This thing has been on my computer for like 4 weeks now and I'm tired of dealing with it, please take it off my hands, I wrote so much I don't want it to go to waste, I hope I'm coherent here.
Chapter 0: Prologue
When seasonal anime starts airing, I go into everything completely open minded, not even looking at the scores of the first episodes so that way I can can form my own opinions on it (I've learned that if I go into seasonals like "ew this has a 6.0 on MAL", I'll be less likely to give it a chance, so I just avoid looking at scores at this point). This is what I did with the first episode of Bunny Girl when it first started airing...and I called it annoying pretentious shit and dropped it immediately. But then the score and hype around this thing kept growing and growing and left me wondering if there was some detail about it that I had missed, maybe one episode wasn’t enough to judge it. So I watched the second and third episodes which conveniently end the first arc to get a full picture, and what I was left off with was something much worse than I had expected
Bunny Girl is bad. Terrible, even. It is a trainwreck drowning so deeply in its influences that it loses sight of what makes the series it’s ripping off great in the first place. It recognizes all the elements of the kind of show it aims to be, but executes nearly all of them in the worst way possible. It’s obnoxiously pretentious and is striving to show off its intelligence despite its utter stupidity that should be apparent on a moment’s thought. It feels so cynical, like it’s cashing in on a popular trend, but all the details are handled so flaccidly that it should be completely detestable, and yet it is still roping people in.
So here we go with my scathing, unnecessarily long review of three episodes of a seasonal anime that will be forgotten within a few months (if we’re lucky).
Before I go into this thing though, allow me to address a few things that I feel like should be a given when it comes to negative reviews, but knowing the easily defensive and inflamed anime fanbase I will give a few disclaimers. First, while I do think this show is shit, I am not attacking you for watching or liking this show really. While I do think you can do better with your choice of media, you’re entitled to like what you like, and as an idol fan who spends all his spare time collecting pretty pictures of UtaPri boys I am in no position to judge anyone’s taste in anything. It’s okay to like shit, but that doesn’t put it above criticism.
Secondly, I am only going to be reviewing the first three episodes. Which seem to conclude the first “arc” of the show. Yes, there are complaints I have here that may be resolved with time, but the fact that these problems might be fixed by the end of the show does not affect my opinion of the first three episodes, as those are what are sitting with an 8.3 on MAL, not the final product. Will I ever finish this show out of spite, possibly but unlikely (but, without going into much detail, I might be forced into watching this thing whether I like to or not). I wrote 15 pages about three episodes, this things 12 episodes, and if it continues to be this quality of fascinating bullshit the whole time,, then that’s 60 pages I’m not willing to write (unless I feel especially passionate about shitting on this show).
Thirdly, I am here to hear and respond to criticism about my analysis of this thing. Look, I hate this shit because a lot if it is just not to my taste (to some extent, I also think it's just bad), but I write about it as “objectively” (though I’m loathe to say the word) as possible. I didn’t like Tsurezure Children at all, but that’s just because I don’t like high school romance as a concept. I don’t think it’s offensive or a dreadfully executed show, it’s good enough for what it aims to do even if that does not appeal to me. But there’s so much about this show that is just shoddy and bad and I want to address it. If there’s anything that you think I interpreted wrong or any details I missed, feel free to call me out on being a hack fraud and I’ll acknowledge that. I’m not seeking out for anime to be terrible and wish the worst on it, if you can change my mind on this show being anything of value, you’ve done your job well. I’ll be the first to admit my own mistakes, most of this post is just excessive rambling based off of the one viewing of these three episodes, because while I may be a tormented enough soul to spend hours writing pages upon pages about how shitty this show is, I am not tormented enough to force myself through any part of what I have witnessed again.
And I guess finally, why do I want to address this show in the first place. I watch plenty of anime, and a good bit of it I don’t like at all. This is nothing new. I force myself to sit through the first episodes of mindless seasonals that make me want to put a knife to my throat 4 times a year, but I don’t go out of my way to insult them. Like, usually they’re dumb and know what they are or get insulted for being the trash that they are or just aren’t to my taste. Bunny Girl is unique in that it goes completely in the face of all those reasons for me not to want to trash a show. It’s pretentious and acts deeper than it is, it’s fundamentally flawed on such deep levels its embarrassing, and yet it’s still getting such huge reward for it. When I started writing this thing I didn’t expect it to get as out of hand as it has (“I may have gone too far in a few places” - George Lucas), but it really made me step back and think about what the “anime fan” is looking for and what basic levels of competence a show most have to satisfy that desire. It’s stuff I’ve never thought about before, so even if no one reads through all this bullshit, I can at least have the satisfaction of saying I had fun writing it.
So let’s get onto it.
Part 1: Establishing a Genre - The Isekai Show and Its “Adult” Version
(this part is me just rambling off some shit I thought of off the top of my head but I thought would establish context for my final conclusion to this show. It doesn’t involve Bunny Girl directly, but I think my final analysis of that show references back to this part pretty heavily. Skip it if you want)
I guess if I were to summarize my opinions of this show, it would be that it is “the thinking man’s bad isekai show”, except it’s a bit more obnoxious than most bad isekai shows (given the choice between finishing this and How Not to Summon a Demon Lord or Sword Art Online or Isekai Smartphone, I’d easily pick any of the other three options). Let’s talk real quick about the “self-insert” story. There is so much anime about an otaku main character being teleported to another world where he develops his harem of beautiful girls (most importantly the main tsundere that inevitably warms her heart and falls in love with him), while he is super overpowered and relatively a god in this new world. Of course, these shows have become so commonplace that their very existence has become something of a meme. They’re such blatant fanservice appealing to an audience with a strong desire of self-insertion that the amount of work required to go into making one of these shows is minimal.
Now, this is the kind of show that gets picked on a lot, and not without good reason. Oftentimes your isekai otaku protagonist is completely traitless and exists purely for the viewer to insert themselves into, and if you do not find yourself in the demographic the writers are aiming for, it comes across as really fucking dumb. When a work of fiction is so deliberate in its portrayal of the main character as some kind of vehicle for the viewer to experience the world through, the willingness of the viewer to accept that protagonist is crucial in their enjoyment of the show.
We’ve reached such an oversaturation of this kind of show that the very existence of the genre is more of a meme than anything. We see new isekai shows pop up every season, but they all fall squarely in the “this is trash and so am I” camp. Very seldom are these shows taken seriously as they used to be, and I don’t see many people singing their praises. How to Not Summon a Demon Lord from last season was really popular according to MAL stats, but I’ve never heard anyone talk about that show somehow (and when I do, it’s never in a positive light). Hell, Konosuba is arguably the most continually successful isekai show of the past few years (not counting ReZero) and it’s whole purpose is lampooning the tropes of the type of show that made it popular. Isekai as a genre has reached such a level of awareness that making the base level of that kind of show is no longer viable to even be successful unless there’s some new or more mature conceptualization at play or its based on a prior source work (Reincarnated as a Slime, for example). The kind of person that maybe “grew up” on isekai may be over this shit now, but that means that the desire for having a strongly relatable main character living a highly desirable if fantasized lifestyle is completely gone from their mindset.
So once you “graduate” from the generic otaku isekai show or are maybe enter anime at a level of maturity where that kind of show doesn’t have any level of appeal to you, what kind of wish fulfillment show is there to watch now? I don’t think watching anime for the sake of wish fulfillment is innately a bad thing, by the way, by all means spending hours watching characters who are cuter than anyone you will ever meet in real life in dumb or sexually suggestive settings is pretty indicative of some kind of desire for escapism. I have a list of 300+ cartoon guys I want to fuck in my profile. We’re all victim of this, there’s nothing wrong with that.
