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Information

Title (English) Someday's Dreamers

Title (Japanese) Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsuna Koto

Advertising
Fantasy Novel

Notes

Classification -

Synopsis The story starts out like many others as 17 year old Yume Kikuchi arrives at Tokyo from her home in the countryside.
Being overwhelmed by the sights, sounds, heat and crowds, Yume is stopped in her tracks, and eventually gets knocked down in a crosswalk by a careless passerby. As the lights change and the cars start to bear down upon her, Yume suddenly casts a spell that causes the cars to fly up in the air, then come down again relatively gently. Yume is a novice sorcerer who has come to Tokyo to learn her craft properly.
What we have here is a non-Miyazaki-style variation on the basic premise of "Kiki's Delivery Service", set in an alternate world which is almost exactly the same as ours, but in which a few people have magical powers that they use in everyday life. And like everything else in Japanese everyday life, there are rules, schools, regulations and mentors to help Yume learn to make her powers part of society. Yume goes to an older established sorcerer, Masami Oyamada, who agrees to act as mentor to her and provides a room for her in the apartments that sit on top of the Salsa club that Masami runs as his "day job". Masami takes Yume to the various rounds that all novice sorcerer must go, and Yume starts to learn what her life is going to look like in Tokyo ( and what the bureaucracy is like that she will have to deal with while she lives there ). Yume is unfailingly polite to all her superiors, as befits her place in society, but when she is on her own she is confident and makes her own decisions on what is the proper use of her magic in terms of helping and thanking people. As she says to herself from the balcony of the apartment building, she "isn't a child anymore" and looks forward to her new life, despite occasionally missing her family.

Review The other day I watched the first two episodes of the recent TV Asahi/Pioneer/J.C. Staff series "Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsuna Koto"/"Someday's Dreamers". I didn't get to watch the original broadcast which started in January of this year, so I ordered the first R2 DVD release as a test - PIBA-7179, 47 minutes, 4:3 aspect ratio, 5000 Yen. I ordered early enough to get the DVD in a box under the number PIBA-7178. A small color booklet is included, which contains mainly photos along with some background details and credits.
Last year I was complaining a lot about the plethora ( nearly a plague ) of "shy girl/quiet girl" series, but something about the "look" and the plot details given on the website:
http://www.yume-mahou.com/top.html
made me decide to give it a chance, and I'm quite happy that I did.
The look and feel of the show was immediately different. There is incredible attention paid to the details of the street scenes in Tokyo. As I watched the scenes I could recognize places that I've been, and the look of a steamy hot summer day was done perfectly - if I had turned the heat up to 30 degree C I would have felt just like I was there again.
There were no "monsters of the week", nor magical fights, nor any slapstick comedy in the first couple of episodes, just a sense of veracity that utterly fascinated me. I believe that this is an original anime, and it has the sort of feel of being "shoujo" ( Yume definitely fits my rule-of-thumb for shoujo heroines ), without falling into too many shoujo style stereotypes in the first couple of episodes. The music was enjoyable and the animation superb. I've happily ordered the next DVD and look forward to watching the entire series.
(Dave Baranyi)
The other day I watched the final two episodes of the recent 12-part TV Asahi anime series, "Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsuna Koto"/"Someday's Dreamers". I bought the R2 DVD release which came out on 6 discs and two boxes - Pioneer PIBA-7179, 7182, 7183, 7180, 7185 & 7186 (yes, that's the actual order of the numbering on the six volumes.).When I saw the first two episodes back in the Spring I was surprised that this series grabbed me as much as it did, and it kept me entranced all the way through to the end.
The series is very understated, which is much of its charm. We are brought gently and realistically into an alternate world in which a small percentage of the population can do "real" magic, yet are part of Society rather than being outcasts as is so common in many fantasy or science fiction takes on this idea. Seventeen year old Yume comes to Tokyo from her rural home to become a "licensed" mage. Her training includes being assigned to an experienced, older mage who serves as her mentor. But it is fundamentally Yume's character and will that determines how well she does in this endeavor.
What is particularly refreshing in this story is how many of the cliches of "cute girl" anime are avoided or adapted in less cliched ways. Yume doesn't get a crush on her older teacher and doesn't understand when her western counterpart Angela goes off the deep end over a boy who Yume befriends. And the "conflict" in the story is equally low-keyed. To an extent, the Japanese title of the series is a more accurate reflection of the overall point - the story is about what is really important to Yume and what being a mage really means.
Yume is an able mage and can perform her tests of magic quite well. She looks forward to using her skills to help others. But she is shocked to learn that there are very human limitations to her magical abilities, and that much of the magic that she can do doesn't last. Yume starts to realize that her magic isn't "all powerful", and that there are many things that she cannot not do, particularly related to life and death matters. This disillusions Yume, who didn't expect such limitations. Yume finds out that this is true of all mages, but this still doesn't console her - her abilities seem akin to simple "magic tricks", rather than the sorts of powers that she originally expected to have and apply.
But "Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsuna Koto" is more than just a story about magic; it is also a story about growing up. There is something very "special" about Yume's magic, because through it she can change people's hearts, and this turns out to be the "most important thing". Yume's magic can help others deal with reality and face life with hope and encouragement. Once she realizes this Yume is able to help others to see their own self-worth, and by doing so, affirms her own hopes and dreams.
All-in-all, "Someday's Dreamers" was very satisfying to me and I found it to be quite unique in many ways. I really enjoyed the characters, their development and the way that the story progressed. The overall feel of life in Tokyo during the summer months was conveyed very realistically thanks to very good animation. The soundtrack was also quite good, although I was surprised that the "pachanga" theme was as limited musically as it turned out when I actually listened to the OST. But that is a minor point in an otherwise superior and enjoyable series.
(Dave Baranyi)

