Rascal Does Not Dream Of A Lost Singer - light novel

        Rascal Does Not Dream Of A Lost Singer (青春ブタ野郎は迷えるシンガーの夢を見ない) is the tenth volume of the Rascal Does Not Dream light novels written by Kamoshida Hajime featuring artwork by Mizogushi Keeji.  The tenth volume was originally release in 2020 and in English in 2023.

      The following synopsis may spoil some aspects of the first nine novels in the Rascal Does Not Dream series, if you do not want to ruin those stories stop reading until you have.   

Book Nine: Rascal Does Not Dream Of A Knapsack Kid review here!

    We find Sakuta well into his first year of college, leaving behind the world of 'adolescent syndrome' in favor of a future with Mai, still Japans more loved young actress.  Even though college works in a more casual fashion than high school, Sakuta still finds himself outside of the student body.  This is equal parts intentional and accidental.  Mai is also attending the school at the same college, and word got around pretty quickly who her boyfriend is.  The excitement and annoyance died out after a while but people still tend to give him a wide berth.  He's not exactly upset about the situation, preferring to not be tied to social interactions.  He and Mai are not the only ones going to the same college, Mai's half sister Nodoka and a member of her idol group, Hirokawa Uzuki, are also attending.  Uzuki, who helped his sister Kaede with choosing to attend an alternative high school, is even in the same major as Sakuta.  It was bad enough when everyone knew he was dating the countries most desirable woman, but hes also friends with two beautiful idols as well?  Life sure if rough for our hero!

    Given his nature, Sakuta is quite in-tune with those around him.  He quickly notices when a change overcomes Uzuki.  She had struggled with being able to 'read the room' and found her self constantly being ostracized from her peers.  She is quirky, impulsive and energetic.  Her behavior endears her to her fans but also makes others embarrassed.  This is one of the things that lead her to switching to online school.  Overnight she gains the ability of self and situational awareness.  This causes nervousness in Sakuta, who understands its nearly impossible for a human to do that normally.  With great trepidation he fears his year and a half break from 'adolescent syndrome' is at an end.  If it is the cause of her sudden change what would be the catalyst and is this actually a problem?  A friend of his, who has struggled her entire life with being comfortable and capable in social settings, is suddenly able to be a part of the group.  Does she even desire to undo her change?  Will it have adverse effects on her career as an idol, which is partially influenced by her spontaneous personality?  Beyond Uzuki, Sakuta begins to notice the uncanny level of 'sameness' that surrounds him.  In a world of fresh adults everyone begins to behave like one another, could this be a more widespread phenomena or if this just a byproduct of a world with less restrictions and formality than they experiences as children.

    It's really good to jump into a new chapter of Sakuta's life.  While they narrated the missed time as Sakuta putting his nose into books to pass his entrance exams, it may be nice eventually to show a little more of what transpired in that time period.  But, here we are, almost everyone is out of school and beginning their journey to adulthood.   With the maturing characters we also have a maturing narrative.  For once the characters are fully living lives for themselves and their personalities reflect those circumstances.  It is nice to see this evolve beyond the adolescent romance it always was into something more, something continuous.  It's difficult to say if Uzuki's issue is supernatural in origin, as it is just her gaining a far greater perception of herself and her interactions.  That perception has caused her normally confident facade to falter, which is the driving force of the concern, not solving some mysterious trigger or supernatural ailment.

     Its really nice to see the slow evolution of the story telling with this series and hopefully it can continue for quite a long time into the future.  The end of this volume sets us up for an encounter that's been brewing in the background for a few volumes now and presents an interesting, potentially story shifting, concept.  There could be someone who is able to trigger 'syndromes' in others.  This opens up a new set of paths for the story to take and may finally establish the post Shouko catalyst.  Speaking of Shouko, hopefully we see her again soon as well!!  Time will tell, but I am really enjoying the shift to mundane realism, at least in this volume.  If the author can keep up with new and exciting supernatural twist that would be great.  But if those supernatural elements fade away with the characters youth and is replaced with the realism shown in this volume, that will be just as welcome.

Book Eleven: Rascal Does Not Dream Of A Nightingale review here!