Anyway, there’s this very subtle “genre” of shows that are kind of the “seinen” version of the hot-blooded, badass otaku isekai show. I don’t think it’s quite as obvious or specific in what it’s doing, but there are definitely details of this kind of show that kind of draw the same kind of audience. The protagonist is still relatably introverted and cynical and ends up with a harem of pretty girls, but the context for these elements is much different. These are shows like Oregairu, Steins;Gate, Bakemonogatari, even Hyouka and Haruhi, to an extent.
Instead of the self-insert character being a complete otaku loser, he’s more grounded. More jaded and has complex internal monologue about how he views the world works. He still isn’t the best at socializing, but instead of brushing over that element only as a contrast for how he functions in a new setting, the show focuses on this, valuing the kind of personality that he has. So smart and unlike the average teenager, at the very least in his own eyes, that it makes it fundamentally difficult to socialize on that level. I know personally that if I had watched Oregairu in high school, I would have viewed Hachiman as a hero more than a reprimandable asshat as I did when I watched it last year.
The girls aren’t busty archetypes that are just as powerful as the protagonist on a physical level, but a more real-world interpretation of that kind of character. There is going to be a main girl that is able to communicate with the protagonist on the same level of intellect, while also being passively interested in him romantically. However, despite her self-awareness and intelligence, she’s still a bit troubled and there are problems about herself that only the protagonist can recognize. They probably butt heads and aren’t necessarily on the same page a lot of the time, but there’s enough of a common thread between them for a baseline level of attraction. And of course there’s going to be a range of other side girls too, all with their own troubles that they need the protagonist’s above-average-intellect to help them solve. They’ll all be cute or beautiful in their own unique ways but still maintain a (mainly) platonic relationship with the main guy, as his heart belongs to the main girl.
What’s most important to note here is that this kind of show serves the same purpose as the typical isekai show, except the fundamentals of it aim to appeal to an entirely different demographic. The awkward young man’s desire for companionship in a bunch of cute girls is still being tapped into, but it’s not being approached in a way to appeal to getting out of the world as much as getting into it. At this point in the viewer’s life, they’ve come to terms with the world around them, and instead of fantasizing about the lives they could lead, they’ve come to realize that they must find a way to endure the hand they’ve been dealt. And as a result, they become jaded and value nothing more than their own intellect and worldview, so the most appealing thing to them is no longer to live a life unlike their true selves helped along by super powers and an unfamiliar setting, but for those around them to recognize and appreciate the traits about them that they value most themselves. It’s a more introverted approach, and I think it’s usually handled pretty well in this kind of show.
And thus we have this new “genre” of anime to capitalize on that desire. The characters aren’t useless otaku any more, they’re actually pretty cool once you get to know them. It acts more as validation for the viewer’s own self worth, if a character as cynical as Hachiman can get so many other people to become acquaintances with him, the same can happen for me. That kinda thing. Throw in some more philosophical themes that aren’t explicitly detailed and take a bit of unwrapping to get but are still simple enough to be relatable, and replace complex action scenes with complex passages of internal monologue, add a general air of pretentiousness, and you have a perfect self-insert show for the older but still not matured awkward young anime fan.
Now, there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with this kind of adult self-insert show. In fact, I like a lot of those shows I listed above quite a bit. There are reasons these shows are good though besides the basic wish fulfillment elements. Steins;Gate has super well-realized characters and an excellent narrative (and I’d hardly call Okabe’s scenario anything close to “wish-fulfillment”), Monogatari has iconic presentation and really unique arcs, and Haruhi has such a brilliant, insane plot that it’s one of the most influential anime of the 2000s. Even shows like Hyouka and Oregairu which I don’t care for quite as much still have qualities I like (I love Oreki as a character and Hyouka looks great; I like the approach Oregairu has towards Hachiman, it’s this kind of double-sided thing that both values the kind of character he is as well as reprimanding him for the way he views the world. Plus Saika is marriage material).
And after all this discussion of a genre, let’s finally come back to Bunny Girl and why it’s terrible. Clearly, this show is doing quite well this season. It’s probably the most popular and most highly reviewed show of the season (seriously, an 8.35 on MAL after 4 episodes?), and I guess this isn’t unexpected. It’s clearly one of these more adult-ish-oriented wish fulfillment shows and has all of the basic elements in place like checking boxes off a list. The problem is, almost all of these traits are executed as poorly and obnoxiously as I can intuit. Let’s take it apart piece by piece.
Part 2: Characters and Dialog
First, let’s talk about the main characters. The relatably thoughtful and cynical protagonist and his equally witty kuudere/tsundere girlfriend is essential for this kind of show’s success, and, for the most part these characters become some of the most beloved and appealing characters in all of anime (Hachiman/Yukino, Okabe/Makise, Araragi/Senjougahara, Kyon and Oreki too, though I wouldn’t count Haruhi or Chitanda as one of the more formulaic girl protagonists). So...who are we dealing with in Bunny Girl? Uh hang on let me pull up the MAL page real quick so I can remember the main guy’s name and face. Sakuta is it? And Mai Sakurajima. I remember her at least.
Well, both of these main characters are...exactly what you’d expect. Now, I’ll give credit where credit is due here. Mai is a fine enough character in a lot of ways. In fact, I think the very premise of her character and conflict is kind of interesting (it’s just not handled in a smart or unique enough way to keep the show interesting, but more on that later). I won’t trash her too much (except when I talk about her dialog). There’s a good story somewhere in here, really. Now Sakuta on the other hand...there’s absolutely nothing of any interest about him. Well, there are seeds of mystery about his character like the scar on his chest and his supposedly violent past, but if the goal is to make me grow to like the character before these secrets are revealed, this show fails terribly in the first three episodes. And to further explain my dislike of this character, here’s my next set of complaints...the dialog.
(oh also before I get into that, I guess I should mention the side girls in this show that will get their own arcs I assume. Of course there’s a copy and paste vaguely sexy imouto character for those who are into that to get off to. She’s what you’d expect, annoying. There’s the obnoxious friend girl character that asks to get kicked in the ass and the boring scientist chick and the invisible first crush or whatever, they’re all so boring I’ll just leave them where they lie. Fuck that scientist girl though. She knows about fucking Schrodinger’s cat, what’s this genius even still doing still in high school)
Sakuta and Mai speak exclusively in witty one-liners. Now, this kind of thing isn’t unexpected in this show. Look at literally any main couple of the 5 shows I listed earlier. Clearly, INTx characters who have long bouts of conversation full of wisecracks and playful teasing that hedges between being flirty and legitimately insulting is a staple of the grown up self-insert show. And yet even though these characters often communicate through barely disguised insults, it doesn’t mean that they never show their true emotions or intentions. Especially since there’s usually a cast of side characters for the characters to interact with in different ways to make them more rounded (for example, compare Okabe’s dialog with Makise vs. his dialog with Mayuri. Or Araragi talking to Hanekawa or Senjougahara, Kyon with Haruhi and Mikuru, etc. All very defining yet subtle character moments that happen within the first “arc”). They’re all very human characters, the cheeky interactions just add a bit more detail to characters we already like for their own merits.
So...what do we have of Sakuta and Mai? Well, Mai can literally not interact with anyone besides Sakuta himself, so everything that can be learned about her character is spelled out very explicitly through the exposition about her backstory (again, I’m not going to complain about this because it’s not bad, but if it were to be more slowly revealed through subtle interactions rather than through monologue, it would be more interesting). But still, even with just that exposition and her basic interactions with Sakuta we get a pretty good indication of her character (and it’s not really anything special, it’s the kind of character that’s been done a hundred times before, but at least it’s passable). She does have emotional moments and at least somewhat un-muddy intentions, she just delivers these to a brick wall.
