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I'm going to preface this review by saying that this anime is one of my guilty pleasures. It's hard to say if that's because of the sunk cost fallacy since I watched the previous seasons, or if I actually enjoy the "quirkiness" of the characters and this world, however cliche and one-note they might be.

The unfortunate truth behind this anime is that it packs in so much filler that it takes a while to get through it all. The effect this can have on the audience would give them more a feeling of relief rather than appreciation for major action scenes or climaxes. ... I asked myself at times during this season "is it backstory time, or will the climax come soon?" Sometimes when the climax finally did come, rather than playing it all out at once, it would go deep into each of the backstories of the characters involved. I often forgot why exactly the flashback was happening when it was shown this way.

Spoilers from this point onward.

This season of My Hero Academia was contrived in nearly the same way the second season of One Punch Man was, with events happening in such a way that it literally prohibits the hero from ignoring the villain. Consider that Eri bumped into Midoriya first, because the guy watching after her was "incompetent." Little did we know that the villains as a whole are incompetent since they can't seem to place importance on what might single-handedly bring down the hero population. Overhaul even asks Midoriya if he understands how important Eri truly is. I guess he just doesn't care about the security of his most important asset.

Consider another example. When Overhaul was being escorted to a hospital/prison, the police force decided that a single hero and a few cops would be enough to keep the biggest threat to their society safe from outside sources. You know the rest. Because of their limited man power and heroes, the police got ambushed by members of the League of Villains. From there, Shigaraki cut off Overhaul's hands, thus rendering his quirk useless. This conclusion would work nicely as a scene to display the motive of the League of Villains (and show that Overhaul got what was coming to him) if it weren't for how they got there. It's quite obvious that whoever wrote the story wanted this to be as easy for them as possible.

You know what makes less sense? Dedicating three episodes to showing off Deku's new attack strategy on some wannabe villain non. Yes, I would be referring to that "Gentleman" guy and "La Brava." What exactly was accomplished with those episodes? The rest of the season plays out like normal, without even mentioning the duo Deku fought earlier. To make matters worse, our main protagonist is asked to get ROPE from the nearby hardware store, but the closest place to get it at happens to be next to an unassuming coffee shop where these misfits begin their operation. Ignoring the fact that UA would not have ROPE of all things, the Gentleman trying to make a name for himself just so happens to bump into Midoriya, who would not have known about him if it were not for his ACCIDENTALLY clicking on a video by him a few days prior.

Aside from how predictable it was, there's more I could go into about story, but for the sake of simplicity I'll stop criticizing that here.

Regarding art, I couldn't help but notice a slight shift in direction. It was rather weird at times, to the point that I couldn't help but wonder who was working on it. You could see where they cut corners, but for the most part it's still recognizable as the packed shounen that we all know and (mostly) care about.

I have little to report on in the sound department. Everyone sounded as themselves, perhaps with exception to Yaomomo, who ended up more high pitched and girl-ish than her original character was. Besides this, the music ended up as being the same tracks before this season with some new ones added. Despite the festival event for 1-A being a band with flashy lights and such, I'd argue that even something like Angel Beats! did this better. Comparing the power of sound with emotional moments of this season to previous ones, you'd likely notice a huge contrast. Whether it be the moment when Izuku was told he could be a hero, or Stain intimidating even the most seasoned hero, this season of the anime doesn't even hold a candle to those events.

A lot of that can be attributed to their character development, which is hard to do well in an anime with practically limitless potential for new quirks. Unfortunately, rather than focusing in on a small group of individuals, the writers focus on developing everyone remotely related to Midoriya. In this way, a lot of these characters get development and a backstory once, and end up being mostly one-note for the rest of the show unless the writers need them again. Uraraka needs little more introduction that "Izuku's love interest." Kachan needs little more introduction than "angry bomb boy." Todoroki needs little more introduction than the cliche "fire and ice" guy. I wish I was kidding, but each of these characters have only enough screen time so they stay "relevant."

Despite all of this, if you've still got a young heart like I have, you can really appreciate the action and silly nuances of this anime after being built upon three existing seasons. By this point, some of us aren't watching for the plot. I mentioned the "sunk cost fallacy" from earlier, mostly because all of the problems I have with the show are at least tolerable, and I can't say that about many shows. If you're expecting a change from the boring last season, I can't guarantee this season will meet your expectations. What I ended up doing is blowing through this season in a few days while I was sick and behind, but I personally don't view it as time wasted.

The future is bleak for this franchise, but I'll hold out hope. If things go downhill anyway, I look forward to make in-depth critical analysis reviews to contrast this one. Until then, thanks for reading!

What started as a cheap way to get viewers hooked on “just another supernatural school anime” became one of the most highly regarded anime of its time, sparking loads of discussion. Many regard the original anime as having power in its emotional payoffs but incredibly painful with its broken and inconsistent plot. Having been built upon that already established world, there are two types of people that watched this movie: the type that ignores plot holes and contrivances to focus on character and themes, and the type that look for intellectual consistency in a story. You either looked forward to enjoying the ... character moments or you looked forward to picking it apart.

Because the movie is fairly new, let it be known that its current rating does not emulate its quality. I’ve made a review of the anime itself and this will follow the same structure. This first part will be an overall assessment of the work on an objective level with no spoilers. The second part will include spoilers and my subjective take of them. Proceed with caution if spoilers matter to you.



The universe shared between this movie and its anime permit a lot of crazy things to happen. An actress disappears from the public eye. A school girl wields the power to replay days. A young girl gets brutally cut, sliced, and bruised from online cyberbullying. A scientist’s split decision splits herself into two. Two sisters swap bodies.

No explanation is given for any of these occurrences except for one loathed term; “quantum theory.”

This is the writer’s excuse for everything happening in the anime. None of it gets explained to a satisfactory degree, and what attempts there are at an explanation end up boring, convoluted, and rather hard to follow. Keep this in mind.

With a story of that explained above, a level of complexity is necessary to fully flesh out the details for each of these occurrences. “Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl” dug its grave even deeper with elements of time travel that largely went unexplained. There’s no investment in the concept. It’s shown in this movie simply because it benefits the narrative. Aside from time, many of the events that take place are blatantly contrived in favor of emotional payoffs. This movie deviates from the comedic nature of the anime so as to take certain themes and stakes more seriously. This is a respectable shift, considering how incredibly serious the tonal shift was from episode thirteen of the anime to the beginning of this movie. However, this did not come without its consequences. Nothing felt real, or at least connected with the anime. The characters didn’t really show their colors the same way they once did. To call it all “unique” is both accurate and inaccurate. It’s inaccurate because the theme and setup is an amalgamation of many things that are a staple of its genre. It’s accurate because it’s not often that audiences see an anime movie so highly regarded fail so terribly in the aspect of story. To illustrate, so many questions are asked about what happened at the end of this movie that could have been quelled if the writers had more time. However, there’s still a lot to enjoy. Character moments and interactions are reminiscent of how the anime handled them, that being very well and meaningful. Still, it’s occasionally seen that some characters get more screen time with little bearing on the plot. Some might take this thought and likely conclude “it was very rushed, and it resulted in some rather unrelated clips getting sewn together like patchwork.” Let this say something about its pacing.

