Anime Review: The Dreaming Boy is a Realist

The Dreaming Boy is a Realist based off a light novel written by Okemaru and illustrated by Saba Mizore. It's your standard cute teen romance coming of age drama. Romance was never my genre but there's no harm in expanding some perspective. In a sea of exaggerated teen romance shows, encountering a slice of life romance like this is a gem.

The dreaming boy is a realist stands out by being direct with how the ordinary slice of life teen romance is. There's no over the top romantic tragic subplots, no supernatural forces that intervene, and no Deus ex machina to force unrealistic happy endings. The show's premise and storytelling is close to what really happens in teen drama.

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Wataru Sajou has a crush on Aika Natsukawa and everybody in school knows. Sajou has been shamelessly professing his admiration for the Natsukawa for years but this doesn't get him anywhere as he becomes a nuisance to Natsukawa. Think of that unwanted admirer that hovers over their person of interest. If Sajou looked ugly, he'll be classified as a stalker. And out of the blue, just like post-nut clarity sets in, Sajou just comes to his senses that everything has always been a one-sided affection with Natsukawa.

So he decides to just move on which stirs a string of events that led Natsukawa to realize Sajou's absence now that both have some space in between them. Now it's Natsukawa who slowly realized how much Sajou made an impact to her daily routine and it wasn't all that bad. Now things get spicy because Sajou becomes a free man and more women are noticing him.

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Sajou fits the title of the series after reflecting on what he's been doing for the past years trying to chase after a girl that wants nothing to do with him. And he was mature about how he took this post nut clarity session. Even if those feelings weren't reciprocated, he didn't whine like a baby back bitch for having his time wasted and sited Natsukawa for contempt in wasting his time. No, he took it like a champ, acknowledged his feelings were real, lost the game and decided to move on with no hard feelings for Natsukawa. He still loves her but there's some acceptance that there's nothing else will come from that feeling much like how a fan is to their idol.

I think this healthy outlook was often downplayed because you don't see it often when it comes to characters processing their unrequited love. They'd indulge themselves in pathetic ploys to win back what was never theirs or drown in self pity. It' extraordinary to see this behavior in the context of Sajou who's only a high school student.

I had neutral views on Natsukawa's reaction to Sajou's advances, she had no obligation to accept Sajou's feelings and made it clear she wasn't interested. The moment I started disliking the character was when she started to second guess her decision right at the moment when Sajou gave up on her. Could this girl just make up her mind? just when Sajou gave her the peace and space she wanted, only then she starts getting uncomfortable with getting what she wants.

To be fair with Natsukawa's reactions, this is still a teen romance drama, and she's still at an age where processing her feelings towards the opposite sex takes some time while balancing out her priorities in school. Picture someone who matured faster than her peers and took on part of the responsibilities of an adult, romance was never considered due to their living circumstances. So after giving it some thought, Natsukawa's change of mind felt realistic as she has more opportunities to explore the privileges of youth.

Sajou giving up on Natsukawa became the best decision he ever made for the both of them because the space in between led them to discover new things and rediscover what they already had. Both met new people, get to share new experiences with these people and still find some time to be civil to one another until they figure out what they wanted to do next. While this slow pace took up more episodes, at least it was a believable development than shoving in situations that force themselves on each other.

While I'm not really a fan of romance, I think a good romance story is built on balancing that tension between lovers and creating a believable pace that leads up to the "I do". While it comes off as frustrating to viewers that have the privilege to be omniscient at the lives of these two, from the characters perspective, they are only figuring life out at their own pace and reacting to what comes their way. Yes, they like each other more than they are willing to admit but it's not like things can be blatantly obvious. These are still kids figuring out their emotions and they recently hit puberty.

I'll give this an average rating for romance. I'm no really into romance to begin.

Thanks for your time.