Just a little love tap ❤️

26/2/2024, Log of DARKNEBULA85, 2:09 AM...

Bunny girl senpai movie 1...

Nah nah nah nah, what a crazy thing I just saw, it's unbelievable, it makes no sense. Look, I liked the first season but I didn't think it was a masterpiece, but brother, this movie is unbelievable, it's so good it makes no sense. I've been watching anime on the streams of a Twitch streamer for a while now, and it's great because I can watch anime periodically without affecting my work and study schedule, and it's also really fun. Thanks to that, I was able to watch Fairy Tail. Now it's Bunny Girl Senpai's turn, and seriously, the movie is a masterpiece, one of the best things I've seen. It had me hooked from start to finish, the tension I felt at certain moments was unreal, inside I kept repeating 'What a shitty situation, man, it's horrible,' and then the ending grabbed my heart, stomped on it, and spat on it 24 times. That ending where they meet again on the beach seemed like one of the most precious things I've seen in an anime. I didn't cry, my eyes got a little wet for less than a second, but I didn't cry, and I hate it, I don't know why it's so hard for me to cry with anime, but then you see me crying buckets with Up or with Monsters Inc (movies I've watched 473 times). The thing is, I didn't plan to write about this series, but I didn't expect the movie to be so unbelievably good, and God, when the ending played in the background, I jumped out of my bed with excitement XD. It was really, really good, and this week they'll be showing the 2nd movie, so if it's as good as this one, it'll probably get an entry in this log.

P.S.: With this streamer, I also watched both seasons of Link Click when the second season was airing, but I couldn't write about the series because I didn't have time. So I take this opportunity to say that the series became one of my favorites, it was also too good but on galactic levels, the emotion I felt at certain parts I can't even express in words. Now, end of the quote XD.

My worst mistake(s).

My worst mistake(s) has to have been binge-watching these animes in one whole sitting. (Separately). I advise you not to do it. (In order: Cyperpunk Edgerunners, Angel Beats, Plastic memories, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0; the saddest one of them all IMO, Clannad/After Story, Charlotte, Bunny Girl Senpai/Rascal Does not Dream of a Dreaming Girl, Violet Evergarden; movie + special episodes, Akame Ga Kill; we should all know why, Banana Fish, Your Lie in April, Death Parade, Darling in the Franxx, Japan Sinks 2020, Anohana, Orange, Scum's Wish, Devilman Crybaby, To Your Eternity, March Comes in Like a Lion, Wolf's Rain, does Assassination Classroom count? The ending was...yeah.)

seishun Buta Yarou

@animangacreators; challenge three

alphabet challenge; m ● mai sakurajima

Didn't expect that: "Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai"

There are shows on Netflix that I notice, then don't watch at first, remain confused by their descriptive text, then watch after all. It kind of was like this with the amazing Romantic Killer, and it was definitely like this with the Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai.

I somehow stumbled about some online comments disliking the series, and let it sit for a while. But somewhere down the line I was casting about for something to watch, and frankly, it completely surprised me.

(I will do some spoilers, but I try to keep it light. Also, looking for an article I wrote about Romantic Killer I found I haven't written one - talk about being backlogged!)

My Little Science Mystery

At its heart, the show looks at consciousness and self partially from a perspective of quantum physics and mathematics, focusing on aspects like attention, observation, strong wishes, parallel selves, and branching timelines. To get such topics into the story it invented "Puberty Syndrome / Adolescence Syndrome," a mysterious condition most people believe to be an internet urban legend. Except that almost everyone that loner and high school 2nd year Sakuta knows or ends up knowing will end up having it - if they're girls, that is. Or himself.

To explain what that is, let's go with the opening scene. Future heroine Mai, an extremely good-looking third-year (and hence Sakuta's senpai in high school), walks around the library in a Playboy bunny costume, unnoticed by most everyone except our protagonist. This seemingly eccentric scene from the trailer has a serious background - an increasing number of people cannot see Mai anymore.

Sakuta teams up with Mai and his hot science geek friend Rio to solve the mystery, digging into the relationship between the observer and the observed from quantum mechanics - or rather the idea from philosophy: If a tree falls in the forest without anybody seeing it, has it indeed happened? (And what sound does it make?) This leads of course to also very practical problems: You need other people to observe you to interact in daily life. And it begs the question - if our reality is a consensus, do we need the acknowledgment of others just to exist...?

The show, behind its science-y techno babble, actually has a lot of heart. The problems all root in emotions, interpersonal problems, and their resolutions are often very dramatic and touching. This is true of Mai's story as of the other ones to follow.

Some things to note

First of all: the series name. Each book in the light novel series has a title starting with "Rascal Does Not Dream Of" - but somehow the anime series got named after the first installment. This is most apparent once the money-making train rolled out of the station - instead of continuing the apparently successful anime series, the very dramatic events of two volumes were packed into two animated movies (mo' money! kaching!) - Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl and Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out. I had not access to these so I read the books.

The books, in turn, are very readable, and given their content, these two movies are some heavy, dramatic shit, no doubt. The series heavily escalates its dramatic impact towards these two titles. In fact, you could say the books rolled into the anime series are actually a setup of characters and ideas that will culminate in these movies. (Which will also invest you into watching them. Well played, studio, well played indeed.) Sakuta's own Puberty Syndrome, that of his sister Kaede, the mystery stranger Shouko, all of that is set up long before you ever really pick up on it, revealing a series that had a long-term plan.

The books are good reads, solid prose, too. The pacing of these two particular books is kind of dragging, but the author really wanted to transmit the heavy emotions of the protagonist. They certainly had me near my limit! The story of Mai, Sakuta, and his first love Shouko is beautiful, sad, dramatic, and ultimately very, very satisfying - and I don't want to spoil it for you! Just know that if you only watch the anime and I guess the movies, you're probably in for feeling very rewarded and satisfied - after a certain amount of suffering. (Again, couldn't watch the movies, but the book version is already top.)

Having started with the anime, I can only guess that the term "rascal" is what they translated differently when Rio keeps calling him a "pig." Somehow she always insults Sakuta (throughout the anime series), and admittedly Sakuta has a pervy side - but unlike most protagonists he seems to be a bit of a happy masochist when it comes to his love interest.

Anyway, the show and books are well worth it, the cast of characters is built over time and well done, and innocuous background details presented in the start will be the seed of more stories to come. The series is going strong, there are still untranslated light novel volumes, and so I will keep on reading.

Summer appreciation post ♥ part 2

ㅡ and i don't want your pity, i just want somebody near me.

The latest Unlimited Rail Works is live for Patreon backers, and we discuss Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai! Is this a dream anime worth watching, or should you sleep on it?

Happy Birthday Rio Futaba! (Bunny Girl Senpai)

Happy Birthday to the character who deserves better than what she was given. She held through the entire time trying to help out Sakuta and Mai-san. Her voice actress also voices Anya from Spy x Family. Amazing. Futaba is the waifu everybody wishes they had. Happy Birthday, best girl!

Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai ~~~