And that brick wall is this annoying jackass, Sakuta. While he doesn’t have an elaborate, detailed past like Mai, Sakuta at least gets the benefit of being able to interact with other people to help flesh out his character, maybe see his more emotional side or about his past or interests or...anything. That should be interesting right? Well...he acts like a quick-witted asshole when he talks to Mai, and then...he acts like a quick-witted asshole when he talks to his sister or the short haired girl or uhh the reporter chick. But hey, he’s not that much of a quick-witted asshole when he talks to the science girl at least, then he’s just completely flat. Point is, the guy is a smarmy asshole 100% of the time. I mean, he does apologize to Mai at one point and seem to have uhh concern of some sort for her condition and he does react when his sister starts exploding with blood or whatever the fuck, he is indeed a real human being (though I hesitate to call him a real hero).
But, you’re thinking, aren’t all of these main characters in this type of show kind of insincere assholes for a majority of the time? Well, I don’t like using comparison in reviews too much because it’s kind of a shitty way of reviewing a show for its own merit, but since the show I’m reviewing is so set on being a deliberate ripoff of Monogatari and Oregairu, fuck it, let’s compare him to Hachiman.
Hachiman is a genuinely shitty person at times and Sakuta is very very much like him. But the difference here is that even though Hachiman is a cynical asshole that hates everyone around him, the other characters in the show aren’t content to let him get away with that. The very plot of the show doesn’t start until his teacher basically tells him to stop being so stuck and forces him to join a club. At the very least, within the opening minutes of Oregairu we get to see that this kind of constant behavior isn’t to be praised or even acceptable. While it’s still easy to find Hachiman a likable character for wearing his heart on his sleeve in that away, especially if you’re at the age where he and his worldview are relatable, there is still this self-awareness about that worldview being flawed, and we can expect to see how his character will develop over the course of the show as he comes to appreciate life for what it is. Also, there's plenty of discussion about what past trauma caused him to act this way in the first place. No one’s calling out Sakuta, everyone plays along with him and feeds his ego even further, he continues living as an asshole. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, smartass characters can be fun (I like quite a few, Blackstar is my favorite anime character), but when there’s literally no further depth to the character behind the witty one-liners, and when that character is your protagonist, that’s a totally different thing.
I guess he does have a heart in him, as his motivation for even helping Mai (beyond wanting to fuck her) comes from his previous experience with Puberty Syndrome and how it affected his sister who I assume he cares for, but even then things are muddled. Like, he’s such an apathetic douchebag, it seems out of whatever little character he has to want to help her for any reason besides his own gain. He’s not forced into things like Hachiman or a genuine sweetheart like Araragi or dealing with actual God like Kyon, he just kinda...does a lot for her without any payment. Maybe it’s just emotional/romantic satisfaction, but it still seems to go against what he stands for if that’s the case. Mai and Sakuta do tease the idea of romance multiple times (on Mai’s end especially), but he seems completely disinterested except with the sexual side of things for the most part.
Point is, he’s a messy as hell character that’s written as though all the most basic and pretentious traits of every other similar anime protag got distilled into one flat, confused being with no goals, quirks, or motivations of his own. He sounds so disinterested 100% of the time and is so cool that even Kaito Ishikawa, one of the more dynamic voice actors out there, can’t get his voice above anything more than an apathetic mumble. Look, having a cool, level-headed main character isn’t bad, but that doesn’t mean he should be completely devoid of a personality. He’s like a robot set to spit out clever dialog programmed into him and operate on a basic human level.
(note: Maybe this is just a problem of personal taste, I see a lot of people liking this guy already and I guess if this is your kind of character go wild. It’s the kind of character that’s been done 100 different ways before and he’s completely lacking in personality, but if you like those Hachiman characters exactly for being what they are and nothing more, he definitely satisfies that. I went through MAL and read some of positive reviews, literally everything I’ve heard good about Sakuta is that he’s blunt and “savage” and “like Hachiman”...all true facts, yes. And also nothing new, as discussed. I do agree that having a main character in a romance anime that isn’t entirely chaste and actually can talk about sex without blushing is nice, but at the same time having a little depth or something of a soft side that I can at least distinguish is a nice touch too. In what way is it a feat to have a character that’s just a dick all the time, there’s nothing achieved there. I can see why it’s appealing, but it doesn’t make him a good character by any means)
Okay, so what we have for our leads is a girl that speaks almost exclusively in witty one-liners because she can only interact with one character for the majority of the time, and he speaks exclusively in witty one-liners to literally everyone on the fucking planet apparently, so she doesn’t get much of a choice. And to make things worse, while the very banality of the dialog is terrible on its own, it’s really not helped by the fact that the dialog itself is some of the most annoying, pretentious, and groanworthy bullshit I’ve seen in anything ever. God that whole scene where they’re in the hotel together and Mai goes to take a shower was the most atrocious thing I’ve ever watched. Like, what, this joke hasn’t already been done 1000 times before? What new do you have to offer to this trope? This show’s “smart” and “psychological” right, doesn’t it have enough sense to do something beyond “don’t look at me shower you perv” right in the middle of the fucking episode? I have seen anime before yes, I have seen characters get mad but still be vaguely turned on and act flirty about the idea of being seen naked. I have seen guys that act unashamedly like pervs and make their girlfriends blush...is this supposed to be funny in some way?
(note: granted, I guess this kind of thing isn’t entirely new in this kind show, the same kinda shit happens in Monogatari all the time and I’m not a huge fan of it their either, but at least that show has unique visuals, likable characters, and less hammed up dialog about actually interesting things to make those scenes tolerable. Still doesn’t make the Tsukihi shower scene in Tsukimonogatari or Hanekawa rape scene in Kizu III any least obnoxious, but I at least have good will towards the show and characters).
I mean of course this is just one scene, but it’s kind of indicative of the “comedy” of this show in general, it is a “romantic comedy” after all, right? I guess me wanting to puke at 100% of the humor might just be a personal taste thing, I guess someone out there laughed at this, so I won’t pursue it too much, no matter how trope-y, overplayed, and obnoxious as it is, but maybe it can at least get the “rom” in “romcom” right. Right? ...It’s okay
(another note: I guess it could be argued that this is just “not my kind of comedy” and it’s a matter of personal taste, which is probably true to an extent, but I’ve found shows with similar sense in humor tolerable at the very least, sometimes even funny. My biggest problem with the comedy in this show, besides me just not thinking it’s funny, is how dense it is especially when trying to tell a more dramatic narrative and elaborate on characters and their relationships. There’s a constant tongue-in-cheek insincerity about it all that makes it hard for me to care about anything it portrays in a more serious sense).
To be continued! Because I wrote too much and it won't all fit here :} This gonna be three posts jeez
Part 3: Romance and Pacing
I had originally written like 3 pages about how much I hated the romantic development of the main characters, but the more I thought about it the more I thought that I was being too hard on it. I went back and rewatched the confession scene, and I think it’s a bit better than I had remembered it being from the first viewing. While I really dislike Sakuta and his interactions with Mai, I think their romance is passable. It could be much much better, especially with the narrative given, but it’s not as insufferable as I had originally tried to criticize it as being. It’s just my dislike of the characters that really detract from fully appreciating it.
The romantic narrative here is pretty good I think. Even in my original iteration of this “chapter” I praised it. It could just be executed a whole lot better. I like this idea of Mai and Sakuta maybe starting out with the relationship they maintain through the first three episodes briefly, interspersed with more sincere and romantic moments, Sakuta growing to forget Mai and being aware of it (which granted does happen in the show, but I think it could be handled better). They are desperate to figure something out, and it’s this period of struggle that really draws them together, Sakuta realizes his feelings for Mai before forgetting her. They have a genuine, romantic moment with each other and maybe confess their love. Then the next day, Sakuta has forgotten about her entirely. Have Mai actually in the picture trying to interact with him and show the emotional and psychological trauma she goes through in having her true love and last contact with the real world forget her. Maybe have her do something on her end to help him remember her, or try to solve the main narrative herself. Then do that confession scene, it would have a lot more punch. Not only would it be the big symbolic gesture that it is already, but it would also be genuinely cathartic as Sakuta is already in love with her and his remembrance makes the scene that much more powerful. There’s a good story in here, both in Mai’s struggles and Mai and Sakuta as a couple.
