A lot of people seem to have joined the Bunny Girl Senapi bandwagon and I get that. Two episodes in and it is still pretty intriguing. Of all the light novel-based anime to have come out this season, I honestly wouldn’t mind this becoming a hit over the more generic stuff such as Ulysses or My Sister, My Writer. As for me personally…well, this is good but…
If I am to stick with this anime, I’m going to need to shrug off that dialogue ASAP. Believe me, I’ve seen way worse dialogue than what this show is spouting out and I have my fair share of clumsy scripts that I still managed to enjoy. But boy does everyone in this show talk like they’re using the personality sections of each other’s wikia pages. It just doesn’t feel natural to me and some of the dead serious delivery from the actors doesn’t help either. But who knows, this could end up being an acquired taste in this case. i admittedly ran into a similar issue with Saekano and I ended up loving it a ton in spite of that initial issue. If the same thing happens here then great, I’m all for.
To go on a more positive note, I am finding the plot pretty compelling. It appears that Mai’s invisibility is getting worse as more people, including her own mother, can’t see her and are even forgetting that she ever existed. Even evidence that would point to her presence such as emails and phone calls are seemingly warped by reality to accommodate for people’s memory discrepancies. Part of me wonders if this might have something to do with the upperclassman Sakuta mentions, the one who helped him with his depression. That only Sakuta remembers that person and no records of her exist runs in eerie parallel to what Mai is going through.
Also fascinating is that it seems to be the people who superficially pay attention to Mai who forget about her. Mai’s mother is her manager obsessed with milking her career and the reporter, Fumika, was about to interview her in favor of exposing Sakuta’s mysterious chest scar. Even Sakuta’s sister, Kaede, is affect by this phenomenon since she got concerned over her brother’s sudden interest in Mai. It does beg the question as to why Sakuta can still see and remember Mai. Perhaps, it’s the fact that he is only interested in Mai’s career as a normal friend and not as a fan or an insider in business. Maybe him getting too close to her might change things but perhaps it’s that the fact that these two’s relationship is becoming so meaningful that it’s what allow Sakuta to remember Mai.
I won’t lie, the relationship between Sakuta and Mai is shaping up nicely. Clunky dialogue aside, these characters do play off each other pretty well. Mai may tease Sakuta’s interest in her as a romantic one but she still gets flustered in the most awkward situations and clearly appreciates his efforts to help her. And for all his dry quips, Sakuta is clearly quite invested in what’s happening to his upperclassman. The part where he expresses anger at Mai’s mother forgetting her own daughter is a testament to that. So is him taking her out of time to see if anyone, just anyone knows who Mai is. I imagine things will go in a genuinely romantic relationship but for now, it seems platonic. Besides, there’s apparently other female characters thrown in the mix, including a new one named Tomoe (Nao Touyama) whose introduction this episode I’ll admit is pretty funny.
Overall, I still need more time to be completely sold but it’s clearly doing something right here so I’ll check the show out again next week.
ED: “Fukashigi no Karte” by Mai Sakurajima (CV: Asami Seto)
Again, this anime sure has some great theme songs to go along with it at least. I really like the visual sequence too. Mai walking alone on the beach is a simple image but it effectively represents her feeling alone in what’s happening to her. Having her meet with Sakuta at the end is a nice touch to reflect their relationship as well.
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Xenodude's Scribbles 
The story here has been really fascinating. I’m very curious as to where it is going to go and how bad Mai’s invisibility is going to get or if they are going to introduce other characters with problems as well. There’s a lot that can be done with the current set up and hopefully it continues to build on what i has established but these first two episodes have been really enjoyable for me.
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I’ll admit that I kind of want to stick with this show because it is intriguing and in the hopes that I’ll end up really liking it. That said, I also feel that I’ve lately had really bad luck giving shows a chance on those principles. Did the same thing with Darling in the FranXX and Hanebado and my Episode Reviews clearly show that things didn’t pan out for me.
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Yes, the problem with watching something with a really interesting premise is that there is always the chance that it won’t go anywhere, will go somewhere totally random, or it might go somewhere but not do it very well. That said, for all the ones that miss their mark, it only takes one show to do a good job to make me want to give the shows in the next season a chance. That said, I’m still a bit burned from KADO given how much I enjoyed the first five episodes of that before it fell apart.
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Oh, i agree. It does only take one show. It’s just when…
I keep forgetting KADO was a thing last year. I got three episodes in (maybe four if I count Ep. 0), put it on hold and haven’t touched it since because everyone is saying the ending ruins everything.
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Most aggravating experience alive watching that, mostly because it started in such an interesting way.
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