Because the movie is fairly new, let it be known that its current rating does not emulate its quality. I’ve made a review of the anime itself and this will follow the same structure. This first part will be an overall assessment of the work on an objective level with no spoilers. The second part will include spoilers and my subjective take of them. Proceed with caution if spoilers matter to you.
The universe shared between this movie and its anime permit a lot of crazy things to happen. An actress disappears from the public eye. A school girl wields the power to replay days. A young girl gets brutally cut, sliced, and bruised from online cyberbullying. A scientist’s split decision splits herself into two. Two sisters swap bodies.
No explanation is given for any of these occurrences except for one loathed term; “quantum theory.”
This is the writer’s excuse for everything happening in the anime. None of it gets explained to a satisfactory degree, and what attempts there are at an explanation end up boring, convoluted, and rather hard to follow. Keep this in mind.
With a story of that explained above, a level of complexity is necessary to fully flesh out the details for each of these occurrences. “Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl” dug its grave even deeper with elements of time travel that largely went unexplained. There’s no investment in the concept. It’s shown in this movie simply because it benefits the narrative. Aside from time, many of the events that take place are blatantly contrived in favor of emotional payoffs. This movie deviates from the comedic nature of the anime so as to take certain themes and stakes more seriously. This is a respectable shift, considering how incredibly serious the tonal shift was from episode thirteen of the anime to the beginning of this movie. However, this did not come without its consequences. Nothing felt real, or at least connected with the anime. The characters didn’t really show their colors the same way they once did. To call it all “unique” is both accurate and inaccurate. It’s inaccurate because the theme and setup is an amalgamation of many things that are a staple of its genre. It’s accurate because it’s not often that audiences see an anime movie so highly regarded fail so terribly in the aspect of story. To illustrate, so many questions are asked about what happened at the end of this movie that could have been quelled if the writers had more time. However, there’s still a lot to enjoy. Character moments and interactions are reminiscent of how the anime handled them, that being very well and meaningful. Still, it’s occasionally seen that some characters get more screen time with little bearing on the plot. Some might take this thought and likely conclude “it was very rushed, and it resulted in some rather unrelated clips getting sewn together like patchwork.” Let this say something about its pacing.
Perhaps the individual elements of the story can say something about its story as a craft. Largely, it underperformed, but let’s take it one-by-one. The comedic shift as previously mentioned means that Sakuta is now less abrasive over all, but he still makes a good joke here and there. Because this movie is much more climactic, there’s a sense of mystery behind the reveal at the end. Many people approach mystery differently, but for the most part the way it revealed itself over time was interesting. Fanservice can negate the previously mentioned points if the audience goes in looking to enjoy it. The romance and character bonds are really the only interactions that fall into this category for the movie. The romance is rather basic, and nothing really comes together in the end with a grand payoff. Character interaction and bonding started in the parent anime, which was quite well done and strong as a start. Now, because the characters act and react nearly contrary to their setup, the interactions seem faked. For instance, randomly inserted throughout the movie are five to ten second clips that don’t serve to support the narrative whatsoever. One of such can be found at 25:15. Despite unnecessary filler, there are some deus ex machina moments that really frustrate the plot. Beyond that, even with all of the contrivances that this work is littered with, it’s still full of holes. The writers attempts to fix the plot can be likened to fixing a broken bridge with string cheese. It’s ludicrously terrible. While the ending did “wrap everything up,” it didn’t answer important questions regarding the plot.
Why is Sakuta surrounded by a series of girls who have exceedingly supernatural problems?
Since people know about “puberty syndrome,” why hasn’t there been any research (by scientists who get paid to science) or awareness of the issue yet?
There’s SO much more to go over story-wise in the spoilers section. I can barely scratch the surface with these basic claims.
Did you like the simple and basic art style of the anime?
Good, because you’re getting another hour and a half of the same exact thing. This is a feature-length film; the least that the studio could have done was spend more time animating or stylistically change it from the anime. They did none of that. As far as you should be concerned, the story arc told in this movie is a direct continuation of the anime. The complexity and inconsistencies with art are on par with what the anime displayed (although there are no direct .jpg files slapped on screen). It isn’t memorable or even remotely interesting. It has all the flaws that a “normal” animated story would have. CGI cars and vehicles occasionally pop up, reminding the audience that this studio is still cutting corners. Some animations are choppy and stand out while others are rather fluid. Needless to say, the style is fitting for the story because it’s fitting for just about any story. There were no vistas or settings that were memorable or breathtaking. The only thing that relatively comes close to this description is a location at the end of the film. It wasn’t necessary to have a locale that meant something special to each of the characters, but it would’ve helped immensely to show how meaningful some scenes would be. The character designs are all appealing and unique, along with matching their respective personalities. Ultimately, the character designs didn’t foreshadow plot events while still being special to themselves. Really, the only upside to art is that it isn’t nearly as appalling as other categories.
