# The Dreaming Boy Is a Realist (2023)

> Two high school students who both believe their love is unrequited struggle to get their feelings across in this playful romcom.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/135397

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 12
- Episode runtime: 24 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, comedy, romance
- Network: TV Tokyo
- Cast: Naoya Miyase, Akiho Suzumoto, Yumiri Hanamori, Mikako Komatsu, Kaori Ishihara, Iori Saeki, Minami Kurisaka
- TMDB rating: 6.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28278738/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: playful, breezy, sincere, gentle

## Synopsis

The Dreaming Boy Is a Realist (2023) is a Japanese animated romantic comedy series created for TV Tokyo, adapted into a single twelve-episode season of roughly twenty-four minute episodes. Its engine is a pair of high school students, Wataru Sajō (voiced by Naoya Miyase) and Aika Natsukawa (voiced by Akiho Suzumoto), who each quietly assume the other does not return their feelings. Supporting voices from Yumiri Hanamori as Kei Ashida, Kaori Ishihara as Rin Shinomiya and Mikako Komatsu as Kaede Sajō populate the school days that frame their stalled courtship. Each episode is built from everyday school moments, small misreadings, awkward confessions that never land and the lingering glances that ordinary classroom life makes possible. The show plays its tension for warmth and laughs, with a breezy, sincere register and a gentle slice of life rhythm. Its flavor of earnest teen romance with sharp, teasing banter will appeal to viewers who enjoy Kaguya-sama: Love Is War and Horimiya, and fans of school-set romcoms will find the same mix of comic awkwardness and sweetness here. Produced by Studio Gokumi, the series holds a modest audience rating and suits a relaxed, light watch.

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