Anime: Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto

Story

Have you wondered how magnificent it would be to have magical powers?

If so, then Someday's Dreamers is the anime for you. It is a mellowed slice-of-life exploration of what the modern world might be like if mages lived side-by-side normal humans. The viewer follows the adventures of Kikuchi Yume, a seventeen-year-old mage who spends her summer holiday training to become a licensed magic-user while learning that magic has it limitations too.

The plot and premise are totally uncomplicated, but this is one story that reaches its potential. The anime sets out to tell a simple story with no tricks or surprises – doing so with remarkable aplomb, I might add – and then concludes without further ado or fanfare. Proof positive that storytelling at its finest has no need of fancy techniques to be effective or captivating.

As an aside, I should add that the Japanese title for this anime, which translates to Things That Are Precious to a Mage, is actually much more apt for the story. I cannot fathom why people felt compelled to shorten the title to Someday's Dreamers, which is good, but not as fitting.


Animation

Just like the story, the animation is simple, but extremely beautiful. Detail levels are not extraordinarily high, and there are no breakthrough techniques or notable technologies used to make the anime flashy or visually interesting. It is therefore all the more surprising that the overall visual appeal of Someday's Dreamers is among the highest I have seen. The beauty of this anime lies in its basic approach to animation: jaw-dropping use of colour, breathtaking scenery and stunning background art. It is hard to picture it without seeing it: nothing showy, just plain and understated style.


Sound

My praise for the sound in Someday's Dreamers cannot be more superlative. The soundtrack itself is not memorable, but the anime is beautifully orchestrated with nostalgic and curiously bright music. For a mere 12 episode anime, there are almost 30 unique pieces, not including the different variations to keep things interesting. I distinctly remember remarking to myself during my first viewing of Someday's Dreamers that I could not recall a single instance in which music was recycled from episode to episode, save for the opening and closing sequences, which are incidentally of similarly high quality. Quite simply, the audio portion of this anime is musical paradise.

Despite the mix of cheerful and dramatic scenes, the seiyuu go out of their way to keep their emotions genuine, such that there is no melodrama or overacting. The selection of Miyazaki Aoi to play the part of Yume is most appropriate, as her voice really brings out the purity and the cheerfulness of the plot.


Character

Perhaps the weakest part of an extremely well-rounded anime, the characters of Someday's Dreamers are not as singular or striking as one might expect them to be. Admittedly, there exists a strong possibility that the characters are purposely understated to accentuate the other facets of the anime. Nonetheless, I believe that Someday's Dreamers could have showcased a slightly more distinguished and fully-characterised cast without losing any of its existing brilliance. Despite this small criticism, I very much enjoyed watching this short story of Yume and the friends she meets over her summer holiday.


Overall

Someday's Dreamers is without a doubt an example of superb storytelling and an audiovisual masterpiece to boot. However, people should not look to this 12-episode short for action, suspense, or an astounding conclusion. As I mentioned before, this anime is simplicity at its best. Just like a good dessert, it is sure to leave you smiling and with a faintly sweet aftertaste. A must-see for any lovers of great anime!

