Rascal does not dream…..wow

Hi all.

For a long time I avoided Rascal does not dream of Bunny girl sempai just because I thought it would be too fan service heavy. Shame on me. What I got was an amazing amazing experience. First season and first movie really blew me away. I’m sure it’s been told before but it REALLY took me back to the melancholy of Harihu Suzumiya! What an amazing experience all the way.

That’s it. What do you guys think?

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Commentaires

Royal_Resolution_3012026-01-16 01:50

It starts to decline a bit, but it's still worth finishing.

ActualRound76992026-01-16 01:52

That’s what happens when you judge a show by the title. The story is really beautifully done imo. The same can be said of the show TsumaSho from a couple seasons ago.

I_laughandupvote2026-01-16 01:54

I’ll put that one on the list

BoredOjiisan2026-01-16 01:58

TsumaSho is excellent.

ActualRound76992026-01-16 01:59

exactly. it really is such a moving show once you look past the premise and our own assumptions.

WinnerWake2026-01-16 02:14

There are too many long light novel generic Isekai/fantasy to not judge them by the title.

ActualRound76992026-01-16 02:57

True, and I can’t reasonably say that I don’t judge some isekai based on titles. But, I think that sometimes the synopsis can be extremely misleading. Like TsumaSho- guy’s dead wife reincarnated into the body of elementary schooler.

Absolutely valid for sending up red flags at first glance. But when given minimum one episode, you see the show is going to discuss grief processing, prolonged grief, feelings of self worth, and even survivor’s guilt. Completely different than you’d think given the title.

APRengar2026-01-16 20:05

"Don't judge a book by it's cover, you may be writing off just genuinely good stuff."

"Except this one genre, which I've judged based on their titles and are writing off."

Really funny 1-2 punch of comments here.

TheBusStop122026-01-16 02:57

Honestly, it just goes to show the importance of a good title. While it's true that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, nor a show by it's title, people inevitably will. And as a result an potentially off-putting title can and will put people off.

I'm not saying "Rascal doesn't dream of a bunny girl senpai" is necessarily a bad title, thematically it's very fitting, once you know the context. But I do think the title works against it for people new to the series

ActualRound76992026-01-16 03:00

true, and for those worried about tropes it can definitely give weird vibes.

wloff2026-01-16 13:06

I think the LN naming convention is really cool, thematic and thought-provoking in the "I wonder what this is about" sense that's perfectly fitting for the series.

It's just kind of unfortunate that the very first one had to be called Bunny Girl Senpai, which is going to give completely wrong impressions.

PmPicturesOfPets2026-01-16 05:26

I didn't watch "Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon" for years because of the title. I only ended up watching it because I saw some people on this subreddit discuss a show they called Danmachi, which seemed like just the show for me; I was very surprised to see that those are 2 names for the same show.

It ended up being one of my favorite shows, but I never would have watched it, had I not stumbled upon that discussion

ActualRound76992026-01-16 06:03

That’s fair. I forget why I watched it tbh. but I think it was probably some random out of context clip I was curious about. As a matter of fact that’s how I found a few titles:

* That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime
* Food For the Soul
* Shirobako
* love, chunibyo and other delusions
* Wandance

zer0number2026-01-16 01:52

Yeah, for anyone else who has put off this series because of 'fanservice', there is barely any, and it's only early on.

It is an amazing paranormal romcom type show that can really, really kick you in the feels.

I_laughandupvote2026-01-16 01:54

It really is !!!!

MadCybertist2026-01-16 02:13

I put it off because the description did not seem interesting and I also assumed a lot of fan service.

This is a damn good show folks. I highly suggest and as stated above me, there’s barely any fan service and it’s very early only.

wormfood862026-01-16 02:57

Same here. Glad I eventually stumbled upon a review that got me to watch it.

AdWhich73552026-01-16 02:21

[deleted]

Crazy_Little_Bug2026-01-16 02:38

Second season already aired my guy

ScipioAfricanvs2026-01-16 02:42

It’s basically a grounded, not-perverted Monogatari. Explores similar themes about coming of age.

diego97yey2026-01-16 19:15

This

Freed_lab_rat2026-01-16 02:47

And the OP - Kimi No Sei by The Peggies - is fucking amazing

goens7772026-01-16 05:09

Uwu 🥺

Living_Thunder2026-01-16 18:07

Ehhh...never liked it. Always thought the Ed was the much better one between the two

jamemeus2026-01-16 21:45

I like Snow Drop - the season 2 intro a lot more

kjloltoborami2026-01-17 04:18

Ive seen too many fnaf jumpscare versions of the song to take it seriously lmao

Ehero882026-01-16 07:52

What paranormal/supernatural involve in this story?

bomban2026-01-16 08:05

The entire theme of every season/movie is dealing with one supernatural thing at a time. It would literally spoil the show to explain more.

loki13372026-01-16 19:09

Is it only the later seasons that are clear on the premise? Cause they define the cause repeatedly.

adamroadmusic2026-01-17 02:53

The premise of the show is that paranormal phenomena appear as a result of some unresolved emotional/personal problem. Pretty serious stuff like [paranormal list] >!someone's existence being erased (first becoming invisible to strangers, then literally public life events being rewritten), a time loop, 2 duplicates of a person existing simultaneously, body swapping, amnesia, spontaneous bodily injury (deep cuts in the chest), and a fully grown version of someone showing up who died 10 years ago. !<
The show is great, highly highly recommend.

