Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus

Episode 13

When you're young, you dream big. Many are driven by the need to “be somebody”—to escape the socio-economic situation they're born into and become something more. Of course, the problem with “somebodies” is the simple fact that there aren't a lot of them, and even talent and hard work are often not enough to make it.

That's the situation that has befallen Nene. She started as a big fish in a small pond—but even then, occasionally she'd get a taste of the ocean. She was popular enough as an up-and-comer that agencies in Tokyo would sometimes go through the hassle of flying her out for work. So, once she actually moved to Tokyo for college, she should have blown up, right? Well, wrong.

For two years, Nene sat on the very edge of her big break. She got sporadic modeling jobs and even won her college's beauty/talent competition. But be it due to her looks, personality, skills, or just plain bad luck, she never broke through. In fact, the most recognition she ever got was for sounding like a popular singer, Touko Kirishima.

Surrounded by shattered dreams and with her boyfriend, Takumi, failing twice to get into her college and join her in Tokyo, she fell into despair—and thus came the idea of becoming Touko Kirishima. As no one knows Touko's true identity, who's to say she couldn't? If she adopted the Touko Kirishima identity, then all her dreams would be accomplished. She would have already made it big and become somebody. All it would cost is discarding her true life and everything in it.

For most of the season, Nene has been on the knife's edge. She's living as Touko to the point that her Puberty Syndrome makes her invisible, but she still can't let go of Takumi—despite his inability to see her. It's only once Sakuta, a person who can see her, fails to cure Takumi that she finally lets go of her past self completely and becomes unable to see herself as anyone but Touko. After all, why hold on to her old life when the one thing she wants from it, she can't have?

But, of course, once Takumi can see her—can remember how much he loves her—things are different. While her puberty syndrome may be making her into Touko, her core is still in there listening. And so it all spills out—that she sees herself as a failure in life. It's better to pretend to be a person of value than live as who she was. And while Takumi tries to reach her, it's Sakuta, in the end, who does.

Sakuta has been on both sides of a situation similar to Nene's. He knows what it's like to be invisible and isolated—and to have the chance to escape into a dream world where everything is better. But, for all his faults and failures, he has found that his life has value—for one reason if nothing else: Mai loves him. His existence makes her life better. And as he loves her in return, he could wish for nothing more.

So for Nene, it all comes down to a single question: Is love enough? Is the love of a normal man worth giving up the dream life she has worked for all these years? She decides that it is. Like many people coming of age, she is forced to accept reality—and that while a normal life can suck, it does come with its high points.

This also ties into all the other Santa-clad “Touko Kirishimas.” They are all running away from reality, all wishing to be “somebody.” They are facing the fact that life is uncertain and scary as an adult. And, in the end, they get exactly what they need from Sakuta: a guy worse off than them—one with every reason to hate them for injuring him—telling them it's all going to be okay. And hearing that—believing that—cures them of their Puberty Syndrome.

So, in the end, everything is good, right? Mai is safe, Nene and the other Toukos have been cured, and there's no immediate crisis to face—or at least that's what Sakuta wants to believe. However, there are many mysteries that remain. Has Sakuta actually dealt with Touko Kirishima as his Perfect World counterpart asked? What is the connection between #Dreaming and parallel worlds—and how does Ikumi fit in? What exactly is Young Mai, and how is she connected to everything?

I guess we'll just have to wait for the upcoming film, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dear Friend, to find out.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Never before has simply falling over looked so damned scary.

• The climax does a great job of showing that this whole series isn't about Sakuta saving Mai, it's about them saving each other.

• Poor Ikumi, she ended up just kind of tagging along on what, for her, was basically a wild goose chase.

• And of course, there is one question that looms above all others: “Who is Touko Kirishima?”

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

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