I expect this will be rated by 3 people because it's not a current title; nevertheless, I feel that if you miss the series, you'll be missing a gem, and I hope this will serve to encourage you to get it and watch it.  My comments are based on the SNS fansubs, but I also have viewed the anime-fin fansubs too. The R1 DVDs, I am told, has English translations are only adequate, so be warned. [br][br]Coming of age story, based faithfully on the manga, that could fit in a Miyazaki universe. Yume Kikuchi is 17, the age where she can work as an apprentice mage in Tokyo. Originally from the country, Yume must overcome insecurity and confusion over her new big-city surroundings, an agency management amazed by her (perhaps inherited) magical powers, and a mysterious newly assigned mentor named Oyamada, whose backstory develops over the series. It is a slow, slice-of-life series with oodles of charm, wry wit, and pathos.  At it's best, it is a window into Japanese civility, morality, and ethos. Directed by Masami Shimoda (Ai Yori Aoshi & Enishi) from the manga by Norie Yamada, it's faithful to the storyline and the drawings.  It's lovely, if static, and plays small (it's no space opera, friends, it's a drawing room play). I loved it for what it was, not what it's not.  It's a gem.[br][br]Animation: There is a lot of clever cinematic touches throughout. Backgrounds look like they were photographs of Tokyo. Lovely drawings, lots of forced perspective and blur, some lens flares, etc.  But it can be a mixed bag: Crowd scenes sometimes have loads of action, and sometimes are static pans. Mouths sometimes don't move when the seyuu are speaking.  But the little touches are quite charming (windblown hair, etc), and the 3-d is woven (not quite seamlessly but effectively) into what is mostly good 2-d work. It's a Viewhouse/J.C. Staff production, and if you liked Ai Yori Aoshi, you likely will like this one. Yes, it's a small drama, but effective being small. It will pull you in.  9- for animation, with points off for the static cels and the unmoving mouths.  You will notice them, but you will still be charmed.[br][br]Sound: Op is "Kaze no Hana" by HANA HANA, a very effective setup for a contemplative series. Ed is "Under the Blue Sky" by The Indigo, the point of which I didn't really "get" until the last episode. Both are jpop and work fine.  Seyuu are quite good, with Aoi Miyazaki (Nana "Hatchi" in the live-action NANA) as Yume Kikuchi and the tri-talented Junichi Suwabe (Greed in Fullmetal Alchemist) as her teacher, Masami Oyamada. The foley fits without being obtrusive, and the sound stage is both directional though somewhat flat (and perhaps soft in places).  The beatiful music in the series is mostly acoustic, intimate, moving.  I give the sound effort a 7 for technicals and a 9 for seyuu, resulting in a solid 8.[br][br]Story: See Yume studying to be a good magician, and see Oyamada be patiently permissive (BTDT).  See her be rash, make mistakes, emote, trip and skin her knee, and be charmingly cute (BTDT).  Maybe it's not original.  But the story give us lots of chances to care for Yume, and to develop interest in her teacher and his backstory. It charms you.[br][br]The story arc is indicated by the title, but I won't give spoilers.  It's enough to say that it's seemingly episodic, not much romance, and you don't catch the flow of the story until around episode 5, when it appears that each episode has had a point and it starts pulling together.  The story is slow; it's mostly about Yume growing up and developing insight to the effects of her actions.  Sure, there is little action, at least, not many scenes with swords or giant robots.  But as with Kurosawa, character development is a good enough reason for a show, and we care for the actors, and for what they are going thru.  And it's surprisingly moving, especially at the conclusion. I found myself misting up at several points... I did! 8- for the story, only missing a couple points for using a few too many cliches.[br][br]Character: This is where MahouTsukai both shines and sinks, thanks to the Character Design by Michinori Chiba (character deisgn for Basilisk). It's all about Yume (which means "dream," I think, though I don't know if it's spelled the same in Japanese). We are introduced to 6 main characters by the end of act 1 (Episode 5).  Perhaps you'll agree with me that two of these characters are not well developed, and one of them is absolutely a cardboard cutout, but the three that are well-developed are adorably anchored in a Disney fantasy world.  I wished there were 9 more episodes, so they could develop the side characters a bit more, show more resolution of the backstory for Oyamada, and sell the secondary-character love story a bit more, as well as a backstory on the Chief Mage (interesting character design, and what's up with that mask), but what the heck, it's only 12 episodes.  So live a little, you'll be rewarded.  9 for character, in spite of the short number of eps.[br][br]Value and Enjoyment: I guess the acid test is, would you watch more?  The answer is definately yes... except the manga didn't go past 2 books, so where would you get the material?  I loved this series. It well deserves its good reviews and ratings.  So, if you're wanting a magic-girl, slice-of-life short series, this might be the one for you, and I encourage you to watch it as soon as you can. Value is 9 for the abbreviated series, and 10 for enjoyment.[br][br]Recommendation: Oh yeah, this one will charm your socks off.  If you can manage to remain awake after episode 5, it's easy to finish!  Get it today![br][br][br]

(Writers note: If you read this review, RATE this review. Authors thrive on feedback, whether it be a simple happy face, or an in-depth critique.)

