The Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai anime saw a resurgence following Season 1’s conclusion in December 2018. Its continued popularity has led some to assume the production of a second season is more a matter of ‘when’ than ‘if’.
With most hypothesizing that production is just waiting for author Hajime Kamoshida to release Volume 12 of the light novel, speculation suggested there was definitely more story to tell. And they were right! Aniplex confirmed at Online Fest 2022 that a sequel was coming. Here’s how Season 1 of the Bunny Girl Senpai anime concluded — and what the unfolding events may spell for the cast moving forward.
Bunny Girl Senpai’s Finale: A Tale of Two Kaedes
Titled “The Dawn After an Endless Night,” the finale begins with the aftermath of Kaede recovering her memories from two years ago and reverting back to the personality she had before her dissociative disorder manifested. While this is undoubtedly a good turn of events, signaling Kaede’s recovery from her previous trauma, it leaves a bittersweet taste in the mouth of most viewers, as the return of her old memories comes at the cost of all those she’d obtained since the amnesia started.
Effectively, the Kaede whom fans learned to love throughout the course of Bunny Girl Senpai was a personality created as a defense against her trauma. Thanks to the help of Mai and her big brother, this side of Kaede has overcome her past and no longer needs to exist.
This transformation leaves Kaede’s father in joyful tears at her bedside, but Sakuta runs out of the hospital and breaks down in tears of frustration, unable to accept the Kaede he’d cared for had gone before she’d managed to visit school in the daytime. As he collapses in the street, his chest wound reopens. With everything seemingly going wrong at once, he’s sheltered from the rain by the sudden reappearance of Shoko with an umbrella.
The Return of Shoko Makinohara in Bunny Girl Senpai
Little more is revealed about Shoko’s situation or her relation to Sakuta’s scar opening up in the Bunny Girl Senpai finale (those secrets are reserved for the Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl film, released in 2019). Her role here is simply to help Sakuta overcome his depressed state of mind — similar to how he does for others.
To accomplish this, Shoko takes Sakuta home and while he lies sorrowfully in the bath, she begins reading excerpts from Kaede’s diary. This provides fans with an emotional recap of Kaede’s story arc narrated from her own perspective — and reveals that she knew he would end up blaming himself if she were to vanish. As a result, the excerpts serve to reassure Sakuta that Kaede loved him, and that the goals she’d set were only intended to leave him with happy memories if she were to vanish.
After comforting Sakuta, Shoko disappears from the scene once more, leaving only a note in her place saying she’d gone home. As no one besides Sakuta had seen her again, Rio suggests she was a figment of his imagination that exists to comfort him when he feels alone. This theory does fit with certain aspects of the story so far, but also implies that Sakuta is writing notes to himself in order to justify Shoko’s visits. These notes can be seen by others, as shown by the finale’s conclusion with Mai temporarily returning from filming.
A Rascal’s Reunion Under the Stars
Still reeling from the events surrounding Kaede, Sakuta calls to inform Mai, who’s been away filming in Kanazawa, about what’s happened. She returns home unannounced to support him through the hardships he’s facing, but after reading the note left by Shoko, storms away and returns to the film set.
Initially this seems like another sad twist for Bunny Girl Senpai’s protagonist, but in reality this brief conflict is designed to set up the finale’s positive climax, whereby a little encouragement from Nodoka sends Sakuta pursuing Mai all the way to the film set. Once there, the two share a loving scene together at a shrine, both using the same coat for warmth while apologizing under the starry sky. It’s a heartwarming conclusion to a very emotional finale that brings Sakuta and Mai’s relationship even closer, and sets the stakes even higher for future events.
For those who enjoyed watching Season 1 of Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, the canonical film Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl is a must-see. It explores the relationship between Sakuta and Shoko in greater depth, shining light on some of the main mysteries set up during Season 1 of the anime.
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