Ehero882026-01-18 03:08

Great explanation, totally interesting. I hope i have time to check on it....thank you

Kill-bray2026-01-16 19:28

The title is quite misleading. When the main character is identified as a "buta yarou" (pervert pig) you'd really think it would be quite a different anime, But really on a pervert scale Sakuta really ranks low compared to other MC in male oriented rom comedy anime.

Moshimoshi-Megumin2026-01-16 01:58

It’s in my top 10. I recommend Summer Pockets if you haven’t seen it.

donniedarko55552026-01-16 02:48

And Clannad, which is basically an older longer version of Summer pockets, but it has some similar magical scenarios to solve as Rascal does not dream of Bunny girl

Smoothesuede2026-01-16 02:00

I agree with your assessment about first season and first movie. 9/10 both from me.

I then went on, years later, to binge Knapsack Kid, A Sister Venturing Out, and then was watching Santa Claus as it aired. I ended up dropping Santa Claus halfway through. The magic was not there. The characters felt stiff and unengaging. The supernatural situation far far less inspired than at the start.

It started to feel less like something inspired by Haruhi & Monogatari, and more like something that was just clumsily copying it.

zer0number2026-01-16 02:04

I would really encourage you to watch Santa all the way through. I, also, considered dropping it, but am glad I didn't.

oops_i_made_a_typi2026-01-16 03:13

this ain't it, Santa was so good and reminded me of just why I got back into anime as an adult (S1 was my first anime)

Smoothesuede2026-01-16 03:17

I'm happy you like it.

GyozaGodfather2026-01-16 08:50

Yeah I finished Santa and agree its the weakest season. Hoping the last movie gets back to the early season quality.

I’m curious did u see monogatari first or this? Cause I saw this first and im glad I did cause I think this mighta been a lot less enjoyable the other way around.

Smoothesuede2026-01-16 11:01

Honestly I think you're right.

I saw Bunny Girl & Dreaming Girl first. Then all of Monogatari, then later all the rest of Rascal. I think if I'd seen Monogatari first, I may not have given those first two Rascal entries 9s, but I also wouldn't have dropped them. They are legitimately good in ways Santa wasn't.

DMNBT2026-01-16 15:55

I'd suggest you finish the Santa season if you intend to watch the subsequent movies, since the LN volumes they're based on tie all previous singular stories together \[LN vague spoilers\] >!and will make you re-examine the Santa season with the new information given within them.!<

Smoothesuede2026-01-16 17:27

>if you intend to watch the subsequent movies

I don't. I would not skip parts of something I otherwise intended to finish.

TheSmallAdventurer2026-01-16 02:01

Yeah, it's name really makes you think it's going to be filled with fan service! I was pleasantly surprised by the entire story so far, and am looking forward to the end.

NerdyNurseKat2026-01-16 02:04

It was one of the earlier ones I watched with my brother, so it’ll always have a special place in my heart. It’s one that I’m still trying to recommend to my friends.

Salty1452026-01-16 02:05

I thought it was extremely high on its own farts. It's like if you wrote *Oregairu* in the format of *Monogatari* with too much pretense for its own good.

AnimeTA2242026-01-16 02:23

>It's like if you wrote *Oregairu* in the format of *Monogatari*

I mean that's almost exactly what the series is, it came out after both of those other series had gotten popular. (Monogatari had been out for years and Oregairu had already released 4 novels that sold well)

It makes sense that if you're gonna be writing a LN series that you'd take notes from 2 out of the 3 biggest LN serieses that had been released thus far.

Salty1452026-01-16 02:45

Unfortunately it took all the worst parts of the worse one (so most of it) and none of the good parts of the better one.

itsadoubledion2026-01-16 07:54

Lol talk about excessive pretense

HopelessHopefulArt2026-01-16 02:06

It's a more average bakemonogatari.

The highs arent as high as bake, but the lack of really obtuse fanservice kinda helps it alot.

