SakMa

"Sakuta: I love you. Mai: Are you sure? Sakuta: I lied, I love you very much."

- Sakuta confesses to Mai.

SakMa is the het ship between Sakuta Azusagawa and Mai Sakurajima from the Rascal does not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai fandom.

Canon
Sakuta and Mai are close friends who quickly entered into a relationship together. Both of them have great admiration and love for each other that have seen them through challenging scenarios when it comes to dealing with “Adolescence Syndrome”. Their relationship is defined by their calm, deadpan, and witty conversations, with the two often enjoying each other’s company. They both met for the first time when Mai appeared in front of Sakuta at his school’s library in nothing but a bunny girl outfit to see if anybody could notice her. They both soon realised he is one of very few people that can see her and Sakuta decides to aid Mai in her quest to restore her own existence. Once they succeeded they soon became a couple and helped some of their own friends and family deal with similar situations to that of Mai’s.

Although initially strangers, the two found themselves in ideal company. Their similar personalities and Sakuta’s own experience with “Adolescence Syndrome” allowed the two to grow close. Whilst Mai prides herself on being a mature and older woman, Sakuta can be slightly more silly and playful. Very often, Sakuta will make shameless and sexual remarks to Mai that manages to unnerve her usual stoic self. Even so, she is ultimately indulging of him, either playfully pinching him as a running joke that he likes pain, holding onto his arm whilst they were out shopping, and wearing her bunny outfit to “help” him study for his upcoming exams. The two grew to become more intimate and Sakuta held Mai’s hand as they rode together on a train to comfort her. Whilst sharing the same bed, Mai offered Sakuta her first kiss but he in-directly refuses as he did not agree with her reason for wanting to do so. Sakuta also played a role for Mai to return to acting, as he confronted her for denying herself something she loved in order to spite her mother. Although Mai was initially angry for his comments, she conceded that he was right and chose to return to acting.

As the two started to spend more time together Sakuta became more determined to help Mai. The two went out on a “date” where they attempted to find other people who could remember her, as she was once a famous young actress, but to no avail. He tried to console her when it became apparent that even Mai’s own mother had forgotten her as well. It soon became clear that now only Sakuta could see her. When Mai became disillusioned and did not wish to drag him further into her business Sakuta grabbed her hand and told her that he wishes to continue helping her. Such was his dedication, the two traveled to another city and stayed in a hotel together to see if they could find anyone who could remember her. When Sakuta realised that he would also forget Mai if he falls asleep he forces himself to stay awake for three consecutive days, compromising his own health with energy drinks and drugs, as well as his ability to study for upcoming exams. Much later, Sakuta would make the choice to wipe out his own existence via suicide, in order to undo the effect of Shoko’s “Adolescence Syndrome”, just to ensure Mai would not die again like she originally did in his timeline.

Sakuta would eventually be the one to restore Mai’s existence. As whilst he forgot about her, after she drugged him to fall asleep, he would have some reminiscent memories of her that comes to him as he sits for his exam. In tears, as he remembers Mai and the flood of emotions that he has for her, he sprints out of the classroom and stands in front of the entire student body to declare that he is in love with Mai. The rationale being that if enough of the people’s mass consciousness are reminded of her it would restore her existence. He soon despairs when he believes that his efforts failed but was overjoyed to suddenly hear Mai’s voice and everyone was now able to see her. The two shared an awkward conversation in front of everyone and Sakuta reaffirms his love for her.

Mai, herself, is very dedicated to Sakuta. Whilst she frequently mentions how odd it is for someone younger than herself to be this imposing on her, she nonetheless grows deep feelings for him and when they were alone in the hotel room she thanked him for not giving up on her. However, when she realised his determination for her has forced him to become sleep deprived, so he would not lose his memories of her, she secretly drugs him with sleeping pills in order to give him the desperate rest he needed, knowing full well he would forget her and lose the only person she has in the world who can see her. She strokes his head, gently, in tears at this reality, but thanks him for trying so hard for her sake. Later in the series, Mai would tell Sakuta that she loves him much more than he realises, which would eventually lead to her sacrificing her own life to avoid him getting hit by a car, as was warned by Shoko. After Sakuta restores her existence by declaring his love for her in front of everybody, she runs up and slaps him for forgetting her. Even though it is clear she has feelings for him, she wished not to immediately have a relationship with him whilst she is on a high of emotions from Sakuta’s explosive confession for her. As such, Sakuta promised to keep confessing his love everyday for a month. Eventually, after Sakuta resolved the “Adolescence Syndrome” for Tomoe Koga, and through many failed attempts via Koga’s 24 hour loop he was stuck in, he finally convinced Mai that they should start a relationship after he admits he is starting to feel she is not actually interested in him. To prove her own feelings, she gives him a surprise kiss on the cheek and agrees to become a couple.