This is one of my older reviews, which I am now bringing to the AnimeDB. It is most likely not as spit and polished as some of the reviews I've written specifically for this website, but it should be alright.

Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto tells the story of a 17 year old named Yumi who wants to become a certified mage. She is a bit of a fish-out-of-water, being a country girl now walking around Tokyo. Yumi is having trouble getting used to her power, and frequently has doubts about what she is doing and how she is doing it. Can she overcome her fears and pass the examination? Will she fulfill her dream of becoming a certified mage?

Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto has such an excellent premise for a good drama that I was saddened to find this series plagued with problems. First, the animation. When you mix CGI with hand-drawn images, it's important that the difference between the two is none too drastic. However, in Mahou, the CGI is crystal clear, while the hand-drawn animation is very poorly done. I can understand the use of still frames if the series is on a tight budget, but not only were they used in nearly every scene, but sometimes the mouths wouldn't move when a character was speaking! Nearly unforgivable for any anime, much less one made in the last 5 years.

Both the sound and music were somewhat enjoyable, though nothing really stood out. The OP/ED songs were standard soft Japanese pop, which I skipped after the first viewing. Music during the series was pleasant, though a bit repetitive.

I normally don't mention voice acting, because I so rarely have a problem with Japanese voice actors. However, in this series, it was a problem. All of the voice actors seemed to be muting their voices, making the show eerily quiet at times when not intended. This fits with the tone of the show, but the cast went a bit overboard with the low whispering tones, especially the voice actress for Yumi. Even when Yumi gets upset, her voice is curiously muted. This grew more and more annoying as the series progressed.

Like the voice acting, both the story and character development felt muted as well. Yumi goes on various minor missions with her Teacher, using magic to solve minor mishaps, like a shopkeepers window being scratched (how exciting!), or changing an old woman's house back to the way it was 50 years ago for a few hours, so she can experience some nostalgia in her twilight years (this sounds more interesting than it plays out)

One of Mahou's biggest problems is that nothing really happens. Any character development seems to happen at the writer's whim, and not the characters. One of Yumi's quieter friends, Angela, in the span of one episode, falls deeply in love with a not-very-sympathetic fellow mage, professes her love to him, and then, to show her devotion, deforms the Tokyo Tower. This plays out as badly as it sounds. The entire episodes make little sense, because the boy she falls in love with has done nothing of note for the entire time he's been on screen. He has no backstory, nor personality. He is just some low level mage, yet Angela falls for him with no prior setup.

Another problem is the translation. I was unable to find a fansub, forcing me to watch the American release. While there were no spelling errors, multiple times during 3 or 4 of the episodes, several passages of text seem to be skipped for no reason. On top of that, the translation is done too literally. It's nice to have the honorifics left intact, but one of the commonly used terms in the show, "Mahou", which should have been translated as "Magic", or "Powerful Magic", is instead translated as "Superior Power". Every sentence that uses the term "Superior Power" feels awkward, and detracts from an already problematic series.

Poor animation, lackluster translation and voice acting, and a poorly written story. On top of all that, the simple questions that needed answering are never answered: Why are there mages? Where does their power come from? Why do the rings they are given to monitor them perform a light show everytime Superior Power is used? (see how awkard that sounds? The term is used at least 20 times an episode!) Why does the Head Mage wear a blindfold? Why does Yumi perform a magical girl transformation dance (a small one, but still...) whenever she uses her magic when we've seen her using magic instantaneously in the first 2 episodes?

If you're an absolute die-hard fan of Magical girl dramas, check out Mai-HiMEIf you've seen Mai-HiME, as well as every other Magical girl series to date, you may as well go ahead and give Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto a try. If you go in expecting very little to happen, including the ending, you may find some enjoyment in the little things, as long as you can overlook the plethora of problems. There is an excellent story here. If it only it could have found it's way to the surface.

Someday's Dreamers, while being a great show both emotionally and plot-wise, suffers from being too short and an abrupt ending.

