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This Week in Anime - Is Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai Worth Watching?

I agree with Johny, this is one of the top 3 shows of the season for me. I 100% disagree with their points of Sakuta being an unlikeable character, for me he's one of the best protagonists in recent history. Sure, he's a bit of an ass sometimes, but who isn't? He has flaws just like any other human, but his pros far outweigh them. Anyone who would throw away all their devices to protect their little sister from cyber bullying is good in my books.

Also, the romance between Mai and Sakuta is great as well, it progresses in a completely natural way, and you can see both from their actions and words how much they care about each other as the show goes on.

I just really wish This Week In Anime would give more balanced perspectives on shows by making use of the two person format and having two different opinions of the show rather than both more or less saying the same thing. It would make for much more interesting reading if there were some genuine disagreements about what they thought about the show, but that's my opinion.

I gotta say the Mai and Sakuta dialog is spot-on, and perfectly natural for 2 people with a dry sense of humor. How can they be called insufferable? They are perfect for each other and every line is a verbal jousting match. We are watching a mating dance unfold week by week - I just wish there was more time spent with the main couple rather than collecting a harem.

Any other shows that have this kind of Sarcasm X Sarcasm couple? I’ve already combed through the Recommendations page but I can’t get enough of it - need to find more shows with this kind of dialog.

I understand that people disagree with the reviewers- sometimes I do to- but I'm not crazy about the nature of some responses. I watched episode 1 and I thought the dialogue wasn't that good either(like the reviewers), and other fans of the show saying the reviewer's opinion is shitty without acknowledging it is really turning me off from even touching episode 2, since it's my opinion too.

The only personality trait Sakuta has shown is being a deviant.

I like Sakuta because he definitely does have a bit of a prickly personality, it's just a result of him no longer caring about what other people think of him because of his experiences. He's pretty convinced that, once society has formed an opinion on you or has decided how things should be, it's damn near impossible to change their mind, so he's not interested in trying. He's said a few times now that he thinks it's important to be honest, both to yourself and others, and I think that's true. Mai's situation does force him to actually fight against that mood, and while he's gotten a bit less cynical about it all, he's not any less apathetic about it. He's a cynical, frank (sometimes to a fault) jerk who does ultimately mean well in spite of his hangups. Don't forget that the Japanese title of the show outright calls him a pig, so it doesn't have the highest opinion of him.

And I like that most of his cases of helping these girls are because he had a personal interest or stake in it, not because he just felt like helping them. Heck, he initially had no interest in helping Tomoe until her words started reminding him of Kaede.

I think the comparisons to Monogatari are pretty superfluous, especially seeing as how the "guy helps girls solve supernatural shenanigans" sub-genre has been around since the days of Key's trifecta of games that anyone who was in anime fandom in the mid-2000s would know about, Clannad, Kanon, and Air. It's fair if you want to say it was inspired by shows like Monogatari, but it's already done more than enough to make itself distinct. The themes it's going for, a rejrction of social norms and the expectations people have of you, are incredibly tailored to Japanese culture in particular, so if you haven't done research on that kind of thing (I didn't until just recently), there's a good chance it'll fly over the heads over most casual viewers.

As for the complaints about dialogue, well, judging dialogue that was originally in another language entirely always struck me as odd, because you can have several different people translate things in different ways, and the end result can look totally different for each one. I've compared the official subs with other translations, and the fansubs were just much better at conveying the original intent. Not that I'm trying to condone pirating or anything, I'm just stating a fact.

As for the Futaba thing, well, I'd like to think there's a difference between total strangers leering at her and showing interest in her exclusively because of her body, and her best friends (who have made abundantly clear how much they value her as a person) commenting on how attractive she is. There wasn't anything "ironic" about it, they were being sincere. Frankly I think you're undermining how sincere the show actually is. You can have some level of self-awareness and still have enough self-respect to take yourself seriously.

Sakuta x Mai is easily my favorite couple of the year. They might not be as emotionally interesting as say, Yuu and Touko (who aren't really a couple yet but that's beside the point), but they have a lovely and compelling dynamic nonetheless, and I can totally believe how much these two adore each other. They have a very healthy relationship, but it's not without it'a share of bumps and struggles.

I'm glad you ended up liking the show more than I expected at least.