Rascal Does Not Dream Of His Student - light novel

    Rascal Does Not Dream Of His Student  (青春ブタ野郎はマイスチューデントの夢を見ない) is the twelfth volume of the Rascal Does Not Dream light novels written by Kamoshida Hajime featuring artwork by Mizogushi Keeji.  The twelfth volume was originally release in 2022 and in English in 2023. 

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

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

      The strange warning Sakuta received from the alternate world he had been lost in around the time Mai graduated from high school bothered him.  His middle school classmate, Akagi, had delivered a warning from the other world that Mai's life was in danger and that he needed to find the singer Kirishima Touka.  He had already found her though, dressed as a mini-skirt clad Santa.  The problem may be that only he can truly see her, not unlike Mai's adolescent syndrome.  Kirishima had told him before that she was able to impart 'adolescent syndrome' on others and had done so countless times already.  Somehow her ability was connected to a strange urban myth related to hashtags on internet posts and prescient dreams.  Sakuta experienced that himself in the form of the day he gained a new student at his tutoring job.  The events of the tutoring session played out as they had in his dream.  He needed to talk with Kirishima more to understand what was going on and how much of a treat she was to Mai.

    After calling her number for days on end, she finally responded to his messages.  She offered to meet with him on December 2nd, when he was done with his classes, and they would meet and talk.  he hesitated to agree, preferring to do it another day.  When he tried to get out of it, explaining that was Mai's birthday and they had plans, the other woman insisted that this would be his only chance to talk with her.  reluctantly he told Mai that they would have to change their plans.  Much to his surprise she doesn't put up much of a fuss, understanding the complexity of the problem he is trying to solve and that its about her safety first and foremost.  Instead, she adjusts their day a bit and forces him to buy her some jewelry for her birthday, exposing him to a world that celebrities deal with while in public.

   With Mai partially satisfied, Sakuta finishs off his day at school and calls the enigmatic Kirishima to finalize their meeting.  She meets him at the entrance to his college and leads him into a quiet neighborhood where she forces him to buy her tea and cake.  He obliges, understanding he needs to grease the wheel a bit if he intends to get anything out of her...and that no one else really see's her.  During their confirmation he suspects the way she may be imparting 'adolescent syndrome' on others is through the music she uploads to YouTube.  He tests her out to see how much a threat she poses on Mai, but feels the warning is not directed related to actions she may take.  Instead he is concerned with her planning to release a new song on Christmas Eve and what it may trigger if his suspicions are correct.  He rushed home to spend as much time with Mai for hr birthday as possible, only to find four girls singing to a new Kirishima Touka song, dread filled him at the prospect of what this new song meant and its lonely lyrics. When everyone else left he updated Mai on the events earlier.  Mai made him promise to be free to spend time with her on Christmas eve and day, how could he refuse?

     That night he had a vivid and concerning dream about spending Christmas Eve with his new cram school student, Himeji Sara.  His fears of the dream being related to the hashtag are all but confirmed when he encounters Sara and she tells him about having the same exact dream.  In the dream she asks him to promise not to cure her 'adolescent syndrome' which leads to him prying from her that she does in deed suffer from it.  As in the dream, she thinks her syndrome is favorable to her and does not wish to be rid of it.  He isn't so sure and concerned it may be linked to the unknown threat to Mai, he presses her to understand what is going on.  Her condition appears to be stemming from the realization that the boy she grew up with and thought she would spend her life with does not feel for her that way, instead is focused currently on Futaba, who is instructing him at the cram school.  The further he digs the less likely it appears he will be able to keep his promise to spend Christmas with Mai, but he is more concerned with understanding why she is in danger and what, if anything, this growing hashtag tread has to do with it.

    Returning to the Rascal Does Not Dream series after many months and reading all of the Suzumiya Haruhi novels really underlined how good the Rascal books and story over all is.  I have been a long time fan of Haruhi but Rascal is really a superior product.  This may be the best book in the college arc so far and makes me with the release schedule for the next volume would speed up.  The plot was consistent, well paced and gave a new version of 'adolescent syndrome' to experience and work through.  Everything since the resolution of Shouko's 'adolescent syndrome' has been building to what will be unveiled in the thirteenth and more than likely fourteenth and final volume in the series.  While awaiting the English version of the next volume to publish we can twitch over getting English versions of the second and third movies...until then...it's just a waiting game.  Maybe I need to reread this great series even though its not completed.