Rascal does not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai is an intruiging show I never gave much thought when I first watched it. I like many others steered clear since based on the name it was a show tailored towards the average degenerate. After sheer boredom got to me during the coronavirus times, I was instantly hooked onto the refreshingly mature romance dynamic between the two leads. After the focus shifted away from the main couple three episodes in I was outraged, I didn't even know what I was watching anymore. Why are we focusing on other girls problems? What is this supernatural "puberty syndrome." It became a poorly cobbled together story with different disconnected bits I couldn't be bothered to keep up with. Anything for my queen Mai Sakurajima though.
Fast forward to the movies being released a few years later and with a lot more reflection on the main premise of the story, I finally understood the basic premise of "puberty syndrome" was this idea of puberty being your most vulnerable and insecure state, manifesting itself into real world aspects sort of akin to a monkey's paw situation. You wanted to leave the acting industry because of the lack of privacy? Wish granted, now you'll literally fade out of people's view and memory. It's a great commentary on what it feels like to grow up, swinging towards different extremes while you struggle to get a grasp on your concrete identity.
Nearly 7 years after the release of the original, the second season was released! Featuring a grown up main cast navigating college, and a new cast of characters with new problems. One particular arc spoke to me at its conclusion following Ikumi Akagi, the middle school class president that didn't do anything to stop her class from shutting out Sakuta Azusagawa when his sister became a victim of puberty syndrome. Ikumi grew up with a large sense of justice, and this middle school incident continued to plague her into her later years. This manifested into a "what if" timeline split. Kind of cliche I know, we're getting to the good part. Back in the present, Sakuta is tasked with figuring out why Ikumi was being reckless and irrational as she became a hero of sorts, monitoring twitter for events of deja vu and trying to prevent people from getting hurt. It turned out that when school started, the two Ikumi's in the timeline split switched after her frustrations boiled over, and while one was fighting to go back to her original reality the other was fighting to stay in the new reality and start from scratch, A reality where Sakuta resolved his own problems in middle school and Ikumi didn't have to worry about letting him down.
After the two eventually return to their original timelines, Ikumi is distraught. "How can I forget my hateful self that couldn't do anything?" After years of fighting herself over what she could and couldn't do, she was finally at the complete mercy of reality. She couldn't do anything, because what's done is done. Having lived these same feelings before, Sakuta responded that the solution was simple. "Eat breakfast every day. Go to school. Take a class. Have trivial chats with friends. Go to a part-time job. Take a bath. Brush your teeth. And sleep." You live your life, struggle to go to sleep, and wake up to the alarm with the worst feeling ever.
Sakuta isn't asking Ikumi to forget, in fact what he's suggesting here, as well as the notion that he doesn't know how long she'll have to do this for, is indicative that she shouldn't forget. Living your life, taking care of yourself, appreciatinng your mistakes and being able to grow. That was the wonderful conclusion to an arc that hit very close to home. I was fairly fortunate to have gone through puberty without any huge problems physically, but emotionally I was in a completely lost state, constantly casting myself in a shadow of doubt regarding the thousands of what ifs I left behind every day just like Ikumi. I hated myself for a very long time throughout that journey. I still have these thoughts occasionally, but I put one foot in front of the other and continue to take care of myself. Things don't change after they're done, hell there's a non-zero chance I make the same mistake again, But I can't afford to act reckless or shut myself out of living the life in front of me.
My favorite anime are the ones that keep me captivated while at the same time telling an emotional story. I won't deny that AoButa gets slow occasionally, this arc in particular kept me at the edge of my seat, wondering exactly how this conflict gets resolved. This was an enlightening and humbling conclusion, and I hope that others will find the same solace in this arc that I did from beyond the Hilbert space.