Perhaps the individual elements of the story can say something about its story as a craft. Largely, it underperformed, but let’s take it one-by-one. The comedic shift as previously mentioned means that Sakuta is now less abrasive over all, but he still makes a good joke here and there. Because this movie is much more climactic, there’s a sense of mystery behind the reveal at the end. Many people approach mystery differently, but for the most part the way it revealed itself over time was interesting. Fanservice can negate the previously mentioned points if the audience goes in looking to enjoy it. The romance and character bonds are really the only interactions that fall into this category for the movie. The romance is rather basic, and nothing really comes together in the end with a grand payoff. Character interaction and bonding started in the parent anime, which was quite well done and strong as a start. Now, because the characters act and react nearly contrary to their setup, the interactions seem faked. For instance, randomly inserted throughout the movie are five to ten second clips that don’t serve to support the narrative whatsoever. One of such can be found at 25:15. Despite unnecessary filler, there are some deus ex machina moments that really frustrate the plot. Beyond that, even with all of the contrivances that this work is littered with, it’s still full of holes. The writers attempts to fix the plot can be likened to fixing a broken bridge with string cheese. It’s ludicrously terrible. While the ending did “wrap everything up,” it didn’t answer important questions regarding the plot.

Why is Sakuta surrounded by a series of girls who have exceedingly supernatural problems?
Since people know about “puberty syndrome,” why hasn’t there been any research (by scientists who get paid to science) or awareness of the issue yet?

There’s SO much more to go over story-wise in the spoilers section. I can barely scratch the surface with these basic claims.

Did you like the simple and basic art style of the anime?

Good, because you’re getting another hour and a half of the same exact thing. This is a feature-length film; the least that the studio could have done was spend more time animating or stylistically change it from the anime. They did none of that. As far as you should be concerned, the story arc told in this movie is a direct continuation of the anime. The complexity and inconsistencies with art are on par with what the anime displayed (although there are no direct .jpg files slapped on screen). It isn’t memorable or even remotely interesting. It has all the flaws that a “normal” animated story would have. CGI cars and vehicles occasionally pop up, reminding the audience that this studio is still cutting corners. Some animations are choppy and stand out while others are rather fluid. Needless to say, the style is fitting for the story because it’s fitting for just about any story. There were no vistas or settings that were memorable or breathtaking. The only thing that relatively comes close to this description is a location at the end of the film. It wasn’t necessary to have a locale that meant something special to each of the characters, but it would’ve helped immensely to show how meaningful some scenes would be. The character designs are all appealing and unique, along with matching their respective personalities. Ultimately, the character designs didn’t foreshadow plot events while still being special to themselves. Really, the only upside to art is that it isn’t nearly as appalling as other categories.

Unlike the anime, the voice acting performance had no major issues. All of the same voice actors participated in their same roles from the anime. Everything in this department could be considered “normal.” None of the characters were really “out there,” so it’s hard to see the voice actors significantly improving with the roles they were given.

Aside from voice actors, the music says a lot about the movie. There are no new groundbreaking tracks introduced from the anime, but the movie rather takes a lot of the previous songs and reskins them. All of the tracks with exception to the overused opening and ending tracks were so incredibly basic that it’s no wonder that the soundtrack isn’t memorable in any capacity. Only a select few moments really benefited heavily from the music, which usually consisted of five different instruments playing the same overture in a different tempo. Beyond this, the OST isn’t anything to write home about, especially to those who haven’t watched the movie yet. As far as opening and ending songs are concerned, there’s only a credits track. The song that plays at the end of the movie is nearly an exact copy of the ED format from the anime. The only difference is that all of the voice actors for the main girls alternate singing. As the outro was average to start with, it can easily be concluded that a small variation of the song with all the singers is a bit underwhelming. Still, the audience can appreciate how meaningful that slight variation is since it incorporates characters in the music instead of just “another vocalist.” Overall, the musical performances and compositions are par at best. Some people like listening to this soundtrack, and if nothing else, it’s probably due to its popularity.

The reason this anime series is so popular can mostly be attributed to character development. Because of the serious tones in this movie, does this have any sort of effect on these characters? Here’s a brief run-down on the character changes from the anime to this movie:
Sakuta still makes some good jokes, but for some reason he takes himself far more serious than is necessary.
Mai becomes less sure of herself, which makes sense considering the events that take place, but several scenes take her clear to the breaking point and this makes her character seem partly contrived for heavy feels.
Shouko is rather consistent as a character, and appears as charming and level-headed throughout. How she gets from the beginning to the end scenes makes little sense, but she never falters from who she is. If one were to criticize her for anything, it would be related to how perfect she is.
Tomoe doesn’t stray from her core character either.
Kaede is interesting because the audience can finally see this side of her that is normal. Even so, she can go to public places in this movie but a throwaway line indicates that she can’t attend school yet.
Rio gets a lot of screen time that is used to further develop her character rather than explain events through quantum mechanics and theory.
Nodoka gets tacked on to the story so her voice actor has some dialogue.
Yuuma gets three 5-10 second scenes that have no bearing on the story, but include him regardless.

Sometimes these characters act a certain way to move the story in a direction that the writers would like. This is okay if the characters build up to different “load bearing” parts of the plot. For the most part, the characters act and react the way the audience expects them to. There are some writing flaws with the characters themselves as well as some of the actions they take. It isn’t perfect, but several times Sakuta or Mai will jump out of character either to progress the plot or create emotional instability. Whatever choices these characters make, their personalities are relatable to many. That was one of the biggest draws to the anime and some of that same charm was lost in this movie to focus on the climax to this series. Understandably, when the stakes are higher, humanity comes before personality, meaning that it’s more important to be serious in dire times than to be casual or silly. Some enjoyment may have been lost in the satire or lighthearted nature of the characters interacting but it was to support a more serious narrative. As is made apparent in the synopsis for the movie, Shouko is the primary focus. She doesn’t “grow” as a character, but she does deal with the problems she’s faced with. The same can be said about each other character, even Sakuta. The challenges they faced didn’t change the main characters in a big way. It didn’t have to, but that icing on the cake really shows that the writers care about the characters that they’ve spent an entire season developing. Based on the series as a whole, the amount of supporting characters versus the time spent fleshing them out was well done using the story arc format. There were a lot of questions regarding Shouko after the end of the anime, and her story gets explained to a satisfactory degree in this movie. No characters fell flat per se, with one exception. Yuuma is only in this movie to acknowledge that he’s still a part of the series. Beyond that, sometimes the plot placed characters in spots that helped Sakuta progress in a contrived manner.

