Watched the first (and only?) season of Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai
Simply put, I cannot rave enough about how great it is, and highly recommend everyone who hasn't to watch it (Despite the marketing, the bunny girl suit only briefly comes in play, if you're worried about it being some ecchi thing).
A lot of stuff sells itself as being a coming-of-age story for teenagers, or delving deep into issues teens has. This actually fits that billing, instead of superficial analysis. I'm not sure if the plot McGuffin of 'Adolescence Syndrome' is merely meant to be a device for delivering commentary, or if it's actually building up to something in-series, but it's still an interesting way of moving the story along.
What's nice is...everyone actually cares for each other, and there's no inherent cynicism. Sakuta and Mai are refreshing in how they're written. They help talk other characters through their problems. Sometimes they have to show some tough love, and sometimes they have some compassion fatigue from the character of the arc being really difficult to get through to, but they never are anything but well-meaning. The two are probably a little too perfect at times, but it's not taken over the top. Since characters with Adolescence Syndrome cases keep falling into Sakuta's lap to deal with, and they're always girls, there's some cases where Mai can become envious, but it's also frustration at herself for not being able to help out more. The interactions between the two are really cute, too. Sakuta being open about his being a teenage boy with horny thoughts, Sakuta helping Mai out through her tough spots and giving her a cheer-up when she needs one, Mai encouraging Sakuta when he's feeling down, Mai tutoring him, Mai giving him mock scoldings and pinching his cheek or passive-aggressively stomping his foot. They're a really good couple, and there's no forced drama between the two.
There's not really a single bitchy or mean character in the entire cast. The only real exception are a couple of bit characters who are more just pushy or aggressive about a cause, not actually malicious. Heck, even the bit characters are genuinely nice. Sakuta's guy friend Kunimi is a likeable guy, able to read the room at a few points and help Futaba over her own problems.
It's also kind of interesting how the characters who are involved in syndrome cases stay relatively involved in the story, at least in the sense that now they know something is on the up. Tomoe Koga is the only one who really falls off to the side, with only a few brief scenes after.
Visuals are spot on. Animation is really gorgeous overall. There's always the obvious spots where they go cheap such as dialogue facing away from the screen or holding stills for long periods of time. But overall, there's lots of really gorgeous background shots over the course of the show. The character animation is reasonably good too, though sometimes it feels oddly a little desaturated compared to the backgrounds.
Also, goddamn. The ending theme song is extremely dope. I was not expecting it to be that good. Surprisingly, it's got 111 million views on YouTube.