Unlike the anime, the voice acting performance had no major issues. All of the same voice actors participated in their same roles from the anime. Everything in this department could be considered “normal.” None of the characters were really “out there,” so it’s hard to see the voice actors significantly improving with the roles they were given.
Aside from voice actors, the music says a lot about the movie. There are no new groundbreaking tracks introduced from the anime, but the movie rather takes a lot of the previous songs and reskins them. All of the tracks with exception to the overused opening and ending tracks were so incredibly basic that it’s no wonder that the soundtrack isn’t memorable in any capacity. Only a select few moments really benefited heavily from the music, which usually consisted of five different instruments playing the same overture in a different tempo. Beyond this, the OST isn’t anything to write home about, especially to those who haven’t watched the movie yet. As far as opening and ending songs are concerned, there’s only a credits track. The song that plays at the end of the movie is nearly an exact copy of the ED format from the anime. The only difference is that all of the voice actors for the main girls alternate singing. As the outro was average to start with, it can easily be concluded that a small variation of the song with all the singers is a bit underwhelming. Still, the audience can appreciate how meaningful that slight variation is since it incorporates characters in the music instead of just “another vocalist.” Overall, the musical performances and compositions are par at best. Some people like listening to this soundtrack, and if nothing else, it’s probably due to its popularity.
The reason this anime series is so popular can mostly be attributed to character development. Because of the serious tones in this movie, does this have any sort of effect on these characters? Here’s a brief run-down on the character changes from the anime to this movie:
Sakuta still makes some good jokes, but for some reason he takes himself far more serious than is necessary.
Mai becomes less sure of herself, which makes sense considering the events that take place, but several scenes take her clear to the breaking point and this makes her character seem partly contrived for heavy feels.
Shouko is rather consistent as a character, and appears as charming and level-headed throughout. How she gets from the beginning to the end scenes makes little sense, but she never falters from who she is. If one were to criticize her for anything, it would be related to how perfect she is.
Tomoe doesn’t stray from her core character either.
Kaede is interesting because the audience can finally see this side of her that is normal. Even so, she can go to public places in this movie but a throwaway line indicates that she can’t attend school yet.
Rio gets a lot of screen time that is used to further develop her character rather than explain events through quantum mechanics and theory.
Nodoka gets tacked on to the story so her voice actor has some dialogue.
Yuuma gets three 5-10 second scenes that have no bearing on the story, but include him regardless.
Sometimes these characters act a certain way to move the story in a direction that the writers would like. This is okay if the characters build up to different “load bearing” parts of the plot. For the most part, the characters act and react the way the audience expects them to. There are some writing flaws with the characters themselves as well as some of the actions they take. It isn’t perfect, but several times Sakuta or Mai will jump out of character either to progress the plot or create emotional instability. Whatever choices these characters make, their personalities are relatable to many. That was one of the biggest draws to the anime and some of that same charm was lost in this movie to focus on the climax to this series. Understandably, when the stakes are higher, humanity comes before personality, meaning that it’s more important to be serious in dire times than to be casual or silly. Some enjoyment may have been lost in the satire or lighthearted nature of the characters interacting but it was to support a more serious narrative. As is made apparent in the synopsis for the movie, Shouko is the primary focus. She doesn’t “grow” as a character, but she does deal with the problems she’s faced with. The same can be said about each other character, even Sakuta. The challenges they faced didn’t change the main characters in a big way. It didn’t have to, but that icing on the cake really shows that the writers care about the characters that they’ve spent an entire season developing. Based on the series as a whole, the amount of supporting characters versus the time spent fleshing them out was well done using the story arc format. There were a lot of questions regarding Shouko after the end of the anime, and her story gets explained to a satisfactory degree in this movie. No characters fell flat per se, with one exception. Yuuma is only in this movie to acknowledge that he’s still a part of the series. Beyond that, sometimes the plot placed characters in spots that helped Sakuta progress in a contrived manner.
Many gloss over the flaws in character if the cast is likable. In general, all the characters are likable to a point; this statement applies even to Sakuta, who appeared rather abrasive and savage in the anime series. With those jokes dialed down, his personality throughout this movie is sarcastic, yet feeling. He clearly cares about what’s going on.
Ultimately, these characters are memorable because of the expressions they make, interactions they have, and problems they share. However convoluted and problematic the story is, these characters come from a base that the audience can take away from and admire.
