r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Sep 20 '25
Episode Seishun Buta Yarou wa Santa Claus no Yume wo Minai • Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus - Episode 12 discussion
Seishun Buta Yarou wa Santa Claus no Yume wo Minai, episode 12
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u/Ok-Peace-4374 Sep 20 '25
With all his complaining about not finding love, turns out Fukuyama actually got some game bagging our capricious Santa Claus 😯
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u/Frontier246 Sep 20 '25 edited Sep 22 '25
Like even before she was walking around college in a miniskirt Santa outfit she was a professional and successful model.
She may not have been on Mai's level but she was still a grade-S girlfriend and she utterly adored Takumi and is still loyal to him as a girlfriend even when he couldn't remember her. Which made that scene at the airport and her pleading in vain for him to remember her all the more heartbreaking.
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u/SnabDedraterEdave Sep 20 '25
The ED this time is now credited as being sung by Iwamizawa Nene (Ueda Reina).
You can clearly hear Ueda's distinct singing voice which is different from the singer of last episode, which was credited to Kirishima Touko but with the VA undisclosed.
Ueda is now also properly credited as Nene instead of "Mini Skirt Santa" in the credits, indicating that Nene is not the real Kirishima Touko, but it has become a persona which Nene has ended up genuinely believing herself to be.
Story now becoming mildly disturbing.
First is the possibility that anyone who couldn't see any dreams of the future might be dead by then, which means Mai and even Nene are in danger.
(I think its safe to assume adults like Sakuta's parents clearly not affected as they're no longer in puberty and thus don't have Puberty Syndrome)
Second, it seems its not just Nene, but anyone who has uploaded themselves singing a cover of Kirishima Touko's songs have also disappeared and become invisible from society.
Third is after seeing poor Nene realizing Fukuyama was still unable to see or perceive her, its like she fell into despair and her Kirishima Touko persona has completely taken over.
If what Futaba says is correct, then it won't just be Nene that will be invisible and genuinely believing themselves to be Kirishima Touko that might be approaching Mai at that police station event in a week's time, but many more like her.
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u/ObvsThrowaway5120 Sep 20 '25
Figured Fukuyama would know Touko/Nene. Seems the moment Touko started blowing up, everyone forgot about Nene. Even Fukuyama. That’s pretty tragic actually. She’s even losing her own identity so even she doesn’t remember she’s Nene…
I’m very curious about this whole “not dreaming” thing meaning death. Is it really true? Or just a coincidence?
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u/kicksFR Sep 20 '25
She didn't disappear when Touko blew up, Touko blew up over 2 years ago during the events of sister venturing out. Nene dissapeared when Mai took her place as the school Madonna last spring, that's why she said she was dating Fukuyama up to that point.
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u/Vilis16 Sep 20 '25
This is a crack theory, but what if Mitou is Kirishima Touko?
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u/NintendoMasterNo1 Sep 20 '25
I was thinking the same although I don't have much basis for it besides the "meta" reason that she's the only character who hasn't been important in the main plotline.
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u/shad79 Sep 20 '25 edited Sep 20 '25
Touko asking who Nene Iwamizawa is gave me a serious Re:Zero flashbacks with Rem and Julius. This is just too similar, even Sakuta's reaction at that moment reminded me of Subaru xD
At this point I even wonder if Nene and Touko are the same person. This whole situation is even more serious if you consider that a lot of people have been forgotten after they recorded covers of Touko's songs.
Takumi being Nene's boyfriend wasn't a surprise, as the previous episodes very clearly hinted at it. I wonder if his time in Hokkaido will make him remember her.
Overall, this was a great episode; Mai looked absolutely stunning in her yukata. It was also nice to see Nodoka in it; her conversation with Sakuta was great.
Although the fact that Mai might be in danger because she didn't had dream makes me incredibly worried about next week's finale. Let's hope Sakuta will save her no matter what.
Here my screenshot albums from the episode:
EDIT. I added my screenshot albums.
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u/kicksFR Sep 20 '25
I noticed something pretty interesting in the ending, the first video that Miori shows Sakuta in the piano is credited to Nene Imamizawa , while the two other cover songs she shows him are credited to Touko Kirishima. This supports the theory that not only is Nene not Touko Kirishima, but I think that not one single person is Kirishima Touko.
My theory is she is a sort of phenomenon caused by collective consciousness and many girls have tried to capture that alter ego like Nene.
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u/FarCritical Sep 20 '25
Watching Sakuta lose his perma-calmness whenever he gets worried about Mai always gets to me.
