Rascal Does Not Dream Of A Dreaming Girl (青春ブタ野郎はゆめみる少女の夢を見ない) is a the sixth volume of the Rascal Does Not Dream light novels written by Kamoshida Hajime featuring artwork by Mizogushi Keeji. The sixth volume was originally release in 2016 and in English in 2021.
The following synopsis may spoil some aspects of the first five novels in the Rascal Does Not Dream series, if you do not want to ruin those stories stop reading until you have.
Book Five: Rascal Does Not Dream Of A Sister Home Alone review here!
Adult Shouko crashing at Sakuta's apartment sure is awkward, especially when Mai, his beautiful and jealous girlfriend makes a surprise visit. Sakuta struggles with understanding why Mai is so upset with him, when all of his groveling and apologizing does little to temper her steam. What he fails to understand is Mai is more upset with her self, upset she forced the love of her life to rely on the compassion of another woman in a time of need, the return of his 'adolescent syndrome'. Before he can make it up to her, he needs to understand the relation between both Shouko's. Younger Shouko is once more in the hospital due to her declining heart condition. Sakuta begins to visit her every day, if possible, to try to understand what is going on. She shows him an old, incomplete piece of homework she has, an assignment asking her the imagine her life into old age. Shouko has been pragmatic given the openess about her confition and realizes it is unlikely she will live to see high school, let alone be a grandparent. She could never bring herself to complete it and hand it in, leaving it mostly blank. But suddenly new items have appeared on the sheet, items that look to have been there the entire time but are new to Shouko. The items line up with things that the older Shouko has accomplished since staying with Sakuta.
With Futaba Rio's help, Sakuta begins to understand the circumstances behind the existence of the older Shouko and how that is tied into 'adolscent syndrome'. Young Shouko's internalized desire to keep living, experiencing a life she realizes she will never have, creates a parallel Shouko which moves faster through time. Through and unknown cause, older Shouko has come back from the future. Sakuta approaches her about this idea, after recognizing a sign that Rio told him to look out for. Understanding that her secret has been revealed she tells Sakuta everything. But he chooses to keep this from everyone else, fearing the possibility that someone could alter the present enough to prevent younger Shouko from receiving the medical treatment that she needs to be the adult version staying at his house. Older Shouko tells him that she wants one last thing before he 'adolescent syndrome' is resolved and he can return to his live with Mai, a date with her on Christmas Eve. Mai then offers to go on a date with him at the same time, placing Sakuta in a very stressful situation. Before he can stress about which of the loves of his life to be with on this magical couple outing, he learns the truth about how older Shouko survives to adulthood and why she continues to show up in Sakuta's life. He is suddenly faced with a incredible weight on his shoulders that he see's no way to make everyone happy.
This emotionally devastating book is part one of the movie of the same name. Both hit incredibly hard and can be quite stressful. The tension is incredibly thick and at a few times, even though I knew the story, I found myself on the verge of tears. This book is the culmination of everything that came before it, the set up and conditioning of the characters and their motivations. You know these characters rather intimately at this point, have experiences joy and suffering with them over all of these hundreds of pages, between 6 volumes at this point. We know once Sakuta understands the reality of the situation how he will choose to respond. He is entirely driven my selflessness and a desire to make take on everyone's pain. He never wants to be helpless like he felt with his sister almost three years prior. At his lowest moments older Shouko pulled him out of darkness with her caring and maturity. She made him the person he is now, one who will do everything in his power to ensure everyone's security and happiness. But how large of a price is he willing to pay this time?
Past volumes of the series have had their dramatic moments peppered with light hearted banter and silliness, but this volume is heavily overshadowed by gloom and depression. It is an emotional roller coaster filled with equal parts frustration and dread. There are two parallel emotions running through its pages. the first being the frustration we feel for Mai as she tries to understand her place in Sakuta's heart. The other is the struggle of the younger Shouko and her impending demise. Sakuta is who he is because of both versions of Shouko and Mai struggles with that level of comparison. Yet she can't bring herself to hate the little girl going through more stress and pressure than she could ever imagine. Mai wants to be selfish, knowing what older Shouko's existence requires. She struggles with those feelings in her self and her understanding of Sakuta's resolve and personality. But at the same time both Shouko's are trying to help Sakuta to make the correct choice, a choice that may not be the one he wants or can live with. The air is thick with sadness and frustration as time marches one and no one can stop it. It may be best to take a break between this volume and the follow up, because you may not have enough emotional energy left to continue.
Book Seven: Rascal Does Not Dream Of His First Love review here!
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