That last statement can be a testament to the quality of this movie as a whole. If you prefer to look for the memorable moments that characters share and what it means to them, then you will like this film. If you think about literally anything else, this whole story will start to fall apart. This series is like an ornate glass house. It looks beautiful, but even throwing the smallest of stones at it will cause it to crack and shatter. What the writers wanted to do and what they really accomplished are two very different things. Intellectual consistency was clearly neglected to favor that sweet emotional payoff that “makes anime great.” All they needed was a little more time to make the finale something amazing. Perhaps next time they won’t spend just eight months constructing a plot and scenes for a movie after its parent story premiered.
The popularity of this film is understandable, but not deserved in most respects. Easily, the most infuriating thing about this movie is that it occupies a popularity spot that should be taken by a better written anime.
Popularity does not equal quality.
THE FOLLOWING IS THE SPOILER SECTION!
This spoiler-rigged review section will feature my personal thoughts on the quality of the writing and the craft itself.
I am so done with this.
If I had a dollar for every problem raised in the series, I could easily buy all the parts for a custom-built gaming computer to replace the craptop that I’m writing this review on. Even Hellen Keller could SEE the amount of obvious flaws this show has. Most of these issues lie in story, while essentially every aspect of this movie is notably imperfect. Let’s start with the basics.
Let me premise all of this by stating that Sakuta not having a cell phone really makes things convenient for certain events in the plot. Keep this in mind.
Sakuta’s reason for being in this film stems from a ticking clock element to his fate. The middle school version of Shouko supposedly gets a heart transplant on the same day one of these main characters die. On this fatal day, Sakuta is supposed to die. His heart should get transplanted into Shouko’s chest so that she goes on living. First things first, that “puberty syndrome” scratch is a three-lined scar. It looks cool but it doesn’t make any sense. No surgeon would make an incision like that unless they are a grizzly bear. I know it’s called puberty syndrome and all, but why does it take at least fifteen years for these scars to spontaneously show up? Should he not have these scars from birth if his future was planned for him by the universe? Enough about Sakuta, what’s the justification for his adolescent heart getting put in Shouko’s body? When her incision scar is shown, it’s several inches below where the cut should have been made for the surgery to be successful. Open heart surgery and transplants require the doctors to literally cut through the sternum to open the chest cavity. The movie shows this mark just above her breast line when it should slit clear up to the same height as her armpits. Aside from medical points, but what explains a middle-school Shouko living at the same time as Sakuta? Shouldn’t she be his age? This doesn’t even mention how the older version is a time traveller but the middle school one just lives with her parents, but there’s yet another still in elementary school and somehow all of these events play out in “real” time. The only potential explanation is that of a shared mind which is literally impossible, and also not given in the movie.
Let’s slow down for a second. Somehow, events that play out in the “present” can manipulate the past. That’s not how time works, but it’s what happens and the “future plans” paper actively changes without anyone messing with what was written. This is only okay if my “shared mind” theory is correct. Even if it were the explanation the movie gave, it wouldn’t be satisfying enough as a “quantum entanglement” thing.
How does the movie qualify how Shouko got in the future in the first place? Sakuta clarifies with her that she came from the future. Then after, Futaba claims that “it would be more accurate to say that Shouko arrived at the future.” This makes no sense, because in a late portion of the movie she hints that Kaede’s grandparents will want to see her during the holidays. This was before the grandparents call Kaede. We also know that this older version of Shouko first came to the Azusagawa residence when she appeared at this future, so which is it? Did she arrive at the future or come from it? If she did come from the future, how much does she know? Can the plot decide what it wants to be yet? I’m here to enjoy the story, not revise it.
Because all three Shoukos are individual, intelligent beings, there are some problems with what the middle school her knows. She somehow realized by the end of the film that a future her was mucking about. This is really bad for the universe, because now she has unnatural information about the world that she has no logical reason to know. Side rant: wouldn’t Sakuta have to talk to elementary school Shouko and change her mind for the college Shouko to change as well, since her future person is a living and breathing copy of the person she wants to be? Not only that, but when the future plans paper does change, seemingly nothing happens to middle or college Shouko. I’m not sure why this magical paper has this level of power over this girl’s future life. I guess it doesn’t matter to the writers and I’ll just throw this idea in with the “ideas that don’t matter” wastebasket.
