"Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl" is the sequel to the 13-episode anime series "Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai" that took the internet and otaku world by storm in the forth quarter of 2018 with its flabbergasting title and premise. Adapted from the light novel series with the same name, at first glance it seemed as if it would be another adaptation of an unreasonably long and clickbait title, however it turned out to actually have a beating heart and an interesting direction to take its viewers to. The chemistry between Azusagawa Sakuta and Sakurajima Mai was reminiscing of ... that of Araragi and Senjougahara from the "Monogatari Series " and the paranormal activities seemed to be inspired from "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya", however those would not be the only elements the series borrows from its predecessors, but I digress.
The movie-sequel aims to tackle the arc of Makinohara Shouko, an important character in the life of our bickering protagonist as she was his saviour in time of need during his early years, as well as the catalyst for Sakuta's chest scars to reopen. A truly enigmatic figure, as she was restricted to the sidelines in the main adaptation, given little to none importance until the end of the final arc, when she once again comes to the aid of Sakuta. Come this movie, Shoko is the one in need of assistance from our snarky protagonist as he tries unravel the truth behind her puberty syndrome and find an alternative path to the excruciating choice he's forced to make.
The opening shots send us back to when Shoko was in fourth grade and is shown having troubles completing a paper sheet with her plans and dreams for the future. It is established that her difficulty for filling in the sheet would play an important role as the movie progresses. The movie then cuts back to the present day and the problems arise.
Firstly, the pacing is all over the place as the days are skipped by in order for the movie to just arrive from point A to point B, without much reflection to the events that would unfold. This greatly hinders the emotional revelation during its climax as it leaves the viewer with a sense of "well that happened" instead of "this had an impact on me". It is to be mentioned that the pacing is not always poor, in fact, the beginning of the movie fits perfectly as it steadily builds towards the mid section of the movie. Unfortunately, it does not maintain the same steadiness as it advances and by the end of the movie it finishes in a satisfactory, if abrupt manner.
Secondly, the existence of this movie itself does not justify itself as it achieves nothing that cinematography does. The whole arc gives the impression of an overly extended episode of the original anime. The animation, while good, was nothing spectacular as it remained one the same level as the 13-episode anime series. The scene composition did not improve either and the use of realistic background elements, while it was a nice touch, it did not reach the same artistic expression as other films did. As it stands, "Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl" is a quick money grab designed to lure the fanbase into watching it under the guise of offering a cinematic experience, but delivering an OVA worth of excitement. At least that way it would have fixed the pacing issues.
The final problem with this movie is the convoluted story leading into a redundant conclusion. Throughout its runtime it is given extraordinary importance to the choice that Sakuta is forced to make and it is one that severely affects him when makes up his mind. However, this is immediately dismissed as he gets another chance and Shouko does what she could have done from the beginning, as the movie decides that all the drama the characters went through was all for naught. The story advances in an obvious way, but tries to hide it with empty misdirection so that when the twist happens, the viewer is caught off-guard leaving him in a state of fabricated sorrow thanks to the emotional manipulation of the movie. It tries to replicate what "Steins;Gate" or "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya" did with its main lead, however it results in a watered down copy of the two.
This is not to say the film is just one giant mess. There are some good moments as well. The chemistry between the characters is back better than ever and the dialogues are just as entertaining and diverting. There is also a very heartfelt conversation between Sakuta and Futaba which proved more emotional than the main twist, thanks to how it was shot and the splendid work of the voice actors. Another upside is present on the audio front. The background music was perfectly fit throughout the film, especially at the end with the insertion of the ED song, as well as the magnificent work of the voice actors.
In conclusion, "Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl" is a heavily flawed movie which little to no reason for existing as it borrows elements from two other more critically acclaimed IPs, which ultimately fails to become its own thing. The film is not a must-watch unless you are a big fan of the original series and desperately want to see more content.
