This is a Spoiler-Heavy review where most parts tackle character analysis. If you have watched it or are okay being spoiled, you may be free to continue reading. If not, check out the movie first and come back on this after. ***

__A SERIES OVERVIEW (INTRO)__

The Rascal Does Not Dream Series is one of the most highly rated and beloved modern anime series, scoring #14 for highest rating and #3 for most popular in 2018 (as of July 2, 2024). The series offered a subversion to the usual louder directions anime usually takes with its drama and plotline, but instead takes a step back and provides a more subtle environment with underlying drama tones that keep you gripped to watch. This is coupled with its cleverly constructed and memorable characters that do not feel generic compared to how they were initially presented, along with witty dialogue that keeps you grinning while watching.

One of the main hooks this series has is “Adolescence Syndrome." As the series implies, it is an “abnormal experience during adolescence as a result of sensitivity and instability." This premise can give you the impression that the series tackles the heavy supernatural aspects and power systems that anime is usually known for, but it took a more direct approach to the inner psyche, using characters’s deeper insecurities and creating an exaggerated outlook on frustration through supernatural themes. Adolescence syndrome is what it is: a "syndrome," something that causes disturbances to the one who has it and the unfortunate who's tangled around it. This unique aspect of the series made it one of a kind amidst the abundance of recent anime.

The series expanded its 13-episode run on its first season by providing three new movies. Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl is a movie that tightens up the loose threads from where season 1 left off while also providing a powerful finale for the series. 4 years later, 2 new feature-length films of the Rascal Does Not Dream Series were released that tackled another satisfying conclusion we didn't know we needed, starting from Rascal Does Not Dream of Sister Venturing Out, for which I have made a review {here} in which I have mentioned that it is a great after-story while also being a great amnesia story. A few months later, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid was released, which is the focus of this review.

With every arc in the series, it tackles a person’s insecurities and how they will address and overcome the problem, but with a series that seemingly closes its opportunities for new major characters to pop up as of now, The previous film didn't even have supernatural elements to merit its “adolescence syndrome," so what can this film provide to convince us that this is a proper-fitting conclusion to its original arc? The series already has an answer to it. ***

__PART 1 SAKUTA'S ADOLESCENCE SYNDROME__

Sakuta Azusagawa (Kaito Ishikawa) is our main protagonist who is a student in Minehagara High School. In this school, he had met many people who have their own experience of Adolescence Syndrome including his wonderful girlfriend Mai Sakurajima (Asami Seto), and guiding these characters to make amends on the very thing that started the chaos in the first place. Sakuta is mainly used as a vessel to meet these various characters and help them reach their desired goal. Sakuta is not your usual one dimensional character since he has his own unique quirks especially with his relationship with Mai and his values, and why he wants to help people brings him at a good spot as a lead and heroic protagonist. However, a hero doesn't mean you are free of the flaws of what makes us human, or rather appreciative of the existence of who sees the hero. Even us the viewers sometimes forget that Sakuta is a fully fledged character in this world, and this movie fully acknowledges this.

In this film, it focuses on Sakuta’s adolescence syndrome, in which Sakuta’s consciousness traverses across different worlds in his own body in an attempt to find where he belongs. Sakuta knows how it feels to step up and be independent amidst the sudden chaos, and Sakuta understands this most as he felt lonely and helpless where he had to do things on his own, which he later applied to his motivation of helping people who have Adolescence Syndrome, where it can feel isolating to the one who was unfortunate to have it. Sakuta has his life at its happiest. He even has his beautiful girlfriend Mai, who he's head over heels with, but there is another aspect that also took up the majority of Sakuta’s life that hadn't been explored as much, and that is his family and relationship with her mother.

In the world of family dynamics, parents are usually the ones who will be the child’s first proper connection with whom they can casually interact, but Sakuta has a rather rough relationship with his parents, especially her mother. It's not like Sakuta is abused per se, but rather a distant, loose connection that can easily be forgotten. The series focuses on this dilemma with pure somber drama as its driving force. Sakuta, who was surrounded by people who valued him deeply, struggles to get that feeling of belongingness towards her mother. Not to mention that Mai is already leaving her high school life behind.

