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Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dear Friend Film Teased as Taking Story to Its Finale in 2026
posted on by Egan Loo
Kadokawa announced on Sunday that the next anime adapting Hajime Kamoshida's Rascal Does Not Dream (Seishun Buta Yarō or Aobuta) novel series is the Seishun Buta Yarō wa Dear Friend no Yume o Minai (Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dear Friend) film opening in 2026. The film is teased as taking the story towards its finale. (The film shares the same name as the 15th and final novel volume.) Aniplex streamed a promotional video to announce the film:
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (Seishun Buta Yarō wa Bunny Girl-senpai no Yume wo Minai), the first television anime based on the light novel series, premiered in Japan in October 2018 and aired for 13 episodes. The anime adapts the story up to the fifth novel volume. Aniplex of America streamed the series on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and other services.
Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl (Seishun Buta Yarō wa Yume-Miru Shōjo no Yume wo Minai), the anime film that adapts the the sixth and seventh light novel volumes in the franchise, opened in Japan in June 2019. Aniplex of America and Funimation Films screened the anime in the United States. Crunchyroll began streaming the film on June 19 with both English subtitles and dub.
The first film Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out opened in Japan in June 2023. The film sold 118,108 tickets in its first three days and earned 175,648,924 yen (about US$1.28 million) to rank #4 in its opening weekend. Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid, the second film, opened in Japan in December 2023, and ranked at #4 in its opening weekend. The film sold 119,000 tickets and earned 164,594,554 yen (about US$1.11 million) in its first three days.
Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus (Seishun Buta Yarō wa Santa Claus no Yume wo Minai), the television anime adapting the light novel series' "University Student Arc," premiered on July 5. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime as it airs, and is also streaming an English dub.
The original novel series has over 3 million copies in circulation. The Yen On imprint of Yen Press publishes the novel series, and Yen Press publishes Tsugumi Nanamiya's manga adaptation. Yen On will publish the Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dear Friend novel volume on January 6, 2026.
Source: Press release
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
