First Impression: Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai

One day, while at the library, Sakuta sees Mai, his senpai at school and a famous young actress currently on hiatus, wearing a bunny suit. What’s weirder is that no one else seems to notice her even with that provocative outfit on. As it turns out, Mai has been gradually becoming invisible to people, a phenomenon Sakuta experienced himself, most notably with an incident that left him hospitalized and with a giant claw wound out of nowhere. Mai’s invisibility seems to come from her desire to not be as famous as she is, but there might be more to her hiatus than just trying to focus on studies for a bit, and it seems like her “invisibility” may be worse than not just being seen…

The reason I was initially interested in Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (Japanese title: Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl-Senpai no Yume wo Minai; short title: AoButa) is that the original light novel was written by the author of The Pet Girl of Sakurasou, the anime of which was actually really good despite the questionable-sounding title. This series looks like it might just go the same way, as the “bunny girl” of the title does not play much into the actual story; it’s just Mai’s way of testing just how “invisible” she is. What this show really is about is the story of some teenagers’ struggle with the crueler side of society, manifest in a mysterious, physical way. The balance of mystery and simple teenage drama works well so far, the relationship between the two leads is starting to develop nicely, and the side characters look to be potentially interesting as well. Even otherwise tiresome elements like an overly-attached little sister have a deeper side to them (i.e. said sister was a victim of bullying that led to “adolescent syndrome” literally cutting her). Overall, this series definitely has caught my interest, as it might end up far better than any story with “Bunny Girl” in its title has any right to be.

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One thought on “First Impression: Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai”

  1. So this one seems like a series about teenagers dealing with struggles they are new to experiencing. Maybe the different struggles they have reflect in these ways like being invisible. Very cool, will check it out

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