Alternative Titles Japanese: 青春ブタ野郎はゆめみる少女の夢を見ない Information Type: Movie Episodes: 1 Status: Finished Airing Aired: Jun 15, 2019 Producers: Aniplex, Tokyo MX, Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures, Nagoya Broadcasting Network, BS11, ABC Animation, Kadokawa Licensors: Aniplex of America Studios: CloverWorks Source: Light novel Theme: School Duration: 1 hr. 30 min. Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older Statistics Score: 8.591 (scored by 452,476 users) 1 indicates a . Ranked: #922 2 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #284 Members: 713,608 Favorites: 10,231 Available AtResources | ReviewsDec 1, 2019 "Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl" is the sequel to the 13-episode anime series "Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai" that took the internet and otaku world by storm in the forth quarter of 2018 with its flabbergasting title and premise. Adapted from the light novel series with the same name, at first glance it seemed as if it would be another adaptation of an unreasonably long and clickbait title, however it turned out to actually have a beating heart and an interesting direction to take its viewers to. The chemistry between Azusagawa Sakuta and Sakurajima Mai was reminiscing of ... Jan 6, 2020 Quick note - I mentioned one spoiler in the pacing section and this is also my first review. So please bare with whatever errors, typos, or problems that you may find in my writing. So this movie is rated unbelievably high on MAL. A lot of people love it and a good amount of people hate it. I've read the reviews and comments from both sides and I've come to a conclusion as to why this movie is so high on the rankings. That conclusion being, people are either going into this with a lot of bias from the tv series, or they are willingly ignoring ... Jul 17, 2020 Story 6: The plot feels like it trying to make you cry. If the plot is a person it would be a manipulative person. Art 6: It is okay. Meaning that it is barely better then the anime series itself. Sound 5: Same as the anime. Character 6: ... Dec 24, 2020 Movie was just meh, i have seen similar story done better elsewhere, or at least heard of. The characters mostly talk about exposition and the story, not to much growth here. And the sad moments felt very forced. I counted the crying scenes and the was 8 in the main, too many. If you don't already really care about these charterers you really wont give a shit about the story. and in my case I didn't much, the first season is one of my faves but this was just boring and underwhelming. also story was super contrived and somewhat meaningless. nothing really ... Oct 2, 2019 Potential spoilers. Short Review: If you liked the series, you'll like this movie. Longer Review: This was a satisfying continuation of the story we saw in the TV series that aired last fall: the truth behind Shoko and Sakuta's relationship is fully revealed. Like in the TV series, the story arc starts strong but drags towards the end* and also seems suspiciously derivative of other anime {Steins;Gate, Angel Beats, Monogatari, Makoto Shinkai's stuff}. Despite potentially derivative elements, we're given a presentation that's uniquely Bunny Senpai, so I won't harp on this too much. ... Dec 2, 2019 Last Christmas, I gave you my heart, the very next day, I scorned my late girlfriend. Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl, however, a little spoiler, this rascal does and is kinda dumbfounded by it and does not how effectively handle the situation. I'm taking that you are reading this review having watched the movie or at least know about the series of the 'Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai', so let me get straight to the matter. I am disappointed. Truly, what I just watched shocks me by how bad and inconsistent the writing. So as you know, our main character revolves ... Aug 9, 2020 I don't normally go for movies due to their length and my limited time. But I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was a sequel to the Seibuta anime and that it seemed to have done well by MAL rating standards. I decided to check it out. It's been a while since the Seibuta anime aired, and my memory is foggy, but this movie really fell short of the anime and my expectations for it. Let's start with the easier parts to review. The art is basically the same as the anime's. I read one other review after watching the movie, and I do agree that ... Aug 30, 2020 A bit slow in the start and personally I don't really like Shoko. I feel her character is a bit boring and disconnected. The movie throws some the better characters to the side in this Movie that where in the Anime to a larger degree. Took some time to get into the movie, that was one tear jerker moment but it felt a bit too unreal to be anymore than that. The ending is pretty unfulfilling considering how in-depth the rest of the movie is although it doesn't leave any unanswered