In the scenes after Sakuta bleeds out because of his scars acting up (which still made little sense, mind you), Shouko came to visit him with a super clever disguise, that being a newsboy type hat and glasses. She does this so that she isn’t recognized by her younger self or her parents. Here’s the thing, the moment these two versions catch each other's gaze, disguise or not, the universe (which has been beautifully contrived already) knows that these two versions of the same person are staring at each other. Looking into the eyes of YOUR copy means that this information changes the state of the future you. Therefore, the future you may be somewhere else the moment you saw them. But that can’t happen because now you have this information, and that version of you that came to this timeline now has to live through specific linear events which are now corrupted. The universe, in effect, should get an impossible error code that halts all life and time in that one moment because none of this should have happened. This is the theory of the paradox. Because this movie does not define its rules for time travel, we are stuck with lazy writers that have no investment in anything time travel related.
Now, before you go on saying that “this doesn’t happen in the movie, idiot,” I have an exact scene where Sakuta from the future talks to Sakuta from the past over the phone. Future Sakuta expresses to present Sakuta that Mai will die if he doesn’t do anything to change the events that are supposed to happen. The universe has a set day and we see it played out that Sakuta is supposed to die on December 24th. When Mai dies instead, the universe just goes with it. Mai had no reason to be waiting for him in the same place that Shouko was. Then after, Sakuta goes into this “insanely long” (/s) seven-minute emotional low because his girlfriend died instead of him. Then, perfect ol’ Shouko comes in to save the day and shows Sakuta that to change the past, you must BELIEVE that this is the future. All it takes is a little nap and believing hard enough to go back in time to the EXACT time he needed to be in. This sounds as anime as anime can be and it is so poorly done. If this was all that was needed, why hasn’t someone else discovered the power to go back in time by believing and sleeping? Because Sakuta goes by himself to the past, this means that it was on his own volition and with his own power. This is unrelated to puberty syndrome, people can just do this now, it’s canon, don’t think about it too hard.
As a minor distraction from the time travel thing, I need to bring up something. The only two love interests this kid Sakuta ever had drugged him against his will. Mai, when she willed him to sleep and he wouldn’t because he wanted to see her, and Shouko, because she needed him to sleep in order to go back in time. It’s easy to believe that with Mai, he went to sleep so quickly. She drugged him when he was already incredibly tired. In the case of Shouko, Sakuta was completely awake, and when she drugged him, he was out in fifteen seconds at most. To possess a drug this powerful legally is impossible. Note that in the scene, she gives him “plum soda for adults” with a “DOSE” in it. “Only in your dreams can you cast the ordinary aside” is the most annoying explanation for time travel being possible in this world. It seems like the story is being arbitrary on purpose here.
It's the little things like these that make you realize that Sakuta is a “Gary-Stu,” and he’s supported by the perfect “Mary-Sue”, Shouko. The world rules that should be established bend to whatever supports the narrative, and whatever these main characters need. I’m sure you’ll find this true as I continue…
Let’s bring it back to when Sakuta found out his fate. If you knew your fate, you would do something to change it, would you not? Sakuta knows something must change, and still everything plays out like the world said it should. Shouko requested that Mai and Sakuta “spend a quiet Christmas with a stay-at-home date this year.” She literally tells Sakuta to “have faith in modern medicine.” It was her choice to tell him what he should do since her future was involved. Mai wants to change those plans as well so that Sakuta is safe. He even entertains the thought of staying safe by going to the aquarium instead of the original plan. He’s told Shouko the day before his accident that “[he] want[s] to keep living.” There is absolutely NO REASON for Sakuta to go head-on into his fate, especially considering what might happen.
The characters deliberately go against the worlds’ laws so many times that you have to wonder if the writers actually cared about their own works.
Upon travelling back in time, Sakuta understands that to be recognized as a part of this universe as a copy now, he needs to find someone who will recognize him. This is a cool callback to what Mai dealt with, but it isn’t handled right. For one thing, doors and items phase after he interacts with them. Sakuta should not have any power over the world as he’s there, considering the world hasn’t accepted that he’s real. What are the limitations on this? Can he just phase through the world? Are objects and matter solid until he proves himself? Shouldn’t the very clothes on his back not move the moment he wakes up? The “rules” are very lenient here. Speaking of rules, what’s the deal with the pink bunny outfit? He should not be wearing it by the terms that were established, unless that’s another exception. Also, when he talks to Shouko with the head of the suit off, he has a jumpsuit on underneath whereas he was wearing his school uniform before. This is more of a nitpick but when did he have time to change if he had the bunny suit on the whole time?
On a different point, the fact that the suit he randomly finds in a hallway is the same color and animal as Mai’s trademark is incredibly on the nose. It cannot be more obvious that this shows’ “themes” are getting shoved down your throat. Later on, Sakuta is discovered by Tomoe. This makes enough sense given that her arc involved him looking for the same person who was looping a specific day. I’m just infuriated that the way that they explain it is through “quantum entanglement” again.
