English Dub Review: The Dreaming Boy Is a Realist “Could You Not Call the Summer Uniform, Scanty Clothing?”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Aika feels happy that she’s becoming more acquainted with her classmates. On the other hand, she’s holding onto feelings of confusion and frustration inside her heart.

Our Take:
The students of Koetsu High School have now switched to wearing summer uniforms. However, the change in season isn’t enough to alter Wataru’s new personality and Aika’s complicated feelings for him, especially when he’s forced to socialize with other female students. This left Aika in another difficult situation in which she held herself back from confronting Wataru for fear of admitting her jealousy. But, as this show continues to suggest, Aika isn’t the only person affected by Wataru’s change of heart.
The episode focuses more on the sibling relationship between Wataru and student council Vice President Kaede, whose stubbornness often results in her tormenting her young brother. But that seems to change when Kaede believes that Wataru’s change is because of how poorly she treats him. Fortunately, Wataru assures her that changing his ways has nothing to do with her pettiness. However, that hasn’t stopped Aika from embarrassing herself again when she accidentally reveals her worries about Wataru after seeing him with the Student Council president.
This episode is where the series finds its footing in its humor, mainly from Wataru’s friend’s text messages and Wataru’s pervy behavior. However, it also takes time to provide some heart in its characters, especially Kaede and Wataru. While they couldn’t stand each other, the episode showcases that Wataru and Kaede supported each other in their own stubborn ways. It proves that the series is doing whatever’s possible to maintain my interest in its concept, especially since Aika is still too stubborn to admit her feelings toward Wataru. It’s only a matter of time before that schtick becomes repetitive as the series progresses. But, as long as it continues to deliver the same amount of humor and heart as this episode, it may have a chance to survive its rom-com trappings long enough to be another watchable addition to the genre.