Someday's Dreamers: Lesson 1: Magical Dreamer (DVD)
APPROX. 100 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 0 - MPA RATING: MA13
" It’s a quiet, thoughtful look at various still shots of life, and it works for me.
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The first volume of "Someday´s Dreamers", "Magical Dreamer", contains the first four episodes of the series: "Sunset and Steel Frames Part 1", "Sunset and Steel Frames Part 2", "The Best News", and "A Summer night and a Mage". 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 affect 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.
The first volume of "Someday´s Dreamers" offers only a few tantalizing glimpses into this alternative world. There´s a government act mentioned 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.
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.
A large part of Yume´s training is to fulfill the approved requests that Masami receives from the government. In each case that Yume takes, success comes not from showing off with her powers, but from truly understanding the person in need. In one of the episodes, Yume has to come to terms with why a boy she met doesn´t want her magical help. In another episode, she helps a young boy use his own abilities to fulfill his wish.
Although Yume is the main character, it´s the people she meets in her training that have so far received more development. Their requests usually don´t make very much sense at first, like the woman who wants to be in the paper at any cost, as long as there isn´t a large fine or jail time involved. As each episode progresses, Yume learns about what has motivated these people to turn to the mages for help, and can then fulfill their wishes.
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. Where the series will go form there, if it does, I don´t know.