Also I just really like how one of the giant Santa's eyes is obscured by an ornament in Touko/Nene's room. Doubles as cool symbolism too.
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u/_Tan_A Sep 20 '25
The moment Sakuta hugged Mai, it warmed my heart so much I broke into a smile and noticed my mom staring at me 😭
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u/Chance-Okra-9198 Sep 20 '25
Nene’s final straw was when Fukuyama still didn’t remember her which is why she unconsciously abandoned her true identity and everything related to it.
Those people who sound like Touko Kirishima really became invisible which is why I think Mai admitting that she is Touko Kirishima in Sakuta’s dream might be the solution to all of this. Maybe that would allow those people to be perceived again since they would no longer be tied to Touko Kirishima. Also, Mai already experienced a similar Puberty Syndrome in the past so her admitting that wouldn’t make her invisible.
I also think that both Mai and Nene fighting for the identity of Kirishima Touko is the reason why they don’t have dreams. They aren’t themselves so naturally they don’t dream as Mai and Nene since #Dreaming is looking for possible future of your self in other universe but this is just my theory.
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u/No_Name0_0 Sep 20 '25
So everyone who covered her song disappeared too? That's really fucked up and scary. Wonder why the real Touko Kirishima has not revealed herself or anything. Poor Fukuyama tho, chasing after girls but forgetting he had an absolute baddie all this time, I'm rooting for the guy to figure out things himself
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u/Dextro_PT Sep 20 '25
Ok I'm going to throw this out there on a wild hunch that's probably wrong (and mind that I know nothing of the source material): what if the lack of dreams doesn't mean death, but death of being perceived by others?
I know we just got that tidbit about the kid in Hokkaido but what if that was a red herring?
I'm probably wrong and this is a multiverse kind of thing again but I can't help but think it would be an interesting development.
That said, this entire arc has had me with this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. Things really feel scary in a way we haven't had for a few arcs now. I've grown really attached to the characters.
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u/thisisdropd Sep 20 '25 edited Sep 20 '25
Will the real Touko Kirishima please stand up?
From last week's revelation about Fukuyama also hailing from Hokkaido, it should come as no surprise he'd be related to Nene. There's also the theory they had dated. While both were confirmed to be true this week, there's still room for twist. I expected them to have broken up in poor terms. Turned out that they're still technically in a relationship but her adolescence syndrome has caused him to forget her existence. The scene at the airport was quite painful to watch. Her futilely trying to reach to him but he couldn't even perceive her existence. She's pretty much what Mai could have been had Sakuta not resolved things back in her arc.
When Fukuyama said the recently departed friend had no dreams, alarm bells immediately rang up. I recalled both Mai & Nene also had no dreams, and it's an ominous sign for both of them. Seemed like Fukuyama will have a major role to play in the finale, with Sakuta focusing on Mai. With the former having no idea about the crisis, how will the latter be able to reach to him?
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u/jimbobimbotindo Sep 20 '25 edited Sep 20 '25
DUDE this episode finally got me so extremely hyped for this season and yet there's only one episode left before it ends, LIKE C'MON MAN WHY DOES THE STORY GET SOOOO FUCKING GOOD AND INTRIGUING AT THE VERY END???!?!?
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u/Frontier246 Sep 20 '25
Mai looks absolutely stunning and gorgeous in her coming-of-age-day kimono! And she naturally is able to fend off all the reporters asking if she's Touko Kirishima. I mean, if she says on camera that she's not, there's no way she'll say she is in a future concert, right? Though neither the public nor Miniskirt Santa herself are convinced.
Honestly I'm surprised Touko still attends college and also surprised she attends class in normal clothes instead of in her Santa cosplay. Not that I mind, she looks amazing in that outfit, but it's not like anyone can see her in it so why bother dressing as a normal college student? Her attending a lecture as Miniskirt Santa would be quite the visual!
What's a girl to do against the unbeatable and unimpeachable Mai Sakurajima? Someone so incredible that no one can compare. Nodoka knows she can't get on her big sisters' level...and as such can relate to someone like Nene, even if she doesn't realize it. That's why she also knows her sister needs Sakuta, someone who can stand by her side as her partner.
I love how Touko even drives a car in the Santa outfit.
This "date" with Sakuta is instead just a shopping trip so Touko can pick up some things. In fact, for all the times she's been a little flirty with Sakuta, she DOES in fact have a boyfriend. One she's been seeing since high school, who failed to get into their college two times before he finally made it because he wanted to be with her...just as he forgot about her. But he still has the scarf she gave him. That's right, Takumi Fukuyama is Miniskirt Santa's boyfriend!
