(CR) Seishun Buta Yarou Series

[RDNexus]

Originally Posted by notmyself3045

LN reader here. Keep watching and u'll realize that this is not even close to a typical harem series lmao In fact, it isnt even a harem series :3

What's your opinion of this Ep01?

[BWTraveller]

I just hope something happens to that girlfriend. Seriously I hate these types and I always find myself just wanting something to happen so they gain a little appreciation of how things really are and what jerks they are.

[Jaden]

Not a fan. It seems like an interesting story, but there's so little going on visually that it's almost like listening to a radio drama.

[Lex79]

No stupid misunderstandings. Mai is not a violent tsundere and has nice interactions with Sakuta. Sakuta isn't your average MC who cannot even talk to a girl. While he clearly feels attracted to her, their relationship doesn't seem too one sided.
I'm liking it.

[Applehell]

The premise of this pretty interesting, but I'm not seeing the "uniqueness" in the MC and cast in general that some have mentioned. The "deadpan snarker know-it-all" type that Sakuta is as common nowadays as your loser otaku in LNs. I'm also not a fan off he comes off a bit pretentious in first half of the episode, but perhaps that is intentional. Mai similarly doesn't strike as anything out of ordinary for a kuudere and it's not as if LNs are completely dominated by tsunderes now as they were in 90s and 2000s. That aside this show strikes me as more supernatural Oregiaru which could be fun.

Originally Posted by notmyself3045

LN reader here. Keep watching and u'll realize that this is not even close to a typical harem series lmao In fact, it isnt even a harem series :3

While it may not be a harem in a romantic sense, but it still has a main cast that nearly comprised by females outside the MC. There is an implication those girls lives are gonna end up roving around him as with Sakuta acting as a problem solver as most male MC in his situation are. It will be largely him who interacts with girls with subtle shiptease moments and dialogue. At least for moment this feel like it will have atmosphere of school harem series without being one which can be even more annoying had been one just straight up. Now if the story is will be solely focused on Mai's Adolescence Syndrome than it won't be so bad, but the other girls in the OP are worrisome.

[SeaDoor]

I'll admit that the first time Mai spoke wearing the bunny costume I was expecting to hear Aya Hirano.

[OneandOnly]

Character designs reminds me of oregairu's first season.

Sakuta's comeback against is buddy's girlfriend was awesome.

Those sounds he made while mai was checking his scars was lol.

Okay this caught my attention. This will be this season's darkhorse for sure.

[Requiem-x]

Well, isn't this a surprise! Despite having a title screaming "popcorn trash" this looks like it could be a pretty good story that even touches upon media, information and how it affects people, which actually reminds me of Gatchaman Crowds, and that is a very good thing to be reminded of. We probably won't get space joker in this one, though Oh well, a decent MC and a really nice girl will have to do.

Man, I'm kind of ashamed to say I was actually shocked at the end of the episode when the it finally clicked why Sakuta was writing to himself. What a bad memory

Originally Posted by notmyself3045

LN reader here. Keep watching and u'll realize that this is not even close to a typical harem series lmao In fact, it isnt even a harem series :3

Would it be more along the lines of TWGOK? Because that's the impression I got by the end of the episode. Well, this thread's title also helped

[TinyRedLeaf]

After a number of disappointments from my sampling of this season's crop of shows, I was inexplicably intrigued almost right away from within the first few minutes of Seishun Buta Yarou.

Like others, my first thought was of Suzumiya Haruhi, no thanks of course to the bunny girl costume. But it was at that moment with Futaba that something clicked, and I thought, hey, the story is playing with something potentially insightful.

At that point, I found myself thinking of Your Name., and soon after I finished the episode, I gave into temptation, and checked out the manga.

And colour me pleasantly surprised. My instincts were right. The story turned out more or less the way I anticipated: It plays, on the one hand, with a slightly wonky but not implausible pop-culture interpretation of quantum mechanics (ala Haruhi), and on the other hand, with a melancholic satire on Japanese social dynamics.

I think what really held me to the first episode was the obvious chemistry between Sakurajima Mai and Azusagawa Sakuta right from the get-go. As someone else observed, it's very reminiscent of the relationship between Senjougahara and Araragi from the Monogatari series. But it's only a parallel at best — and I won't say why, because it'll be spoilerish.

Suffice to say, I wasn't wrong to think of Your Name.

Looking forward to how much more from the light novels the anime would draw from, compared to the manga, which was only 21 chapters long. The first episode alone covered about six chapters of the manga, which suggests that there'll be a lot more from the novels that gets adapted.

There's a good chance this will turn out to be the anime of the season for me.

[Stark700]

Episode 2

That Rio girl is kinda weird. Reminds me the type of character that can be very observant.

Looks like the episode already have Sakuta and Mai going out on a date. There's still a lot of social commentary in the show but Mai can show more emotions than I had thought.

Their relationship feels like fate bringing the two together. Their little bits of bickering is something I find rather amusing. Also, Sakuta's sister is starting to really remind me of Komachi from Oregairu.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Stark700

That Rio girl is kinda weird. Reminds me the type of character that can be very observant.

It occurs to me that Rio Futaba is to Seishun Buta Yarou what Hanekawa Tsubasa was to the Monogatari series: The super-intelligent girl who serves as a confidante and possible love interest to the main character. But unlike Tsubasa, who was a benefactor to Araragi, in Sakuta's case, the benefactor in his time of greatest need was another mysterious girl, the previously mentioned Makinohara Shoko.