The biggest problem is that this narrative is just not given enough time to be fleshed out fully. Like, in any other of these “thinking man’s harem” shows, there is a clear romantic plotline between the lead male and lead girl that progresses throughout the show. For the majority of the storyline the idea of romance is entertained, but not really acted on. It’s important to note that both the male and female protagonists are probably not fully aware of their own emotions or how to handle romance, especially with each other. It’s a thing that takes time, these characters are usually head smart but not emotionally smart, and it’s their development over the course of the series that makes them finally being together more fulfilling.
I do fully expect Sakuta and Mai to continue to have romantic development as the show continues, Mai has that whole bit about “telling her he loves her in a month” and the show recognizes that the whole confession scene is exactly what it is...a kind of brainless, hot-blooded act of passion that shouldn’t be taken too entirely seriously, and I commend it for that. I can’t help but still feel it’s a little dumb though. Like, there just hasn’t been enough time for me to come to care about these characters’ romantic development this far to find the actual confession really powerful, however much its purpose is to help the school recognize Mai or for Sakuta to exclaim his true feelings aside.
Like, everything leading up to this point has been Mai occasionally showing her true feelings for Sakuta and him not really batting an eye at them, or them talking about fucking in that tongue-in-cheek manner they do so much. While I don’t doubt that there’s an attraction between them, I also don’t really view it as anything more than that to warrant the payoff of the confession scene. It feels like just the beginning of their relationship, and that confession scene is what needs to come at the very end of the show, not three episodes in.
I did find the mechanic of Sakuta forgetting Mai genuinely compelling. But...it’s just not executed as well as it could be. Like, Sakuta goes maybe 5 minutes without her in his memory? And then it’s just randomly triggered by something from the night before. It’s nowhere near enough time to make me actually care. Like, he goes to school half the day and remembers. I like this concept of human relations being so fragile and how that concept takes a toll on the romance (i.e. go watch Ef A Tale of Memories). It’s a neat little thing, but they just didn’t go all the way with it.
So I guess I’ll keep this part short. I guess the romance is the strongest part of this show. While the execution is far away from being perfect and I don’t really care enough for the characters involved in the first place, but there are definitely some cool ideas and bigger concepts in play here that I think are worth something, even if it’s just me imagining them in the context of a better show. I’m feeling a 5/10 on the romance, that’s a passing score for me at least.
So let’s move on to the most annoying part of the show that is really the main focus of my dislike for it...
Part 4: Your Mechanics Are Terrible and You’re Not As Smart As You Think
Okay, so the characters in this show suck, and the dialogue is shitty, snarky bits of comedy that does nothing to flesh them out to the extent this level of narrative requires. But I did say that Mai’s backstory was interesting right? There’s definitely the seeds of a somewhat interesting story here, I think if her story was implemented into a less obnoxious context it would be enjoyable. So surely they get at least exploring the supernatural elements of Mai’s existence correct, right? No. The mechanics of this show are cobbled together and fucking broken. It’s like the creator had this idea for a character arc but didn’t pay enough attention to the details to make it seem anywhere close to realistic if you think about it for more than half a second. And even worse than just letting this bad worldbuilding go unnoticed, they try to explain it but make themselves seem like even bigger asshats in the process.
So to go off on a bit of a tangent, these kinds of episodic supernatural occult detective shows are not uncommon. Mushishi, Natsume Yuujinchou, and Bakemonogatari (which of course I reference frequently) are all great examples of this kind of show done right. While all of these shows do involve supernatural occurrences that are not at all commonplace in their worlds and would cause any outsider in that world to freak the fuck out if they noticed, they also have clever ways to present these occurrences in a way that makes them feel real, or at least sensible in the realm they inhabit.
Mushishi portrays the existence of mushi as some foreign concept most of the bumpkins Ginko visits don’t understand (and most can’t even see them in the first place). It has this weird, mythical tone to it where the people view the spirits as things of legend, very old time-y. A central theme of Natsume Yuujinchou is the fact that Natsume is constantly trying to hide the fact he can see spirits from his friends and family, and how his interactions with the youkai world affect his interactions in the real world. Monogatari is unlike these other two because instead of making the supernatural happenings’ effect on unknowing people apparent, it abstracts everything to the point where it’s not even a problem—the only characters we see are those who are “in” on what’s happening, there are no outsiders. I have a hard time believing that Senjougahara made it so long without people realizing she weighed only 15 pounds, but at the end of the day that doesn’t pose much of a problem. Monogatari is focused on drama and character interactions, and their afflictions are more symbolic of these problems than anything. Doing away with unnecessary attention from outsiders feels natural in the way the show handles its atmosphere and theming, most of this stuff is broken if you think about it, but at least they provide a way for there not to be a world around to exploit that fact (if that makes any since—Monogatari indulges in artistry, realism is moot). I guess these comments on supernatural affliction representing past trauma of the main characters can also be applied to the characters in Bunny Girl, but let’s talk about the ways that despite the fact that it tries so desperately to be Monogatari, Bunny Girl fails as an occult detective show even in this sense.
Well, first of all, as one would expect of a “thinking man’s harem show”, Bunny Girl takes place in the very real human world. There’s no sense of abstraction as in Monogatari, so everything that happens just comes across as...really fucking dumb. Like, the point I realized this is the scene where they’re in the grocery store. Sakuta asks Mai about the details of her condition and how she interacts with the real world. This is the scene that’s supposed to act as a “reality check” of sorts, there are a lot of questions involving Mai’s invisibility that of course a show as “smart” as this one would go out of its way to answer. But the way this exposition scene is handled is so awful that it raises even more questions than what I would have gone in with.
“Oh when I hold things they disappear I guess” she says as she grabs a carrot from a shelf directly in the line of sight of other people in a supermarket...are they not going to notice that it just disappeared into thin air and teleported into the grocery cart? Or maybe if she just took it without anyone noticing, why hasn’t she taken advantage of that fact yet? She goes on about not being able to get food for herself, if she’s able to completely unnoticeably take it, why doesn’t she find a way to do that and pay the store back somehow. I mean, that’s what I’d do, at least, Mai seems like a pretty shrewd individual. Are there any boundaries for when the thing disappears in the first place? If she were to accidentally rest her hand on the grocery cart would the whole thing disappear (that would be super noticeable if so)? If she started pushing it, would it be completely gone like the carrot or would it just move on its own? Why do only the things she holds disappear, not the ones she interacts with?
There’s plenty of shit she’s touched up to this point right? Wasn’t she like lounging on tables and stuff in her first scene? Why didn’t those turn invisible? Is it just that she has to be physically holding it for it to disappear? At what point is something qualified to disappear, like if she turned a page of a book would that float or would the whole book disappear? She can touch humans and they not disappear, but will their clothes disappear if she touches those? Or will just an indent appear on Sakuta’s jacket sleeve when she grabs it? At that rate, why would the things she picks up disappear in the first place!?
I guess all of this can be ignored if we just view it through Sakuta’s eyes as the only one who can see her, but it’s such an unnecessarily complicated element to add to the story, why even bother? Like, it’s easier to just explain away a floating carrot or not even take the time to acknowledge that point altogether, just let it be accepted as a part of the narrative and move on. More on that later.
