This past fall’s Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai was one of the season’s best. On the surface, it’s not exactly the most original: it revolves around a male teenage lead who ends up helping a diverse group of young women with their various supernatural problems. But with its witty dialogue and a cast of enjoyable characters, the anime manages to stand on its own quite nicely. The only real problem it has as a story is that its not complete–one recurring character and her problems are left unexplained and unsolved. Enter new theatrical film Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl.
[This article contains spoilers for both Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai and Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl.]
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Continuing on immediately after the end of the TV anime, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl focuses on the mystery surrounding Shoko Makinohara–or rather, the two girls that share that name. The older of the Shokos has been a vital part of Sakuta’s life. Whenever he’s at his lowest point emotionally, she seems to appear from nowhere to support him. And then, the moment she is no longer needed, she just disappears without a trace.
The younger of the Shokos is a middle schooler who randomly comes over to play with Sakuta’s cat. She seems to know nothing of the older Shoko but nonetheless appears and disappears much like her older counterpart–though, as it turns out, not for the same reasons.
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The younger Shoko is suffering from a congenital heart defect. This means she has been in and out of the hospital her whole life–and is not supposed to live past middle school. Her only hope is a heart transplant. However, she’s not likely to get one before her time is up.
Even in elementary school, Shoko was aware that she was going to die in a few, short years. The hopelessness of the situation became clear when she was told in class to write a dream timeline for her life in the future. While other kids dreamed of the future, she was unable to–knowing she would never go to high school, get a job, fall in love, and get married. This event is deeply connected with her Adolescence Syndrome. Even now she still has this worksheet with her. While Shoko was never able to write anything on it detailing her hopes past her expected death, she now has things she dreams of doing–things that correspond with what the older Shoko has been doing.
Image source: アニプレックス YouTube
This is, of course, because the younger and older Shokos are the same person. And while Sakuta and his girlfriend Mai at first believe that the older Shoko is just a projection of the younger one, the truth is far more complex. She is not some delusion made flesh, she is the actual Shoko from the future.
The older Shoko is a being defined by guilt. While the younger Shoko feels guilty for being alive–believing her life and early death is causing nothing but suffering to her parents–the older one feels guilt for surviving. After all, she did, in fact, survive past middle school. She got a transplant at the last moment and continued to live on. And it doesn’t take much for Sakuta to guess how she got one: It’s his heart within Shoko’s chest.
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And here’s where we get the main dilemma of the film. The older Shoko knows when and how Sakuta is set to die: however, she is dead set against letting it happen. Sakuta knows that his death can save Shoko–both the person who always helped him in his darkest hours and the innocent girl with a hopeless existence–but isn’t sure of the right path. Meanwhile, Mai is very much against Sakuta’s death and would rather die in his place than live on alone.
So when it comes down to it, it’s a simple no-win situation with a ticking clock. One of the three, Shoko, Sakuta, or Mai is going to die. The only question is who.
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The film spends the back half of its runtime exploring this dilemma to its fullest. The older Shoko is the result of a world without Sakuta. Thus everything we learn about and her goals expands the reality of that timeline. But, as this is a film with time travel at its core, we also get an extended look into a world without Mai. This makes the stakes both emotional and concrete. It’s not something hypothetical. It’s something both we and Sakuta have seen with our own eyes.
Throughout his trials and tribulations, Sakuta is aided at some point or another by each of the girls he helped save in the TV series. Each has had a permanent impact on his life and so they are able to guide him–keeping him going when all seems lost. Without his previous adventures and relationships, he built over the course of them, Sakuta would succumb to despair. But with them all there to catch him when he stumbles, he has a real hope of finding something better.
Seeing these continued relationships in action gives emotional power to the story, making this film feel like the climax to the whole story–while at the same time giving even more importance to what came before.
Image source: アニプレックス YouTube
Of course, all the drama of the film would be undercut if, in the end, there was a simple quick fix to make a happy ending. And while a fourth option is found, it is hardly one without massive personal sacrifice. In fact, it delivers nothing in the way of guarantees that it will create a better future at all.
In the end, Sakuta and Mai decide to bet on destiny. They chose to believe that even with major changes to their personal timeline, they will still find each other again–no matter the reality. Thus, the film’s final message is one of hope: If you do what you can and trust the rest to work out as it should, you might just be rewarded. It’s a moral that makes for a satisfying ending–for both the film itself and all the stories that have come before.
Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl was released in Japanese theaters on June 15, 2019. It will premiere in the United States at Anime Expo 2019.
Top image source: アニメ「青春ブタ野郎」シリーズ公式 on Twitter
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Nice review. I just hope in the last scene of the film, Sakuta and Mai will meet. I don’t want the film to end guessing when they will see each other.
why movie