Many gloss over the flaws in character if the cast is likable. In general, all the characters are likable to a point; this statement applies even to Sakuta, who appeared rather abrasive and savage in the anime series. With those jokes dialed down, his personality throughout this movie is sarcastic, yet feeling. He clearly cares about what’s going on.

Ultimately, these characters are memorable because of the expressions they make, interactions they have, and problems they share. However convoluted and problematic the story is, these characters come from a base that the audience can take away from and admire.

That last statement can be a testament to the quality of this movie as a whole. If you prefer to look for the memorable moments that characters share and what it means to them, then you will like this film. If you think about literally anything else, this whole story will start to fall apart. This series is like an ornate glass house. It looks beautiful, but even throwing the smallest of stones at it will cause it to crack and shatter. What the writers wanted to do and what they really accomplished are two very different things. Intellectual consistency was clearly neglected to favor that sweet emotional payoff that “makes anime great.” All they needed was a little more time to make the finale something amazing. Perhaps next time they won’t spend just eight months constructing a plot and scenes for a movie after its parent story premiered.

The popularity of this film is understandable, but not deserved in most respects. Easily, the most infuriating thing about this movie is that it occupies a popularity spot that should be taken by a better written anime.

Popularity does not equal quality.



THE FOLLOWING IS THE SPOILER SECTION!

This spoiler-rigged review section will feature my personal thoughts on the quality of the writing and the craft itself.



I am so done with this.

If I had a dollar for every problem raised in the series, I could easily buy all the parts for a custom-built gaming computer to replace the craptop that I’m writing this review on. Even Hellen Keller could SEE the amount of obvious flaws this show has. Most of these issues lie in story, while essentially every aspect of this movie is notably imperfect. Let’s start with the basics.

Let me premise all of this by stating that Sakuta not having a cell phone really makes things convenient for certain events in the plot. Keep this in mind.

Sakuta’s reason for being in this film stems from a ticking clock element to his fate. The middle school version of Shouko supposedly gets a heart transplant on the same day one of these main characters die. On this fatal day, Sakuta is supposed to die. His heart should get transplanted into Shouko’s chest so that she goes on living. First things first, that “puberty syndrome” scratch is a three-lined scar. It looks cool but it doesn’t make any sense. No surgeon would make an incision like that unless they are a grizzly bear. I know it’s called puberty syndrome and all, but why does it take at least fifteen years for these scars to spontaneously show up? Should he not have these scars from birth if his future was planned for him by the universe? Enough about Sakuta, what’s the justification for his adolescent heart getting put in Shouko’s body? When her incision scar is shown, it’s several inches below where the cut should have been made for the surgery to be successful. Open heart surgery and transplants require the doctors to literally cut through the sternum to open the chest cavity. The movie shows this mark just above her breast line when it should slit clear up to the same height as her armpits. Aside from medical points, but what explains a middle-school Shouko living at the same time as Sakuta? Shouldn’t she be his age? This doesn’t even mention how the older version is a time traveller but the middle school one just lives with her parents, but there’s yet another still in elementary school and somehow all of these events play out in “real” time. The only potential explanation is that of a shared mind which is literally impossible, and also not given in the movie.

Let’s slow down for a second. Somehow, events that play out in the “present” can manipulate the past. That’s not how time works, but it’s what happens and the “future plans” paper actively changes without anyone messing with what was written. This is only okay if my “shared mind” theory is correct. Even if it were the explanation the movie gave, it wouldn’t be satisfying enough as a “quantum entanglement” thing.

How does the movie qualify how Shouko got in the future in the first place? Sakuta clarifies with her that she came from the future. Then after, Futaba claims that “it would be more accurate to say that Shouko arrived at the future.” This makes no sense, because in a late portion of the movie she hints that Kaede’s grandparents will want to see her during the holidays. This was before the grandparents call Kaede. We also know that this older version of Shouko first came to the Azusagawa residence when she appeared at this future, so which is it? Did she arrive at the future or come from it? If she did come from the future, how much does she know? Can the plot decide what it wants to be yet? I’m here to enjoy the story, not revise it.

Because all three Shoukos are individual, intelligent beings, there are some problems with what the middle school her knows. She somehow realized by the end of the film that a future her was mucking about. This is really bad for the universe, because now she has unnatural information about the world that she has no logical reason to know. Side rant: wouldn’t Sakuta have to talk to elementary school Shouko and change her mind for the college Shouko to change as well, since her future person is a living and breathing copy of the person she wants to be? Not only that, but when the future plans paper does change, seemingly nothing happens to middle or college Shouko. I’m not sure why this magical paper has this level of power over this girl’s future life. I guess it doesn’t matter to the writers and I’ll just throw this idea in with the “ideas that don’t matter” wastebasket.

In the scenes after Sakuta bleeds out because of his scars acting up (which still made little sense, mind you), Shouko came to visit him with a super clever disguise, that being a newsboy type hat and glasses. She does this so that she isn’t recognized by her younger self or her parents. Here’s the thing, the moment these two versions catch each other's gaze, disguise or not, the universe (which has been beautifully contrived already) knows that these two versions of the same person are staring at each other. Looking into the eyes of YOUR copy means that this information changes the state of the future you. Therefore, the future you may be somewhere else the moment you saw them. But that can’t happen because now you have this information, and that version of you that came to this timeline now has to live through specific linear events which are now corrupted. The universe, in effect, should get an impossible error code that halts all life and time in that one moment because none of this should have happened. This is the theory of the paradox. Because this movie does not define its rules for time travel, we are stuck with lazy writers that have no investment in anything time travel related.

Now, before you go on saying that “this doesn’t happen in the movie, idiot,” I have an exact scene where Sakuta from the future talks to Sakuta from the past over the phone. Future Sakuta expresses to present Sakuta that Mai will die if he doesn’t do anything to change the events that are supposed to happen. The universe has a set day and we see it played out that Sakuta is supposed to die on December 24th. When Mai dies instead, the universe just goes with it. Mai had no reason to be waiting for him in the same place that Shouko was. Then after, Sakuta goes into this “insanely long” (/s) seven-minute emotional low because his girlfriend died instead of him. Then, perfect ol’ Shouko comes in to save the day and shows Sakuta that to change the past, you must BELIEVE that this is the future. All it takes is a little nap and believing hard enough to go back in time to the EXACT time he needed to be in. This sounds as anime as anime can be and it is so poorly done. If this was all that was needed, why hasn’t someone else discovered the power to go back in time by believing and sleeping? Because Sakuta goes by himself to the past, this means that it was on his own volition and with his own power. This is unrelated to puberty syndrome, people can just do this now, it’s canon, don’t think about it too hard.

