Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto (Someday's Dreamers)
I'm really really sorry, I'm positive someone in this thread did a write up of this and to whomever you are, it caught my eye and because of it, I decided to watch this. (Should start writing down names of people that inspire me to watch something).
Someday's Dreamers is.... well it's an odd slice of life anime. Imagine a world where magic was possible, but in this world, the mages are working for the government and a lot of what you can and can't do is regulated and constantly being watched; sounds scary right?
Someday's Dreamers follows Kikuchi Yume, our emotional/sensitive protagonist. She's a mage in training and has come to Tokyo to better understand her powers, what it's like to be a mage and to become a certified mage. Throughout Someday's Dreamers, we follow her time in Tokyo and all the issues she faces.
Now even though Kikuchi Yume is our protag and it's all about her, the supports, Angela, another girl who is an apprentice mage is also slightly important and is shown; there are clear arcs that involve her and Kikuchi too. The other "main" person would be the sensei or the mage who helps Yume with the mage training, Masami Oyamada. He's the teacher for Yume and is involved with just about everything that Yume does, although he's laidback and has some issues of his own that we eventually get to explore.
The story, for the most part is very conjoined, it's a slice of life with an episodic format (Which I feel isn't the best choice for Someday's Dreamers, I would have preferred a story that flowed in an easier to follow format). When we're first introduced to Yume, we're told she has extraordinary capabilities and that her mother was a great mage as well. She's able to make money from thin air, lift cars in a city straight into the sky and things that really show, she's powerful. Unfortunately, this angle is never really explored and is essentially forgotten throughout the rest of the episodes.
Although Someday's Dreamers does us it's nigh-on episodic format, it's not "bad" enough to make a big difference, there is just no clear cut time line for us to follow and it feels like there are time skips that keep occurring, though that might be my problem and not the anime.
The sound and music in Someday's Dreamers is gorgeous though, it's a huge "job well done", big thumbs up and all that. The instrumental, orchestrated music that will pop up during scenes is phenomenal and well worth a listen to. The OP (Flowers of the Wind) is fantastic and so peaceful, relaxing and slow; the singer is so beautiful and the way the song is setup, it just sounds so good. The ED (Under the Blue Sky) is just as good, although using a slightly quicker tempo (still plenty slow though), beautiful vocalist, great lyrics. In Episode 12, we get to hear the ED in an acoustic way and it is quite amazing, you can hear (or I think) the passion and depth of the song with how it's performed in an acoustic environment; it's 10/10 stuff.
Seiyuu performance: Normally I don't comment on this, because I love the squeeful, extra cute, moe stuff and since that's all I watch, nothing to say. In Someday's Dreamers however, it sounds like all the seiyuu are very quiet and I don't mean I'm listening to the anime with low volume. It's as if they're near whispering, talking very softly, ya know? This isn't a problem for me, since I seem to talk the same way, soft and "peaceful", but the problem is, it feels like the performances fell flat. Expressions weren't adjusted as much as you'd think and it's a little weird to hear all the performers speak in this low tone type of voice. Now again, not an issue for me, but I feel like the way they speak could most definitely put someone off from this.
Animation: Another aspect in which Someday's Dreamers isn't so hot. It's not fluid, at all. I guess this is what a cheap budget would look like. The mouths just open and close, there are no intricacies in the movements, the animation is .... well I guess not as smooth as it could be. There are many stills used to prolong scenes, and things of that nature. It's a warning, the animation in Someday's Dreamers is not a strong point at all, but fortunately for Someday's Dreamers, it doesn't have to be perfect and extra smooth. The way the entire anime is shown to us, the lack of polish and depth to the animation is almost a non issue...... except for the mouths, I swear there are scenes that literally only have open and close mouth frames with nothing in-between. Again, it's not.... that bad to scare you off, but it's something I noticed and was noticeable throughout all 12 episodes. A good point on animation is when the "special" powers are used. The powers are shown by using holograms, so Yume for instance has a dolphin. Those scenes are incredible and are both drawn and animated well.
Art Style: If we take the animation away from the picture and focus on art, I'd say it's good enough for the way Someday's Dreamers wants to be presented. The colors aren't bold, they're subdued and honestly, almost realistic in how it's shown. The characters are drawn really well and I actually like how it all looks. The eyes aren't so big compared to the faces (I know people hate big eyes). It's a good looking show, even if there isn't so much detail.
Overall: Someday's Dreamers is a solid slice of life story about decision making and always trying to get the best out of any given situation. It's kind, light hearted, sincere and sometimes even serious in how it presents itself. Not everyone will understand what it's like to be a mage, not everyone will understand that you can't do everything, but always try your best, failures and mistakes can help you grow and become better. Yume was a fantastic Main and the concept and theme of the story worked well, I just wish we could have seen more of her capabilities and things of that, because we don't witness much strong magic. (If you're interested, Someday's Dreamers is on Hulu, if you don't want to buy the DVD)
Note: No idea where to put it, but this is a very slow, unfolding type of Slice of Life. I mean... very slow. (I obviously enjoyed it though)
