Film also unveils returning cast & staff, teaser visual

Aniplex announced on Sunday that the Seishun Buta Yarō wa Dear Friend no Yume o Minai (Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dear Friend) film, the latest anime adaptation of Hajime Kamoshida’s Rascal Does Not Dream (Seishun Buta Yarō or Aobuta) novel series, will open in Japan in fall 2026. Aniplex also unveiled the film’s teaser visual and returning cast and staff. The below visual teases: "Find Tōko Kirishima, Mai is in danger."

Image courtesy of Aniplex

©2025 鴨志田 一/KADOKAWA/青ブタ Project

The returning cast includes:

• Kaito Ishikawa as Sakuta Azusagawa
• Asami Seto as Mai Sakurajima
• Sora Amamiya as Uzuki Hirokawa
• Aya Yamane as Ikumi Akagi
• Konomi Kohara as Sara Himeji
• Manaka Iwami as Miori Mitō
• Reina Ueda as Nene Iwamizawa
• Nao Tōyama as Tomoe Koga
• Atsumi Tanezaki as Rio Futaba
• Maaya Uchida as Nodoka Toyohama
• Yurika Kubo as Kaede Azusagawa
• Inori Minase as Shōko Makinohara

Sōichi Masui returns to direct the film at CloverWorks. Masahiro Yokotani is also back to oversee and write the script, and Satomi Tamura is again designing the characters. The band fox capture plan also returns to compose the music. Aniplex is once again distributing the film.

The new film is teased as taking the story towards its finale. (The film shares the same name as the 15th and final novel volume.)

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (Seishun Buta Yarō wa Bunny Girl-senpai no Yume wo Minai), the first television anime based on the light novel series, premiered in Japan in October 2018 and aired for 13 episodes. The anime adapts the story up to the fifth novel volume. Aniplex of America streamed the series on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and other services.

Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl (Seishun Buta Yarō wa Yume-Miru Shōjo no Yume wo Minai), the anime film that adapts the the sixth and seventh light novel volumes in the franchise, opened in Japan in June 2019. Aniplex of America and Funimation Films screened the anime in the United States. Crunchyroll began streaming the film on June 19 with both English subtitles and dub.

The first film Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out opened in Japan in June 2023. The film sold 118,108 tickets in its first three days and earned 175,648,924 yen (about US$1.28 million) to rank #4 in its opening weekend. Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid, the second film, opened in Japan in December 2023, and ranked at #4 in its opening weekend. The film sold 119,000 tickets and earned 164,594,554 yen (about US$1.11 million) in its first three days.

Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus (Seishun Buta Yarō wa Santa Claus no Yume wo Minai), the television anime adapting the light novel series’ "University Student Arc," premiered on July 5. Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired, and is also streaming an English dub.

The original novel series has over 3 million copies in circulation. The Yen On imprint of Yen Press publishes the novel series, and Yen Press publishes Tsugumi Nanamiya’s manga adaptation. Yen On will publish the Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dear Friend novel volume on January 6.

Source: Press release

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.