A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School

A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School (妖怪学校の先生はじめました!) is a 26 episode comedy series based on the manga of the same name by Tanaka Mai.  The series aired between the Fall of 2024 and the Winter of 2025.

     Abe Haruaki dreams of becoming a teacher, but his first experience as one leaves him less than encouraged.  Haruaki is easily intimidated and when attempts to scold delinquent students backfires he quits teaching.  He is encouraged to try again, this time at a school on a remote island.  Uneasy about the position, he is warmly welcomed by the administrator.  This new assignment isn't exactly what he expected it to be.  He has been contracted to be the only human at a school exclusively for yokai around the nation.  The school its self is located on an isolated island that is only populated by yokai as well.  Being a human among monsters is the least of his worries.  His class has zero respect for him, largely due to his flighty nature and concerning passion for women/girls uniforms.

    Haruaki decides to continue his job, even in the face of unusual circumstances and mortal danger.  As his tenure proceeds he begins to earn the respect of his rowdy class, often selflessly endangering himself to help them.  The reason he was chosen for this position is due to his paternal lineage.  He is the descendant of a powerful  Heian era onmyouji, Abe no Seimei.  He possess his ancestors ability to dispel yokai but he is unable to control that ability.  The schools administrators have knowingly brought a dangerous person in their midst in hopes of being able to keep track of him and prevent anything problematic from happening.  Fortunately for them, Haruaki is lovable, gullible and recklessly passive.

 

    Over all this was an amusing series that didn't fall into repetitive patterns.  The cast of goofy characters ws enjoyable and covered a wide breadth of yokai, complete with brief descriptions.   A lot of the charm with the series is the frequent shifting of character design to enhance the comedy.  In reality there isn't much of an over arching story that unfolds.  Over the course of the series you learn about the backgrounds and motivations for a number of the students, some of the other teachers and of course Haruaki.  It didn't dawn on my until I was done watching it but this is pretty much a yokai spin on Great Teacher Onizuka.  I did enjoy the series and was happy when it got extended into a second cour.  Halfway through the second cour I started to lose interest in the shows apparent meandering but was snapped back in when the final half dozen episodes coalesced into a plot.

    This was a fun and hectic comedy that just so happened to use the absurd backdrop of an all yokai school too add some extra flavour to its delivery.   Over the decades I have come to really appreciate manzai style comedy and this series offers that in excess.  Haruaki is the classic kind hearted idiot.  A lot of his students are serious and ruthless in their interactions with him.  Almost all of the cast being yokai does well to help explain away the absurdity throughout the show.  There was one episode in the second cour though that almost made me quit the series due its rather blatant and unfortunate racism towards people of Chinese decent.  It was...alarming, something one would expect from an older anime.  Its unfortunate that publishers and production teams are still accepting of that type of sentiment.

The series is available on Crunchyroll.

A Retrospective on Romance Anime & Manga - Part 5

The fifth edition of the retrospective is here!  Over the five submissions so far we have covered 140 titles.  For quicker navigation, here is the home of the first retrospective, then the home of the second retrospective, the home of the third retrospective and the home of the fourth retrospective.

 

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really Really Really REALLY Love You

    Rintaro, after being rejected by 100 girls, prays at a local shrine out of desperation to finally find love.  The shrines god grants him that wish, but tells him that a mistake was made at the time of his birth and he will have 100 women fall in love with him.  He has to make sure that he loves all of them, or else those he can not love will die prematurely.  Undaunted by the prospects and logistics, he surges forward in his new high school life, looking for love in all of the places.

    Its hard to tell whether this is a joke, a sad fantasy or a combination of both.  The story takes the idea of a dating sim game and bypassing all of the complications with choosing one by choosing all of them equally.  Aside from the absurdity of the situation, the crazy rampant fan service and the blithe response to Rintaro's goal, the series is rather amusing.  At this time there is only one season and I am not certain I will have any interest in watching the continuation of it when it comes out.

365 Days to the Wedding

    Two awkward employees at a travel agency concoct a plan to have a fake marriage in order to avoid being transferred to a branch office opening in Anchorage Alaska.  As they struggle to convince themselves that their ruse is working they slowly develop feelings for each other.  They are both content living solitary lives and struggle to understand what the other person is really thinking, all while continuing to do more to convince everyone around them they are really a couple.

    This is a cute adult office romance that focuses on two socially inept hermits.  Knowing they will eventually become a real couple isn't hard to recognize, but the journey is filled with fun moments and some good side stories that give a pretty well fleshed out story, though it did end rather abruptly...still worth the watch.

A Condition Called Love 

     Hotaru doesn't understand the first thing about romance.  When one of the hottest guys in school, Hananoi asks her to go out with him, she doesn't know how to respond.  His persistence borders on concerning as he tries to persuade her to give him a chance, feeling she may discover romance when putting it to the test.  Recognizing his persistence she agrees to a tial run relationship with him, willing to see if anything sparks for her as they spend time together.

    While initially problematic, particularly with how possessive and dangerous Hananoi was, the story ended up being a rather sweet tale of burgeoning love.  This was a romance that strayed from many of the more standard character types.  Hotaru is an nontraditional female lead, given her plain and unassuming persona.  She strives to not make any waves around her, fearing for reprisals.  While in elementary school she had a traumatic fall out with her best friend over misunderstandings about a classmate.  Hananoi though looks like some visual kei guy even though his personality is that of the loner otaku stalker.  There is a fare amount of drama, enough to over whelm the lighter elements of the story.

Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian

    Alisa is a half Japanese, half Russian high school student who harbors hidden feelings for the boy she sits next to in class, Masachika.  The carries herself with a stern tsundere-like demeanor and hides her true feelings from him by hitting on him in Russian.  Unknown to her, Masachika understands whats she saying, due to spending a lot of time as a young boy playing with a girl of Russian decent.  He struggles with what her intentions are when she says things to him or about him in Russian and is hesitant to take anything at face value.

    Initially I misunderstood the premise that Masachika did not understand her and worried the plot device would grow weary quickly.  The idea that he does understand her adds a satisfying layer of enjoyment out of their interactions.  While the story was a lot of fun at first about hald way through the first season its tone shifts in a weird way.  Or more precisly it begins to focus on a plot line that consumes more of the stories attention than it should and greatly detracts from the growing closeness of the two main characters.

The Apothecary Diaries

    Maomao, the daughter of a lowly apothecary, who grew up hanging out in a brothel, finds herself kidnapped and forced into contracted servitude in the Imperial palace.  Her desire to remain inconspicuous is undone by her curiosity and deep knowledge about poison and physiology.  She is picked out by the highers eunuch in the rear palace, reserved for the concubines, to work for one of the top four mistresses.  Maomao's abilities to resist poison place her in the role of food tester while her intilect and curiosity continues to bring her into the eunuchs favor, among the thick intrigue of palace life.

    The romance for this show is very very subdued, almost imperceptible.  The show is primarily a mystery series sprinkled with a bit of comedy and drama.  Through out all of it there is a very very slow simmering romance between Maomao and the eunuch Jinshi.  But...given his attitude and appearance is he really a eunuch?  Beyond that, this was a well an interesting story, even if the romance was almost absent.  It is a good story in the end with a well crafted pay off and a look to the continuing story were we should see more romance.

