Anime Review ~ Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid

Hello Anime Lovers 👋🏻, Hope everyone is well. I will review a new anime with you today.

Plot:

From the day of Mai's high school graduation, Sakuta suddenly met the childhood version of Mai on the beach a few times. And little Mai, who carries this red schoolbag on her shoulder, asks her every time if Sakuta is lost. Sakuta realizes that no one but him can see this little Mai.

On the other hand, it is revealed that Sakuta and Kaede's mother has recovered and wants to meet Kaede. In addition, Sakuta discovers that the lesions of Puberty Syndrome are again appearing in his body. But why is this happening again?

Watch the movie 'Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid'.

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Review of the series:

Before the new season of Rascal Does Not Dream, I watched the third movie of this series, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid, which was originally released in 2023.

I liked this film very much. The second film in the series, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out (2023), bored me and forced me to stretch out.

But after watching the movie Knapsack Kid, I rediscovered my love for the series once again! The story of this film is beautiful, as well as the runtime and dialogues of this series are perfect for me.

And the best thing is that this movie is completely focused on Sakuta. We see at the maximum that Sakuta helps others, but this time he had to help himself, which I find very emotionally impactful.

The whole story was very emotional because the tension and trauma between Sakuta and his mother was very deeply focused. Our relationship with our mother is probably the reason why we seek acknowledgment from our mother the most. And this is what Sakuta had to realize in this movie.

In two years, poor Sakuta had forgotten what role his mother had played in his life before, and that was why he was once again falling into the illusion of puberty syndrome. But as always, he was on the side of Mai, who brought Sakuta back this time with the power of her love.

It's nice to see that in the first season of this series, Sakuta's love for Mai is back, just as Sakuta's love for Mai is back in this movie.

Moreover, as always, the romance of Sakuta and Mai developed a lot more in this movie. I think their love is very natural and healthy. The interactions between the two are very realistic.

And they're getting married in this movie!

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Development of Sakuta, Puberty Syndrome and role of Knapsack Kid:

(Spoilers ahead)

Since Sakuta was the main focus of this movie, we got enough character development for him. Her relationship with her mother led her to puberty syndrome in this film.

Just as Mai was disappearing from everyone in the first season, the same thing was happening with Sakuta. But I remember him!

In the last two years, Sakuta had become accustomed to life without his mother, and so now suddenly the presence of his mother and their family back to normal made him uneasy. But in the end, she understood her mother's role well and got acknowledgement from her mother.

With this, he forgot his anxiety and came out of Puberty Syndrome. It can be said that in this movie he was a lost soul who was helped to get a new direction by a symbolic version of Mai's childhood.

The title of the film is "Knapsack Kid."

In the film, we see Sakuta at one point in an ideal reality, where his family has never been separated, his mother and sister are both healthy, and Mai is also his girlfriend.

But this reality can be called a fantasy or an escape mechanism. And he showed his courage by getting himself out of it.

When Sakuta and Kaede hugged their mother and cried at the end, the scene seemed very deep and meaningful for the good execution and story writing of the whole movie.

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Other characters:

Sakuta had strong support from Mai, and their relationship was strengthened by the events of the film.

We also saw Kaede in this movie in a very healthy state. She bravely meets their mother, and in this movie we see her completely normal and happy with her family.

In addition, we also saw Futaba in Sakuta's ideal reality, and like a good friend, this time he gave Sakuta the right advice.

We also saw a glimpse of Nodoka and Koga.

However, an unknown girl character is highlighted, named Kotomi Kano, who is his classmate in Sakuta's ideal reality, with whom he says he also attended middle school. But surprisingly, Sakuta didn't remember this girl in any way!

And at the very end, Shouko was shown, which gave a very important information to Sakuta, with which it was understood that there would be a big link in the next season.

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Animation and technical aspects:

As always, the animation and art work has been done excellently by CloverWorks Studio. Everything was perfect, but the most appreciated is the way the entire script was adapted.

The story was very well organized, and the dialogues were also well written, which made a connection with the story and characters.

And most liked that according to the runtime, the story of the film was as much as it needed to be shown.

Among the voice cast, the voice actor of Sakuta has once again done a great job.

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The end:

I love the movie Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid.

So I highly recommend that you check it out before the new season of this series arrives.

I was very emotionally invested in the story of this film, and I liked both the emotional journey and growth of Sakuta in this film.

Also, the chemistry and romance between her and Mai are very cute.

Fans of the series will not miss this film.

Those who have seen the film will tell you how it was. And for those who haven't seen it, check it out soon.