Rascal doesn’t dream…period

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Sempai is an anime that came out back in 2018 and one would assume that with a name like that it would have had much more visibility (for the better or worse of it). Although it has its popularity, it is nowhere near as famous as it should be. Since in the last few months, after seven years and three movies, its continuation was released (Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus), it’s about time to talk about it.

The anime was adapted from the homonymous light novel written by Hajime Kamoshida and illustrated by Kēji Mizoguchi. Furthermore, the original title is supposed to translate to ‘teenage pig’ instead of rascal; glad that didn’t become a thing. Anyway, it is difficult to assign one specific category to the series: on one hand, it behaves like a slice of life anime, but on the other one it manages to intertwine fantastical or almost science-fictional nuances, all while dealing with psychological and sociological issues.

I will not spoil the plot points or their development, I will say however that the series focuses on what it calls ‘puberty syndrome’. This invented term, with the illnesses or conditions that some of the protagonists face, is an interesting analogy to problems related to adolescence. It is here that the series takes almost a science-fictional turn. The ‘puberty syndrome’ becomes a reality for the one who is living it; it is a type of exaggeration process for a condition in order to emphasize the difficulties one is facing. To give you a more concrete example, if someone feels ignored by their group of friends or family, the ‘puberty syndrome’ makes them become literally invisible to others. Rascal Does Not Dream takes the feelings of adolescent problems and, instead of working on a metaphorical level, works on their tangible manifestation. Online bullying for instance coverts psychological trauma into physical bruises and wounds, peer pressure may create split personalities and different degrees of self-loathing and self-harm may create dissociative disorders. These are just some of the important issues that the series takes into account, explaining them, understanding them and ultimately trying to give a solution for facing them.

I feel that this series deserves more notice for its intents alone. Although it creates fantastic characters and stories that are worth watching, the subtle understanding that the issues these protagonist face (although purposefully exaggerated) is one that is a possibility in our day-to-day society is quintessential.

One last thing since I did mention that there are three movies as well: these are not standalones but rather feature the events that transpire between the first anime series and the second one. Be however warned that the first movie, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl (2019), hits like a goddamn train; it has my wholehearted recommendation, but I do think that in order to better appreciate it, it is better to watch the first series in order to get accustomed to the characters.