Astro Note 

    Takumi is an out of work chef who replies to a help wanted ad for a promising restaurant.  Instead he find the place to be a run down share house.  He is about to leave when he hears a commotion and comes to find its manager dangling precariously from the roof.  After using him to break her fall, Mira apologizes to him for the misleading help wanted ad.  Through the urging of the houses odd borders and his sudden love for the beautiful young woman, Takumi agrees to take the job.  Little does he or anyone else know Mira is an alien princess who has come to Earth to find a lost item that will allow her to ascend the thrown for his world and become its queen.

    This fantastic original series takes a lot of cue's from Maison Ikkoku with plenty of nods to other classic anime from a variety of genres.  This well crafted character driven story shows that sometimes love is all you need to find a purpose in your life.  It blends romance, comedy, slice of life, sci-fi and mecha seamlessly into a story that never disappoints.

Blue Box

    Taiki, a freshman on the badminton team, has his eyes on a second years student and star of the girls basketball team, Chinatsu.  WHen she ends up moving in with his family, so she can continue her fantastic sports career instead of leaving the country with her family, the boy struggles with his sudden proximity to her.  Now he has to fret over if he has the courage to tell her how he feels about her.

    I should have liked this, given how close it is in theme to my original romance love, Suzuka, but its struggles under the lack of depth in its primary characters.  It is nice in that is refuses to fall into the less noble tropes found in shonen love stories but suffers from the lack of personality. 

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 

    Tomozaki is a social outcast gamer nerd who also happens to be the top ranked player in Japan for...essentially Smash Brothers.  The second ranked player asks to meet him IRL and hes floored to learn its one of his classes popular girls, Hinami.  At first revolted that her nemesis is a loser from school, she decides to turn his obsessive perfectionist approach to the game into a tool to improve his social standing.  She presents his life as a game to play and sets goals for him to achieve.  Not wanting to shirk the challenge, he faces her tasks head on, willing to improve himself and his lot in life.

    The series started out as a boring/rote dating sim with a loser as the MC, but turned into an interesting and enjoyable realistic drama with a wide cast of characters.  The characters, while largely one dimensional in their archetypes, did present themselves as an enjoyable cast.  While skepticism and experience can lend the viewer to easily recognize the end of the series in terms of partnering, the course of the story does a really good job of putting anything up as a possibility.  The characters are more realistic in their mannerisms and inter personal relationships than you would typically find in this style of romance, which added to the enjoyment of the story as it evolved.

Dan Da Dan

    Momo is a flashy gyaru who just wants to find a love like the famous strong man actor Takakura Ken.  After getting dumped by her good for nothing boyfriend she ends up helping an otaku from being bullied...only because she wants to fight someone.  The otaku misunderstands her intentions and an argument ensues.  He tries to bridge the gap with her by talking about the occult.  He believes in alien invaders and shes the granddaughter of a spirit medium.  They change the other to a test of faith with results in the boy being possessed and Momo feeling guilt about it, literally responsible for saving him with awakened psychic abilities.  Now they fight a batch of weird forces while they work to remove the curse on a boy...whose name is Takakura Ken.

    This is a stealth super natural shonen action series that has a heavy emphasis about the two main characters growing affection for the other.  This anime is a pretty good complete package, offering an ever changing story type with amazing art direction by the fantastic Science Saru.  While its a good all around package, its also a bit two weird and uncomfortable at some points for newer anime fans,

Days With My Stepsister

    Yuta lives an unobtrusive life, focused on being as self reliant as possible.  When his father remarries, he gains a step-sister the same age, named Saki.  In order to maintain their comfortable patterns in this new arrangement, they agree to not do anything without agreeing to some for of exchange.  This leads them living an existence as a business arrangement instead of as a family that can rely on each other without condition.  Those constraints begin to break down as their time together grows and Saki in particular struggles with emotions growing for her new brother, who seems to be working on a relationship with an older coworker.

     Everyone knows how step-siblings are supposed to behave in anime romances and will be severely disappointed in how this one handles that trope.  It doesn't touch it with a 10ft pole.  In fact there is barely any romance in this.  Instead it is a dry and slow paced drama about two strangers struggling with how to deal with the massive upheaval of their lives.  They navigate around each other in a way to not disrupt the wishes of their parents happiness as well as their own perceptions of the others focus and goals.  It ended up being a breath of fresh air, even if the tension is as slow as its characters are emotional.

Fruits Basket 

    Tohru is a hard working orphan, who has been secretly camping in a forested region of a spacious estate.  She does not wish to burden her extended family and chooses to live homeless.  Her secret is quickly exposed by the residents of the estate, the Souma clan, of which some members she goes to school with.  Feeling sorry for the poor girl, she is invited to stay with them instead, in exchange for doing cleaning and cooking.  Problems arise with her lodging as the Souma clan has a dark secret that her presence has complicated.  The family is incredibly wealth and vast, with some of its members inheriting super natural aspects linked to the 12 zodiac creatures.  If they come with in physical contact of someone of the opposite sex it will force them to transform into their zodiac form.  As Tohru settles in she fnds herself in the middle of a dangerous power struggle between her new friends and the head of the family.

      This is one of those classic romances that is well loved in shojo circles.  In 2019 it received an anime remake so I decided to finally watch it.  I got through the first 25 or so episodes but had to stop because of how abusive the story turned into.  There is so much painful drama and heart ache in the story I couldn't bring myself to continue it, loosing all interest in the stories resolution.  I've come to the conclusion that consuming this story is akin to self harm.  But, that isn't to say it isn't bad, I just don't have the fortitude for this form of darkness and depression in a romance.

 

Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again

    One day while working their farm, an elderly couple discover a gleaming golden apple growing from a tree in their orchard.  They decide to share it and in the morning wake to discover their bodies restored to the youth and vigor of their late 20's.  Unsure as to whats going on, they decide to take this second chance and make up for the things they were too poor or busy to do when they were newlyweds.

    This is a cute and endearing story with a fun super natural aspect to it.  The story spends a lot of time focusing on the elderly couple causing waves around them in their youthful forms as well as them trying to tackle modernity.  Beyond the story of the couple, there is some depth given to their immediate family, particularly two high school aged grand children. The artwork and character design was a little subpar, but the story was sweet and endearing in the end.

Honey Lemon Soda

    Ichimori has no self confidence and freezes when interacting with others in school.  A chance encounter with one of the most desired boy in class changes her trajectory in life.  He pushes her in his own obtuse manner to build confidence and stop begin negative on herself, protecting her from the trouble around her until she can stand on her own two feet.

    In general I didn't like this series given how I perceive the negative connotations of Ichimori and how she works to change herself from timid to confident.  It sets a bad precedent for members of the audience who identify with our lead and hope to achieve a similar line of success in their struggles.  Unfortunately, that takes finding Mr. Right and making him care about you enough for them to take on the role of guardian for you.  I do understand the need for those looking to grow to have a support structure around the, but this one feels like its sending a problematic message instead of a hopeful one.

How I Attended an All Guys Mixer

    After agreeing to a mixer, three guys in college wind up becoming close friends with three women who work as drag kings at a host bar.  The women, enjoying the malleable mens company, play a drawn out game of flirting, willing to see how long it takes for their prey to realize whats really going on/

    This is a really fun and lovable comedy that goes to great lengths to flip the script on romance.  The men are easily spooked and oblivious as the women hold all the power in the growth of their relationships.  The only down side?  I didn't begin watching it until the series was done running.  It was one of the highlights of the season it aired!  Highly recommended for fans of Ouran High School Host Club.

