The upcoming Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid anime movie, which marks the end of the Rascal Does Not Dream series’s high school arc, has received its first full-length trailer.
The movie’s central mystery revolves around protagonist Sakuta Azusagawa’s encounter with a mysterious young girl who resembles the child form of his girlfriend, Mai Sakurajima. There’s some new footage of that strange meeting in the trailer, but the bulk of the preview is centered on the other developments in Sakuta’s life, including his younger sister’s desire to see their mother and Sakuta’s sudden inability to be perceived by his classmates.
Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid will premiere in Japan on December 1. It was preceded by the Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out movie, which premiered debuted on June 23. The two films are sequels to the 2018 Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai series and the 2019 Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl movie, with the anime being an adaptation of a light novel series written by Hajime Kamoshida and illustrated by Keji Mizoguchi.
Yen Press describes the Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid volume of the light novels as:
March has arrived, meaning there’s only one month left in the third term. Mai’s graduation has come and gone. This might be a time for change, but that isn’t nearly enough to explain why Sakuta meets a little girl who looks just like Mai did when she was a child actress. Before he can even begin to unravel this fresh mystery, his father calls. Their family hasn’t lived together since Kaede was bullied. Two long years later, their mother says she wants to see her daughter. What’s changed, and what’s stayed the same? There’s only one way to find out…
The returning staff includes Souichi Masui as director, Masahiro Yokotani as series composer and scriptwriter, and Satomi Tamura as character designer. CloverWorks is the animation production company again. The returning cast for Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid includes:
• Kaito Ishikawa as Sakuta
• Asami Seto as Mai
• Nao Touyama as Tomoe Koga
• Atsumi Tanezaki as Rio Futaba
• Maaya Uchida as Nodoka Toyohama
• Yurika Kubo as Kaede Azusagawa
• Inori Minase as Shoko Makinohara
The KADOKAWA-published light novel series began publication in 2014 and has 13 volumes as of July 2023. The series sees Sakuta helping various girls who suffer from a supernatural affliction dubbed Adolescence Syndrome, which is related to the social issues they face in the real world.
Source: Aniplex Channel
