Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai Episode 9 Review
This show is just good. Over and over again, Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai defies my expectations about what it will do next and where it is going and yet it manages to take us somewhere great that I never knew I wanted to be. For instance, I expected that this week, now that Futaba was back together again, that the focus would shift to Makinohara, but instead she barely got a cameo when she came to check in on the cat. Instead, the focus goes squarely back to Mai and, more importantly, Mai’s sister.
Turns out Mai’s sister, Nodoka, is sick of being compared to her talented older-half-sister and sick of feeling inferior and for whatever reason (adolescent syndrome strikes again) she has ended up inside of Mai’s body with Mai now occupying her own, blonde haired vessel. Fortunately we aren’t playing ‘guess who’ or anything as cheap as that. Bunny Girl Senpai plays this straight by having Mai, in Nodoka’s body, make things clear to Sakuta from the word go by stepping on his foot, and we instead turn our attention to the underlying emotional issues even while both girls try to live as the other and keep up their work commitments.
This was a great episode for a number of reasons. Firstly, the new story is interesting and we’re focused on Mai again, who is a great character, and introduced to Mai’s sister who is equally interesting. The relationship between the two is muddied significantly by the intervention of their respective mothers and yet as always they don’t over-dramatise things and rather let more subdued and much more human reactions strike a chord with the audience and tell the story.
Secondly, Mai and Sakuta are together for significant scenes in this episode, even if Mai isn’t in her own body. I will admit the banter between them seemed a little more subdued, but given Mai is the subject of the current phenomenon it seems fairly sensible that she is in a more contemplative mood at the present.
All and all, another solid episode from an anime that continues to do an excellent job present the emotional trauma of normal life and relationships using supernatural phenomenon to get their point across.
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SEISHUN BUTA YAROU WA BUNNY GIRL SENPAI NO YUME WO MINAI 1/8 SCALE PRE-PAINTED FIGURE: SAKURAJIMA MAI
- 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
I agree. I expected Makinohara to be the next center of attention but was pleasantly surprised. Happy to get more Mai even if it’s Mai in another body lol. Very enjoyable episode and I wonder what Sakuta is going to find…
They certainly picked an ‘interesting’ place to end in order to make us speculate for the week.
I actually called the body swapping thing, from last time. Though the title of the episode had me briefly suspect it was going to be Sakuta’s sister be at the center of it. Either way, I was happy to get this version of the story instead, as I think it also gives us more insight into Mai’s character. This show is actually just really amazingly good at giving all of these scenarios very solid (if subdued) emotional cores. I’m really loving how it handles all of these different elements. A great episode. I’m running out of ways to say how good this show is.
I know, it feels a little redundant to just keep saying it is good, but it is. I’m having the same issue with Bloom Into You. There’s only so many times you can say something is beautifully put together before it becomes repetitive.
I was saying the same thing when Tsuki Ga Kirei was airing. I kept being reduced to mumbling “so sweet, so cute, so good”…
This is why I usually don’t review shorts because I run out of things to say. It’s why I stopped covering Space Battleship Tiramisu. There’s only so many times you can say they are balancing some jokes well and others are groan worthy before every review starts sounding much the same.
Though Tsuki Ga Kirei wasn’t a short… Otherwise I agree.
It’s one of those shows that absolutely feels like it took simple concepts and polished them to a mirror shine.
I’ve started to see some people starting to turn against this series, mostly because it feels like it is doing the same story of “Sakuta helps girl” over and over again.
I can see that issue, and as time goes on it does feel that Sakuta is a little too “put together” for a high school kid, but honestly? The show is so damn well done, and so well told that I can’t really care. This arc already helped bring the series back on the rails after the Futaba arc was kinda ‘eh’ and I can’t wait to see how it ends. Frankly, the show’s good points vastly overshadow the (legit) flaws some people have.
Even if Sakuta is basically anime’s version of the “Magical Black man”
Protagonist helps girls is hardly a new narrative issue though. I mean we just need to look at Clannad etc to see that it is a formula well over used at this point. And I’ve been assuming that eventually we’ll delve into Sakuta’s own issues and the scars he has and help him overcome his hang-ups.
Honestly, the plot might be something we’ve seen before and Sakuta may not be a character that we’re likely to ever meet in real life, but the writing here carries even the less sensible parts of this show and it ends up just being a pleasure to watch. Sure I can see that this is using a formula at this point, but if the formula works and is executed well enough that it remains enjoyable to watch regardless, I’m not necessarily seeing that as a problem.
I agree, the writing, characterzation and overall chemistry of the leads paves the (small) cracks that people seem to have. Again I think it is case of a show getting rave reviews and people wanting to “take it down a peg.”
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That and even people raving over it will admit, like anything, it isn’t perfect and it isn’t for everyone. Still, its definitely my favourite for the season and a strong contender for best of the year.
It’s straight tied with Golden Kamuy for Anime of the Year for me. Both shows compliment each other so well.
Strong runner up…. 2nd or 3rd place at best. Yorimoi has 1st all sewn up.
See, I just couldn’t get into that.
I really love this show! I reviewed it for 91.8 the Fan, and in that review suggested that it’s the viewer’s call as to whether to take the story at face value or rather as some grand metaphor for growing up: https://918thefan.com/2018/the-wandering-witch-dreams-of-bunny-girl-senpai/
It has been really good so far. Hopefully it manages to stick the landing.
Couldn’t it be both?
Indeed. That’s kinda been my take so far.