga story. The Adolescence Syndrome, while incredibly vague at this point, is interesting enough to where I want to keep watching to find out where they go with it. While I hope the Adolescence Syndrome is more of a backdrop to allow the characters to grow, I hope they don’t completely forget about their gimmick midway through the season as many shows like this one tend to do.

Beyond this, the animation and sound design were really good. CloverWorks has previously worked on an anime I really enjoyed and an anime I really hated (Darling in the FranXX and Persona 5 the Animation respectively) so whether the quality remains consistently good remains to be seen. The voice work was also really good here, and fans of VA work will recognize Kaito Ishikawa and Asami Seto.

I wasn’t expecting the level of enjoyment this episode delivered, let alone allowing me to preserve my image in the process. But here we are. If Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai doesn’t sacrifice its plot and character arcs for cheap fanservice, this could end up being a great series. But with this genre, it’s hard to say where this anime will ultimately fall.