Animation: Top notch. Once again JC Staff manages to create a unique artstyle for every anime they produce. Although there isn't much action for a mahou show, the detail is surprisingly life-like. In the first episode, the detail was amazing, like for the JR station or for the flow of people walking down the street. Everything was painted with lots of attention to detail, and the art quality doesn't change every episode. It stayed very consistent. I also loved the magic casting, very dreamlike and beautiful.

Sound: Just like any drama anime, the music plays pretty well with each scene. The OP was gorgeous, with the well done combination of violin and voice. Ending was pretty good and fit the mood well. Some parts of the anime were silent, but that was to amplify the emotions and drama that was portrayed in that particular scene. Sound effects were also there, with Yume's dolphin to Masami's hoarse, yet feminine voice. The only annoying part was Yume's consistent use of an accent and her uncanny politeness. Each seiyuu played their part well. Dunno about the english dubs though.

Story: This anime was about finding true happiness for others through the use of special powers like magic. Well-executed, but the slowness of the episodes might draw off some potential viewers. Since the producers only worked with 12 episodes, there wasn't enough to fully develop the characters. We only know a little about Yume's past, and a lot was emphasized in the end about Masami-senpai's tragety. I thought the episode with the little girl trying to regain her love for her mom was very touching, along with the one where Go Kato explains his past. Overall, the story was written very excellent, but the ending felt rushed. Not all the characters were there, and it easily could have been a 26 episode series.

Characers: Yume clearly is the center of the show. Masami-senpai, the obligatory angsty bishounen also played his part well. Yume's search for happiness for others was emphasized a lot, along with her crying almost every episode. Anyways, there wasn't any really annoying characters, just like Pita-ten. All the characters had their own distinct characteristics and attitudes. Very unique, as there are no cliches.

Value: Someday's Dreamers is a great watch. Rewatchability is high, as the detail in the anime will amaze you even in the second viewing. Definately a must have anime.

Enjoyment: Overall, I have to say Someday's Dreamers was well worth its 12 episodes. (perhaps it needed more...) Drama, a hint of romance, lots of angst, what more could ou ask for?

Acheiving your greatest potential through the power of your heart seems to be a prevalent theme in anime.

Judging by my personal list, it seems to also be my personal favorite theme.

Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto may have one of the longer titles in anime, but this should not deter you in the slightest from watching the series.

The plot is extremely subtle and lethargic, qualities which oddly translate to incredible strength in this anime.

The central figure does not overcome all of her obstacles. This is not about being the most powerful person in the world, or acheiving dreams through sheer talent. Rather, Mahou Koto suggests that we must live and overcome inner hesitations to attain our dreams.

Coupled with the sheer technical brilliance displayed in this product's execution, I highly recommend watching this to most any anime fan.

Enjoy!

~Animation~
The level of detail in Mahou Koto's animation easily surpasses every other anime that I have seen to date. Restaurant menus are visible. Bookshelves have books with titles. Every street sign is labelled. Crowds of people are crowds of people. The foregrounds... ah, she cries and it looks somewhat odd, but there are tears streaming down her face. They pour coffe. The man actually DRINKS his beer! .... I could rave on about this anime's animation, but there are several flaws as well.

Frame 65 of Episode 11, for example. I saw a white streak on Oyamada's face.

Actually, the animation does have its issues. I repeat the theme of technical excellence as downfall more in the next section, and here too its brilliance leads to a lacking depth of emotion. Unlike sound, however, the animation is still beyond incredible to behold.

I would easily recommend watching this anime for its animation alone! as everything is just incredibly well done, yes, even her hair, which you might think odd at first...

Enough praise. Well, not really, but I'll stop here anyway.

~Sound~
The opening and ending themes are beautiful songs, and the background music is extremely well selected.

Sound effects have been extremely well done as well. Tehcnically, this anime shines like a 50 carat diamond.

The voice acting has some flaws, unfortunately.

I think its technical perfection is its downfall in this category.

In their attempt to make this a perfect anime, it seems that emotion was lost in the process. Having a person repeat the same line over and over ends up hampering their ability to express sentiment, and that is what it feels has happened here with the seiyuu, specifically and especially our heroine's.

While there are some extremely powerful moments, overall she ends up very emotionally incorrect or bland much of the time, which limited my ability to sympathize with her.