I Have a Crush at Work 

    Masugu works in the finance department of a large confectionery company.  Yui works in the development department and has a bone to pick with the uptight Masugu.  Their dislike of each other is well known by their peers, which makes their secret relationship all the more complex.  They begin dating but don't want their relationship to impact their work, so they choose to hide it from everyone, continuing their work rivalry.  Yet things are hard to hide when they enjoy each other to the degree they do.  Sometimes it's hard to hide your real emotions in public, when caught of guard and as their love deepens so does the gymnastic they have to do to hide it.

    I always welcome anime romanced about legit adults in legit adult situations.  This is a really cute and enjoyable comedy that can get a little spicy at times, but spicy in a tasteful way.  This was such a breath of fresh air among all the rote high school romances that its mundane situations and setting did no damage.  The main characters of Masugu and Yui are absolutely lovable and their coworkers are enjoyable as well.  This is a nice relaxing and satisfying realistic portrayal of adult love.

 I'm Getting Married to the Girl I hate in Class

    High school seniors and eternal rivals, Akane and Saito are forced to wed and live together due to their grandparents wanting to recapture their lost youth.  As they try to navigate their shared space in amicable ways, they struggle with growing feelings for the other, while working to deny everything and keep it hidden from their peers.

    If it wasn't for the likeability of the main characters, this show would have been dropped by episode two.  It suffers from everyone else around them being terrible and gimmicky.   I do want to reach the source material to see if that is more palatable however.

Love is Indivisible by Twins

    Jun is a model student who is close childhood friends with his neighbors, twin girls Rumi and Naori.  At the end of middle school Rumi confesses and he accepts her feelings.  But after a year she decides it is unfair to her sister, who has likes Jun since they were little and breaks up, forcing them to become a couple.  Naori is unwilling to let it be that easy and breaks it off as well, forcing him to make a final decision between which of the two sisters can receive his love.  All the while Jun struggles with his unwillingness to actively hurt either of the girls he holds in a special place.

    On the surface this should be a terrible story with ecchi moments at every corner.  Instead we get a drama full of realistic characters in situations that are not unnatural.  The only down side is the less than quality artwork but don't let that distract you from this fantastic drama steeped in the real world. 

Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines

   Nukumizu, a friendless introvert light novel fanboy suddenly finds himself involved in his co-eds relationship struggles.  One after the other popular girls are being rejected by the boys they like and he tries to use his experience in love via novels to ease their pain...

    That's a terrible way of explaining this series but its pretty must the basic concept.  But based on that you might picture something featuring an edgy incel being given his opportunity to make the girls swoon for him.  You'd be pretty far from the reality.  Nukumizu is awkward and confident at the same time, he really has no interest in becoming friends with everyone but feels compelled after he finds himself in the midst of the situations.  The girls aren't stereotypical, unnaturally beautiful and mature representations.  They are all scrawny and quirky weirdos with complex personalities.  This isn't really a romance?  It doesn't really deal with Nukumizu pursuing a relationship with anyone and we really don't see anything like that develop.  He becomes entangled in helping fellow classmates sort out their messy one sided feelings all while building strange friendships with them.  This anime was so good, even if it wasn't a standard definition of a romance.

Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to my Charms

     Mona is the center of attention where ever she goes.  She exist solely to be praised and worshiped by men, women, boys and girls of all ages.  When the boy next to her in class, Medaka, refuses to fawn over her, she does everything she can to make him another fan.  Medaka, a monk in training, uses every tool at his disposal to clear his mind and soul, avoiding the tempting mistress next to him.  His refusal to comply only pushes her further in her efforts for subjugation.  Will she be able to overcome his rigorous dedication or will she be swayed instead?

    This was a new twist on the standard shonen romance where the narrative character is the girl as she throws herself at the mail lead.  Medaka himself is barely the focus.  There is a fair amount of casual fanservice that is used tastefully in many instances, but not all.  In the end this was a relatively sweet story that had some struggles getting to the potential pay off.  Its far better than Strawberry 100% by a lot.

Okitsura: Fell in Love With an Okinawa Girl, But I Just Wish I Know What She's Saying

     Teruaki moves to Okinawa from Tokyo for high school and is overly eager to learn about the cultural differences so far from the capital.  The first friend he makes in school is a spunky girl named Hina, who has a deep love for her culture and is more and eager to show Teruaki the ways of an Okinawan.  This outreach endears her to him and he begins to fall for her.  Unfortunately, she uses a lot of local vernacular and he struggles to understand whats shes saying.  Fortunately for him, Hina's best friend Kana steps in to work as translator.  Thus begins the friendship between all three of them, a friendship where Kana secretly likes Teruaki, who secretly likes Hina who openly loves Okinawa.

    This was a really fun and sweet series that spent as much time teaching you about what makes Okinawa special as it does making you love its characters.  The character designs are fun, the animation is high quality and the characters lack annoying qualities.  My only hope is that we get a second season of this series and some sort of resolution to the love triangle at the core of its plot.

Pseudo Harem 

    Rin is a first year student and bright star of the schools drama club.  She has taken a liking to second year drama club member Eiji, who has taken a liking to her as well.  The pair spend their moments together enjoying each others company while flirting innocently.  Rin uses her acting chops to assume different personalities, eager to fulfill Eiji's juvenile desires to have a harem of girls fawning over him.

    This is a perfect anime.  If you want a cute, innocent and endearing story about blossoming love between two characters who enjoy their time together, this is going to deliver the perfect package for you.  Every episode becomes increasingly sweet and lovable as they spend more time together, innocently flirting every chance they can get, letting the world slip by beyond them, focused only on each other.  Perfection with a chance of diabetes.

Senpai is an Otokonoko

    Saki confesses her love for an upperclassman only to find out its really a boy named Makoto who is more comfortable dressing as a girl.  Makoto and her develop a friendship, including her into his small circle with his old friend Ryuji.  Saki realizes that Ryuji has feelings for Makoto but struggles with them.  She had thought she had finally found someone that could be special to her and vice a versa but she realized she is more of a third wheel than anything else.

    This is a fantastic story about youth struggling with a world that doesn't appreciate them for who they are.  Makoto struggles with everyone's thoughts on his cross dressing and his mothers psychologically abusive responses.  Saki struggles with parental abandonment and feelings abnormal when compared to her peers emotional experiences.  Ryuji's struggles are internal as he tries to understand his emotions compared to his logic with regards to his life long friend.  Its a beautiful story that has many wonderful and sad moments.

Spice and Wolf

    Lawrence, a traveling merchant, acquires an unexpected companion in his journeys for profit.  Holo has the form of you young woman but in reality she is an long lived wolf god who has decided to leave the land she has long lent her bounty.  Her old age has caused her to yearn for the land of her youth, to visit it once more before she is unable to.  She convinces Lawrence to be her guide while paying for the service with her supernatural abilities to detect dishonesty and her own shrewdness.  Her true identity must be kept secret for fear of the omnipresent 'new' church wanting to kill her as a heretical symbol of a time fading into the past.

    This series is more a story revolving around economics than it is romance.  But through its course, as the two characters struggle to succeed in their schemes, romance simmers between the man and the wolf, as the wolf is violently jealous and is less than forthcoming about her intentions to be with the young man.  While not the most interesting story, myself not being a big fan of historical anime, Holo's character is a breath of fresh air compared to most other female leads.  She is confident, powerful and in control of her own destiny.  There are very few times in the story where she is a helpless maiden in need of the strong masculine love interest.  She has lived for centuries and has faced danger and threats at all corners of the world.  Little can cause her to lose control.