As a minor distraction from the time travel thing, I need to bring up something. The only two love interests this kid Sakuta ever had drugged him against his will. Mai, when she willed him to sleep and he wouldn’t because he wanted to see her, and Shouko, because she needed him to sleep in order to go back in time. It’s easy to believe that with Mai, he went to sleep so quickly. She drugged him when he was already incredibly tired. In the case of Shouko, Sakuta was completely awake, and when she drugged him, he was out in fifteen seconds at most. To possess a drug this powerful legally is impossible. Note that in the scene, she gives him “plum soda for adults” with a “DOSE” in it. “Only in your dreams can you cast the ordinary aside” is the most annoying explanation for time travel being possible in this world. It seems like the story is being arbitrary on purpose here.

It's the little things like these that make you realize that Sakuta is a “Gary-Stu,” and he’s supported by the perfect “Mary-Sue”, Shouko. The world rules that should be established bend to whatever supports the narrative, and whatever these main characters need. I’m sure you’ll find this true as I continue…

Let’s bring it back to when Sakuta found out his fate. If you knew your fate, you would do something to change it, would you not? Sakuta knows something must change, and still everything plays out like the world said it should. Shouko requested that Mai and Sakuta “spend a quiet Christmas with a stay-at-home date this year.” She literally tells Sakuta to “have faith in modern medicine.” It was her choice to tell him what he should do since her future was involved. Mai wants to change those plans as well so that Sakuta is safe. He even entertains the thought of staying safe by going to the aquarium instead of the original plan. He’s told Shouko the day before his accident that “[he] want[s] to keep living.” There is absolutely NO REASON for Sakuta to go head-on into his fate, especially considering what might happen.

The characters deliberately go against the worlds’ laws so many times that you have to wonder if the writers actually cared about their own works.

Upon travelling back in time, Sakuta understands that to be recognized as a part of this universe as a copy now, he needs to find someone who will recognize him. This is a cool callback to what Mai dealt with, but it isn’t handled right. For one thing, doors and items phase after he interacts with them. Sakuta should not have any power over the world as he’s there, considering the world hasn’t accepted that he’s real. What are the limitations on this? Can he just phase through the world? Are objects and matter solid until he proves himself? Shouldn’t the very clothes on his back not move the moment he wakes up? The “rules” are very lenient here. Speaking of rules, what’s the deal with the pink bunny outfit? He should not be wearing it by the terms that were established, unless that’s another exception. Also, when he talks to Shouko with the head of the suit off, he has a jumpsuit on underneath whereas he was wearing his school uniform before. This is more of a nitpick but when did he have time to change if he had the bunny suit on the whole time?

On a different point, the fact that the suit he randomly finds in a hallway is the same color and animal as Mai’s trademark is incredibly on the nose. It cannot be more obvious that this shows’ “themes” are getting shoved down your throat. Later on, Sakuta is discovered by Tomoe. This makes enough sense given that her arc involved him looking for the same person who was looping a specific day. I’m just infuriated that the way that they explain it is through “quantum entanglement” again.

The way Sakuta solves the problem of him accepting his fate is by pushing his original self out of the way while wearing the bunny suit. After the future him gets hit, he “fuzes together” with himself, safe and sound. What makes sense about this? The guy spontaneously disappears after getting hit by the car. Granted, the future him knows exactly when to save himself but fuzing together is really just a simple way to take care of this future Sakuta’s existence so as not to create a paradox. There’s no reason for it to happen, and yet it does. That sentence seems to sum up a lot about this movie, doesn’t it? Another point to note about this scene is that the bunny suit is all that’s left, but we should expect to see the jumpsuit he had lying on the ground.

The major climatic events have already been discussed and there is still more to talk about.

The main characters find out from looking at the future plans paper that the previously written plans have been erased, not just gone. Did 4th grade Shouko just take it all back because older her told her or something? In a similar vein, the way that Sakuta and Mai deal with the emotional trauma of the events is in a thirty second scene of him drawing a flower on Shouko’s homework and both of them laughing. It is easily the most bizarre scene in the movie because I have absolutely no clue what set up the way they act. They proved that they are strong enough to have taken all of that serious stuff head on, it might have been a better option to have Mai and Sakuta embrace one another for a while with some meaningful dialogue. They are together now at the end of the movie and they can finally live peacefully without the puberty syndrome worries they once had.

The ending spawned at least five different discussions regarding how this series ended in the forum below. It was confusing and rather hard to follow. Firstly, when Sakuta is talking with Shouko about what will happen and what she intends to change, she says herself that she wants to create a future that doesn’t bring Sakuta any sorrow. By doing so she is theoretically getting rid of Sakuta’s memories of her and by extension the mess that this whole ordeal was. This meant that after time was reversed and she did what she wanted to, Sakuta and Mai would have no recollection of Shouko. However, this is ENTIRELY UNDERMINED because the last scene before the credits roll shows that Sakuta recognizes that middle-school Shouko, alive and well on the beach. He calls out to her, and she recognizes him. I suppose it’s just okay to keep information from one timeline to the next. Because Sakuta recognizes her, would he not also remember all of the pain he suffered through to get back to this one place? Did he ever truly forget her? Why does this ending contradict itself?

Because she’s healthy, this means that Shouko got the necessary help anyway. This completely undermines Sakuta’s fate, because if Shouko was saved anyway by “modern medicine,” why would she need to time travel in the first place? His heart is not needed for all of this to have worked! There were alternatives! There were implications at the end of the film that a movie that Mai starred in called “Spring Comes, Winter Leaves” would raise awareness for the issue and Shouko would get the help she would need. It was supposedly about a girl awaiting a heart donor. However, it’s improbable that Mai had the time to help film this whole movie in the eleven days between Shouko going back and Sakuta recognizing her again. This means that the past changed, and important events happened offscreen.

Let me make it painfully clear that this is NOT how you should tell your audience what happens. Throwaway lines and time travel are a confusing mix and there are a lot of necessary details that need more development. It is incredibly hard to make a quality story and movie in eight months. Take the time, make it worthwhile.

Not that they had to do that because all the producers needed was fanservice and major feels.

Everything I’ve mentioned so far has only been about story. That alone breaks the film to a heavy degree. Here are some extra notes I made while watching this disaster:

OTHER WRITING ELEMENTS:
Random side characters get nightmares of things happening in different timelines!
Unnecessary clip! (25:15)
Throwaway line for how long it’s been since the anime! (37:00) [<6 months]
Cringe dialogue! Mai of all people should not be acting this clingy and both characters seem to know what they’re talking about despite not saying anything of substance! (39:00)
For how long Sakuta runs on fresh snow for, it’s amazing that he doesn’t slip even once! (~45:00)
Sakuta awkwardly sits Koga down! (58:15)
Nodoka decides not to ask why Sakuta is dressed in a bunny suit! (1:00:30)
Futaba is at school while it’s closed for some reason! (1:08:45)

ART:
CGI cars, trains, and crowds are back!
Random cuts in the camerawork are inaccurate to where Mai and Sakuta are in relation to one another! (38:15)
Inconsistent snow prints! (45:00)
Choppy Rio walk! (1:12:30)


My friend and I agreed that the best part of this whole movie is when Rio shows she cared about Sakuta after he got into grave danger. It showed a human side to her. This was one of the only takeaways we got after we finished the movie.