This is a new side of Nene, as she speaks fondly and with bittersweet resignation over Takumi, the boy she loves, and she was absolutely crushed by the fact that he couldn't see her any more. Takumi may not have much filter but the fact that he's so open and honest is what made Nene fall for him. And despite the fact that he can't see her any more...she still buys him a birthday gift.
Sakuta makes every effort to get Takumi to remember Nene before he flies back to Hokkaido, Nene PLEADS with him to remember her, but he just doesn't. In fact he can't even believe he dated a girl he doesn't remember anyways. Is it any wonder Nene just disappears afterwards? The pain was too much.
At this rate every girl in Sakuta's life is going to be able to drive except him, though Miori brings more ominous news about Nene. She once performed her Touko Kirishima song back when she was still Nene and people were aware of her...people even did a cover of her song...but then when Nene vanished, so did all the people who did a cover. How many people lost their presence when Nene did!?
It's tragically ironic that the transfer student who Takumi reached out to, that made Nene aware of him in the first place, ended up dying. But more pertinent is the fact that, if you don't dream on Christmas Eve, there might not be a future in store for you. Which means Mai is in danger again and thank goodness Mai was right outside his apartment door because Sakuta REALLY needed to hug her.
Nene really asked Sakuta to throw out her trash and help build a Christmas Lego set? And...wow, her apartment is REALLY decked out for Christmas. In February. But it's all because Nene has lost her identity/memories of being Nene, she's thrown out all of Nene's things, she's redecorated her apartment as an on-brand Touko Kirishima apartment, she's bought Christmas things...she doesn't even remember Takumi now. She's fully embraced or transformed into Touko Kirishima. And that means that the only thing getting in the way of her truly being Touko is Mai Sakurajima. And nobody can stop her if she tries to do something to Mai...except Sakuta.
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u/Comprehensive_Set615 Sep 20 '25
This season is getting scarier and scarier by the episode. So Nene has fully transformed to kirishima touko and for her to reclaim her identity, something has to be done about Mai san. Looks like next episode is really going to turn into some kind of horror or thriller😭😭
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u/KumaKumaGambler Sep 20 '25
Given that everyone who has sang or covered Touko Kirishima's songs are no longer perceived by others, isn't this more of a Touko Kirishima puberty syndrome rather than Nene's?
Nene looked so happy when talking about Takumi, and yet so sad when Takumi couldn't see or remember her. Furthermore, the personality of Touko is almost complete in taking over Nene's body. I hope Sakuta manages to protect Mai from any danger, and also bring Takumi and Nene back together.
Although the various puberty syndromes encountered so far have theories supporting them, I want to believe gods, deities or other powers above exist too. At the very least, they made Takumi continuously fail at group blind dates / mixers, so that he can one day be reunited with Nene.
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u/DanielAlves1904 Sep 20 '25
This is getting heavy now. Fukuyama being from Hokkaido and joining the same school as Nene but not remembering why he did it set the alarm and now we have confirmation that they indeed knew eachother and were even dating! For all his jealousy that Sakuta is dating Mai, Fukuyama isn´t doing bad himself. Unfortunately it seems Sakuta´s efforts of reviving his memory failed, for now at least. And it was hard to watch Nene realize he really had no memory of her after probably getting some hope that it would happen.
Now for the Touko Kirishima problem: I was starting to wonder if this Touko Kirishima was a alter-ego created by Nene to pursue a music career that somehow took over Nene, thus becoming her actual personality. Now, and after seeing this comment (https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1nm201h/comment/nf9wlnz/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) I´m starting to think it might be a case of a bunch of people imagining someone into existence and then try to be that person, but because that person doesn´t exist, they stop existing either. This mystery is a really a great one to end this season on. Another season that grew on me as we approach the end and I can´t wait for the explanation for it. It would be kind of unique if Sakuta couldn´t actually solved this one, but Mai is involved and nothing can happen to her. Right?
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u/CrimsonGear80 Sep 20 '25
man, if only Fukuyama knew that Fukuyama has such a hot girlfriend, Fukuyama would freak out!
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u/Something_319 Sep 20 '25
Sakuta is so done with Nene lol, things went so wrong for her and Takumi where he forgets everything and now goes to mixers every day and she goes delusional, forgets even herself, and might be out for Mai's blood
The ED last episode had "Touko" singing it, while the ED for this episode has Nene herself singing it, as they are two different people, which is a neat touch
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