Tadaima, Okaeri

     Hiromu and his husband Masaki have moved to a newer neighborhood, hoping to escape societal prejudices aimed at their relationship.  Masaki is an alpha, the dominant human's who easily fall into roles as leaders in society.  Hiromu is an omega, someone who is generally unassertive, meek and able to be impregnated by alphas, regardless of their gender.  The two are trying to find a safe and happy environment to raise their young son Hiraki, while working to break through the ceiling of stigma around someones assigned type.

    This was my first exposure to the fiction style known as 'omegaverse' that is grounded on the concept of easily dividable humans based on their natural assertiveness of passiveness.  Essentially transporting the pseudo science concept of wolf pack orders into erotic fiction as the driver for sub/dom relationships.  This series was not explicitly sexual, at least the anime adaptation.  It was quite boring and mundane though.  To make matters worse, I am not a fan of this style of characterization and over all really disliked the world it built and displayed.

Tokimeki Memorial ~Only Love~

     Riku begins his life as a high school student, hoping to remain inconspicuous.  That all goes out of the window as his performance in a beginning of the year game, meant to humiliate him, brings him to everyone attention.  His innocent success brings a gaggle of girls and competitive males to him as he tries to normalize his life.

   

Tomo-chan is a Girl 

    Tomo is the epitome of a tom-boy.  When she musters up the courage to confess to her childhood friend, neighbor and fellow karate enthusiast, his reaction is less than ideal.  Jun reacts to her as if shes just one of the guys, which is the way hes treated her for the 10+ years they have been best friends.  Tomo needs help connecting with her feminine side, convinced once she does Jun will see her as a potential romantic partner.

    This series ended up having way more emotion and honesty than I anticipated.  What started out as a throw away premise with a limited run gag turned out to be a really endearing story about growing up and coming to terms with the way your relationships change.  There is a healthy dose of well timed comedy, realistic mannerisms with the characters and some very grounded introspection.  In the end this story wrapped up in a very satisfying manner and is a fine example of quality story telling.

Tsuma Shogakusei Ni Naru

     Niijima Takae died in a traffic accident, leaving behind her husband and daughter.  Ten years later she finds herself inhabiting the body of a young girl names Marika.  She confronts her husband and now adult daughter, convincing them its her.  She is determined to use this miracle to change their lives as they have been stuck in a rut of depression since her passing.  Will she be able to get them to a point where they can truly live on with out her, the best they can be?

    What could have been a slap stick comedy or dangerous perversion turned out to be a really somber story of loss and regret and the struggles of actually getting a second chance to make things right.  This was an enjoyable melodrama that proved to be far better than I expected it to be.

Twilight Out Of Focus

     Second year students, Mao and Hisashi are room mates at their all boys school.  During the beginning of their first year, Mao learned that Hisashi is gay and has a boyfriend.  He promised to do everything he could to protect his room mates secret, while Hisashi promises to never pursue Mao as a sexual partner.  Mao's feelings begin to change the film club begins to produce their yearly movie and Hisashi is one of the leads, playing a gay man.  Mao struggles with his growing feelings and the promise Hisashi has made to him.

    This was an interesting yaoi romance that quickly changed focus to other characters that felt annoying, I ended up dropping it half way through as its thinly veiled romance plots began to make way to unimaginative sex scenes and amateur writing.  I enjoyed the main couple and liked the progress of their story but lost all interest when it changed focus.  The shift appeared to only exist to show yet another 'first time' scene between those characters with little other interest in furthering the story.

Whisper Me A Love Song

    One the first day of high school, Himari falls in love with the lead singer of a student band performing in the welcome ceremony.  She quickly seeks out the upper classman, Yori and confesses her love for her.  Unfortunately for Yori, Himari's love is for the power of her seniors performance, not for the senior herself.  Yori, heart broken, is still pleased that the energetic younger girl wants to spend as much time with her as possible.  Eventually, Yori confesses to the younger girl her feelings and tries as hard as she can to make ber feelings break through to her.

    This was a nice take on the standard high school yuri romance.  The initial misunderstanding growing into a burgeoning relationship and then shifting into a interpersonal drama revolving around the girl Yori replaced in the school band.  The character designs are questionable but the personalities, motivations and expositions of the small cast is well fleshed out and enjoyable.

Yakuza Fiance: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii

    Yoshino finds herself a willing prisoner in a rival yazuka family, under the pretense of marrying the clan boses grandson, Kirishima.  Kirishima is dangerous, belittling and abusive but when Yoshino plays the game at his level is disdain for her turns to uncontrollable desire.  She wants nothing to do with the violent lose canon, who is too unpredictable to join the ranks of his grandfathers clan.  As they find themselves at the center of a dangerous underworld conspiracy Yoshino begins to soften to her captor as she tris to endure it for the time.

     There is little actual romance in this series, which has a lot of problems both on the production side and what the characters represent as human beings.  But something about Yoshino made me watch it all the way to the end only to find the story on the cusp of being really interesting with no sign of there being more.  I'm on the fence about this being worth the time or not...especially since it ends prematurely and took so long to be compelling enough.

Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms

Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms (黒岩メダカに私の可愛いが通じない) is a 12 episode romantic comedy series based on the manga of the same name by Kuze Ran.  The series originally aired during the Winter of 2025.

    Kawai Mona is used to being the center of attention.  Her entire life everyone around her has fawned over her beauty and grace.  She has never spent a moment of her life where the ground she walked on was not worshiped.  That is until a boy, Medaka, in her class actively avoids her and appears agitated at every instance of interaction.  Mona considers herself the queen bee, relishing in her worship.  She absolutely can not let this slight to her magnificence go unaddressed.  It is now her mission to do whatever it takes to make Medaka recognize and appreciate her status as a goddess.  She knows what excites boys and figures if she is deliberately blatant when around him, it will convince him to obsess over her.  Yet all of her efforts, some of which cause her to debase herself, continue to fail to move his heart.  Sometimes he seems more upset and bothered than before.  How far does a girl have to go to make this stray worker bee fall in line with everyone else and pay her the tribute she deserves?

     Little does Mona understand, but Kuroiwa Medaka is the heir to a very strict temple in which he needs to remain chaste.  Its not that he doesn't find her worthy of his attention.  He is so fully invested in his future at the temple that he does everything he can to not stray from his path.  Every time she rattles his conviction he has to fall back into his training to center himself and remain focused on his chastity.  This constant pressure and test of his conviction causes him great amounts of stress.  He works hard to avoid her and not become trapped in her allure, but the harder he resists, the harder she tries.  The endless loop and his outward annoyance at her attention causes him problems with everyone else as well.  Mona is worshiped by everyone in the class, obviously, and when he openly ignores her or becomes agitated with her focused attention, it dismays the boys who envy his position.

    The premise of the series is a little bit outside of the norm, the narrative character is the female lead but the audience is absolutely male in nature.  Instead of it being a vehicle for self insertion we largely get a scenario of wish casting in that the story revolves almost exclusively around the internal struggle Mona has with the Medaka not willing to pay attention to her.  This leads her to debasing herself in a number of scenarios until she actually begins to develop feelings for him.