So much is either a contrived mess or an arbitrary excuse to move the plot forward in the realm of story, and there is little else to latch onto. Allow me to reiterate. This show is an OUTLIER. It does not deserve the respect it has gotten.


It’s time to move along to a different anime that actually deserves your time.

There is a reason that “Tomorrow Is Saturday” did not get its own anime as a parent story. It is uniquely uninteresting as a story, hence its score.

Everything in this manga is done episodically. This essentially means that there are no climaxes in favor of smaller and simpler chapters. This can be done well by using humor and charm in the characters. Hence, the only meaning left in this manga is in the references to other material besides its character development and interactions (that assessment will come later). If one were to give an example of a good story, “Ashita ... wa Doyoubi” is not something that would come to mind, because of its complete lack of one. Arguably speaking, this is uninteresting, bland, and appears very one-dimensional. It’s a “slice of life” school setting at its core (at the time of writing this review, “comedy” isn’t even listed with genres”). On the bright side, pacing is simply a non-issue considering that progression doesn’t exist. Nothing can possibly be called rushed in this type of setting, especially with how basic the premise of each chapter is. The only perceivable element to make the “story” bearable was its comedic elements. No outright jokes were made, but the chemistry between the three protagonists are what found the comedy, which are largely unfunny after the first set of chapters. There was no ending, and no visible need for one considering the flat content already provided.

The artistic direction was unique in how simple it all was. That said, it’s not something that many can consider “memorable.” Yamamoto, the artist and storywriter behind this work, has had much experience with different styles over the years. Even so, this is a clear step down from their other works. It’s a simple style designed for a simple story. Thus, it is objectively consistent with the story and characters it supports. This does not mean that it’s particularly interesting. The panels and frames themselves had few issues, minus several translation notes to help give background when referencing Japanese culture. These are necessary, and can be tolerated in all cases that they were on the page. The quality and consistency of the style changed and fluctuated very little throughout the series. The backdrops and scenes were rather static given the school setting. If the story had occasionally called for a festival or major event, perhaps this could have inspired more creativity in this regard. The character designs stand out the most in this manga considering each one is so different from the other. Mina appears very expressive and small, much like the energy of a chihuahua. Yukari is academic and introverted in nature, which is matched by her glasses and hairstyle. Sanae is objectively the most mature of the three, and this idea is reinforced with her constant unamused stare and simple appearance. There was no questioning which character was which.

The interactions between the three of them usually feature them commenting on a common subject. Sanae will take up one opinion, while Yukari takes up the opposite. Mina will be caught in the middle almost every time and Sanae will usually take advantage of Mina’s naive nature. This formula makes up the entirety of the manga, with few deviations. One of the few things that this manga has going for it are how well established all of its characters are. They are absolutely well rounded and they acted as expected in every circumstance. This makes their conversations and antics interesting to a degree, but there’s no growth or final destination in the plot. These characters are static; what that means is that they don’t change from start to finish. Nothing changes from beginning to end. There isn’t an antagonist. No supporting characters exist period. All that’s given is the trio of protagonists, each with their pros and cons. These characters may well be memorable if not for the bland and simple “story” that accompanies it.

That ends my objective assessment. What do I think of it?

The enjoyment factor is always a rough one to put in writing for me, considering I’m very much an advocate for objective assessments in reviews and essays. However, I didn’t really feel anything throughout the duration of this manga. These characters were more a proof of concept than meaningful protagonists. A lot of people might find it boring, as did I. It isn’t worth re-reading, as it was barely worth reading to begin with. I merely appreciated the parent story “Stop Teasing Me, Takagi-San!” and wanted to see what this manga had to offer. It really wasn’t worth going out of my way for. Basically everything in this manga is featured in the anime adaptation of its parent story. That all said, I can imagine that this item would go well with collectors for the universe it’s set in. The two volumes of this series would look nice on a shelf alongside all of the Takagi-san volumes. That's it folks, this manga is a supplement, and not one that’s worth it. The best description I can find to sum up all 52 chapters (this is messed up on MAL) is “uniquely boring.”

There’s nothing more to comment on, except the name of the manga being as bland as the nonexistent story it contains.

Tomorrow is Saturday.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

However, the first section will be spoiler free for general thoughts on things I can share without delving into end-plot territory. The spoiler warning will be capitalized later on as well so as to separate both sections of this review. Proceed as you wish.



It is almost a staple of the comedy romantic school drama “genre” to divide the entire plot up into sections. Each section is dedicated to a specific character, commonly referred to as arcs. This isn’t uncommon in dating simulators or Shojo manga and anime respectively. While it may be an older format of storytelling, ... its effectiveness is plainly seen. A good percentage of anime in this genre have this format, but it can be overused. Bunny Girl Senpai does not use this “character arc” format well. Specifically, there are several major stories told from episode one to episode thirteen. This is made painfully obvious when you take into consideration what the audience learns in the first three episodes compared to the rest. In fact, the first arc featuring Mai could have lent itself much better to a movie style. Alternatively, those first few episodes could have been dragged out over the course of a season. With more production quality and redrafting, the first bit of this anime could have been wrapped up in a nice bow, with a good end to a refined story.

This was not the story we received.

Instead of simply ending it there, the producers and writers got greedy. They added four arcs after this, with each one decreasing in quality to a noticeable degree. To illustrate, the term “Bunny Girl Senpai” is not used to the same degree and effect after episode three. In fact, it’s nearly forgotten after it’s “done being used.” It’s almost as though the writer only cared to use it as a means to attract attention to the anime rather than give it meaning. Speaking of titles, there are few animes that have a name as long as “Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai,” so this review will refer to it as Bunny Senpai without quotations from this point forward. Back to the story, while the format was serviceable, several moments were incredibly jarring when put next to each other. Like mentioned before, so much information was crammed into thirteen episodes that there was so little room for segways or connecting scenes otherwise. This anime does a lazy job drawing the line between simple and complex, what of the obvious hit-or-miss sexually charged jokes in conjunction to the empty explanation for supernatural elements. It’s clearly more focused on drama rather than intellectual consistency. The story as a whole is irredeemable for the amount of plot holes and contrivances present; these holes are not small. Can this “adolescence syndrome” phenomenon be explained? Why are these teenagers in one corner of the Earth the only ones affected? What’s the science behind it? Is it affected by science or is it supernatural? What are the statistics? Does the writer even understand this universe that they’ve created? It comes across like they wanted to create tension and problems to solve, so they invented this huge, unorthodox problem that’s different somehow for every adolescent. Similarly speaking, the story is far from unique. Supernatural elements in a school setting have been far overdone by now, but several of the ideas are novel in concept (even if they lack depth). There were a few subversions, but they were not done well or appreciated (for more information, check the spoiler section). It did not end in a climactic way.

