Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus

Episode 12

Up until now, we've been buying into an assumption—that our Santa-clad beauty was the one-and-only Touko Kirishima. But you know what they say about assumptions.

Basically, Nene was the queen bee of the university. Pretty and talented, she knew exactly where her place was: in the spotlight. But then came her third year of college and the arrival of Mai. Nationally famous for her beauty and acting talent, who could hope to compete with Mai? Certainly not a girl from Hokkaido.

Just like that, Nene lost her whole identity. With Mai set to effortlessly overshadow her. Who was she? What did she have? Nothing. But then there was Touko Kirishima. A YouTuber who never showed her face and had a voice nearly identical to Nene's own. Nene could simply pretend to be Touko—to escape her collapsing life and live a new one. After all, no one could prove she wasn't Touko Kirishima unless the original doxxed herself, which seems unlikely given her secretive nature despite her popularity.

And with a little help from Puberty Syndrome, she became Touko. Of course, it came with consequences—leaving her with a mixture of what happened to Mai and Nodoka. By rejecting her life as Nene, everyone became unable to remember her. Meanwhile, taking on Touko's identity—one that only existed through online music—meant that she was unable to interact with the world unless making a music video or song.

This has left Nene in limbo for the better part of a year. While the Touko identity has kept her sane, being forgotten by everyone—especially her boyfriend, who finally made it into her college after two years of trying—has hurt her deeply. And when Sakuta fails to get him to recognize her, in her pain, she fully discards the last bit of her that was Nene—fully becoming Touko by letting go of all her Nene-related memories.

The trick, of course, is that she isn't Touko. To keep herself in her Puberty Syndrome-created bubble, she must keep herself as closely aligned with the real Touko as possible. Thus, she must own exact copies of everything that Touko has shown off in her music videos—leaving Nene with a tiny apartment filled with rare Christmas props.

The fear that grips Sakuta at the end of this episode comes from the fact that, despite Nene's collection and completely discarding her old life, the world still doesn't believe her to be the real Touko. Instead, it's Mai who, despite publicly announcing she isn't Touko and logically doesn't have the time to be a secret pop-star, holds the frontrunner position. Thus, from the viewpoint of anyone wanting to be Touko, Mai's very existence is a roadblock that must be overcome.

However, what's doubly scary is that Nene isn't the only Touko wannabe out there. Several other similar sounding girls have discarded their own identities to become Touko as well—leaving them likewise isolated and invisible. Moreover, unlike Nene, they have no personal connection to Mai. (At this point, Sakuta is Nene's only friend— and killing his girlfriend would leave Nene completely isolated and alone again). However, any other Toukos may be willing and able to kill Mai, with their Puberty Syndrome powers ensuring they won't be held responsible for the murder. It's a chilling thought—and, even worse, while Sakuta can see Nene, who's to say he can see the other Toukos?

Rating:

Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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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.

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