Credits

Episodes 12

Release Jap:DVD

TV Showing See the whole series for free? This series may be syndicated to regional cable, satellite or terrestial TV stations. For Europe click here.

Date 2003-01-09 to 2003-03-27

Production

Broadcaster

Animation

References & Help Look up the latest data on this title at:
Richard Llewellyn's Animated Divots, or
Anime News Network (see Encyclopedia section) ,
or in "The Anime Encyclopedia" (Clements & McCarthy, Stone Bridge Press, 2001).
Help & further information.

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Information
Title (English)	Someday's Dreamers
Title (Japanese)	Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsuna Koto
Advertising Fantasy Novel
Notes
Classification	-
Synopsis	The story starts out like many others as 17 year old Yume Kikuchi arrives at Tokyo from her home in the countryside. Being overwhelmed by the sights, sounds, heat and crowds, Yume is stopped in her tracks, and eventually gets knocked down in a crosswalk by a careless passerby. As the lights change and the cars start to bear down upon her, Yume suddenly casts a spell that causes the cars to fly up in the air, then come down again relatively gently. Yume is a novice sorcerer who has come to Tokyo to learn her craft properly. What we have here is a non-Miyazaki-style variation on the basic premise of "Kiki's Delivery Service", set in an alternate world which is almost exactly the same as ours, but in which a few people have magical powers that they use in everyday life. And like everything else in Japanese everyday life, there are rules, schools, regulations and mentors to help Yume learn to make her powers part of society. Yume goes to an older established sorcerer, Masami Oyamada, who agrees to act as mentor to her and provides a room for her in the apartments that sit on top of the Salsa club that Masami runs as his "day job". Masami takes Yume to the various rounds that all novice sorcerer must go, and Yume starts to learn what her life is going to look like in Tokyo ( and what the bureaucracy is like that she will have to deal with while she lives there ). Yume is unfailingly polite to all her superiors, as befits her place in society, but when she is on her own she is confident and makes her own decisions on what is the proper use of her magic in terms of helping and thanking people. As she says to herself from the balcony of the apartment building, she "isn't a child anymore" and looks forward to her new life, despite occasionally missing her family.
Review	The other day I watched the first two episodes of the recent TV Asahi/Pioneer/J.C. Staff series "Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsuna Koto"/"Someday's Dreamers". I didn't get to watch the original broadcast which started in January of this year, so I ordered the first R2 DVD release as a test - PIBA-7179, 47 minutes, 4:3 aspect ratio, 5000 Yen. I ordered early enough to get the DVD in a box under the number PIBA-7178. A small color booklet is included, which contains mainly photos along with some background details and credits. Last year I was complaining a lot about the plethora ( nearly a plague ) of "shy girl/quiet girl" series, but something about the "look" and the plot details given on the website: http://www.yume-mahou.com/top.html made me decide to give it a chance, and I'm quite happy that I did. The look and feel of the show was immediately different. There is incredible attention paid to the details of the street scenes in Tokyo. As I watched the scenes I could recognize places that I've been, and the look of a steamy hot summer day was done perfectly - if I had turned the heat up to 30 degree C I would have felt just like I was there again. There were no "monsters of the week", nor magical fights, nor any slapstick comedy in the first couple of episodes, just a sense of veracity that utterly fascinated me. I believe that this is an original anime, and it has the sort of feel of being "shoujo" ( Yume definitely fits my rule-of-thumb for shoujo heroines ), without falling into too many shoujo style stereotypes in the first couple of