Much of the issues regarding pacing can be attributed to scenes where the writers attempt to “explain” the supernatural occurrences. Several times throughout the anime, Sakuta visits Rio to ask her personal opinion and consult her knowledge on the matter. After giving some long, substanceless exposition on quantum physics, she says that she has no idea why everything is happening. Basically, in each instance of Sakuta visiting the science lab, it wastes precious time that could have been spent better elsewhere. The only other mention of this phenomenon is in a mid-section commercial break card; it says “Puberty Syndrome: Abnormal experiences during adolescence due to sensitivity and instability.” Besides this, the pacing went well for the arcs it supported. There were no filler episodes, but it would be a disservice not to reiterate that there is way too much information for thirteen episodes to cover, and not enough relevant information to offer regarding plot.

In the realm of comedic relief, it’s a mixed bag. Sakuta’s witty, dry humor is appealing, but the savage nature of it often downplays important events. It gets to a point that the audience is annoyed with the sex jokes and more interested with what’s really going on, not that there was much to latch on to in the first place. When you peel away everything that can be considered “bad” by looking at it from a logical consistency standpoint, what you have left is themes. As a bit of meta commentary, themes seem to be the saving grace for people who like flawed films. Hidden messages in the plot can often make a story much deeper than it lets on. The themes of Bunny Senpai include things like “even good advice can be delivered poorly,” or “helping others in their time of need is just the right thing to do.” These are not bad messages in themselves, but that does not negate the crumbling foundation from which the inconsistent plot is built. Even themes cannot save what little payoff there is either at the end of arcs (with exception to episode three) or the end of the season. There was no romantic closure, no answers to the questions the audience had been asking from the start, and little reason left to care.

Perhaps some of these flaws with the story could be ignored if the audience found the art style appealing. However, there are several problems in this section too.

The artistry and direction in this field is what many would call “safe.” There are few things that set it apart from newer anime in this day in age. However, there are a few examples that can really break immersion for the viewer. In episode six, there are image files of mannequins plastered on the front of a scene in a mall in several different angles. A closer look would give an indication that these were 3-D modeled, perhaps in Google sketchup, before being imported to this scene. What makes this better than hand-drawing it like everything else? In a different scene, some shadows on figures are shown in a literal line from the person and on other people in the same shot they aren't. This stands as a neat detail that the art direction could no doubt benefit from if it were used consistently. In the next episode, the entire camera pans across several 3-D rendered objects while Sakuta bobs awkwardly up and down without his posture changing as the environment around him swivels to focus on someone. This view is not unlike camera changes in older PC games or the original Doom game. It seemingly comes out of nowhere, considering the audience has no reason to expect something like this from the previous usage of basic camera angles. Speaking of, the camera angles are all static; there are no dutch angles, very few closeups, and the vistas and settings don’t offer much to interest the viewer. If you can forgive the 3-D cars and animations in the OP, draw your attention to that opening shot. The main character is seen running with his bag down a sidewalk. It doesn’t take a keen eye to realize that Sakuta is running at an angle (this was rather distracting for me and I just decided to skip the OP after I realized that there were problems in the opening to each episode). In one scene, the camera cuts away to a school courtyard at night with an orange colored tree that basically glows in the center of all other trees. The other four trees are shaded properly, but the one in the middle clearly isn’t.

Evidence presented like this is commonly cited as nitpicking, but issues such as these are littered throughout the entire season. Artistic direction itself is serviceable at best if we ignore all of the random outlying issues that are hard to catch on a first watch. It doesn’t strike the audience as unique, memorable, or groundbreaking. The art style fits the narrative for what needs to be told, but really, it would work for most anime in a similar vein or genre. The 3-D models in addition to the random image files thrown in stood out like a sore thumb. Level of animation was about standard. Gifs occasionally were slipped in, but this was only noticeable two or three times at most. Similarly to story, there was a significant drop in quality from the first three episodes to the remaining ten. This likely had to do with putting emphasis on Sakuta and Mai’s relationship above anything else, which may have contributed to the smaller bugs as mentioned previously. The only recurring locations were bland and neutral from an artistic standpoint. It doesn’t have to be outstanding, but the world needs to breathe and interact a little with the characters we have. The appearance of each major character is unique to themselves. Sakuta is dead-eyed and messy, Mai looks confident but sweet in nature, Shouko is calming and caring like her appearance, Tomoe always looks excited, and Kaede is the lovable, silly sister who always wears a panda costume. These appearances match the personalities of their respective people extremely well. This is difficult to do in a school setting where everyone has the same clothing on most of the time, and yet all of the characters we see are unique to themselves.

Voice acting tends to be a mixed bag among many animes, and Bunny Senpai is no exception. While Sakuta’s voice actor gave a near perfect performance, there was always Kaede with her incredibly high pitched voice to counter (there’s more on voice acting in the spoiler section). Aside from these things, the voice acting flowed well with the visuals for the characters.

Background music is difficult to do correctly. Too basic, and it can serve as an annoyance. Too complex, and the focus is drawn to the music instead of the events currently unfolding. Bunny Senpai falls into the category of the former, since there are several moments throughout the anime that play very generic and distracting pieces of music. As a message to the members in sound design, you want your Soundtrack to be memorable for the right reasons. However, it can at least be said that the songs played were relevant to the respective scene they were supporting. Around seventy-five percent of the tracks went undetected with the scene. The soundtrack as a whole isn’t something that can be listened to casually with any meaningful enjoyment drawn from it in a general sense. The opening and ending tracks are of good quality, but not outstanding against other more popular tracks from other IPs.