Their relationship is very lax, and the two take much pleasure in each other’s company. Mai fondly refers to Sakuta as “my boyfriend” from time to time and the two prove to be very mature about their relationship. Sakuta often calls himself the happiest man in the world because of Mai. They both have lunch together in an empty classroom at their school and Mai also tends to stay over at Sakuta’s apartment where she forms a close bond with his sister, Kaede. However, they also have to deal with Mai’s career as an actress which puts a strain on their relationship, as Mai can sometimes be away for filming, which leaves her feeling guilty. Sakuta was even worried that she would be forced to break up with him but she reassures him that will not happen. Instead, they are forced to date in secret. However, because of these restrictions, Mai could not help but feel upset when she found out Shoko helped Sakuta overcome the devastation of Kaede losing her memories of the last two years, feeling she had let him down for not being there for him.

A sign of how strong their relationship is can be seen in how they deal with Sakuta’s numerous relationships with other women. Sakuta never contemplates cheating on Mai, despite his past feelings for Shoko, and strictly sees Mai as his girlfriend. Whilst Mai, herself, trusts Sakuta to be around other women even though she can be annoyed from time to time. She was even willing to indulge him having a fake relationship with Koga. Nonetheless, they have both displayed jealousy, such as Mai when Shoko made an unannounced arrival at Sakuta’s apartment, and when Mai revealed that she will be in a kissing scene for one of her shoots Sakuta was notably upset at this before it was revealed she will not be the one doing the kissing. Mai tends to struggle with Sakuta’s relationship with Shoko, as whilst she appreciates how much she has helped him she also finds herself feeling jealous, and Sakuta, himself, feels guilty. When both Sakuta and Koga were stuck in a 24 hour loop because of Koga’s “Adolescence Syndrome”, that came about because of her feelings for Sakuta, he firmly told her that he only loves Mai and forced her to accept that fact.

Mai would become distraught at the revelation that Sakuta will die on Christmas Eve, according to Shoko, and wishes to take him far away, just the two of them, to avoid the possibility of his death. She ultimately cries in his arms as Sakuta intends to let himself die for Shoko’s sake. Here, Sakuta makes it clear to Mai that no matter what she does to try and save him, and to allow Shoko to die in the process, he could never possibly hate her because he loves her too much. When Mai chooses to save Sakuta by pushing him out of the way of the oncoming car and takes the blow instead, allowing both Shoko and Sakuta to live at the expense of her own life, he falls into a pit of deep despair at losing her and can barely function at the loss of Mai. Ultimately, he accepts Shoko’s offer to go back in time to change the past. When he reunited with her in the past he became overwhelmed and cried at seeing her. In order to finally unravel Shoko’s multiple-timeline effect, both Mai and Sakuta agree to erase themselves from existence, along with their own timeline. Before they are erased they hold hands and cuddle each other before promising to find one another and fall in love all over again in the original timeline. This promise would become fulfilled, as Sakuta would meet Mai during her “Adolescence Syndrome” and follow near identical events to that of the other timelines, this time with Sakuta, Mai and Shoko all living.

Quotes
"Something important came back to mind… The memories of someone I cherished have returned. From here on, I must face the atmosphere… she always treated me as the younger one and teased me. She blew up whenever she tried sexy talk, and her face would get completely red. She was so obstinate and put up a front, trying to hide those mistakes. Selfish, a queen, whimsical and yet surprisingly naive. A senpai one year older than me… I won’t let people ignore her anymore. I won’t let people look and pretend not to. I’ll engrave her into everyone’s memory so much they won’t be able to!"

- Sakuta remembers Mai.

"Sakuta: What are you doing? Mai: Watching Sakuta's face. Sakuta: Well, I know you are, but… Mai: Watching my boyfriend's face."

- Mai and Sakuta lay next to each other.

"Mai: It’s just forgetting everything, and then starting over from the beginning again. Sakuta: You’re right. That’s all there is to it. Mai: From there, I’ll meet you once again. Sakuta: Yup. Mai: And fall in love with you once again. Sakuta: Yup. Mai: And you’ll confess your love to me once again. Sakuta I’ll make sure to find you again, Mai-san. Mai: When you do, we’ll become happy together. Sakuta I promise you."

- Sakuta and Mai accept their fate and promise to find each other again.

Fanon
SakMa is a very popular pairing in the series and is one of the most popular pairings in the entire anime community. Such is their popularity, AniTrendz named SakMa as the couple ship of the year in 2019. Their primary rival is the ship between Sakuta and Shoko.

Their popularity stems from their characters being well received by fans and their relationship being presented in a clear and direct way. A contrast to other pairings in anime that normally take a long time to make headway in their relationship.

Furthermore, their positive relationship with each other, that focuses on a calm and mature approach to issues, and not having any unnecessary drama, is also seen as refreshing. The couple still retain some familiar traits of other anime couples, such as Mai’s tsundere personality, but this is kept minimal.

Trivia

 * Whilst in the light novels both Sakuta and Mai have kissed on numerous occasions, in the anime and film they have yet to do so.