episodes. The music was enjoyable and the animation superb. I've happily ordered the next DVD and look forward to watching the entire series. (Dave Baranyi) The other day I watched the final two episodes of the recent 12-part TV Asahi anime series, "Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsuna Koto"/"Someday's Dreamers". I bought the R2 DVD release which came out on 6 discs and two boxes - Pioneer PIBA-7179, 7182, 7183, 7180, 7185 & 7186 (yes, that's the actual order of the numbering on the six volumes.).When I saw the first two episodes back in the Spring I was surprised that this series grabbed me as much as it did, and it kept me entranced all the way through to the end. The series is very understated, which is much of its charm. We are brought gently and realistically into an alternate world in which a small percentage of the population can do "real" magic, yet are part of Society rather than being outcasts as is so common in many fantasy or science fiction takes on this idea. Seventeen year old Yume comes to Tokyo from her rural home to become a "licensed" mage. Her training includes being assigned to an experienced, older mage who serves as her mentor. But it is fundamentally Yume's character and will that determines how well she does in this endeavor. What is particularly refreshing in this story is how many of the cliches of "cute girl" anime are avoided or adapted in less cliched ways. Yume doesn't get a crush on her older teacher and doesn't understand when her western counterpart Angela goes off the deep end over a boy who Yume befriends. And the "conflict" in the story is equally low-keyed. To an extent, the Japanese title of the series is a more accurate reflection of the overall point - the story is about what is really important to Yume and what being a mage really means. Yume is an able mage and can perform her tests of magic quite well. She looks forward to using her skills to help others. But she is shocked to learn that there are very human limitations to her magical abilities, and that much of the magic that she can do doesn't last. Yume starts to realize that her magic isn't "all powerful", and that there are many things that she cannot not do, particularly related to life and death matters. This disillusions Yume, who didn't expect such limitations. Yume finds out that this is true of all mages, but this still doesn't console her - her abilities seem akin to simple "magic tricks", rather than the sorts of powers that she originally expected to have and apply. But "Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsuna Koto" is more than just a story about magic; it is also a story about growing up. There is something very "special" about Yume's magic, because through it she can change people's hearts, and this turns out to be the "most important thing". Yume's magic can help others deal with reality and face life with hope and encouragement. Once she realizes this Yume is able to help others to see their own self-worth, and by doing so, affirms her own hopes and dreams. All-in-all, "Someday's Dreamers" was very satisfying to me and I found it to be quite unique in many ways. I really enjoyed the characters, their development and the way that the story progressed. The overall feel of life in Tokyo during the summer months was conveyed very realistically thanks to very good animation. The soundtrack was also quite good, although I was surprised that the "pachanga" theme was as limited musically as it turned out when I actually listened to the OST. But that is a minor point in an otherwise superior and enjoyable series. (Dave Baranyi)
Credits
Episodes	12
Release	Jap:DVD
TV Showing	See the whole series for free? This series may be syndicated to regional cable, satellite or terrestial TV stations. For Europe click here.
Date	2003-01-09 to 2003-03-27
Production
Broadcaster
Animation
References & Help	Look up the latest data on this title at: Richard Llewellyn's Animated Divots, or Anime News Network (see Encyclopedia section) , or in "The Anime Encyclopedia" (Clements & McCarthy, Stone Bridge Press, 2001). Help & further information.