Character is what Bunny Senpai is all about, which is arguably the main issue many people take (aside from story). Sakuta as a protagonist does his job as the main character, but he does so very poorly. His motivation is to help other people, but the way he does so is in the most inconsiderate and annoying way possible. Often times, girls taking advice from him will get offended at his words, yet somehow only focus on what was truly important about the advice. When he wasn’t making sexually-charged jokes, he was acting as a stuck-up idiot. This was charming at first, but it turned out to be annoying quick. Mai is likeable, with no perceivable flaws. It isn’t that she’s a Mary Sue or anything, since the world doesn’t bend at her every beck and wish. Rather, she’s just a “perfect” character. She can do no wrong, really. Tomoe is the most human of the bunch, considering her tight circle of friends and the constant need for attention. She had a great mix of good and bad qualities which made her well balanced, with a little exception to her interactions with Sakuta, who treats her like garbage, and yet she still wants very much to be friends with the most antisocial and “savage” kid at the school. Kaede’s character is a rather strange one. Her existence early on is to forge this theme of incest with no real backstory or understanding of the facts. This information remains for a large part of the season. She appears obsessed with her brother to the point where the viewer might question if she has stockholm syndrome. She’s afraid of the outside world, yet acts silly and playful otherwise. Rio is a painful character to the story. Her existence is to explain events that can’t be explained first, and be a friend second. She operates the science club by herself, which requires constant attention or else the school council will shut it down. She often brews coffee or blends drinks using elixir bottles and beakers among other chemistry materials; this is clearly done for comedic effect and it adds something charming to her insignificant character. Shouko is a plot device used as a means to both create drama but mainly comfort Sakuta in his time of need. This essentially makes her a deus ex-machina character who can do no wrong and has little to no development whatsoever. Nodoka comes along later on in the season but she’s basically the “C list” pop star with little reason given to us to care about her character. Kunimi and Kamisato are very human in concept, but don’t have enough development to really call them established side characters. These main and “side” characters are very different from one another, each with their own distinct personality. Some are balanced while others clearly are not. There were several moments during the anime when the side characters just went with the judgement and advice of Sakuta against their own judgements. Sakuta himself jumps out of character several times to support a dramatic moment, which fell flat because the buildup did not result in the right emotional resonance and payoff.

Some characters are relatable. Some are just fun to watch. Some are simply annoying.

If the description of the main character wasn’t enough to convince you, let it be known that this is not how you make a likeable protagonist. He hardly grows from beginning to end. The only growth we see in characters is within their respective arcs, after which they nearly drop off of the grid because the plot doesn’t need them anymore. The most chemistry we saw between characters is that between Mai and Sakuta, which was primarily because they were the main couple being focused on. It would start out having Mai say something, Sakuta would retort with some sexual innuendo, and then Mai would stamp her foot on his or get really annoyed. Rinse and repeat.

Even though you may feel that the base connection between our protagonists is a bit shallow, how fleshed out were the supporting characters? They were roughly all given the same treatment: come in for their arc, then nearly disappear for the rest of the series. A character that was likeable and teased throughout was Yuuma. It could not have hurt to give him a larger role than “normal” guy friend. We know nothing of his backstory. All we know is what he takes an interest in; that being his girlfriend, his immediate friends, and basketball. It’s frustrating to see that the most normal character in this anime gets the least amount of attention.

Several forgettable antagonists exist in the series, but they appear once or twice and then disappear for the rest of the season. They have no backgrounds or motivations. They just exist to throw a wrench in the works and break up the monotony. In a similar light, the supporting characters were well established in general. Their backstories meant something to the narrative at hand, and that is to be commended. A handful of times, Sakuta narrates over a setting scene, but it worked to set up the mood rather than disconnect the audience. However, because Sakuta’s character was almost written exclusively to be disliked, it’s hard to take him seriously during these sequences. This sentiment can translate into a much broader statement.

These characters don’t strike many of us as memorable.

The following is how we can describe each primary and side character throughout the series in one word:

Sakuta - Abrasive
Mai - Perfect
Tomoe - Fearful
Kaede - Childish
Rio - Nerdy
Shouko - Revivifying
Nodoka - Selfish

While this does not say much, it encapsulates a large part of their respective personalities. Why exactly is it that of all the characters, the author seemed to want the protagonist be the main character that the audience disliked? That seems to be the real mystery, after all. These characters are likeable in their own respects, but that does not make them more memorable generally than other supporting characters that have loads of more time and effort put into them. These characters merely support the narrative; that being the mystery of “Puberty Syndrome,” which still does not have any logical explanation for that isn’t partial.



Thus ends my critique of Bunny Senpai. I am fully aware that there are many things I missed. However, there are many things I have yet to cover, hence the spoiler warning below this section.

This series was an interesting one for me, mainly because I had more fun looking for problems than I did with the story itself, if that tells you anything. The first three episodes were really something. If the anime had ended there, my rating would have stayed at an eight, and easily become a nine if they had put even more effort into connecting loose ends instead of inserting four other arcs. It’s easy for me to see the appeal in a series like this. It’s got basically everything for someone who doesn’t think logically. “Bunny Girl Senpai” is right on the cover to get those extra clicks and generate more interest. It’s very much about its themes, which I imagine form the base for many high rating opinions and reviews under this tab. If you don’t care about intellectual consistency and are newer to anime, this show would be good for you. If not, I’d spend my time elsewhere (probably writing books far better in quality than this).

The replay value for this show is slim to none. With few payoffs and really only one thing to go back and understand more about, it’s not worth coming back to, except the first arc. The production value of those first three episodes are really all I see being worth it. I plan on reading the manga soon to see just how well this anime serves as an adaptation.

This anime didn’t really offer anything out of the ordinary that I haven’t seen before. I think the best way to end off this review is to present a quote from our protagonist that could have been much better served from a better character.



“It’s not like I live for all of humanity to like me. I don’t mind if I had only one person. Even if the whole world hated me, I could keep living if that person needed me.” - Sakuta Azusagawa






THE FOLLOWING IS THE SPOILER SECTION!

This spoiler-rigged review section will feature my personal thoughts on the quality of the writing and the craft itself.



“Episode one was pretty good. I wish the rest was as good by what you've told me.”

This quote was from me in a conversation with a friend while I was watching the show. He had previously told me to watch this and share in his pain (and the discussion). Turns out, it’s pretty bad! I’ll try to format my thoughts well, but no promises.



First off, let’s look at all of the information we’re given in the first three episodes. We learn about Puberty Syndrome, and see how Mai is affected and gets “cured” of it. The way through which it affects her is absurd (yet strangely fitting some would argue). Why would you basically disappear to the world when you have a background of being seen by everyone? The theory of “quantum dissonance” or whatever can’t save this one. It seems targeted and yet the show refuses to acknowledge this. The only time that “Bunny Girl Senpai” is really a necessary term is when Sakuta first meets Mai. Speaking of which, if forgetting her existence is really something that happens after sleeping, how come Sakuta hasn’t forgotten her if other people have? He did recently sleep like the rest of the world, did he not? What are the rules? I still don’t understand how somehow science can explain that believing in somebody can cause them to return to a physical, visible state. That’s not how physics work. It isn't too preposterous to just invent some otherworldly reason as to why it happens instead of using quantum theory. This is fiction, after all. Even at that, all of these problems could have been avoided had they not given a scientific "explanation" as to why it happens. Don’t give me that. I want complete answers, not “fake” ones. I’m positive that those scenes with Rio were made simply because they had to have some explanation, but didn’t want to put in the work to invent a force that accomplished this. So instead, they made it as boring and convoluted as possible! Yay!

