***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl. Reader discretion is advised.***
As a reminder: THIS IS NOT A REVIEW. Films and other posts under the Out and About: Eigakan label are watched in Japanese with NO English subtitles. Therefore, misinterpretations and misunderstandings are possible. With that said:
I just got out of Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl…
Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl
And to sum it up in as few words as I can: I liked it quite a bit.
For a more detailed background between the Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl (Aobuta) series and myself, might I suggest checking out my review of the show.
However, you only really need to know three things:
- Aobuta was reminiscent of, as well as far superior to, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
- It was one of the best anime to come out of 2018 (I ranked it second on my Top 20 Anime of 2018 list)
- It’s – and by that, I mean this – follow up movie had me curious
Given the supernatural nature of the Aobuta story, I went into this film fully expecting to struggle with the Japanese. To my genuine surprise, although my understanding of this movie was by no means perfect, I think I fared rather well. With that said, here is a brief synopsis of Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl:
Sakuta Azusagawa reconnected with his former crush, Shoko Makinohara. While this did put a strain on Sakuta’s relationship with his girlfriend, Mai Sakurajima, this wasn’t an instance of rekindling an old romance.
With his whole being, Sakuta loves Mai more than anything, but due to his nature, he isn’t the sort of person who can ignore someone who might need help, especially when said person is suffering from Adolescence Syndrome (a.k.a., weird s@#$ happening to young people).
However, even good intentions come at a cost.
And that’s where I will cut this synopsis off.
I’ll admit, my summary of this film was bare bones. Naturally, part of the reason has to do with me missing a few key details. Nevertheless, I have enough confidence to claim I understood the overall gist of this story. As such, I’m leaving things vague because remembering my experience with the Aobuta anime, I know not to give too much away.
The show is far more fascinating the less you know at the start. The movie is no different.
In lew of story details, I will confirm that this was, one-hundred percent, a film.
Odyssey, what?
What I’m trying to say is, I get why this story was made into a movie instead of a second season to the anime. This particular narrative’s tone was significantly different than what was in the show; there was a lot more at risk.
Don’t get me wrong, both the movie and the anime were apples from the same tree. The two were not unrecognizable to one another. Be that as it may, the events which occurred in this film were much, much bigger.
Final Thoughts
To wrap this up: Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl. But despite that, I know there were crucial details I missed, and my gut is telling me once I fill in those gaps, I may just come to like this movie even more.
But you know what? We will just have to wait and see.
Thank you all so much for reading. Please comment down below if you have anything to say —positively or negatively — about this post. Also, if you have seen the film, I would love to hear your thoughts.
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