Fan-Favorite Psychological Anime Gets Brand New Arc

Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus appears to be covering the entire University Arc of the Rascal Does Not Dream series.

This means that it should account for volumes 10 through 13 of the light novel. The 13th volume of the light novel shares the same name as the title for the new anime arc, which would also make sense if that’s where the anime is ending. 

There are a total of 15 volumes of the Rascal Does Not Dream light novels. If the second season does cover through volume 13, there would be two more to be adapted, likely turned into a movie. 

The light novels have led to several anime adaptations. The first was Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, a TV show. The others, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out, and Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid are all films. 

This means that Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus will be the first TV adaptation since the original series and will be counted as Season 2 of the show.

All of the movies and the first series have pretty good reviews, with Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out the lowest with an average score of 7.75 on My Anime List and all of the others above an 8. 

Despite the interesting format for adaptation, the movies and the series are consistent. All the adaptations are directed by CloverWorks (Bocchi the Rock!) with Soichi Masui (Samurai Champloo) as the director, Satomi Tamura (Kiznaiver) as the character designer, and Masahiro Yokotani (Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!) as the scriptwriter.

Additionally, the voice cast will be returning for Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus, at least for the Japanese adaptation. Kaito Ishikawa (My Hero Academia) voices Sakuta Azusagawa, Asami Seto (Overlord) voices Mai Sakurajima, Nao Touyama (Rent-a-Girlfriend) voices Tomoe Koga, Atsumi Tanezaki (The Ancient Magus’ Bride) voices Rio Futaba, Maya Uchida (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?) voices Nodoka Toyohama, Yurika Kubo (Classroom of the Elite) voices Kaede Azusagawa, and Inori Minase (The Quintessential Quintuplets) voices Shoko Makinohara. 

The entire Rascal Does Not Dream series follows Sakuta Azusagawa as he meets Mai Sakurajima, a teenage actress. However, while he can see her, Mai is invisible to other people around her, even when dressed in a skimpy bunny girl outfit. 

They end up calling the strange phenomenon “Adolescence Syndrome” as it mostly affects teenagers and pre-teens. The first part of the story involves Sakuta and Mai solving Mai’s version of this syndrome, but they go on to help others as well with their own syndrome. 

While this Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus was announced previously, there was no estimated arrival time for the new season. However, during the Aniplex x Kadokawa Anime Festival, it was revealed that this newest addition will arrive sometime in 2025.