Rascal Does Not Dream Of His First Love (青春ブタ野郎はハツコイ少女の夢を見ない) is a the seventh volume of the Rascal Does Not Dream light novels written by Kamoshida Hajime featuring artwork by Mizogushi Keeji. The seventh volume was originally release in 2016 and in English in 2022.
The following synopsis may spoil some aspects of the first six novels in the Rascal Does Not Dream series, if you do not want to ruin those stories stop reading until you have.
Book Six: Rascal Does Not Dream Of A Dreaming Girl review here!
Following Mai's sacrifice Sakuta finds himself in a void of darkness. He can't except the reality that he has lost the woman he loves and most like lost the girl who would grow into his first love. All of his resolve and determination to take the past he thought was the best was instantly erased in Mai's incredible selflessness. But what was the cost of her actions? The entire country mourns for the loss of their young star, Sakuta is close to catatonia and the world is starting to blame him for robbing them of their Mai. Rio and Yuuma hide him away from the prying eyes of the media, but when it come time for Mai's funeral he can not bear to accept reality. As he sits in a corner, absorbed in his own emotionless state, the Tv comes to live, broadcasting the ceremony, showing an interview from a few days before her death, shaking Sakuta's foundation. Unable to control his emotions he flees Rio's house, heading to the only place he can think of, the place were he was first saved, the beach were he first met Shouko. In the midst of his breakdown among the cold sands and lapping waves she comes to him, but this is a different version of her. This version was able to live because of Mai's sacrifice, living with Mai's heart inside of her chest. She understands that something has changed, knowing that it was supposed to be Sakuta's heart in her. She offers him a chance to correct the past...or more accuratly the present. They are trapped in Sakuta's one 'adolescent syndrome' and seeing a future that might be prevented. She shows him how she was able to move to the past before and lets him know that he will be fine as long as he is able to find someone who can hear him.
Sakuta awakes to Christmas Eve, he still has the ability to right the situation and correct his choice, to overcome the incredible despair. But it will not lead him completely to happiness, he recognizes that his new course will mean Shouko's death and more pressing, he finds himself in the same situation Mai was in when they first met. No one can see him, he himself is numb to the world, cut off, only an observer. he knows, from Shouko's words, that he needs someone to recognize him, like he could see Mai. If he doesn't succeed it will all be for nothing. Frantically he tries everything he can think of to have someone open the box and observe him, resolve the Schrodinger's Cat thought experiment, prove that he exists and is real. Will he be able to find someone who can see and hear him? Afterwards what will he do to protect his future with Mai? The memories of the future without her has deepened his love for her to a level he never could imagine. But that new found love is tainted by the understanding that he is sacrificing Shouko's life and her future, her love for him, to prevent the deep and suffocating pain he experienced in the future. With time running out for himself and the two most important women in his life, he must fight against reality trying to keep him from being.
My eyes were moist and strained the entire time reading this volume. I know I had to do it in one sitting but it was hard. The written word feels overwhelmingly more powerful than the movie. I can't say if I would have preferred to read the books as they were being released, waiting months to continue the tragedy after the unexpected death of Mai at the end of book six. Would I have been better off not going from that directly into this one, emotionally wasted as it was. Would it have been less brutal to me if my serotonin has time to replenish its self? I feel wasted and worn out, even though I knew full well how the story would go from watching the movie first. It is hard for something to be that impactful and moving. Without the investment in the characters from all of the proceeding story it would probably not be as crushing as it was. One of the few stories that has left me even close to this desolated is the depressing, supposedly autobiographical, story Koi Sora, a crushing tale of a teenage girls first love and the crushing emotional toll of how she lost that love. This story arc is not dissimilar in some aspects, but something about the words written on the pages and the combination of the original authors story crafting and the translation teams efforts puts this in a class all by its self. This is probably the most emotionally taxing story I have ever encountered.
I really enjoy the Rascal Does Not Dream story for many reasons. Its lovable characters, the enjoyable mysteries and its way of emphasizing common struggles of youth and humanity in general in supernatural ways. The supernatural aspect is very light to the touch in most cases, light enough that it may not even be really supernatural, but more an observation by the characters that force it into that realm. This arc though somewhat forces the supernatural aspect by using time travel as the focal point. But it tries from time to time, to correct that forced idea by saying whats really happening is a dilation of time from different perspectives. It works to some degree, but this story definitely leans more heavily into the fantastical. That is in no was a negative point and I wonder if there could have been a way to unravel the story the way it did with a little more subtly. I say that and sound like I dislike time travel, but in actuality its one of my favorite story types, since its one that is hard to pull of in a meaningful way. That is not to say this arc was bad or diminished through the time travel aspect, no but something is nagging me that says it could have been even more impactful. At a few points between book six and seven the time travel concept seemed to slightly cheapen what was going on. The sheer force of emotion in the story its self erases that feeling rather quickly each time it comes to the surface. In the end, I can't think of a more impactful narration that I have read than these last two books. With these done I am to the point where the story is brand new, as nothing animated has been released at the point of this review. There are movies about to come out that do follow this up, but its all new territory from here. I enter the realm of reading the story before viewing the story. And I can not even guess how the series will follow up this incredibly end to the first seven volumes. All I know is I need it to be fun and carefree, I can't handle that level of depression for now.
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