Here we go with another romcom! Yumemiru Danshi wa Genjitsushugisha (The Dreaming Boy is a Realist) is the latest offering in the genre and it had a pretty interesting revelation because it actually pivots the character almost immediately. Not a lot of shows do that so I decided to check it out and see how well it could execute such a premise. How good of a job did it do?
Let’s go!
First Episode Synopsis
Wataru Sajou is in love with his classmate, Aika Natsukawa. When I say he’s in love with her, it’s an unhealthy obsession. She sees him as nothing more than a stalker and wishes that he would just leave her alone. Right when she says that a soccer ball makes a beeline right for Wataru’s head but it misses by mere inches. At that moment, time seemed as if to slow down and he realized that maybe, just maybe, it was time to move on.
Wataru didn’t exactly keep his love for Aika a secret, though. The ENTIRE school was more than aware of his love for her… especially his homeroom teacher who was shocked that he was in his seat at the start of class instead of hanging around and pestering Aika. In fact, whenever Wataru just wanted to do normal things like go to the bathroom or the cafeteria for lunch, everyone was in shock that he wasn’t trying to pester her.
Enter another girl named Rena Aizawa sees this as her chance to possibly get in with Wataru; however, she just went through a breakup of her own and thought that she would just use Wataru to make her ex-boyfriend jealous. In the end, she got back together with him but through it all, Aika was getting a bit conflicted over seeing him with another girl along with his sudden disinterest in her. It bothered her to the point where she paid Wataru a visit at home where he finally laid it all out for her. Suddenly, after she realized that Wataru has given up on her, she seems incredibly bothered.
Worth Watching?
MAYBE – I will admit that this first episode was kind of flat. With this being a romcom, it started off in a way where I thought it would be an actual NO from me. I can’t stand overly goofy comedies where the main character is just an absolute idiot who does outrageous stuff… so, I’m actually happy that he went from BING BANG WAHOO to a stick in the mud; however, I feel the dial was turned down a little too hard.
I understand that this show depicts him as a Realist but why would you do that when he’s not actually a realist? He was depicted as a bit delusional to think that a girl would go out with him after being rejected over and over again and even called a stalker. He didn’t become a realist… he just accepted his fate and moved on. A realist would have been more analytical of the situation and would have never come off as a crazed stalker, to begin with. So, in that regard, the title is a bit misleading.
It would have been better off if it had been titled “The Dreaming Boy Was Brought Back to Reality.” That would have fit the show so much better.
I know I’m griping hard about it but, all-in-all, the first episode was just decent at best. There is room for improvement but the execution just didn’t wow me but it didn’t completely turn me off, either. Heck, with the way the first episode ended, it feels like the story could easily wrap up in 2 more episodes. That tells me that there is going to be a lot of fluff and filler to stretch this to its 12-episode goal. That’s why I’m giving this a MAYBE because, after that first impression, the seems like a narrative better fit for a short story rather than the light novel series it came from.