Ah well, it seems to be the seiyuu's first role, and her voice type does fit Yume well, and her voice is extremely pleasing and soothing to the ear.

~Story~
The story develops far too slowly for most people's tastes, at least that is how I think many will react.

Mahou Koto is all about subtle buildup of emotion leading to an extremely subtle yet fulfilling conclusion.

Beware, Mahou Koto will not lead you by the nose to its beauty. You will have to consider carefully the prize that sits beyond the scenery, and let your heart be your guide (anime cliche #2)

~Character~
Ah, the characters are extremely well done.
Each one has a background, a history, a purpose; all of them were obviously given a good deal of thought. Unfortunately, not masterpieces, but definitely superior to most.

~Value & Enjoyment~
J.C. Staff has poured forth their hearts, and a significant amount of time and effort to create a remarkable anime series. The major flaws are its lethargic pace and the very young seiyuu who voices for the main character.

I still highly recommend this. Though I don't see it having much rewatch value, as a collector's item I must rate it very highly simply for its sentimental value.

Truly a masterpiece overall.

"What's important to a mage" isn't necessarily important to the story, but is nevertheless enjoyable, while the title "Someday's dreamers" is just as fitting since it feels as if you're dreaming.

Based on a 2 volume manga, this carefully tries to capture the sheer beauty which was originally intended.
The animation does a hell of a job on this series, full of color, light and beautifully drawn characters. While this is meant as a 'slow' series, they focused primarily on the animation and the character design in order to display the beauty which had to make this series the best in visualisation. Since there were no actionscenes, they could keep up with the slow pace and make you gaze at the beautiful scenery, the air and the characters itself. And with this series, they successfully accomplished that.

The sound, voices and the OP/ED were great. Although sometimes the voices sound a bit misplaced, but this merely comes because the anime doesn't really allow voices at times; it sometimes disturbs the peaceful atmosphere - but dialogues are inevitable in order to create a storyline like this series has, so it can't be helped. Overall, the voices are done well, although you might have to get used to some of them, no matter how gentle they are. Especially the voices of Yume and Oyamada sound really dull and emotionless, but I believe those are meant like that, in order to create their character.
The music is fitting, slow, peaceful music which adds to the great atmosphere and also the OP/ED are really fitting in with the series itself: a slow one to start with and an ending which is a bit slower even, but is not only fitting, but also well performed by the artists who also did the OP/ED for Ai Yori Aoishi, The Indigo.

The story is slow, not too important to the anime it seems, and predictable at times. It is clear from the first two eps for probably half of the audience what Yume's problem is and the rest of the series is only there to show her progress towards that goal, which is already known for the person who has seen through the beauty.
But, for this anime, the story is good enough and not even too shallow, so it's acceptable. The storytelling though, is really good and that saves the anime from a secondrate story with a couple of dull moments/episodes.

The characters are most of the times pretty decent developed. Although there are some characters who don't really develop, or just slightly, there are plenty of characters who go through hardships and learn new things. There's not much bad to say about the characters, who all have a good voice and a good place in the story itself. Every character gets an episode devoted to their development and even though they might not be the main character of that episode, they still feel important enough.
Yume could be annoying at times because of her ignorance and clumsiness, but that also adds to her cuteness. And she is very cute in this one. It's a bit sad that with all those characters, they usually only appear just once for their development and stick around as a sidekick afterwards. Although much more different than before, they don't contribute much to the story anymore, which is a bit sad.

This series already gets its rewatch value from the beautiful animation, but also the anime itself is worth rewatching. Although it can be annoying predictable, the story isn't too dull to keep watching and the characters are also captivating enough to follow their lives.
Although the series has its flaws and those flaws can be seen pretty well if you look carefully, it is also a good series. Filled with subtle comedy without making you burst out in laughter but rather smile, no matter whether you want or not, and also filled with likeable characters throughout the entire series. But in the end it all depends on your mood whether you like this series; if you're in a mood to enjoy a slowpaced anime, this one's definitely one to watch - but don't expect more than just the regular life-drama with a slightly adjusted reality.