Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl

A Japanese animated film, a continuation of a series. The narrative is set in a high school and there is a phenomenon at its centre: unexplained physical and mental events that appear in young people. In the series it is called adolescence syndrome. Sakuta has met these events many times. His relationship with his girlfriend Mai is settled and his life could be called calm. Then someone he knew as a child appears. Shoko is visible at two different ages at once; one a girl at middle school, the other a grown woman, and both are real. The reason is a heart transplant. Shoko's survival depends on an organ, and where that organ will come from is the centre of the narrative. From there the film is built on a choice. To save one person Sakuta has to lose another, and time rewinds more than once. What the narrative is interested in is not science fiction but the limit of sacrifice: the film plays the same scene again with different decisions, and each time someone pays. The structure is entirely tied to the series; the characters are not introduced and the earlier events are assumed known. The source is Hajime Kamoshida's novel series. Soichi Masui directed. Who it is for: anyone who has watched the series and likes emotional science fiction. Who it is not for: anyone starting the series here; the film leans on the past from its first scene and cannot be followed alone.