This triggers Sakuta’s Adolescence Syndrome, where he becomes invisible, just like Mai in the Bunny Girl Senpai arc, and a Knapsack Kid around who is willing to take him to his home, or as it seems to be. Sakuta, who is someone who always wants to help people in need, is suddenly alone to deal with his problems by himself between his subconscious feelings and relationship towards his mother, fully embracing that sense of belongingness he had unconsciously sought for a long time.

Rascal does not Dream of Knapsack Kid offered a refreshing and down-to-earth story about the connection between families, and even when the cracks are so big that they become distant, there is still an opportunity to create bridges that connect one person to another. The film is a wonderful drama in and of itself, and you can watch it for what it is, but there is one huge element in the series I didn't get to talk about until now, and that is the significance of the Knapsack Kid. ***

__PART 2 THE KNAPSACK KID (a working theory)__

The Knapsack Kid is this person who looks like a young Mai (or what it seems to be) existing between existence and non-existence and who offers her hand in guiding Sakuta home. The film centered this idea even from the title, which eventually became a sideline. It's not a bad decision per se, nor has it ruined the film overall, but most viewers would find it frustrating that the film has a lot of loose threads that were left unanswered (Note: As of July 2, 2024, The Light Novel is currently at Volume 13 in the middle of the college arc, and the overall mystery of the Knapsack Kid remained unanswered). This mystery might get solved in future volumes of the series, but I would like to propose a personal theory of mine that satisfies the viewers of this film.

Little Mai is a representation of Sakuta’s inner child, guiding Grown Up Sakuta home.

Hear me out.

Point #1

Sakuta had a certain childhood where he couldn't remember anything in relation to him as a child or his relationship with his mother. Fast forward to his high school life. Sakuta is head over heels for Mai, and throughout the film, he would just blurt out his true happiness and longingness, which is to see Mai. Adolescence Syndrome is set out as the manifestation of inner turmoils (such as Mai being invisible after seeking to be one), and the Knapsack Kid is a manifestation of Little Sakuta taking grown-up Sakuta back home. It just manifested itself as Little Mai because Sakuta couldn't imagine himself as a child since he couldn't remember much of what he looked like when he was little.

Point #2

It wouldn't make sense that Little Mai knows where Sakuta’s home is. Mai only knew the apartment where Kaede and Sakuta lived but not the home where all four of his parents used to live, not to mention that they knew each other in high school. In about 36 minutes into the film, Little Mai makes a comment, saying, “Are you lost, mister? ”and took Sakuta home via the train. A hard cut happens after Sakuta wakes up in another world where everything in its current state is the same and stays the same, but in Sakuta’s family home.

There are a couple of theories in the film that tackle different concepts and perspectives, and you may have a personal theory of your own to make everything make sense. To some viewers, it can be quite cumbersome and a huge turn-off on the series by not providing answers on an already-ended plotline, but that thing is part of the charm of the series as a whole. The series is built around its mystery themes, while at the same time tackling the topic in a more direct way and labeling it as important in the moment. Theorizing about certain events is a natural thing since we seek things to be answered, but it is also okay to leave things as they are or the narrative that satisfies the arc it features. My theory might be right or wrong, but for now, we can close the chapter on the Knapsack Kid phenomenon and accept it the way we want to accept it through our own narratives. ***

__A RETROSPECTION (OUTRO)__

The Rascal Does Not Dream is a series that provides acceptance towards the insecurities that we deal with from day to day and learns to accept and embrace their existence to see the road to improvement. In this film in particular, it is about accepting to yourself that you are not as invisible to people as you think you'd be. There will be some days where we truly feel alone and struggle to find help, as the subconscious feeling of being unwanted by the people we either deem special or unknown suddenly becomes out of reach.However, there will be that one person or a memory of a person that will snap us back and make us remember why we still walk forward all this time.

Starting from the first arc to this one, the entire series embraces the themes of mental struggles and mental health and fully embraces them by personifying these emotions and experiences that felt tangible for the viewer with respect, while also having that consistent quality, storytelling, and character dynamics that notions the reason why the show is beloved in the first place. There is already a second season coming with more stories to tell in the light novel, but this film already satisfies that conclusion we didn't know we needed. ***