Or alternatively acceptable is that the whole existence of Mai’s invisibility is purely metaphorical and representative of people just not recognizing her, Puberty Syndrome stemming from the inside and only someone as free-thinking as Sakuta is able to recognize that. If that is the case, then they do a shit job of presenting this idea, there’s no level of abstraction or fantasy that makes that seem viable. It seems very cut and dry that Mai is just invisible. I don’t think this is what they’re going for, but I’d accept it as an alternative with proper presentation.
But anyway, that still doesn’t explain the fact that Sakuta was basically interacting with a person directly in front of him that no one else in the store could see and no one even notices the fact that he’s talking crazy shit about turning things invisible and flirting with thin air? That one guy with the glasses was there from the very beginning of the scene and didn’t pay him even the slightest of mind despite the fact that he was right next to him the whole time he was talking to Mai. But of course, he did finally notice something was off after Sakuta anime gasped after Mai grabbed his arm just for the sake of a comedy bit. Which is fucking dumb. You’re not going to tell me this guy has an anime overreaction to only one thing the whole time this numbskull is talking to himself for 3 minutes straight.
Okay, so at this point you’re probably thinking that I’m being overly pedantic and nitpicky. I stood up for this kind of thing in Monogatari and Natsume, why am I bashing it here? Well there are several reasons. For one, this show has a terribly, terribly pretentious attitude about it. Like it’s so smart that it just needs an exposition scene to address these questions that are better left untouched. Which isn’t a bad thing on its own, I think having logic introduced into a fantastical story is a nice touch. When the logic actually makes sense. Look, if this show is going to take the time to smugly explain itself, I at least expect it to know what it’s doing.
Like, do you know what make this exposition scene better...just do it in a private area. Let Mai tell Sakuta shit with no one around so he doesn’t seem like a headcase in front of random strangers and shit’s not disappearing all over the place. That’s all you have to do. Let Sakuta have enough sense to not act like an idiot in public. The touching and making items disappear would still be stupid, but it’s at least a little less idiotic in its explanation. I known I’m kind of just overanalyzing one scene...but this one scene is fundamental to understanding how Mai’s condition works. And it’s not like I’m racking my brain for things to nitpick, these are all genuine questions that should immediately come up within a moment’s thought of the implications of the system.
Or alternatively, don’t even bother explaining the mechanics of the thing. When you take the time to explain a basic concept, at least make an effort for your explanation seem thought out. If Bunny Girl had completely eliminated this scene even, I would not feel as much disgust towards it. Like, just let the thing happen, it’s fine, it’s a work of fiction, dumb abstraction can exist, just don’t make yourself seem like an idiot because you need to explain how everything works to the viewer when you don’t even understand how everything works yourself. Of course there’s no mech that can exist as the size of the universe and throw galaxies around, but that scene is still fucking awesome in Gurren Lagann. Materialization shiratori is fucking stupid and broken, and that episode of No Game No Life is one of my favorite episodes of anime. Natsume rides around on Madara through the sky all the time in Natsume Yuujinchou, do people just see a boy floating through the sky? Listen, all anime is full of dumb shit that doesn’t make sense, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a cartoon. Just don’t insult my intelligence by talking down to me by trying to present shitty mechanics in any form of meaningful way. It just makes you look like an idiot.
(granted, the tone of this show is one that seeks realism more than Gurren Lagann or NGNL, but I still wouldn’t put it on a different level from Natsume. Also I hope this whole rant about talking out your ass trying to explain shit you don’t understand yourself doesn’t come back to bite me haha. Well, let me address now that for a lot of these three episodes I was borderline comatose, I’m sure there’s plenty of details I missed. I’m at least 88% confident about my writing here, but wouldn’t be surprised if there was a major detail I somehow missed. Just as a disclaimer. But hey, if this show weren’t so boring I wouldn’t have to worry about not paying attention in the first place :X)
(also there’s so many questions I have regarding the way this arc ends...Why does Sakuta only remember Mai after seeing the one vague detail from the previous night? And then everyone else remembers her collectively after his confession scene? I know his confession of love was enough to “ingrain her in their brains” or whatever, but it still doesn’t feel like much of a resolution. Why does the one kanji symbol trigger his memory and the letter he wrote to himself about her not. Why does hearing the name Mai Sakurajima fall on deaf ears, but the symbol doesn’t, especially when just hearing some yelling idiot yell the name Mai Sakurajima bring the memory of her back to everyone else in his class, when he had such a deeper, longer connection to her than anyone else there. I guess this is the kind of dumb shit that doesn’t need to be explained, but I mean...it’s still dumb when your story that has been based in logic to this point resolves so illogically. Once you introduce a need for realism into explaining everything, you can’t just fizzle out with hand-waving stuff)
Part 4: Continued
So anyway. Off the topic of the mechanics of this world and onto the unnecessary philosophy. As if the annoyingly apathetic and trying too hard to be relatable main character wasn’t an immediate give away about this show’s obnoxious pretentiousness, episode 2 was sure to rub it in by discussing S̴͚͓̈c̶̲̰̭̉̀̕h̷͕̔͌r̶͈͚͐ỏ̷͖͝d̷̝̝̎i̵̧͙͂̀n̵̪̬̩͛̐̄g̶̨͑e̵̛̜̋͐ͅr̸͈̕'̸̪͈͈̾̆ṡ̸͚ ̵̤̇̔̀C̶̜̟̄̏a̴̲̾̏t̷͎̙̯͆̏̚ in the opening dialogue. Wow, you know what’s a really complicated concept that I’m not sure our main boy Sakuta can understand? ...Literally what the entire first episode set out to explain and I’m pretty sure anyone over the age of 9 could understand. The concept of Mai disappearing as a manifestation of Puberty Syndrome due to the effect of no longer being in the limelight is not a hard one to grasp. But yes, please, bring in the idea of a classic thought experiment with no bearing on clarifying this concept any further and only making things more complicated for absolutely no reason except to make the viewer feel smart for saying “oh Schrodinger’s Cat I know what that is!”.
Like...again, this show goes out of its way to act smart but only overcomplicates things by trying to do so. Okay, so the moral to take out of this Schrodinger’s Cat scenario is that something is both dead and alive until its “existence is verified”. So let’s dissect this. First of all...okay, the way they interpret the thought experiment in general is completely stupid. The Schrodinger’s cat scenario implies that there is a moment that the cat is both alive and dead until you open the box and then the result is that it is either dead or alive (which I guess is “verifying its existence” but in a different context that they’re not intending). It’s the period of unknowingness that creates the paradox, it is not a constant. So if the writer actually finished the end result of this analogy and applied that to Mai’s scenario, then does that imply that if Mai did return to acting to have her “existence verified” by the eyes that were once on her there’s still a chance that she would not regain being able to be seen and remembered? That once her “existence is verified” there’s still a chance that she could be metaphorically “dead”?
I mean, that would be a cool touch to add to this show actually if it was implemented correctly, have Sakuta and Mai actually be concerned if the return to acting thing would work in her regaining her visibility. And then once they get her back into the modeling game, it actually fails (because they “open the box” and “find the cat dead”, i.e. the need for being in the public eye is no longer in Mai’s heart and there’s something else missing that she needs to become visible, maybe a healthy family relationship or something) and they have to come to approach her invisibility from another angle? (but I mean it’s pretty clear that’s not even a possibility from the get go, the trajectory of her arc is pretty linear).
