Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai is a 2018 TV anime based on a light novel series by Hajime Kamoshida, with art by Keji Mizoguchi. A light novel is a short Japanese novel for young readers, often with anime-style pictures. The books started in 2014. The studio CloverWorks made the 13-episode show, directed by Soichi Masui, and it aired from October to December 2018.

The story takes place in Fujisawa, a seaside city in Kanagawa, not far from Tokyo. Local trains, the beach and quiet streets appear again and again. They give the show a calm, real feeling, even when very strange things happen.

The main character is Sakuta Azusagawa, a second-year high school student. Other students think he is trouble because of an old rumor, and he does not try very hard to fix his image. One day in a library, he spots an older student from his school, Mai Sakurajima, walking around in a bunny costume. Nobody else seems to notice her. Mai is a well-known actress who stopped working for a while. Slowly, people around her are starting to forget she exists. Sakuta is the only one who can still see her clearly.

In this world, odd events like this are called Adolescence Syndrome. The name is a kind of urban legend that people share online. Most adults do not believe it is real. But for the teenagers it touches, it is very real, and each case seems linked to a feeling the person cannot say out loud, like loneliness, stress, or a wish to disappear. Sakuta decides to help Mai, and the two grow close as they try to understand what is going on.

After Mai's story, the show moves on to other girls with their own cases. Tomoe Koga is a younger student who gets stuck living the same days again and again. Rio Futaba is Sakuta's clever friend from the science club, and she helps him think through each problem using ideas from physics. Nodoka Toyohama is Mai's half-sister and a pop idol. Kaede Azusagawa is Sakuta's younger sister, who stays at home and has a painful past of her own. Each story takes a few episodes and focuses on one girl.

What makes the show stand out is its mix of moods. The title sounds silly, and there is a lot of quick, funny talk, especially between Sakuta and Mai. But under the jokes, the series deals seriously with bullying, social pressure, and the fear of not being seen by others. Sakuta is honest, a little rude, and very kind, and many viewers liked that mix. The romance between him and Mai is teasing and grown-up in tone, and she is not a girl who simply waits to be saved.

The TV series ends by setting up a 2019 film, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl, which continues the story with a character named Shoko Makinohara. More films and a later TV season followed. For anyone who likes stories where strange magic stands in for real feelings, this is a good place to start.