    The series was a bit of a roller coaster when it came to its enjoyment.  I liked the premise of the first episode and used it as an example of how to use fanservice in an interesting way.  As the first half progressed it struggled to dig its self out of that scenario and became more uncomfortable than interesting.  When moved into the final arc the story once again became interesting as it really focused on Mona's internal struggles and things around her forcing a change of perspective.  In the end this series was OK, if a bit exploitative.  The female perspective for a shonen romance is a nice change of pace\.  Ultimately though it travels down an easily predictable path.  However, the way to got to that path was enjoyable.  What was lacking though was a bit more depth to Medaka himself.  I kept expecting a final reveal that he was misinterpreting his tenants.  Its also unknown if Mona understands why hes reacting the way he does to her advances, the assumption is a resounding no, but its not explicit.  The boys in his class, or at least the ones he could consider friends, seem to be aware of his circumstances.  I might actually check out the manga.  i suspect there is quite a bit more story than was shown in the anime and it may be worth the time.

The series is available on Crunchyroll.

Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf!

Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! (日本へようこそエルフさん) is a 12 episode isekai based on the light novel series of the same name by Suzuki Makashima.  The anime originally aired during the Winter of 2025.

    Kitase Kazuhiro is a salary man who rushes home everyday and goes to bed early.  He's not exactly diligent about the amount of sleep he gets however.  Since he was a young child he has always had vivid and fantastical dreams where he is experiencing another life in a fantasy world.   Never in all of his years has he questioned the vividness and reliability of the dreams.  That is until he wakes up one day with a companion of his laying next to him in his bed.  He had joined up with the elven sorcerer, Mariabelle, to explore an abandoned ruin in search of dragon eggs.  Unfortunately the dragon was in no mood to hand them off and promptly attacked them.  Kazuhiro had learned over time that a sure fire way of him waking up back in his bed would be to die on his adventures.  This time, given that Marie and he were clutching each other during the attack, she was transported back to the real world.  Her appearance in his bedroom confirms that he has been doing more than dreaming this entire time.

    Unsure what to do, expecting her to return to her world when she goes to sleep, he decides to show her around Tokyo while they have the chance.  After showed her the wonder that is a modern Japanese city its time for sleep.  Unsure what will happen, they hold each other as they drift off, unsure where they will end up or if they will wake in the other world together.  To their delight, surprise and panic, they end up back in the lair of the dragon.  Delighted and curios by the reappearance of the intruders, the dragon speaks with them.  It decides to exchange their safety for the mysterious food in Kazuhiro's bag.  Taking on the form of a dragonkin, the arkdragon Wridra eagerly consumes the boxed lunches they were able to bring over from the real world.  Thus begins a strange friendship and confirmation that Kazuhiro can transport people back and forth between both worlds.

    At first skeptical, given my general dislike of isekai, this turned out to be a really cute and enjoyable slice of life romance. There were moments where the story could have focused more on series and problematic events in the dream world but it moves through them quickly and always returns to the real world and slows down.  There is a larger narrative that develops in the dream world, that occupies a large portion of the story in that world, but doesn't overstay its welcome.  The real focus is Kazuhiro and Marie growing to know each other more intimately, developing a stronger connection than they had before the series.  In the dream world they discover a labyrinth and a whole process is undertaken before they can begin exploring it.  That occupies most of the dream world side of things and when the series ends they are just about to start on their exploration.  This feels like the fantasy side of the story was the less important aspect as the final two episodes focused almost solely on Kazuhiko and Marie taking a trip to where he grew up during Golden Week.

   I really warmed up to this show, the main characters are easy going and enjoyable.  There isn't a lot of emphasis on things outside of their control.  Things that would make their experiences easier are usually facilitated through convenience in story telling.  This worked well as it did not distract unnecessarily from what it needed to focus on, the two characters falling in love.  The story could have wasted its breath trying to justify every little thing that would happen in their situation, but it chose not to dwell on the minutia.  The series could have easily been more fanservice orientated as well and it chose to be tasteful with its service and not let it sit in the drivers seat.  I'm sure a lot of viewers would be frustrated with the lack of anything really happening in the dream world and real world...but for me the journey is what was enjoyable.  This was really cute and fun and if we get another season, cool, if not, I'm glad I spent time with these characters.

The series is available on Crunchyroll.

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really Really Really REALLY Love You - season 2

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really Really Really REALLY Love You (君のことが大大大大大好きな100人の彼女) season2, is a 12 episode romantic comedy continuation of the manga of the same name by Nakamura Rikito and Nozawa Yukiko.  Season 2 aired during the Winter of 2025.

 

    When last we left our hero Rentaro, he has gathered six girlfriends to his side, working his way towards the 100 girlfriends he is destined to have...somewhat under pressure of the gods.  The story picks back up after an amount of time and the girlfriends are worried if he still loves them in the lapse.  Rest assured, he is as committed to them as he has always been...if not more.  But, he can't rest as he needs to find the other 94 girls he is destined to be in love with and absorb them into the moe ball.  The first addition is an off putting and diminutive underclassman who has a voracious appetite.   As he gathers more trues loves to himself the other girlfriends work to make them feel as welcomed as possible, always happy to add more to the pile.  The kool-aid is truly being consumed.

    Without drilling down into the details of the episodes that's pretty much about it for the overview.  This show delivers what you think it does.  Season two felt quite a bit more fan service laden, some moments being a bit...uncomfortable?  I also don't recall the first season breaking the fourth wall as much as this one did.   In general this season wasn't as fresh as the first one, it has fallen into a repetitive comfort that doesn't so much to keep ones interest.  If you want a more detailed break down of the concepts of the series, look to the review of the first season.  This season got weird and not always in a good way.  The only thing its doing is pushing the envelope on how ridiculous the execution of the concept can be.  Rentaro definitely has a cult on his hands at this point as they all blissfully move forward into the unknown future.

The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll.

A Primer for Rascal Doesn't Dream

The Rascal Doesn't Dream series (青春ブタ野郎) returns with a new TV anime in July of 2025, Rascal Doesn't Dream of Santa Claus.  Before watching it there is a 12 episode original TV series and 3 separate theatrical movies that came before.  Its a highly suggested to watch all of those before diving in, but movies 2 and 3 are not exactly available in English.  What follows is an overview of the story up to the point the new TV series begins.

It goes without saying, there are going to be some significant spoilers!  Be warned and turn back if you don't want things spoiled.  

Perhaps to convince you not to spoil things, the first movie has the most shocking thing I can remember experiencing in any anime...so if you've not seen it, maybe click on this link instead? 

Rascal Doesn't Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai is a 13 episode TV series from 2018 that's split into 5 different arcs.  Each arc covers the contents of a different light novel.

Episodes 1-3, Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai arc, light novel volume 1.

    We are introduced to our protagonist and narrative character Azusagawa Sakuta.  He is a second year student at Minegahara High School and mostly keeps to himself.   He encounters a strange sight at the public library, an upper class-man dressed in a revealing bunny girl costume, trying to get peoples attention.  He's the only one that sees her, which she figures out and leaves after briefly exchanging words.  The girl is the nationally recognized and famous child actor Sakurajima Mai.  The following day he sees her on the way to school and asks his friend Kunimi Yuma,  who confirms that he can see her.  After intervening in some casual harassment at the train station, Mai opens up to Sakuta about what shes been struggling with.  She has been on hiatus from work due to personal reasons, which his kept her out of the public eye.  She started school late and was unable to form any friend groups, partially due to her celebrity status,.  Lately these circumstances has been leading to people around her having a difficult time perceiving her existence.