If it were me changing the canon, I would actually permit Futaba to say that she doesn't understand it first, but has a suggestion (outside of quantum theory nonsense). That makes far more sense. Even at this, the fact that she - a high school student of all people knows all of this tells me that she’s more of a formal explanation to the random events that happen than a meaningful character.

This doesn’t work.

I’d like to focus on the last few scenes of the first three episodes. There Sakuta professes his love for Mai in front of the entire school in hopes that she will come back to his vision. This scene was about as “painful” as the word can describe. Firstly, the only reason the audience expects this to work is because nerd quantum girl told us it might. Not only that, but the parameters on how people come to see Mai again are ludicrous. Why are these strict rules placed on the universe?

The audience isn't going to get this.
Why did this get through the editing phase?
Who thought this was a good idea?

How did Sakuta begin to really like Mai? In the first arc, we see the following happen:
Mai first gets introduced to us with the problem of not being seen by people… except for Sakuta and he tries to help her. Okay. It’s a start.

Thereafter, the extent of their relationship includes her blushing a bit, stamping on his foot a bit, bickering a bit, and saving him from the horrors of the press and television interviews (which has basically no consequence to her). After this, she helped him study by drugging him against his will, which led to him confessing his love to her aloud in front of the school to everyone.

This does not sound like a healthy relationship.
This is not a relationship.
This is infatuation.

Later on, Mai says to Sakuta not to open one specific cabinet in her house. Who in the right mind would tell a cold-hearted jerk this? Does Mai expect that somehow Sakuta won’t open that cabinet? What’s even more frustrating is that when he finally does open the cabinet, it’s the solution to all their problems!

Moving on from Mai, Tomoe’s arc is frustrating to me. As the audience we nearly explicitly get shown that she has power over time - specifically flashbacks. This power could have easily been abused. Also, why is Sakuta the only person who can see when time is getting replayed? Not to mention, the months that Tomoe turns back are replayed almost exactly the same as before. You mean to tell me that nothing changed that Sakuta might have done differently? It’s literally impossible to retrace your steps one-for-one. Also, now I suffer from PTSD whenever that clock comes on screen with the date (which isn’t necessary after her arc, mind you).

Why did this get through the editing phase?

Rio’s arc gives us more feeling to her character while also destroying the plot (as if they needed to shoot more holes into it). Somehow Rio broke in two and now one version of her wants attention from other people by using lewd pictures on social platforms while the other heavily disagrees with this decision. They both somehow live without creating some sort of paradox. I don’t think I need to explain how absurd this is. Also, right before Mia and Sekando meet up with the version with glasses, there’s a poster on the wall of the internet cafe that says “Wo-Fo” with a password underneath. What is that supposed to mean? Wo-Fo does not stand for anything. Wi-Fi is not an IP you need to get around for copyright reasons, so why go through the effort to purposefully do this in a rather serious scene? Moving along, she talks seemingly without end about macro quantum theory before then concluding that she has absolutely no idea why she has two total personalities running around in the world. No less, one of the Rios came to stay at Sakuta’s house because somehow the macro quantum theory permits the clone to appear within fifty miles of the original. How convenient! Do you know what’s even more convenient though? Once the two Futabas settle their differences over the phone, the clone magically reforms with the original. What? That makes no sense? It doesn’t have to make sense, dear. The theme is to settle your differences with yourself and be objective in how you can make yourself better.

Give me a break.

Not too long after, Futaba picks up a phone and holds it at her waist. She’s still looking straight forward when the phone turns on, and not even looking down at it, she gets startled by the wallpaper. Good game, animation team.

Similarly, remember that scene with the fireworks and the friend trio having fun? The voice lines in that scene do not sync with the voice actor dialogue. Not only that, but the last firework footage is a literal gif. Not even joking.

Why did this get through the editing phase?

This isn’t to say that Rio’s character is all bad. I appreciated the mature way with which she handled her feelings, and the subsequent resolve of Kunimi. That was a very human scene where both characters were fighting their bad traits for a clearly better outcome.

Praise over, back to negativity. Mai and her sister Nodoka end up swapping bodies somehow (it was an appearance swap and not a personality swap. I don't understand the parameters that permit this to happen) through “quantum teleportation.” I’m willing to bet that the writers thought it sounded cool and did one minute of research on it before integrating it in the story. Also, the whole “argument” that Nodoka and Mai had at the beginning (which felt forced and contrived mind you) was supposed to be that they “hated” one another, which in the moment seemed so stupid because not only did we know nothing about their background, but Sakuta seemed to understand everything right then and there. This made it hard to follow. The argument and the fake "hate" makes reasonable sense, the writer just downplayed it so much that we had no idea what was going on.

This isn’t the first time we’ve been deliberately confused. Allow me to offer a solution.

I think it was petty and animalistic to create all that built up tension seemingly out of nowhere. It just looked like the scenes should have been reordered; have the argument when we know a bit more, not right at the start. Then we might understand the magnitude of the situation. It isn’t hard to get your ducks in a row, just take the time to organize. Aside from this, there’s a specific scene that has Mai singing in Nodoka’s body. This performance really doesn’t feel right. At least, that song performance wasn’t stunning for whoever was voicing their lines.

Finally, we can move on to Kaede.

She gets sick from answering the phone.

Who thought this was good writing?

She has a rash that grows whenever she’s stressed. There’s no explanation for this. We don’t really have a reason for why negative comments cause literal cuts either.

There are still things we can point to for our main character, as he is not exempt from these flaws either. Why does his Puberty Syndrome cause him large cuts across his chest? After Sakuta finds out about Kaede returning to her previous memories, he ends up with this really janky walking animation that was more humorous than sober given the tone. His decisions immediately after this point are out of character. He begins crying over this seemingly simple thing when it’s been established that he doesn’t cry so as to help others feel better. Even at his lowest point, is he left by himself?

No! We can’t have that! Let’s insert Shouko-san, his ex-girlfriend who hasn’t shown up since junior high!

Deus ex machina, ladies and gentlemen.

Nobody has parents with normal schedules.
Sakuta randomly monologues after several emotional moments.
Bad and repetitive tracks on the OST play more than once.

It's frustrating because I see all of the potential an anime like this has. There are so many like it that I want to see more that are intellectually consistent with their own world building!

I hate how the explanation for most of the events in this anime is "it just is."
It's like if the force was the only plot device.

Who thought this was a good idea?

I feel my intelligence has been insulted because of this atrocious, disingenuous piece of garbage that people actually call art. I wish we had higher standards for this kind of thing, but clearly this has gotten so popular it doesn’t matter anymore. I would’ve liked a little fanservice anyway but we didn’t even get to see Sakuta and Mai kiss...



Shut up, eat your popcorn, and enjoy the themes.