Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai Ep 1 [First Impression]

Eva’s First Impression

If anyone stopped themselves/overlooked this show because of a bunny girl, and the whole Adolescent Syndrome theme, you might want to come back and give this show a real shot. This is certainly not going to be a fluffy romance, but rather one that is going to push the characters to their limit. There’s psychological listed in the genres for a reason, and this episode explained exactly why that is.

Now I have to be honest with you guys. When I first saw this show on the preview, my mind drew a blank, and as much as I hate to admit, it I was one of those people who judged the book by its cover. That combined with the description, my initial thought was, “Eh, I’m not sure if this show is for me”, so I since I had nothing meaningful to say, I decided to just leave it. It was only after I learned this show is based on the light novel series written by Kamoshida Hajime, (also the author of Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, which turned out to be amazing) that I became quite excited for it. And sure enough, I think we are in store for one heck of a story.

This time, the mood is completely different. Some may find the protagonist Sakuta incredibly boring, and to some extent he is, as he doesn’t really evoke a lot of personality, wears a deadpan expression for the majority of the time, but otherwise has witty remarks and sarcastic humour. It’s also worth pointing out he is a lot more intelligent than he looks, a good human being, and is also a caring brother who witnessed the Adolescent Syndrome being afflicted to his sister.

And that brings us to the source of the conflict and grand mystery of this story. What is the Adolescent Syndrome phenomena really? It is said to be an urban legend, but the Sakuta has witnessed and experienced the effect, first through his sister who was being bullied online, and himself, though he doesn’t have any recollection what triggered it in the first place. It’s hard to say whether or not it always takes an extreme turn, of wounding the individuals, such as Kaede’s case where she was constantly being cut deep enough to bleed and be bruised whenever she registered she was being bullied, or in Sakuta’s case, where he woke up on morning with a blood wound on his chest, forcing him to be hospitalized, prompting the outrageous rumours that he had sent three classmates to the hospital, and is left with a large scar as a glaring reminder. Even Sakuta is confused as to why that happened to him, as he can’t recall anything in particular that could have triggered it. Needless to say, it is an understatement to describe it as a scary experience.

This is why he is a believed Mai when she said nobody can see her, and perhaps this may also explain why he is able to see her in the first place.

Sakurajima Mai, debuted at six years old and skyrocketed to fame, but as she got older, she started to get worn out by constantly being in the public’s eye. At some point she went on hiatus, and was only able to begin attending school in the middle, so she wasn’t able to have the ‘fresh start’ she may have been hoping for. It was also around that time she started wishing to herself that nobody knew who she was, and much to her horror, that’s exactly what started to happen. While it varies on the location, we have also seen how the effect is spreading a further distance. Mai being unable to order her custard bun as she usually would at the station is an example of that. But Sakuta didn’t realize just how big of a deal this situation she is in actually is until his friend brought the experiment Schrodinger’s Cat to his attention. This is precisely why Sakuta freaked out when he finally understood what it meant for her not to be seen by others, aka, in other words, it makes it as though she never existed in the first place.

This explain why in the beginning of the episode, the date is very important. When he wakes up that morning, it’s May 29th, and we see him struggling to remember Mai. He can’t remember her name (heck even her name is blurred out in his journal completely, which is alarming to say the least), her face, slowly bit surely she is being forgotten. The journal serves as a constant reminder of her existence, starting from the very details of how they met. It will be interesting to see how far along this effect will progress, and how severely it will get. It’s clear by the end of the month, Mai is on track of being completely erased, which may result her demise.

Another thing I am loving about the premiere so far are just how well Mai and Sakuta are getting along, and how they interact with each other. There is something about their relatively solemn conversations they have with each other that draws me in. They are both outsiders, each for their own reasons and in more than one way, the two of them have developed a mutual understanding for one another. I am looking forward to learning more about Sakuta’s two friends Kunimi and Rio, and I’m glad we don’t have a sister complex thing going on, but instead something a lot more serious. One of the things I do hope to see is Mai and Kaede becoming friends. Kaede doesn’t watch television or uses the internet because it triggers the Adolescent Syndrome’s effect, so she doesn’t know who Mai is.

Also, I don’t know what’s up with that chick who is Kunimi’s girlfriend, but damn when she’s treating Sakuta like garbage because she doesn’t want them to hang around each other. There is also an unknown factor with a girl called Makinohara Shoko, who his friends claim the only other girl who Sakuta has shown any interest in.

Overall Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai surprised me with it’s unexpected dramatic atmosphere. Such theme has certainly captured my attention, and I am anxious to see how this will unfold. If someone else doesn’t give this show a chance, damn this is going to be a hard one to pass up on.

Possibility of Blogging: High – If someone doesn’t take it, I will try to make time for it.
Possibility of Watching: Guaranteed.