Haruki Murakami’s writing is often classified as magical realism, due to his use of fantastical elements grounded in an essentially realistic world. In many of his narratives, this manifests as strange, inexplicable occurrences that characters must confront. Works of magical realism are “work[s] of fiction where fantasy slips into everyday life. However, the focus isn’t on the fantastical elements of the story, so much as on what those elements mean for the characters” (Glatch, Sean. “What is Magical Realism in Literature? Exploring El Realismo Mágico.” Writers.com, 22 Dec. 2025). In Sputnik Sweetheart, the characters live in reality but confront elements of unreality, like doubles of themselves and feelings of slipping out of reality. Murakami never provides an explanation for these events; instead, he details the experience and how the characters try to maneuver through reality in the aftermath.

The magical realism of Murakami often happens largely in the minds of his characters. In many of his works, Murakami explores his characters’ interiority, blurring the line between reality and unreality through ambiguity around whether it is an internal experience for his characters or external to them. He relies heavily on the emotions of characters: “Murakami employs this style in an unconventional way to explore aspects of the human mind, such as obsession and nostalgia […] he captures magical elements encountered while awake. He immerses his narrators into the reader’s mind, leaving them unsettled while prompting deep contemplation” (Strecher, Matthew. “Exploring Murakami’s Magical Realism and Literary Journalism.” Sophia University, 26 Feb. 2025). Obsession plays a central role in Sputnik Sweetheart, with both Sumire and K feeling obsessive desire for others that is never returned. Sumire’s obsession leads to her disappearance, and K’s leads to his own interactions with unreality.

As a work of magical realism, Sputnik Sweetheart shares many similarities with Murakami’s other work. The internal, mental conflict between reality and unreality in the novel echoes the themes of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1985) and The City and Its Uncertain Walls (2024). Additionally, the suggestion of another side of reality that characters can unknowingly travel to is similar to the narratives of 1Q84 (2009), The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994), and Kafka on the Shore (2002).