MrDTD2026-01-16 02:49

I mostly like it for the banter

TheBusStop122026-01-16 03:03

To me Rascal doesn't dream had more impactful gut punches. Both Dreaming Girl and Knapsack Kid made me cry. Something monogatari never managed, tho to be fair, it never felt like it was going for that anyways. Art direction of monogatari is phenomenal tho

Khashishi2026-01-16 03:13

I think Monogatari series is a bit better, but Rascal Doesn't Dream is excellent and does some things better than Monogatari. Rascal Doesn't Dream is much more wholesome, and is more human and grounded, while the setting of Monogatari is very alien and the characters are monsters (I mean, they don't really act like people), which makes it very interesting but not relatable. Despite being called a rascal, the MC in Rascal is kind and heroic and an excellent person you want to root for, while the MC in Monogatari is scum.

Farnic2026-01-16 02:08

As I always say about this series, went in for shenanigans and came out in tears

Hyvex_2026-01-16 02:12

This was the anime I fought for my life for years to get my friend to watch. He loved it very much. I couldn’t just let it go since he was the one that introduced me to 86. And the novel Second Coming of Gluttony. Two pieces of media I love dearly.

Tokyo_Ink2026-01-16 02:25

Monogatari? A series with a benign name about a young man solving the paranormal problems of girls but also it's extremely fan service heavy.

Rascal Does not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai? A series with a sus name about a young man solving the paranormal problems of girls but there basically isn't any fan service and it's very wholesome and mature.

Funny how that works.

RunningEarly2026-01-16 03:08

And both manage to be top tier shows

Komorebi_LJP2026-01-16 05:07

Rascal is like the Monogatari series without all the weird stuff and instead of supernatural problems its more rooted in theoretical physics.

itsadoubledion2026-01-16 07:51

For some reason I've seen a lot of people complain about the pseudoscience explanations in the series when it doesn't seriously base anything in science or claim to be accurate in the first place. The explanations are just a bit of flavor to tie things together and in universe are a chuuni highschooler's attempt at making sense of the supernatural using her own limited understanding of physics concepts and not meant to be taken as fact. Half the time they're talking she's making coffee with the lab equipment

ImJLu2026-01-16 10:04

Yeah, it's more of an abstraction for the audience's sake. It's just themed after actual phenomena.

It is more grounded in actual social problems that one might have faced at that age, though. God knows I and basically everyone I knew had all those insecurities.

wloff2026-01-16 13:08

For me, any explanation for the supernatural phenomena is completely irrelevant. The show is about the supernatural, but it isn't ***about*** the supernatural. It's a device to spotlight the very real, very true-to-life teenager struggles, issues and emotions that everyone is struggling with.

ZachAtk232026-01-16 14:25

For as much as the "science" is nonsense, there is some level of *consistency* to the nonsense, to the point that as the series progresses you may be able to make predictions/figure things out based on it.

loki13372026-01-16 19:12

Yeah I mean it's like steins gate, you're watching a TV show you should be expecting to be able to suspend disbelief

AdvancedPlayer172026-01-16 10:27

More like Rascal is Temumonogatari lol. It's a ripoff

Belhgabad2026-01-16 08:04

Monogatari is also wholesome and mature, it just has a way to treat subject and over exaggerate things, that and sensitive subjects treatment lead to it not being for everyone that's it

Support_Player502026-01-16 08:33

I liked the overall show, but the weird pedo stuff that is very cringe is why I wouldn’t recommend it to others. I never finished the later seasons and I’m not sure if I could anymore cause of that.

ImJLu2026-01-16 10:04

I basically threw in the towel after a certain toothbrush-themed episode. But this sub will downvote you if you don't defend all the detestable stuff under the guise of artistic license.

laserlaggard2026-01-16 10:49

*Exact* same experience for me lmao. The toothbrush scene was the final straw. I like the characters, I like the themes, I like the dialogue, I am, err, ... intrigued by the artstyle, but all the weird sexual assault stuff wore me down (as in it bored me rather than weirded me out). It's like watching Marriage Story interspliced with a whole season of Love Island.

I appreciate the show more than I like it.

Dizzy-Inflation-74882026-01-16 02:26

I’ve heard this for a decade and I still don’t know anything about it, someone wanna give a brief non spoiler plot?

Khashishi2026-01-16 02:55

There are strange phenomena which occur in people due to the stresses of adolescent life, like physical or supernatural manifestations of mental illness. Sakuta meets some girls with issues and helps them while he struggles with his own issues.

Khashishi2026-01-16 02:41

Yeah. Dreaming Girl was just amazing.

I_laughandupvote2026-01-16 02:42

I (very privately) cried a ton

duffycuffy2026-01-16 02:59

Shame on you

Roockety2026-01-16 03:10

It started off great but it got gradually worse the less it had romance.

Even more than that the already established couple regressed as time went on.

I_laughandupvote2026-01-16 04:20

Well……fuck that stinks to hear.

