Someday's Dreamers: Lesson 3: Precious Feelings (DVD)

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

The third and final volume of "Someday´s Dreamers", "Precious Feelings", contains four episodes: "Yume and a Girl and a Summer Seed", "The Destination of Special Powers", "A Broken Rainbow", and "What is Important to Mages". Like many other anime series, this series is based off of a manga (Japanese graphic novel).

The story centers around a young girl named Kikuchi Yume. In the world of "Someday´s Dreamers", mages that possess a power to effect reality that´s only limited by their personal desire and abilities exist, and Yume is one of them. She´s spending the summer in Tokyo in training to become a fully licensed mage. Her new master is Oyamada Masami. Masami is a man, but apparently his name is usually a girl´s name in Japanese, so Yume is surprised to see him. The total time of Yume´s training is one month, after which she has to pass a test to become government certified mage.

There´s a government act, The Yokohama Accords, that sanctioned mages, and a system in place that allows mages to only use their powers when they receive an official request approved by the government´s magic department. Masami remembers that Yume´s mother was a mage of great power, but Yume only replies that her mother doesn´t use her powers anymore. Although Yume´s mother was instrumental in securing the Yokohama Accord, she now lives in the country as a simple farmer.

On the surface, this may sound like a typical magical girl anime, but the reality is that magic has very little to do with what the show is all about. Consider that there aren´t any villains, nor are there magical battles. What´s left is a serious piece about growing up and exploring life.

This series is shockingly honest. The show does not rely upon the mages´ powers to create the dramatic elements, only to facilitate the story. In fact, that´s the central theme of the final four episodes. Yume is forced to reexamine all that she has done over the course of the summer. She sees that, although her Special Power allows her to commit fantastic acts, most problems cannot be solved simply by using her gift. Yume must try to reconcile Masami´s advice to simply do as the applicant requests, or to try to divine the real wish in the applicant´s heart. On top of trying to answer for herself what use Special Powers have in the world, Yume also has to pass her certification exam.

I won´t say that the end of the series ties up every single last loose end, but it does enough. We aren´t shown how everyone will turn out, and that´s faithful to one of the show´s messages. The future is one big unknown, and you´ll have to embrace it as best you can.

Beyond the plot, I like the feel of this anime. It´s a quiet, thoughtful look at various still shots of life, and it works for me. I also like the limited time frame for the series. Unlike an open ended series, this one needs to wrap up a significant portion of the plot (Yume´s training) in short order. I was surprised that the series was only twelve episodes long, but felt that, in the end, that was just right.