    Sakuta sympathizes with her strange situation.  He refers to it as adolescent syndrome.  He experienced a similar situation with his younger sister, Kaede.  Two years earlier, she had succumbed to adolescent syndrome due to bullying at school.  The mental anguish manifested its self in bruises covering her body.   Frustrated about his inability to help her, Sakuta became stricken with adolescent syndrome as well, developing what can only be described as, fresh claw marks from a bear across his chest.  The strain of the problem with no clear resolution, pushes their mother into hysteria.  In order to help her heal, Sakuta convinces their father to let he and Kaede live on their own while everyone heals, moving to a nearby town.  Kaede has physically recovered but has become agoraphobic in the process and spends her days at home.

    Sakuta promises Mai he will do everything he can to help her overcome her problem.  He begins to consult his only other friend, Futaba Rio, about the problem.  She is level headed and extremely intelligent and does her best to explain Mai's super natural circumstances from a scientific perspective.  She offers suggestions for how to tackles the problem, even if shes not convinced its real.  In the end, everyone continues to forget that Mai exists.  After spending a sleepless night in a hotel, far from their home, Sakuta fears that he will forget her the next time he wakes, given Rio, the only other person who acknowledges her, did just that.  Without telling Mai that he has no solution, he forces himself to remain awake for many days in a row.  Mai realizes whats going on and what it represents, caring more for his health, hoping that in his heart he will remember her again.  She slips him sleeping medicine during a study session and when he wakes the next morning he does not remember Mai.  All the remains is a notebook of his experiences from the past month, with Mai's identity blurred out.  A sudden sense of familiarity brings the memories of her flooding back,  Fearing that hes too late he decides the best way to reverse the damage is to force everyone at school to acknowledge her existence.  During exams he runs out to the sports field and proclaims his love for Mai to the astonished student body at the top of his lungs.  His ploy works and his love for her shocks everyone out of their stupor.  Mai once again can be seen by those around them.

Episodes 4-6, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Petite Devil Kohai arc, light novel volume 2.

    A month after Sakutas' love saved Mai from disappearing, they are having lunch together and he has reached her deadline to ask her to go out with him.  She didn't want to be swayed by emotion on the day she was saved and gave him a cooling off period.  When he presses her for her answer she sheepishly accepts his love and they become an official couple.  But then he wakes up and repeats the day again.  When he asks Rio about it, she brings up the idea of Laplace's demon, where someone is consciously resetting the world for an unknown reason.  He quickly zeroes in on an underclassman named Koga Tomoe.  She seems to be avoiding a senior on the basketball team from asking her out.  On one of the loops, when confronting Tomoe about it, his lunch plans with Mai are altered and instead both she and the senior find Sakuta and Tomoe in an awkward situation.  Sakuta's hopes of repeating the day and erasing this problem are dashed when he finally wakes up to the following day.

    Tomoe suggests that they pretend to date to protect her from the upper class-man and as a way to prevent more loops.  The leader of her friend group has a crush on him, she does not, and struggles to prevent any turmoil with her friend over the boy.  Sakuta reluctantly agrees, but struggles with how to talk to Mai about, given how upset she is with him at the moment.  She approaches him first and is more mad that he wasn't willing to talk to her about everything at first.   When he explains the plan as a way to help her overcome adolescent syndrome, she reluctantly agrees to go along with the fake relationship, given its only supposed to be until Summer break.

    Tomoe and Sakuta work hard to convince everyone they really are going out.  Summer arrives and they spend one last fake date together, parting ways as friends.  But Sakuta wakes up to redo the same day again and again and again.  After conferring with Rio again he is determined to make Tomoe tell him the truth, hoping to break this loop of regret that has dug in.  She admits that she has fallen in love with him and wanted to work at making him fall in love with her.  He convinces her that it will never happen and he wants to be friends, breaking the spell and setting them both back all the way to the first day of the time loop, the day he asks Mai to date him.  Mai agrees to his request and live moves forward as it should.  But there is trouble brewing when they encounter a young girl named Makinohara Shoko and Sakuta offers to care for an abandoned kitten she has.

Episodes 7 & 8, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Logical Witch arc, light novel volume 3.

     Sakuta agrees to take care of the kitten until Shoko can get permission to adopt it from her parents, leading the girl to visit his house often.  The problem is that an older girl, who was there for Sakuta at his lowest moment during his adolescent syndrome, shares the young girls name and appearance.  Mai, who knows the story, is concerned that this girl may be a link to her boyfriends first love, a connection deeper with him than the one she currently has.  She is concerned that he would leave her if this older Shoko turned up, just as her love for him is settling in.  That problem is pushed to the side as a more pressing matter presents its self.  In an effort to figure out whats going on with a younger version of his first love, he reaches out to Rio again for help.  Unfortunately Rio is occupied with her own problem, in the form of a doppelganger.  Rio has been avoiding her clone by staying away from home, fearful of what may happen if they interact, suspecting something akin to matter meeting anti-matter.  Instead of letting her stay in seedy manga cafes, Sakuta invites her to stay at his place while they work through her adolescent syndrome.  This leads Mai to also stay at his place, not exactly trusting him with Rio.  Side note, Mai lives across the street from Sakuta and Kaede.

    As he struggles to understand the reason behind the appearance of a second Rio, Yuma's girlfriend Kamisato Saki, approaches Sakuta about some concerns.  This takes him by surprise, as Saki has nothing but contempt and hatred for her boyfriends friend...due to his own status in school affecting her status.  She has stumbled upon a concerning social media profile that appears to be Rio, where she is posting progressively explicit photos of her body.  Saki also wants to understand what Rio's relationship with Yuma is, sensing its far more than friends.  Sakuta brushes off the accusations of Rio liking Yuma, which is true, and focuses on what Rio is doing online, thanking his mortal enemy for the help.  He confronts both versions of Rio about the posts.  Rio admits that she began it in middle school but has only begun recently posting the more provocative images.  Rio is a serious and studios person who developed earlier and drew a lot of unwanted attention from the boys in school and in public, due to her...mature physique.  She admits that beginning the account and posting the images is a form of self hatred and self harm, as she struggles with her own image and the unwanted attention.  Her assumption of anonymity is shattered when someone direct messages her, explaining how he knows what area she lives in and offers to meet up.  This spookes her and forces Sakuta to stay with her in her empty home while she calms down.

    While the 'real' Rio is staying at his house, he is trying to comfort the copy.  He learns that Rio has lead a mostly isolated life, with her parents never home and really not being cut out to be parents.  Rio is struggling with being left alone again since he and Yuma both have girlfriends.  She is also struggling with her feelings for Yuma, something she took too long to act on and avoided for fear of ruining their friendship.  In order to prove that nothings changed between the three of them he calls Yuma in the middle of the night and tells him to meet them asap.  While there is no immediate emergency, Yuma is far from angry and the three friends set of fireworks at the beach and watch the sun rise, promising to come back to watch fireworks during the summer festival.  Content that her uncertainty is currently pacified, he has the two Rio's talk to each other on the phone, breaking the syndrome and resetting them into one whole.

Episodes 9 & 10, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Siscon Idol arc, light novel volume 4.

    The summer ends and so does Sakuta's ability to spend time with his girlfriend.  When her agency learns of his existence, they forbid her from being seen in public with him.  Things go from bad to worse on the first day of the new semester when he runs into Mai and she acts like she doesn't know him.  In fact, it not Mai at all.  Instead its her half sister, aspiring pop idol, Toyohama Nodoka.  Before things become messy, the real Mai arrives, inside of Nodoka's body.  Nodoka ran away from home and decided to stay with her estranged older sister.  She wasn't prepared for adolescent syndrome to rear its ugly head and complicate her situation.  Mai's parents divorced when she was very young, with her father marrying the woman he was cheating with and soon Nodoka was born.  Mai's mother, who eventually became her agent, used her daughters fame as a way to attack her father for his betrayal.  Nodoka's mother decided to force the younger half sibling into the spot light as a way to exact revenge.  The girls have struggled with being pawns in the bitter struggle ever since.

