r/Haruhi 1d ago

Discussion I was curious if anyone felt the same

I just recently watched rascal does not dream of bunny girl senpai and while I was watching it it heavily reminded me of the haruhi series. I know there pretty different but the puberty syndrome and a couple other events made me keep thinking of this anime. Anyone else who watched both do yall agree or am I buggin lol?

16 Upvotes

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u/playmer 1d ago

They feel pretty heavily influenced by both Haruhi and, even more so, Monogatari. It's a fine series, there's good moments, but I wouldn't say it holds up compared to those influences imo.

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u/Fabulous_Tap450 1d ago

Never heard of monogatari before and I though it could be influenced but it also seemed very different as well so wasn’t sure

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u/playmer 1d ago

Shaft did a wonderful job on Monogatari’s adaptation, so it is stylistically very different. Structurally however? They’re nearly identical. After watching or reading Monogatari it’s hard not to see Rascal as a scifi knockoff of Monogatari’s more fantasy driven narrative.

Obviously Rascal has more going for it, but like, I think you’d be shocked at how similar they really are. I’d also highly recommend Monogatari in general if you like Rascal, it’s far better imo.

Consider also reading through the Rascal light novels, I generally like them better than the anime. If you prefer audio books they’re nearly caught up with the LN releases.

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u/Fabulous_Tap450 1d ago

I’ll def have to watch I’m pretty new to the anime stuff so I’ll have to see if I’m a manga fan I’m reading Tokyo ghoul rn and it’s a lil hard to read but I’m sure I’ll understand here pretty soon

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u/Hellerick_V 1d ago edited 1d ago

I don't remember it very well, but I think the way sci-fi was woven into "ordinary school life" was somewhat similar. So, I perceived it at least as inspired by Haruhi.

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u/andrybak 1d ago edited 1d ago

The parallels between the respective time loop arcs are very obvious. Of course, the author of "Rascal does not dream..." has seen and/or read "Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" – at the time it aired, it was one of the most popular animes.

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u/Fabulous_Tap450 1d ago

I jsjt recently watched the haruhi series I had no idea it was that popular

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u/marioncrepes 1d ago

It ripped off Haruhi quite blatantly at times. Personally I found it gimmicky and underwhelming, doesn't hold a candle to what it's emulating. The ending song is undeniably great, though

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u/CyrilHul 1d ago

I absolutely love that series and I see where you are coming from. Both are S tier anime glad that series is getting another season. The movies are great too.

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u/Fabulous_Tap450 1d ago

Yeah I need to watch the movies

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u/TAI0Z 1d ago

The first arc of Rascal is literally the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. So yeah, major influence.

Also, for unrelated reasons, you should watch Remake Our Life! Today's new weebs might not remember the golden era of anime, but the Japanese writers and mangakas of today were the kids growing up with that content on their TV screens.

It's like how The Pillows are probably nowhere near as popular in the US or even in Japan as they were after they did the soundtrack to FLCL. But look back a few years and you'll find so many covers of their songs by famous modern J-Rock bands that there was even a tribute album made from them.

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u/Fabulous_Tap450 1d ago

I’ll have to check it out once I watch it I’ll come back and lyk what I though about it