Meanwhile, Mai is reminding me more and more of Hitagi.

And as usual, I loved the easy-going chemistry between Mai and Sakuta. They're such an endearing couple, it's hard not to 'ship them together. It's a pity, though, that the episode felt a bit rushed. The train scene, for example, could have used a longer moment of silence, to allow the deepening mystery to sink in. It would also have served to highlight the weight of Sakuta's reassurances to the increasingly anxious Mai.

[Haak]

Damn, I haven't seen this much fantastic back and forth between a pairing since Spice & Wolf. The chemistry between these two really puts a smile on my face. I wonder if this show would've been even better if they took the foot off the pedal at times but I'm not in slightest disappointing with what I'm watching right now. Great stuff.

[nojay]

Second episode, the two MCs are sleeping together in the same bed even. This isn't your average rom-com.

[Wandering Soul]

The banter between Sakuta and Mai has been great. It has actually been pretty enjoyable to hear them have an exchange.

[Frontier]

I can totally see how what happened to Mai would turn her off her job. I mean, she was basically a little girl and they had her dress like a gravure idol, and her mom went ahead with it against her wishes. But that's probably the unfortunate reality for a lot of child stars in Japan .

I did appreciate that Mai apologized for slapping Sakuta, even though it was because he was prying into a subject he really had no business looking into (which made it far more justifiable then the kind of violence we usually see from girls in anime). And then right after she went ahead and helped Sakuta out by talking the reporter out of using the picture of Sakuta's scars by offering up a scoop about herself. She may not think of herself as one but she's a pretty solid Senpai, and a good person to boot .

So Sakuta was helped during Kaede's Adolescent Syndrome ordeal by an older high school girl who became his first love, and apparently never existed in the first place. I guess that also confirms he has a thing for older women .

I don't think I've ever seen a girl let someone kick their butt just to make up for wrongfully hitting a guy. And then the guy actually does it. And then a policeman shows up .

It seems Mai definitely got her good looks from her mother, even if she doesn't seem like a very good one .

Man, I don't know if it's because this is only one-cour, they're moving fast through the novel material, or what but we've got hand-holding, Mai dropping the honorific, our leads on a date, and even sleeping in the same bed all in the second episode (with a tease of a kiss). Such fast relationship development .

Seeing Mai in casual wear was nice. Whether it's a bunny girl outfit, school uniform, or regular clothes, she looks beautiful, as one would expect from a famous actress .

The Ending was nice. The song was pleasant and the scenery of Mai walking along the beach and then seeing Sakuta at the end worked pretty well visually in my opinion. I'm pretty sure the entire female cast is listed as singing the Ending, so I'm guessing we might see an Amagami/Monogatari thing where the Ending animation and vocals change depending on who the focus girl might be .

[Applehell]

Eh, I'm a bit confused about one thing. Early on when Mai's existence was still under the 4 day limit wasn't the reporter talking to her then right? However during the 2nd half the reporter couldn't perceive Mai at all. Does this mean I was mistaken about the time frame of first conversation?

Other than that this 2nd episode was quite good. It avoid the stuff I didn't like about the first one and the narrative seems committed to Sakuta and Mai for the time being. Which also good becasue their personality types work really well together and this episode did great bonding the two while building the budding romance.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Frontier

Man, I don't know if it's because this is only one-cour, they're moving fast through the novel material

I agree. The pace should have been slower, to better allow the drama and tension to sink in. But it is what it is, and what we've got isn't that bad, so it's still good, in my view.

As for the novel(s), it's my understanding that Mai is the focal character of the first out of nine volumes so, as the ED suggests, other girls — including science nerd, Rio Futaba and Sakuta's sister, Kaede — will take centrestage in later episodes.

Some material was cut from the anime adaptation, but not enough for it be a significant omission. Moreover, I would say that production quality has been well above-par, especially in the background animation. Do take a closer look at both episodes, and you'd notice a surprising amount of details in movement and art that's quite unusual for TV anime, where corners are often cut to meet deadlines.

It appears that the first few episodes had already been piloted beforehand — so the crew probably had more time to spend on post-production clean-up, resulting in the superior quality I would usually associate with Kyoto Animation, rather than A-1 Pictures.

[IceHism]

I love that banter and how fast the relationship moves.

Great episode 2. Kind of confused on who gets to remember her and stuff tho.

[Applehell]

Now that I think about, why did the carrot stop existing when Mai held it but not Sakuta?

It's rather odd inconsistency that surprisingly nobody mentions or thinks about.

[thundrakkon]

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Originally Posted by Frontier

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Actually, I think that Shoko did exist, but she suffered under a similar fate as Mai. As a consequence, I think she was erased from existence. We are seeing similar effects to Mai right now, such as her mom's cellphone not registering her name.

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Originally Posted by Applehell

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I think this is a matter of will and consciousness. A carrot does not have a will of its own. A human has his or her own will and consciousness. The whole issue was referred to the consciousness of Mai wanting to disappear at first, so in that regards, it is her human will that is causing her problems. In that same regards, Sakuta has his own will, so he wouldn't disappear in front of other people if Mai held on to him. Therefore, the carrot, since it doesn't have its own will, will disappear with Mai, similar to how Mai's clothing also cannot be seen by others.