    The strained relationship has led to them not exactly being like sisters, with Nodoka's mother pushing her to compete against Mai, who has achieved an enviable level of fame and success.  When Mai retired in middle school, Nodoka though it would finally be her turn to shine, since her mother couldn't compare her to the older girl.  She has found middling success as part of an idol group called Sweet Bullet.  When Mai announced that she would be resuming her career the strain on Nodoka returned and the stress lead to their current predicament.  Unsure what it will take to reverse the problem or how long it will take, Mai concocts a plan for them to take on the duties of the other for the time being.  This means a grueling rehearsal schedule for Mai to be able to perform the choreography and singing for an upcoming Sweet Bullet concert.  Nodoka only has a commercial shoot of Mai's to contend with so her stress should be less.  Unfortunately, Nodoka is not prepared to take on the enormous and hidden responsibility that her sister handles with grace.

     Nodoka struggles with the commercial shoot while Mai pours everything into perfecting the routine for the upcoming concert.  The problem is still unresolved and when Mai outperforms her, earning glowing praise from her mother, Nodoka reaches a breaking point.  Mai has been dropping hints to Sakuta about what might be the cause of the switch and fearing that Nodoka might take drastic measures with the body of the girl he loves, he decides to step in once and for all.  In a last ditch effort to assure her that Mai does not hate her, he shows her a box containing all of the fan letters Nodoka has sent over the years.  The sisters connect in a way they never have before, admitting their deep love and respect for each other.  This snaps the syndrome and they return to their true selves.  Nodoka confronts her mother and decides to move in with Mai for the time being, so she can refocus her efforts on her own career, for herself.

Episodes 11-13, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Home Alone arc, light novel volume 5.

    Unfortunately Mai and Sakuta's relationship is leaked to the press and Mai has to admit it publicly during a press conference for an upcoming movie she is in.   She asks the public to be respectful of her boyfriends privacy and in a twist, the internet rallies behind her, working to fight any unbecoming behavior.  This inspires Kaede to begin working on improving her own situation.  She puts together a to-do list of steps that she hopes will help her rejoin the outside world.  Sakuta, Mai and Nodoka encourage and support her as much as they can, while working hard to not push her too hard.  Her situation is fragile as she is struggling with the guilt of being closed off from society for the past few years.  The struggle is momentous for her, as the trauma from middle school haunts her, making interacting with others almost impossible.

    Little by little Kaede achieves her goals, eventually making it outside and halfway to her school, with her brothers patient help.  The four of them take a trip to the beach but their progress recedes when  Kaede's childhood friend Kano Kotomi runs into them.  This encounter causes Kaede to shut down and leave everyone bewildered and saddened.  Sakuta reveals the truth about Kaede to Mai, Nodoka and Kotomi.  Kaede's adolescent syndrome never truly went away.  The trauma from the experience caused her to have dissociative amnesia.  The Kaede they see before them is not the same Kaede from before the incident.  It is a secret that Sakuta has regrettably kept from Mai this entire time.  While in the hospital, Kaede woke up one day and didn't know who she was or who her family was.  The shock of the amnesia drove their mother to her break down, leading Sakuta to move away and care for his sister the best he could.  Uncertain if her memory would ever return, Sakuta set out to make this new Kaede feel loved and welcomed, creating the strong bond we see between them.

    Kotomi returns a book the old Kaede had loaned her, a note in it triggers something in Kaede and causes panic, resulting in some of her lost memories to return.  Kaede pushes on, trying to return to school, but an attempt to enter the school its self fails when she panics upon encountering other girls in the same uniform.  In order to prevent regression, Sakuta takes her on a trip to Ueno zoo to see the panda exhibit, encouraging her to keep fighting.  As they return home in the evening he tricks her and they arrive at the empty school building.  She builds up the courage to continue and is determined to succeed in another attempt in the morning.  But that morning never comes for Kaede as when she wakes up all of her memories have returned and the past two years as the new version of her are only a gap in time and memory.

    Kaede goes to the hospital for an examination and their father arrives to work with the doctors on whats next for her healing.  The weight of the sudden change crushes down on Sakuta as he morns the loss of the new Kaede.  His old scar reopens and he collapses in the hospital.  As if summoned by his great need, the older Shoko appears and nurses him at home.  While he recovers in the bath she reads a diary that the new Shoko had been keeping as a way to establish her existence.  Shoko leaves the Sakuta, leaving him a good bye note.  Mai, unable to be there due to work, finds him recovering in the morning.  But storms out when she reads the note left by the older Shoko.  Still recovering from his episode, he chases after her, following her hours away to the location shes filming at, spending the last moments of her birthday with her, apologizing for not leaning on her in his time of need.  After saving his relationship, he returns to Kaede, knowing the old Kaede is going to need as much help from him as the new Kaede did.

First Movie, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl & Rascal Does Not Dream of His First Love arcs, light novels volume 6 and volume 7.

    Mai is still upset with Sakuta about the sudden reappearance of his first love, the older Shoko. Kaede continues to check into the hospital due to the reversal of her amnesia, during one visit Sakuta learns that the younger Shoko has been battling a congenital heart defect her entire life.  Young Shoko is beginning to fail and needs a transplant as soon as possible.  Sakuta figures out that his wound and older Shoko are tied and seem to be manifesting from adolescent syndrome the younger Shoko is experiencing.  He deduces that the older Shoko is a future version of her, who survived after receiving a transplant.  When he confronts her about this, she admits that the heart she received is his.  He was killed in a traffic accident on Christmas Eve while he was meeting with Mai for a date.

     Unable to break the horrible truth to Mai, he tries to prevent this from happening, only to have Mai take his place in the accident.  She learned of his plan and took it upon herself to prevent his death, not wanting to face a world without him.  The loss of Mai in his place utterly devastates Sakuta.  Rio and Yuma come to his rescue as the media has figured out where he lives and public opinion is switching to blaming him for the death of their beloved Mai.  Before all hell can break out at his apartment building they spirit him away to hide in Rio's house.  Sakuta is a shell, unfeeling, unobservant.  Until he is snapped out of his catatonia during the broadcast of Mai's public memorial.  It breaks him further and he refuses to believe that she is dead, fleeing into the outside world, desperate for something to hold onto to make it better.  In his desperation, older Shoko finds him and comforts him as best she can, admitting to him that she has the ability to time travel.  He begs her to send him back so that he can make it right, restore Mai to her rightful place on the planet.  She agrees, sadly understanding the outcome.

    Sakuta finds himself back to Christmas Eve, but is unstuck from reality.  No one can see him and he can't interact with anything to any real degree.  He decides to take a chapter from the Sakurajima Mai playbook and dons a crazy bunny costume, hoping that such an obvious outfit will cause someone in the world to see him, to acknowledge he exists.   His efforts almost fail until an unexpected friend see's him...Tomoe.  He rushes to Mai, over come with joy that she is still alive and tells her about what happened.  They struggle to come up with a plan that will save Shoko without either of them dying.  Sakuta is faced with having to choose who loves between Shoko or Mai, something he's unwilling to do.  Before the fateful night they realize a plan.  Older Shoko returns and tells Sakuta that she understands what's going on and has come up with a way to save everyone but it will mean everything changes with their past and the circumstances behind Mai and Sakuta meeting will not take place.  They agree, firm in the belief that their love will overcome time and space its self.