(okay here’s another genuine question I have because I feel like it’s something I could comment on, but feel like it’s such a glaring detail they must’ve addressed it in the show...how is Mai even going to return to modeling if people can’t see her? Is just seeing her on TV or on a sign enough to bring her back into existence? If it’s gotten to the point where so much of the area can’t see her, then if she goes to a modeling agency are they even going to see her to tell her what to do or get pictures of her to use for the modeling? Is this a thing they actually address, I don’t know)
So, Bunny Girl staff, if you are so insistent on inserting unnecessary philosophy into your narrative to overcomplicate a simple idea, allow me to offer you an alternative thought experiment that actually makes sense to the topic you’re discussing. What can I say, I passed Philosophy 101. What I have linked here is the classic scenario, if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound? Which is kinda similar to Schrodinger’s cat, it’s still discussing the topic of “unperceived existence”, which is the primary theme that the implementation of any philosophical concept here is looking to address. Schrodinger’s cat is tangentially related to this of course, but there’s that double ended conclusion to the thought experiment that the show pays no mind to even mention for some reason. The whole purpose of this thought experiment is to sell the idea that if something happens unobserved does that thing actually happen? It’s not a matter of any sort of momentary duality with double ended results like Schrodinger’s cat, but simply about verifying the existence of a thing by being there to witness it.
There’s no “opening of the box” here to see if Mai’s return to acting will see her successfully return to being a visible human, it’s simply saying that Mai can return to her former self if people recognize her existence. She has a need for people to pay attention to her. She is the tree in the forest, and if there’s no one around to hear her falling...does she even exist? She needs those ears on her to verify that she does indeed make a sound.
But nah fuck it quantum mechanics and Schrodinger’s cat are cool, let’s do that instead.
I mean, I guess I do see where they’re coming from with this analogy, she’s “alive” to some people but “dead” to others (or something??), but that still doesn’t resolve the ultimate outcome of this thought experiment which they leave unaddressed...the tree falling thing is a much better analogy. Or, you know, letting the events of the show speak for themselves rather than inserting pointless philosophy into the script delivered by an unnecessary and drab scientist character in the first place. But hey I just inserted unnecessary basic philosophy into this obnoxiously long anime review, and I’m also unnecessary and drab, so I can’t complain too much.
Ah hey, that brings up yet another gripe I have with this show! The concept of “showing not saying” is pretty basic, and almost annoyingly cliché when it comes to critiquing visual media. But I’m discussing it anyway. Because this show is cough smart and should know that the best way to effectively sell an emotional narrative involving supernatural happenings would be through not discussing that symbolic supernatural event itself, but instead seeing the interactions between the characters, learning their backstories, and leading the viewer to draw themselves to the conclusion as to how this supernatural event relates back to those experiences. But I mean, I guess Monogatari does that pretty well (along with having an actually dynamic, memorable visual style to pull that off effectively) and we’re basically ripping off Monogatari soooo yeah just lay all that shit out there, we gotta set ourselves apart somehow. Just talk about Schrodinger’s cat or something, so people really get the idea. Get it, Mai’s invisible because she left acting and people are forgetting her. Find 100 different ways to hammer that idea in through annoying, snarky dialogue. There’s absolutely no subtlety to it or room for me to draw my own conclusions about Mai and how her Puberty Syndrome represents her character, it’s all explained in the most basic, plain dialog imaginable so you don’t have to think too hard.
And while maybe the mechanics of the supernatural elements of this show don’t make sense, its decision to use basic thought experiments to over-explain simple concepts, and the unsubtle dialog-heavy exposition may all seem like unrelated criticisms, they all point to the one major problem I have with this show—it acts way smarter than it is. Look, go to my favorite anime list, I love talky, pretentious shows that make people think you’re an anime snob. It’s not something I dislike in concept. But the reason I like something like say Serial Experiments Lain is that what’s at its core is so interesting and unique and forward-thinking, and the way it presents these ideas are so one-of-a-kind and unforgettable. It allows me to take in everything and figure out what’s going on, and there’s a lot going on. From the way this show hypes up philosophy and rips off Monogatari and has such intellectual, too cool for school characters, it has this really annoying atmosphere of having some level of depth, when there is absolutely none. The only sense of theming at all comes from Mai’s backstory, and, again, it’s so cut and dry there’s not even anything to sink into. If this show presented itself as a dumb fun romcom I wouldn’t have a problem, but the way it always feels the need to “talk up” to the viewer and act smart when there’s so little going on really pisses me off. All talk with no substance is just boring, and if you’re not going to bite on the dialog between Mai and Sakuta there’s nothing to grab onto here.
Part 5: Visuals and Technical Stuff
And well, that’s enough about the philosophy and prevailing attitude of being smarter than you that this show has going on (for now). Let’s move on to talking about the more corporeal elements of this show, the aesthetics. This show looks passable. It...doesn’t look amazing or anything, but I’ve seen worse looking stuff. I’m watching and enjoying worse looking stuff. That’s fine, it’s what’s inside that counts (it’s just what’s inside this thing is garbage). The backgrounds are bland and lack any flavor, but they don’t look low quality. The character designs are literally ripped from an Oregairu artbook, but I like Oregairu character designs so that’s fine to some extent (is it really that hard to not be such a deliberate ripoff though) I hate the color palette, it’s as dull and boring as the characters, just all grays and light browns to the most part. Also, you’d think with this kind of narrative there’d be some kind of level of cool direction or interesting visual style or...anything. There’s absolutely none, it’s shot as flatly as you could imagine. Like, a lot of the problems I have with this show also apply to Hyouka, but at least that show visualizes the long bits of dialog with cool animations and weird direction, I appreciate that. This is just...characters standing beside each other and talking. Like, seriously, how anyone can watch two flat characters mumbling annoying dialog to each other with absolutely nothing going on onscreen and enjoy it is beyond me. Seriously, how do you guys make it through this shit.
The soundtrack is definitely “recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program, or video game”. It’s unexceptional. But it’s not awful. So that’s more than can be said about most of this show I guess. The voice acting is unexceptional. Again, I generally like Kaito Ishikawa, but this is one of the most lifeless, passionless voice acting roles I’ve heard. I guess it suits the character, but...seriously, does he have to talk in a boring monotone voice 100% of the time (unless he’s yelling at the school). The content is boring enough, don’t make the main character so sleepy as well. I don’t even remember what Mai sounds like, Asami Seto doesn't really stand out in my mind in any of the roles I've heard her in. The other characters don’t matter in the first arc. Except scientist, but she’s even more boring than Sakuta somehow.
Part 6: Final Thoughts
Alright, let’s wrap this shit up. Bunny Girl aims to be a smart, quick-witted, romantic comedy with a supernatural occult detective element, investigating the drama of the various characters in the protagonist’s “harem” while also maintaining a level of maturity and intelligence so that a more adult audience can easily get attracted to it and feel some level of self-insertion into the main character’s shoes. And here’s the thing about this show, despite failing miserably at the more content-focused details, it succeeds super well at the demographic-focused details and is able to veil the terrible content well enough to keep it acceptable. And that’s why I think it’s getting such good reviews.
Look, a lot of people like this show. It’s one of those shows that gets good reviews from the “Reddit community”, it’s like an Oregairu or a Monogatari (as is evident by how hard it rips both of these off). It has all of the broad details that makes one of those shows successful down to an art. It has a protagonist with the cynical, apathetic traits from Hachiman and the elaborate, dramatic backstories and arcs of Monogatari. All of the elements are there, this is the kind of show that sells. But is any of it actually used or implemented or written well? I wouldn’t say so.
The characters and dialog are poorly written and achieve nothing, the romance is underdeveloped, it’s visually unimpressive, the plot is utterly stupid in its attempt to explain itself, it’s trying to be every other “adult harem show” that’s come before it...how is this anything that makes itself out to be good? Because this show acts smart and like it knows what it’s doing. It is so similar to the shows you love that you still get that feeling that you do from watching Monogatari or something, but it does absolutely nothing to elaborate on anything from that basic concept. It’s like the skeletal outline of a greater show that just no one cared enough to flesh out. There’s a basic level of “what sells” and “what’s entertaining” and that’s what this show seeks to achieve, and it does achieve it with an added attitude of being something so much more. But what lies beneath the surface is so bad in its fundamentals that it shouldn’t be rewarded for being like 100 shows that came before it.