questions In honesty a disappointing follow up to the anime. Story: 6/10 Art 8/10 ... Jan 5, 2021 Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl is a terrible “end” to a nearly perfect series. The ending was one of the worst pieces of work ever tacked on to a series and seems more like a cash grab than an actual movie. From emotionless scenes, unnecessary character introductions, and senseless plot holes the movie just comes off as dumb, stupid, and pointless. One of the most noteworthy flaws of this movie is the deaths. The deaths are meaningless and empty. Throughout the movie three characters die in total: Azusagawa, Sakurajima, and Makinohara. The most tragic of these deaths is Sakurajima’s death as she sacrificed ... Dec 3, 2019 I feel oddly ambivalent towards Seishun Buta Yarou wa Yumemiru Shoujo no Yume wo Minai, which I'm going to abbreviate as the Pig and Bunny Movie. On the one hand, if you really liked the TV series then this makes a lot of sense as an OVA / movie add-on. It gives you a chance to have a last gathering with Mai, Sakuta and their friends to say farewell. Regarding production values, I would say the Pig and Bunny movie looks and sounds great. You can listen to the fabulous voice acting cast croon that marvelous song as the ending credits ... Dec 15, 2019 Is it bad that I barely enjoyed this at all? I didn't hate it, but for it being the 7th top anime movie... I guess I just didn't understand why? I didn't think it was bad, but something about the plot seemed very forced, and unnatural. I feel like I would enjoy the series better. Also, there were multiple times throughout the movie I had to go back and rewatch scenes, sometimes more than once. I feel like some of the "quantum physics" was partly the writers of the show trying to make things waaay more complicated than they needed to be. *SPOILERS BELOWWWWWWWW DONTTTTT READ* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Like time ... Dec 29, 2019 There are very few shows that managed to make me write them a comprehensive review. Part of this process is understanding the creative process one might undertake when making a work of art, and as such, it might also serve to put my words on paper to understand them better myself. What I am trying to say is that the show itself, while not bad, it reflects ideals, themes, and progression that wasn't even necessary, while digging its plot holes deeper than ever before, and I am having a hard time understanding why this was done in the first place. If you liked the anime and ... Feb 27, 2021 idk if this is considered as a spoiler but if they just made it so that the whole theme of the movie was that you can't save everyone you care about because some people are just meant to die then that would've been fine by me. it's meant to be a tear-jerker and yea maybe some parts aroused my tear ducts but nothing in there was strong enough to make me cry, the story is somewhat contrived and melodramatic, I enjoyed the anime series so this was a nice addition I guess? But as some of the reviews, the execution wasn't super well done. Fukashigi ... Apr 27, 2021 I honestly don't know how to feel about this movie. One thing I know for sure is that this movie isn't 100% original in terms of storytelling, and that this movie reminded me of "Your Name" ( a lot, and I'll explain why). SPOILERS WARNING!!!!! - - The reasons why I said that this movie reminded me of "Your Name" is because there are a lot of clues. 1) Mai-san, who died halfway in the movie ( Mitsuha, who died due to the meteor strike) - 2) Main character went back in time in order to save Mai-san ( or the whole village including Mitsuha in "Your Name") - 3) If the ... May 17, 2021 Seishun Buta Yarou wa Yumemiru Shoujo no Yume wo Minai The movie follows the events from the first season and is directly linked to the last episodes of the anime adaptation. The film takes over the atmosphere from the previous season and all character traits. Whoever liked the series will definitely like the film as well. Because this also closes the plot in the end. Well, the movie not only takes over the noteworthy things from the series but also the negative. And here the "plot" is definitely in the foreground. Apart from the fact that the characters perceived the whole "puberty reality warper syndrome" as an everyday experience, ... Aug 11, 2021 Ughhh- the only word to describe this movie. First of all, even after re-watching I didn't get how many things happened. In the prequel you could understand things but I doubt many people got this and when you just don't get the plot the show will never feel good to you. If we are talking about Animation and sound, it is more gross. In the prequel, there were such vibrant colors; perfect for its content and while background sound was really not anything, I myself particularly enjoyed the OP. But unfortunately Cloverworks sucked in case of Animation in this movie; no vibrant colors, backgrounds hastily done ... |