    The change happens many years earlier, a young Mai decides to turn down a role in a horror film, choosing instead to take a role in a story about a young girl in need of a transplant.  The success of the movie encourages a surge in people becoming organ donors.  This influx of donors leads to Shoko getting the heart she needs without Sakuta or Mai needing to die.  Their bond survives the change and they find each other once again, returning to their proper place, deeply in love and looking ahead to a bright future.  They encounter young Shoko, who is healthy and happy and recognize a deep connection with the girl, even though Shoko is the only one who knows the trials they all went through.

Second Movie, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out, light novel volume 8.

    Kaede is working hard to return to society.  Everything has been overwhelming for her since she returned.  She needed to be reintroduced to all of the people that have gathered around Sakuta since they moved away from home.  In turn they all need to learn about the version of Kaede who they did not know.  Even though she has not been able to attend school, her final year of middle school is rapidly approaching and she needs to decide what she will do moving forward.  She is adamant about enrolling in Minegahara high school, the same as Sakuta.  But her guidance counselor is not sure if that is the correct choice for her.  Kaede is still unable to attend school and rarely ventures out of the safety of their apartment.

    After Mai's graduation, she digs into Sakuta to begin studying hard for his college entrance exam.  They have agreed to enroll in the same school, with Mai taking a year off.  Even though shes taking a year off she is taking her entrance exam early to get it out of the way.  She also wants this to be encouragement for Sakuta , who is less than studious.  Seeing this, Kaede's confidence builds and Mai, Sakuta and Nodoka all take turns tutoring her.  Kaede's guidance counselor has Sakuta join her at a seminar for a remote high school, not convinced Kaede should force herself to attend Minegahara.  At the seminar he realizes that one of the students during a testimonial is a member of the idol group Sweet Bullet.  Sakuta feels this is a better option for his sister but only wants to encourage her in what she wants.

    She succeeds at taking the entrance exam for high school but midway through she panics and retreats to the safety of the nurses office until he is called to pick her up.  She is upset that she let everyone down and was unable to complete the exam, throwing away her chance to achieve her goals.  As she breaks down she begins to accuse everyone of wanting the new Kaede instead of her.  Sakuta realizes that she has been reading the diary kept by that version of herself and is trying to become the other Kaede.  The stress she is placing on her self is causing her adolescent syndrome bruises to return.  He tries to reassure her that she and the other her are the same person, even if she can't remember that point in time.  He encourages her to try and go for the remote school instead of Minegahara.  He fears that she will be unnecessarily punishing herself, trying to fulfill the desires of the new Kaede, instead of following her own goals.

    Sakuta arranges for Kaede to meet with Nodoka's band mate, Hirokawa Uzuki, the girl from the testimonial.  Zukky takes to them immediately and explains that she was shut off from her peer group due to her idol work and her inability to read the room.  It caused her to stop going to school for a long time, with her only support network being the rest of the idol group. She is grateful that her mother found the online school and encourages Kaede to enroll, saying it's a great environment for people like her.  Before she can decide what to do she learns that she passed the exam for Minegahara, largely due to so many kids pulling their applications afterwards due to fear of failing to enroll.  Facing with a choice suddenly, she decides to enroll in the online school and work at being outside at her own pace.

Third movie, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Girl, light novel volume 9.

    Sakuta dreams of an elementary school version of Mai, a figment he saw once before, on the day of her graduation.  Upon waking he discovers a scar he did not previously have, leading from his belly button to his side.  One evening while Mai is tutoring him, she produces a marriage certificate and has him sign it.  She signs it as well and tells him she will hold onto it until its time to turn it in.  She is using it as a carrot to dangle before him so that he studies harder.  Before she leaves, he shows her the new scar.  The following day he consults Rio about it.  He wonders if he is in an alternate timeline again, similar to what he experienced when he was helping Shoko.  After he saved her and time changed, he did not experience the traumatic wounds and bleeding, which were linked to her heart transplant.  This new scar has him worried another form of adolescent syndrome is taking hold.

    He receives a call from his father who tells him that their mother is well enough and would like to have dinner with them.  They agree and the siblings heads off to see their mother for the first time in years.  Their parents had moved into a different apartment so everything feels unfamiliar.  The meal is warming and Kaede and their mother instantly repair the bond that was severed when she suffered amnesia.  Kaede spends the night but Sakuta heads back home, using needing to care for the cat as an excuse.  The next day while in school he realizes that no one perceives him.  Panicked, he tries to contact Mai, but the phone does not respond to his efforts.  He once again finds himself in a situation where he is not connected to the world and tries to repeat things that have worked in the past.  he travels back to his parents house only to be ignored by his mother and Kaede as they go shopping.  He stands in the apartment, a ghost, as the rest of the family remains oblivious to his presence.  He looks through his mothers diary and realizes he is absent from it, only mentioning a family of three people.

    Distraught, understanding he no longer has a place in the world, he returns home and finds himself at the beach.  Once again he comes face to face with the elementary school version of Mai.  She tells him that she can help him return to his home and they board a train.  When he wakes he is back in his childhood bedroom with Kaede waking him up for school.  He finds himself in a world where nothing bad happened and everything good is still happening.  Kaede was able to overcome her bullying in middle school.  Sakuta, even though he's still at home, enrolled at Minegahara.  Yet one thing concerns him.  A fellow student from middle school is in his class, the old class rep Akagi Ikumi.  This snaps him out of the dream and he knows he doesn't belong in this perfect world.  He isn't the one that made it so he shouldn't reap its rewards.  He returns to the beach, finding young Mai again and asks her to return him to his world.

   Back in his proper place, with all of the problems, he still needs to rebuild his connection to everyone around him.  He notices a message in his journal from what he deduces is the version of him from the other world, telling him to straighten out his live before its too late.  In a final attempt to connect with the one person that he matters to, he slips a letter into Mai's mailbox.  When she returns home from filming she finds the letter and comes to him in his apartment, reassuring him that he is here and he is loved by those around him.  The next morning he returns to his parents apartment and visits his mother in the hospital.  Something sparks and she suddenly recognizes him, allowing him to reform his bond with her and fully return to the world.

And that's pretty much where we leave off, leading into the college arc that begins with the tenth volume of the light novel series, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Lost Singer.  This part of the story will be picked up with the second TV series, beginning in July of 2025.  A year has passed and Sakuta has graduated, is attending college with Mai in Yokohama, while still living in Fujisawa with Kaede.  Kaede is gradually able to venture into the outside world and is doing well with remote learning in her new high school.  But there is  concern lurking in the background.  There is a woman who has been gaining popularity through music videos she is uploading to the net.  The music is haunting and has gained a lot of popularity.  The woman is known as Kirishima Toko and Sakuta feels there is some connection with her.  He has been introduced to her music a few times since Shoko reset the world, leading him to think her rise in popularity is tied to them rewriting the past.

    The length of the second season is unknown at the time or writing.  I suspect it will be 12 or 13 episodes and might possibly cover all of the college arch.  The light novel series concluded with the 15th volume, the of which 14 and 15 are not yet available in English.  It is likely that if the TV series does not cover all of it we will receive at least one last movie.  Enjoy the journey and read the light novels as well as absorb the anime.