It feels like a robot who took in all the details of these aforementioned popular mature harem shows and was able to artificially conjure up its own anime without any human touch or attention to detail. And yet, all the things you like in your anime are there down to a tee, the idea is unique enough, the characters are archetypal enough to be likable and relatable if that’s your thing, the dialog’s what you’ve come to expect, the plot progression is what you’ve come to expect...it’s all there, but none of it is really all that well done. At its very best it’s derivative, at its worst it’s terrible.
There is so much text I only had the patience to skim through but the biggest problems is that the show pretends to be smarter than it is and Sakuta is a dick?
I think the level of pretentiousness is whatever you take away from it. It's not stuffing philosophy and science in your face nor is it the biggest focus of the show. At least from what I've seen, the main focus is on the relationship between Sakuta and Mai. Your concerns about its plausibility might bother you but I'm not sure if most of the audience really care about that considering the romance is the main component. No one expects the adolescence syndrome to be as fleshed out as Mushishi.
And Sakuta's character is the comedy part of the romantic comedy. Again, it just seems that you personally dislike dry, sharp humor. A lot of his jokes fall flat with me too, but again, it's not the focus of the show. He's a dick and it's supposed to be funny. I don't understand how that's any worse than Toradora or any other romcom with a protagonist that would be shitty in real life.
This show is not meant to be a deconstruction of the harem genre or some brilliant, philosophical analysis on teenager psyche. You're going too deep about this show. You might think it's super pretentious and that it pretends to be deep but understanding of the show is pretty surface level. The reason you seem to hate it is the sharp, dry dialogue. And the way it presents that dialogue is (I admit) pretty contrived. Who in the world would ever banter like Sakuta and Mai? How does Sakuta seem so effortlessly cool? And obviously, if you hate that, it's going to be glaring in a show like this. But honestly, at the end of the day, it's a work of fiction. The expectation of it to be realistic and less obnoxious might seem like a huge problem to you but it's just a romance show. The comedy and supernatural aspects are on the side. There's nothing wrong with that. I personally think you're taking the pretentiousness thing too seriously. It doesn't seem to pride itself on philosophy at all; at most it prides itself on the dialogue. And yeah, that can come off as obnoxious but I think that part is more personal preference.
Obviously though, I can see why it would be irritating and the romance is underdeveloped so far because of the speed in which the arcs are getting completed.
But all the writing just sounds like you hated the dialogue and then made up everything else to say why the show is unoriginal and boring. Maybe you hate the art, sound, and animation but they seem about on par with most anime coming out today. Really though, all this writing just boils down to the fact that you find the show obnoxious. I can't say I agree but I can see why. Beyond the dialogue though, it just sounds like you hate on it for the sake of hating on it. It's not supposed to be realistic, it doesn't have to be the pinnacle of comedy, and it's definitely not as deep as you think it is. I don't see why this show in particular deserves the hate compared to all the other anime that suffer from similar problems.
Well, here's the thing about me, I am at heart a very excessive writer. I mention this for two reasons, one because I had intended this review to be like 2 pages and then...you know, my thoughts get ahead of me and then it turns into this monster. Secondly because this is a really long response and I apologize beforehand, brevity is not my strong point unfortunately ;_; So sorry for advance, I write a lot.
I do think you're right to a degree. But a few things to get out of the way, I'm not hating on this show just to hate on it as you seem to think, that's not how I approach anything, I'm a pretty positive person. Even going back and rewatching the confession scene I thought it was pretty well done. I look for the good in everything I watch, my dropped list is huge, but I'd hardly say I hate anything on there. This is the first time I've watched something and find almost nothing salvageable (and even then, its best elements are mediocre at best).
Also, I don't have any expectation for this to be like any groundbreaking romance thing, I'm not so elitist that it has to be a thought-provoking meditation on the nature of existence or anything like that in order for it to be enjoyable. Like, one of my favorite anime this season is Uzamaid, I don't have high standards. However, yes, I probably have taken a deep dive here and as a result probably found too much stuff to shred. I know that the philosophy and science stuff are on the side, but they're still very important to the show, it's not like something that can just be looked over entirely. The pretentiousness is more in the general attitude of the thing, the Schrodinger's Cat shit is just a manifestation of it.
The main character's worldview is a major point of this show, and it's through his eyes that we see everything, and it's such an apathetic, "intellectual" approach that it really pervades the thing as a whole. You say that this isn't any different from a show like Toradora, but it totally is. The comedy in Toradora falls flat for me too, but Taiga is at least a sympathetic character. Early on we get to see indications about why she acts the way she does, her more assholic behavior isn't exactly glorified, and overall she's a character that is putting up a tough front to hide her own insecurites, and all this is hinted at early on in the show.
Sakuta isn't unlike Kyon or Oreki or Hachiman, but he also has no depth to him to add to his witty dialog unlike these guys. It's not the sharp, dry comedy that gets to me (like, that imouto show from last fall A Sister's All You Need, that show's pretty fun and enjoyable, and the main character's a lot like this one, he's just in a more comedic setting that doesn't necessitate an actual personality beyond being obsessed with little sisters, it's a gag comedy), it's the lack of anything else to add to the character. I'm not asking the world of this show, I'm not expecting a masterpiece of character writing, but at the end of the day, this is a romcom with dramatic elements. The main character has nothing going on but "com" so when I see him in a scenario having to act with emotion, there's nothing given to him previously for me to care. It's like, I don't know, maybe I missed out on it, but is there any subtlety to this character at all? If I missed a part somewhere where he's supposed to be acting like an actual human with emotions let me know.
You frame this as me needing realism in my fiction, which is a topic I addressed somewhere in the fuckin mess above. Basically, yeah suspension of disbelief is a thing, I'm fine with accepting fiction as fiction. But when a show goes out of its way to address and necessitate realism, I find a hard time accepting anything but that. It approaches all its supernatural elements methodically and intellectually, so why shouldn't I as a viewer? You can't just explain away some things and then leave gaping holes in others.
Anyway to keep this short(ish), I do hate the dialog, and this is a very dialog-driven show, so if I don't like the core element of it, then there's not much I can get of what stems off it. But if it seems like I'm "making stuff up", it's more likely that there's just some details I missed. Because, at the end of the day, no matter how much I write about "why this show is bad" vs. "why I don't like it", I'm not professing to be an expert or a super serious reviewer, I'm addressing the problems I had with the thing and trying to explain why I think they're a problem, I'm not just pulling stuff out of my ass or expecting a masterpiece (too much at least, this thing is sitting on an 8.5 on MAL before even finishing airing for some fuckin reason), but I'm at least expecting something...watchable, or at least interesting even if I can't get into it.
For example, I have very similar opinions to Spice and Wolf that I do to this show. I think it's annoying and pretentious and boring and I can't get into any of the characters, but I at least see what it's doing and can respect that. I have nothing against Spice and Wolf, it's not my cup of tea, but it at least has an original concept and stands out as its own thing vs. just cashing in on a trend that's been done 100x better before it.
Look, there's no denying what this show is trying to be, its influences are on its sleeve so flamboyantly it's embarrassing, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just so inferior to its influences in every way, why not just watch something something it's ripping off?
(also nowhere did I say that I hate the art and animation, I think this show looks fine, in fact it looks better than a lot of stuff this season. I did say I thought the color design and direction were boring for it to be the type of show that it is, but it's not a "bad looking" show by any means, I daresay the overall production is better than the new Jojo for example, it's just not as stylized. Tsukigakirei is ugly as sin at times, but that's still one of my favorite romances this decade).
