Kicking off the final arc of the season, Episode 11 opens up with Sakuta’s latest #dream. You know, for a show called Rascal Does Not Dream, the rascal sure has been dreaming an awful lot lately. In his dream, Sakuta sees Mai perform during a festival at the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse. A bit atypical for Mai though the biggest surprise is her “revealing” herself as Touko Kirishima to the audience. The dream ends with Sakuta calling Ikumi on his smartphone, which is also odd as Sakuta stopped carrying a phone after Kaede’s episode with Puberty Syndrome. Sakuta tells Mai about the dream when he wakes up. As the couple question if it’s real or not, Mai’s manager Ryoko (Natsuki Aikawa) informs her about an offer to perform at a music festival at April 1st. The fact that the festival is slated for April 1st is a bit peculiar. Like, you’d think if Mai announces she’s Touko on that day, people would then doubt the rumor surrounding the two of them. And yet, nothing in the dream suggests Mai is pulling a prank so maybe the date is just a cheeky detail.
Shortly after Christmas, Sakuta calls Ikumi to verify her phone number, having seen it in his dream. Ikumi confirms with Sakuta that she dreamt of receiving a call from him on the day of the festival. She also shares that she thinks the dreams aren’t prophetic visions but rather moments from alternate realities. Given Ikumi’s familiarity with the multiverse, it makes perfect that she’d come to this conclusion. It’s a very sound theory too as it would explain why some dreams such as Sakuta and Sara’s Christmas Eve date ultimately doesn’t come to fruition.
Throughout the rest of his break, Sakuta notices how widespread #dreaming has gotten. Social media platforms are crashing due to the amount of traffic surrounding the trend and there’s now news stories of people panicking over whether or not their dreams will happen in real life. More importantly, Sakuta learns that almost everyone in his circle has experienced a #dream. The one exception appears to be Mai, who speculates that she might be too old to be affected by the phenomenon. I’m not going to over every single dream Sakura hears about. Most of them sound pretty inconsequential for now. Watch me be entirely wrong with this next post. One dream worth bringing up however is Tomoe’s. I know, Tomoe getting to do something again? Pinch me, I must be the one dreaming right now. In Tomoe’s dream, Mai serves as an honorary police chief on February 4th, only to then get caught in an accident that puts her in a coma. Mai apparently doesn’t wake up until April 9th which is most peculiar considering Sakuta’s dream of her performing on April 1st. Regardless, it’s a very ominous vision considering the alternate Sakuta’s warning that Mai is in danger.
On his first day back in university, Sakuta learns (or relearns) from Takumi that his friend is from Hokkaido. This might actually very relevant as Touko is also from there. Also curious is that Takumi can’t seem to recall why he chose to study at Yokohama City University. While taking an exam, Sakuta is approached by Touko, who demands that two of them have a talk. There’s a brief but noteworthy moment where Touko takes the time to pick up Takumi’s scarf before leaving the classroom. Combined with the fact that Takumi hails from Hokkaido, I’m starting to think he and Touko used to be friends, very close ones at that, before Touko disappeared via Puberty Syndrome.
Anyway, Touko has grown frustrated over the rumor that she and Mai are the same person. Touko can’t deny the rumor herself as her Puberty Syndrome causes her face to get obscured during her livestreams. She therefore requests that Sakuta convince Mai deny the rumor at a public event. An awkward demand given what we know might happen later down the line but regardless, Sakuta agrees to help Touko in exchange for a “date” (I’m guessing that’ll just be an excuse to keep Touko away from Mai). Before leaving, Touko reveals that she too hasn’t experienced a dream. On one hand, Touko is around the same age as Mai and she is the one who started the #dreaming thing in the first place so I can see her immune to it. That said, it can’t be coincidence that both her and Mai haven’t dreamt of anything.
Sakuta returns to class to finish his exam (I think, we don’t actually see him do it). To both his and my surprise, Sakuta learns from Miori that she too can see Touko Claus. That can’t be plot convenience. There is definitely something special about Miori. There must be or else why does this darn character keep showing up? Anyway, after Sakuta fills her in on the plot, Miori speculates that Touko’s grudge against Mai might be because the latter stole her thunder. Like, once Mai started to attend the university, all the popularity Touko garnered from the beauty pageant fell off a cliff and Touko became self-conscious about she compares to the famous actress. Assuming this is the case, it would explain how Touko contracted Puberty Syndrome and started to live her life as a ghost of sorts. I am with Sakuta that Miori seems a little too good at drawing this conclusion. She must have experienced something to deduce this well. But you know, this is Miori we’re talking about here so this is just another thing we’ll have to worry about later.
Oddly enough, Miori believes that Nene Iwamizawa is not actually Touko Kirishima. It sounds asinine at first but come to think of it, you’d think Touko would have an easier time in general to prove to her audience that she is indeed Touko. This is purely a hunch and I accept being proven wrong in the next post but considering the occasional multiverse stuff this season, I wonder if “Touko Kirishima” might’ve actually been a pseudonym for Mai in an alternate reality and somehow, Nene came across it and took it for her own. It would explain why so many people in the main reality believes Mai is Touko and in a weird way, it would line up pretty well with Touko’s inferiority complex towards Mai.
After class, Sakuta shares Miori’s speculation with Rio, as well as discuss a new plan where Mai will deny the rumor during Coming of Age Day. There’s a bittersweet bit of dialogue in this scene where Rio reveals that she dreamt of going on a date with Yūma. I’m admittedly half-joking there but this is how you know Ikumi might be right about the dreams stemming from alternate realities. I mean, Yūma asking Rio out? The Yūma we know is way too smitten with Saki, even as it seldom makes sense. I feel sad for Rio has to deal with her heartbreak again but conversely, I’m glad to see her letting go of her feelings towards Yūma after gaining some perspective from Toranosuke’s attempts to ask her out.
Episode 11 ends on a very worrying note as Mai tells Sakuta via phone that she’s been asked to be police chief for a day, just as Tomoe’s dream predicted. While trying to try something for this episode, I started to wonder if there is a way for both Tomoe’s and Sakuta’s dreams to happen back to back. My guess is that the Mai in Sakuta’s dream isn’t necessarily Mai but rather, Touko. Like, maybe Touko will take a page from Nodoka and take on Mai’s likeness, allowing her to technically say she’s Touko without dealing with the public refusing to believe her. Here’s the thing though, I hope I’m 100% wrong. For one, this means that Mai does end up in a coma after all and I think that’s just too cruel for her and Sakuta to deal with. And two, Touko pretending to be Mai would be a massive conceit that wouldn’t help her overcome her complex and by extension, cure her of Puberty Syndrome.
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