VillainousInc2026-01-16 04:43

Counterpoint: the previous poster is wrong and it's still top notch.

Roockety2026-01-16 05:07

I mean it's just an opinion. The series started out so well because they didn't do the same old tiring romance anime tropes but if the romance is something secondary to you and you enjoyed the mystery just as much or more then I'm sure your satisfaction of the series will remain consistent.

SA0902026-01-16 03:57

That’s pretty interesting, I avoided it for the same reasons. Might be finally time to give it a try as well.

Reading through the more the affirming comments here that it’s a Monogatari-like series in focus without the excessive fan service is further increasing the interest.

Toritos452026-01-16 03:58

Normiegatari.

Classic-Box-39192026-01-16 04:45

I gave the 1st movie a 10/10 , such a peak rollercoaster

zaxxman2026-01-16 05:06

Kimi no sei!

Newtracks12026-01-16 06:45

I still can not get over how Satuka does not freak out like an infantile, virginal hysteric every time he interacts with a member of the opposite sex. I'm halfway through the new "Santa" season, and his cool, normal human behavior around girls still blows my mind.

ussfirefly2026-01-16 11:59

This is it. It’s so refreshingly human throughout the whole series, and one of the first examples of an actual mature relationship building

GodlyWeiner2026-01-16 13:34

How can I watch something if it's not relatable? Like ??????

Altruistic-Review1692026-01-16 07:31

if you judge anime by its looks and opinions of people,man you truly is a shameless because you are a twitter tourist and not an anime fan, but hey.. you didn't cared about this after a long time... finally on a right track

NewSauerKraus2026-01-16 09:09

I have been avoiding it because it seems like there's not much fanservice. Watched a few episodes and couldn't figure out what the premise is supposed to be.

gene662026-01-16 09:37

Sakurajima Mai is the best girl

MessiahPrinny2026-01-16 12:30

One day I want to give it a real try because on first pass it felt like off brand Monogatari and I couldn't get far.

SoapWaster2026-01-16 12:30

loved first season, thought movie was mid

Redditisntfunanymore2026-01-16 13:10

What's funny is I was super hyped to watch it, *thinking* I was gonna get a banger fan service show, but I very gladly stayed for the incredible story and amazing music. Only reason I never watched it sooner was to wait for it to drop a dub, which it *finally* did.

earthenorange2026-01-16 13:36

I still feel terrible everytime I think about the last few episodes of the first season.
Every time I remember Kaede waking up in the hospital and Sakuta breaking down, I get all choked up.
Losing your sister twice is just... crushing.

Radiant-Sherbet-54612026-01-16 14:28

When Rascal first came out, I thought it'd be a herald of a time when anime become a bit more mature when it comes to relationship.

Alas, it went back to slop afterward.

Similar to when I first watch Evangelion many years ago. It has fantastic cinematography to make up for their shoestring budget. Became massive success critically and commercially. Yet very few anime managed to copy their technique in dealing with budget and time constraint.
\-

Yodas_Ear2026-01-16 14:30

BGS is peak.

SlicedBread05562026-01-16 16:54

Ew yucky boobs!

Accurate_Speaker32272026-01-16 16:57

The Only Bad Thing About Rascal Does Not Dream Of A Bunny Girl Senpai Is It's Name..The Anime Itself Is 10/10 peak anime tbh

I_laughandupvote2026-01-17 03:16

Agreed

TRCB84842026-01-16 21:02

Ohhh that's interesting! I avoid heavy fan service and harem type shows, so any title like that I've always avoided cause I figure it'll be a pretty one note show. Definitely interested to know of any other shows with a misleading name that are actually good and deep

I_laughandupvote2026-01-17 03:17

Season one and movie 1 are def amazing.

Ready_Fan_63842026-01-16 21:57

THe first season and movie were so peak, I really felt like it dropped off a lot after that, especially because they spend so much time pretending they are not actually a couple in those movies and seasons. What they do with the sister is just such a huge moment done so amazingly it killed me

Saleenseven2026-01-16 23:49

its peak - cant wait for the final movie this year

Accomplished_Tap_6172026-01-17 01:51

Honestly I watched it because I thought the Bunny girl senpai part would be funny. Then I was blown away and was crying because all those youth problems just hit home for me.

Something_3192026-01-17 05:28

It's just an amazing show, imo. I love Sakuta and his relationships with not just his girlfriend Mai (though it's one of my favorite ships of all time), but also with his sister(s) and his friends (especially Shouko and Rio), especially as they help each other grow as people throughout everything that they go through during the series. Everything just comes together in a way that feels so satisfying, I can't recommend it enough.

It's by far the anime that has the biggest impact on me as a whole.

entirelights2026-01-20 16:40

mai is one of the worst things to ever be created but overall a good series