But overall, I'm just not getting where you're coming from. You seem to think that my whole argument is coming from the fact that I'm expecting a masterpiece and it's just not up to my high standards and isn't my sense of humor? And that even if the comedy falls flat and the romance is underdeveloped because the pacing is bad and the philosophy and pseudoscience don't matter because it's not the focus of the show (all of which are things you note)...what's even there to care about? I do think it's obnoxious as a personal preference, but I'm not seeing anything beyond the obnoxiousness that is worth...anything.
And if this were a pure comedy then I'd accept it as just not being my taste. But this thing is going for a narrative and does aim to be taken seriously, and the serious elements are just bad or at best mediocre. It does have good ideas, I'll give it that, but they're executed in the poorest way possible. I said the same thing about Boku no Pico the other day.
Also, I might be stepping out of my wheelhouse a bit here so forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't the second arc focused on a completely different character from Mai? Do Sakuta and Mai actually have any moments to further their relationship? Just curious, because the thing's half over at this point.
Fuck I write a lot, I'm genuinely sorry and understand if you don't want to parse all my bullshit, I just have fun doing this kind of thing, writing about anime is something I enjoy a lot and kinda just do it for my own self-satisfaction, sometimes I'll just throw my thoughts into the void for anyone who wants to read them to read, and if you want to keep up with me that's cool, but I fully don't expect anyone out there to invest time in my bullshit :p
I just don't understand why this show is the one that deserves this long rant about. It's clearly not the kind of show for you considering how dialogue driven it is. I understand getting hyped up about it and then ending up disappointed but I don't see why all these arguments apply to this show in particular when so many other shows have done much worse in terms of ripping off other shows or have obnoxious writing or have gigantic plot holes. Is it to be contrarian? Or are you tired of everyone hyping it up?
You can't get into it but like I said before it's pretty easy to see why people would like it. It's an interesting premise, has sharp dialogue, and good chemistry between the main pairing. It subverts some high school romance tropes and presents the supernatural elements in a relatable way for high schoolers or of how we remember high school (Kaedes social anxiety or Mais disappearance). Borrowing influences from other shows or having an air of pretentiousness aren't cardinal sins and it's not even close to the worst offender for these problems. I'd understand being put off by the show and dropping it but I don't get why this anime in particular deserves so much of your criticism. There's nothing salvageable for you but is it really surprising that it's a popular show? I can't speak for everyone but even if your criticisms are valid I don't see how it can't be a simple, enjoyable show for a lot of people. I don't understand your shock of it being rated so highly either.
And to answer the last question, the other arcs focus on a specific character but they're used as plot points to further Mai and Sakutas relationship and lets viewers see how those events affect the relationship.
You make a few good points, though I disagree with your conclusion. The pseudo science is definitely annoying, writers really need to stop using quantum mechanics to explain everything.
I can also agree with your opinion on the romance thread of the first 3 episodes, but it's important to keep in mind that unlike Monogatari, where Senjougahara is rarely present, Sakurajima has continued to play a leading role in the next 4 episodes that have aired so far. As you stated, the confession was a beginning, though I don't believe the placement of it is a problem. From there, their relationship develops. The next arc in particular demonstrates the strength of their relationship, and really sets itself apart from relationships in the other shows you mentioned.
In your complaints about the mechanics of Adolescence Syndrome, you appear to make no effort to understand the philosophical underpinnings of this anime. Like Monogatari, the supernatural world is bound by a set of loose rules. In Monogatari, generally Aberrations are attracted to people with some kind of mental turmoil. Hanekawa attracts the cat due to her extreme buildup of stress, Kanbaru's mostly subconscious desire to get ahead through any means allows the Rainy Devil to take her arm. Similarly, in SeiButa, the social "atmosphere" is the cause of supernatural afflictions. With this in mind, many of the issues you had can be explained away with a minimum of suspension of disbelief. In particular, you pay too much attention to the behavior of the invisibility. It's not invisibility in the traditional sense, but described well as a Someone Else's Problem field. It's not that Mai is truly invisible, simply that she has faded so far out of the minds of those around her that they can't notice her at all. Therefore, no one would notice a carrot disappearing in mid air, because they refuse to acknowledge the very cause of the disappearance. The atmosphere is the socially acceptable set of behavior and facts, which as Sakuta mentions, few are willing to oppose. In SeiButa, it's presented as a powerful force, which can cause disaster to those who get on the wrong side of it, as in the cyber bullying of Kaede. However, the tide of public opinion is fickle, and can be turned easily with the right push. On the baseball field, Sakuta uses his self-inflicted public humiliation to grab the attention of the school's populace, and is then able to use the temporary spotlight to make Mai's existence once more part of the "atmosphere". No one is going to soon forget his actions, which means that the existence of Mai must be implicitly acknowledged.
I can see why you don't like the dialogue of this show, though personally I find it quite amusing. I'd place Sakuta firmly in the Oregairu camp as opposed to Monogatari, as he more closely fits the self-honesty of Hachiman (whereas Araragi takes "unreliable narrator" to high levels, lying to the viewer, those he converses with, and most of all, himself). The least abstracted layer of dialogue may be a closer match to Araragi, but when looking closer, the two characters are very far apart. Of course in any show like this, the dialogue requires a fair level of suspension of disbelief. As with Monogatari's sheer density of puns and jokes that require the cooperation of both parties to pull off, the dialogue in this show is far from realistic. But I argue that's not a bad thing. This genre thrives on the witty interactions between characters, transcending what would plausibly happen in conversation in the real world. If you want realistic dialogue, SSSS.Gridman is a much better choice, if you want to watch a rapid exchange of one-liners, SeiButa takes the lead this season. I also don't see Sakuta being as flat as you claim, though that's from the perspective of someone who has watched the next 4 episodes as well.
As an note, while I don't fully subscribe to this view, some have explained the nonsense quantum mechanics as the ramblings of a high schooler who thinks too highly of her own knowledge. This is definitely not the expert opinion of an experienced mentor, in the vein of Oshino Meme, but simply a teen who read a few Wikipedia articles and now considers herself qualified to wax philosophical about the application of Schrodinger's Cat, Laplace's Demon, and quantum teleportation.
In the end, considering how strongly you are set against this show, I doubt watching further would ever truly change your mind. However, I found the second arc much more engaging than the first, as it brought in more nuanced interactions between characters, and several scenes where the emotional state of Sakuta was more readily apparent.
Ha okay, I honestly have a headache right now so I'll probably wait a bit to respond fully, but a lot of what I've read here is good and does clear up a lot of the problems I had with the mechanics and philosophy at least (again, I'm not out to just hate this thing mindlessly, the whole reason I watched episodes 2 and 3 in the first place was to get the hype, I want to get what people see in this thing, so explaining the stuff I was too comatose to get myself is helpful, seriously, thanks...this may have been better as a personal blog post or something, but I put too much time into it for no one to read it or for it to get lost on global, etc. I'm just addressing the problems I have with the thing and explaining why I think their a problem, this is a very low research venture, I just got bored and typed this thing up over a couple days :p)
And also, nahh I'm not too set on this hating this thing to end up enjoying it. I'm super open-minded and if something I watch does take a change for the good or does do something I like I'm not gonna just hate on it because of the context it takes place in. Like, I really hated Demi-chan from the first few episodes of it, but I had to watch the whole thing and ended up enjoying it. There's a chance that this arc in particular is just not my thing and could get better from here, I'll probably have to finish this show at some point (I'm doing anime award judging for another website, I imagine this'll get picked for a category I'm working in and I'll have to watch it there), so we'll see how it goes. Granted, the general attitude of this thing is decidedly not my thing, but hey, if it starts being interesting I see no reason to hate it. I'm interested in the content, it's the execution that bugs me.