The way Sakuta solves the problem of him accepting his fate is by pushing his original self out of the way while wearing the bunny suit. After the future him gets hit, he “fuzes together” with himself, safe and sound. What makes sense about this? The guy spontaneously disappears after getting hit by the car. Granted, the future him knows exactly when to save himself but fuzing together is really just a simple way to take care of this future Sakuta’s existence so as not to create a paradox. There’s no reason for it to happen, and yet it does. That sentence seems to sum up a lot about this movie, doesn’t it? Another point to note about this scene is that the bunny suit is all that’s left, but we should expect to see the jumpsuit he had lying on the ground.
The major climatic events have already been discussed and there is still more to talk about.
The main characters find out from looking at the future plans paper that the previously written plans have been erased, not just gone. Did 4th grade Shouko just take it all back because older her told her or something? In a similar vein, the way that Sakuta and Mai deal with the emotional trauma of the events is in a thirty second scene of him drawing a flower on Shouko’s homework and both of them laughing. It is easily the most bizarre scene in the movie because I have absolutely no clue what set up the way they act. They proved that they are strong enough to have taken all of that serious stuff head on, it might have been a better option to have Mai and Sakuta embrace one another for a while with some meaningful dialogue. They are together now at the end of the movie and they can finally live peacefully without the puberty syndrome worries they once had.
The ending spawned at least five different discussions regarding how this series ended in the forum below. It was confusing and rather hard to follow. Firstly, when Sakuta is talking with Shouko about what will happen and what she intends to change, she says herself that she wants to create a future that doesn’t bring Sakuta any sorrow. By doing so she is theoretically getting rid of Sakuta’s memories of her and by extension the mess that this whole ordeal was. This meant that after time was reversed and she did what she wanted to, Sakuta and Mai would have no recollection of Shouko. However, this is ENTIRELY UNDERMINED because the last scene before the credits roll shows that Sakuta recognizes that middle-school Shouko, alive and well on the beach. He calls out to her, and she recognizes him. I suppose it’s just okay to keep information from one timeline to the next. Because Sakuta recognizes her, would he not also remember all of the pain he suffered through to get back to this one place? Did he ever truly forget her? Why does this ending contradict itself?
Because she’s healthy, this means that Shouko got the necessary help anyway. This completely undermines Sakuta’s fate, because if Shouko was saved anyway by “modern medicine,” why would she need to time travel in the first place? His heart is not needed for all of this to have worked! There were alternatives! There were implications at the end of the film that a movie that Mai starred in called “Spring Comes, Winter Leaves” would raise awareness for the issue and Shouko would get the help she would need. It was supposedly about a girl awaiting a heart donor. However, it’s improbable that Mai had the time to help film this whole movie in the eleven days between Shouko going back and Sakuta recognizing her again. This means that the past changed, and important events happened offscreen.
Let me make it painfully clear that this is NOT how you should tell your audience what happens. Throwaway lines and time travel are a confusing mix and there are a lot of necessary details that need more development. It is incredibly hard to make a quality story and movie in eight months. Take the time, make it worthwhile.
Not that they had to do that because all the producers needed was fanservice and major feels.
Everything I’ve mentioned so far has only been about story. That alone breaks the film to a heavy degree. Here are some extra notes I made while watching this disaster:
OTHER WRITING ELEMENTS:
Random side characters get nightmares of things happening in different timelines!
Unnecessary clip! (25:15)
Throwaway line for how long it’s been since the anime! (37:00) [<6 months]
Cringe dialogue! Mai of all people should not be acting this clingy and both characters seem to know what they’re talking about despite not saying anything of substance! (39:00)
For how long Sakuta runs on fresh snow for, it’s amazing that he doesn’t slip even once! (~45:00)
Sakuta awkwardly sits Koga down! (58:15)
Nodoka decides not to ask why Sakuta is dressed in a bunny suit! (1:00:30)
Futaba is at school while it’s closed for some reason! (1:08:45)
ART:
CGI cars, trains, and crowds are back!
Random cuts in the camerawork are inaccurate to where Mai and Sakuta are in relation to one another! (38:15)
Inconsistent snow prints! (45:00)
Choppy Rio walk! (1:12:30)
My friend and I agreed that the best part of this whole movie is when Rio shows she cared about Sakuta after he got into grave danger. It showed a human side to her. This was one of the only takeaways we got after we finished the movie.
So much is either a contrived mess or an arbitrary excuse to move the plot forward in the realm of story, and there is little else to latch onto. Allow me to reiterate. This show is an OUTLIER. It does not deserve the respect it has gotten.
It’s time to move along to a different anime that actually deserves your time.
