Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai Episode 10 Review
There was an almost moment when I thought that maybe this is the episode where I wasn’t in love with Rascal Does Not Dream With Bunny Girl Senpai. And I will admit, even stepping back, this episode feels a bit rougher, less polished, and a little bit less together than previous entries. The two episode arcs of the mid-season haven’t felt quite as fleshed out despite dealing with some fairly heavy issues, and this most recent one dealing with Nodoka and Mai definitely feels either stretched too long without doing much, or conversely too short without long enough to delve into some of the issues mentioned and ultimately glanced past.
However, as I said in the post title, things here are both simple and complicated, just like life. And it all gets a little bit messy and while the situation of the body swap, or appearance change, or whatever it was is resolved, their emotional drama doesn’t just vaporise the instant they come to terms with their situation. So while from a narrative point of view this was a lot less satisfying than some of the earlier arcs, from an emotional point of view, there’s a lot going on here that should be celebrated.
Not to mention, this episode of Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai gave me one of my loudest laugh out loud moments this season when Mai smacked Sakuta. Now, there have been plenty of moments in this series where slapping Sakuta was probably justified. Here though, Sakuta is literally the innocent bystander. Her reason for taking her anger at Nodoka out on him? She literally cannot slap herself because Mai, or at least Nodoka in Mai’s body, has a job the next day and can’t show up looking like she’s been slapped.
Normally I find the girl-slaps-guy (either innocent guy or even guy who accidentally fell prey to the usual anime tropes and ended up walking into the bathroom or whatever) kind of tired and problematic for a number of reasons and it seldom comes across as funny. Occasionally it ends up a little bit satisfying when the character getting slapped deserves it, but mostly I’m left wondering why include it at all.
That wasn’t the case here as it just hit the perfect note at the perfect moment and I genuinely couldn’t keep myself from laughing, to the point where I had to pause the episode because I couldn’t read the subs. Yes, I am aware my sense of humour is a little odd sometimes and that it is inconsistent in when it finds things funny.
The other moment I really loved about this episode was Kaede presenting herself in her uniform to Sakuta. While this didn’t get a lot of play during the episode, they seem to be setting the scene for Kaede and Sakuta to deal with their family situation, something that has been mentioned but ignored for the duration so far. This set up going on in the background of the Mai and Nodoka story was pure gold and honestly it took a bit away from the main plot line of the episode because I was more interested in learning more about that.
Still, any episode that can make me actually appreciate an idol performance like this, is worth noting just for that.
But in case it feels like I’m implying the Mai and Nodoka plot line wasn’t worth the time, I think I should reiterate, that Bunny Girl Senpai knows how to write a scene. Nodoka might be in Mai’s body but her argument with Sakuta when he tries to leave early and ends with Nodoka telling him to go die was perfect. Despite being in Mai’s body and looking like Mai, that dialogue was definitely not Mai. It looked bizarre coming from a character that looked like Mai.
All the way through the episode, even when the girls were talking, whether they were in their own appearance or not, the dialogue was distinct enough to carry the characters and make you believe that they had in fact switch places. So Bunny Girl Senpai hasn’t lost its touch, and now it’s just a matter of three more episodes. If it can land those, this will definitely be up there in the runnings for my favourite anime of the year.
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RASCAL DOES NOT DREAM OF BUNNY GIRL SENPAI 1/4 SCALE PRE-PAINTED FIGURE: MAI SAKURAJIMA BUNNY VER.
- Episode 1 – Ignoring the Title This One Seems Actually Interesting
- Episode 2 – When Life Makes you Disappear
- Episode 3 – Snuggle Bunnies
- Episode 4 – Time Loops and Laplace’s Demon
- Episode 5 – The Real Fake
- Episodes 6 + 7 – How To Build a Fascinating Harem Starting With A Bunny Girl
- Episode 8 – Bunny Girl Isn’t About Getting What You Want
- Episode 9 – The Grass Might Look Greener From Your Side of the Fence
- Episode 10 – It’s Simple, It’s Complicated, It’s Like Life
- Episode 11 – The Panda Girl Removes Her Armour
- Episode 12 – A Journey Forward = The You Now Being Abandoned
- Episode 13 – Awakening From A Dream and Life Goes On
The general consensus seems to be that they’re pushing things a bit so they can end with Kaede’s arc.
That’s usually what results in pacing problems in adaptations. This was still a great episode but comparatively to the rest of the season it felt a bit off.
“. . .and one slapped Sakuta. . .” This show has been a favorite of mine in a season just rich with great shows. I’m going to miss it!
I’m also going to miss this one. It came out of nowhere but it has been great fun.
I found the slap to be absolutely hilarious, the snap when the girls changed back was fucking freaky though.
I think you are at where I was with the Futaba arc Karandi. These last two episodes really put things back on track for me and I thought it was the perfect amount of time to deal with their problem, unlike I felt with the previous one.
I really enjoyed the snap when they changed back. I was expecting them to have to go to sleep and wake up again to swap back and I was totally caught by surprise when they just kind of turned back to themselves. As normal, this anime manages to surprise in the most interesting of ways.
I agree, the slap and the rationale behind it was funny, made better by the deadpan delivery! 🙂
Slaps can be funny depending on how they portray the reaction. When the head does a half revolution and the face contorts under impact that makes it work, a bit like the silliness of someone being kicked into space! That one always gets me! 😛
I just find the slap usually not dealt with appropriately given its usually unjustified (or at least an over-reaction) and no one ever calls the girl on the fact that she just assaulted someone.
But yeah, here they made it work and this anime continues to shine in how it executes ideas that in less deft hands would be somewhat unappealing.