Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus episode 6: Ikumi hints at the cause of her Puberty Syndrome as Sakuta investigates their past connection

Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus episode 6 aired on August 9, 2025, adapting the Nightingale Arc from volume 11 of the novel. The installment continued featuring the self-destructive hero, Ikumi Akagi, who would go to any length to help others.

The episode finally started shedding light on the reason behind Ikumi’s actions, alluding to the fact that she is majorly driven by her link to Sakuta. Though the protagonist failed to remember any such influence he had on her, he dug deeper and began getting closer to the truth.

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Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus episode 6: A wedge is driven between Sakuta Azusagawa and Ikumi Akagi

Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus episode 6: Sakuta and Ikumi’s contest

Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus episode 6 picked up right from the previous installment’s cliffhanger ending, where Ikumi had been struck down by a mysterious force. After she was taken to the infirmary, Sakuta had a short conversation with Saki about her friend.

Saki explained that Ikumi’s motives were not self-serving or for appearances, but because she really wished to be helpful to others, albeit to a scary degree. Sakuta then went inside the infirmary and met Ikumi. As she changed her costume, Ikumi revealed that her condition was similar to a poltergeist, and while she knew how to fix it, it was difficult.

Ikumi then hinted at the fact that it was majorly connected to Sakuta and a specific event in the past. She initiated a contest to see whether she would forget about Sakuta first, or if he would remember the past occurrence she was referring to. In both cases, she would be cured of her Puberty Syndrome, but Ikumi winning would mean Sakuta wouldn’t interfere in her life any more.

Sakuta and Ikumi as seen in Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus episode 6 (Image via Studio CloverWorks)

Later, Sakuta met Kotomi and learned that Ikumi was a model student in High School, but that there was a rumor about her having older boyfriend. On November 7, Sakuta discussed Ikumi’s case with Rio.

After some playful banter, Rio hypothesized that Ikumi’s condition could be due to her unstable emotions, and that she could even possibly be in love with Sakuta. However, unable to provide a proper answer, she urged Sakuta to remember their past relationship.

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Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus episode 6: Sakuta and Miwako

Sakuta and Mai as seen in Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus episode 6 (Image via Studio CloverWorks)

On November 8, Sakuta questioned Tomoe about her experience with the Dreaming trend and gifted her earphones to celebrate her admission to university. Later, he met Kaede’s counselor, Miwako, who knew and helped Ikumi at her volunteering events.

The two walked and spoke about their mutual acquaintance together, and Miwako explained that Ikumi’s complex feelings toward Sakuta may be because she couldn’t help him during their time in Middle School. Sakuta then asked Miwako to take him to Ikumi’s volunteering job as a favor.

Ikumi as seen in Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus episode 6 (Image via Studio CloverWorks)

Four days later, Sakuta confronted Ikumi at her workplace, though he was admonished for interfering during their contest. He asked Ikumi whether she would head out to protect others based on the Dreaming trend again, finally revealing that she was trying to compensate for not being able to save him in the past.

Suddenly, Ikumi was hit by a mysterious force again and fell to the ground. Random words started showing up on her arm, but ended up disappearing. This convinced Sakuta that Ikumi’s Puberty Syndrome was because of him. Right then, Ikumi’s former boyfriend from High School showed up, trying to chat with her. However, she avoided him.

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Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus episode 6: Sakuta investigates Ikumi

Sakuta and Touko as seen in Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus episode 6 (Image via Studio CloverWorks)

After Ikumi left, Sakuta spoke to her ex-boyfriend, Seiichi. He expressed that Ikumi was immensely supportive of him during his job search, but he lashed out due to his anxiety, causing them to break up. Seiichi then revealed that he had come to meet Ikumi since she had posted on social media about a dream where she would be arrested following an incident of bodily injury.

As Sakuta walked back while thinking about their conversation, he met Touko Kirishima. Though pressuring her for answers about Ikumi’s Puberty Syndrome and the Dreaming trend, he received no concrete answers. Soon after, Mai showed up and the Santa Claus disappeared.

Ikumi as seen in the Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus poster (Image via Studio CloverWorks)

Hoping to learn more about Ikumi, both of them then went to Sakuta’s parents’ house. As Mai got closer to her boyfriend’s mother, Sakuta scoured through his Middle School graduation book. He read Ikumi’s essay, in which she expressed her regret at not being able to save him.

However, when Sakuta started reading his own essay, he remembered the time when Ikumi told him that he had written about reaching kindness one day. To his surprise, the protagonist had not written anything of that sort in the book, and the quote had originally been told to him by Shoko. Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus episode 6 ended with Sakuta making an inference about Ikumi.

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Final thoughts

Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus episode 6 continued centering around Sakuta and Ikumi’s relationship. Since Ikumi’s actions were majorly driven by him, Sakuta began investigating his past and impact over her, making some shocking discoveries in the process.

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