Someday's Dreamers

Someday's Dreamers
	Japanese volume one cover
魔法遣いに大切なこと; (Things That Are Precious to a Mage)
Genre	Coming-of-age
Manga
Written by	Norie Yamada
Illustrated by	Kumichi Yoshizuki
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
English publisher	NA: Tokyopop; Viz Media;
Magazine	Comic Dragon
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	May 2002 – January 2003
Volumes	2
Anime television series
Directed by	Masami Shimoda
Produced by	Akio Matsuda; Satoshi Fujita; Shun Shimizu; Masaru Kōno;
Written by	Norie Yamada
Music by	Takefumi Haketa
Studio	J.C.Staff; Viewworks;
Licensed by	NA: Sentai Filmworks;
Original network	TV Asahi, All-Nippon News Network
Original run	January 9, 2003 – March 27, 2003
Episodes	12
Manga
Someday's Dreamers: Spellbound
Written by	Norie Yamada
Illustrated by	Kumichi Yoshizuki
Published by	Fujimi Shobo
English publisher	NA: Tokyopop; Viz Media;
Magazine	Monthly Dragon Age
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	December 2003 – February 2006
Volumes	5
Manga
Someday's Dreamers: Summer Skies
Written by	Norie Yamada
Illustrated by	Kumichi Yoshizuki
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
Magazine	Monthly Shōnen Ace
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	February 26, 2008 – 2009
Anime television series
Someday's Dreamers II: Sora
Directed by	Osamu Kobayashi
Produced by	Akio Matsuda; Naomi Sudō; Noboru Sugiyama; Kazuo Ōnuki;
Written by	Norie Yamada
Music by	Takefumi Haketa
Studio	Hal Film Maker
Licensed by	NA: Sentai Filmworks;
Original network	TV Asahi
Original run	July 2, 2008 – September 24, 2008
Episodes	12
Live-action film
Directed by	Shun Nakahara
Written by	Norie Yamada (original concept and screenplay)
Studio	Nikkatsu
Released	December 20, 2008
Runtime	100 minutes

Someday's Dreamers (Japanese: 魔法遣いに大切なこと, Hepburn: Mahōtsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto, lit. "Things That Are Precious to a Mage") is a Japanese manga series written by Norie Yamada and illustrated by Kumichi Yoshizuki. It was serialized in Fujimi Shobo's Comic Dragon magazine from May 2002 to January 2003 and was later collected in two bound volumes. In 2006, Tokyopop released the manga in the United States under the name Someday's Dreamers.

Someday's Dreamers was also adapted into an anime television series that was animated by J.C.Staff under the direction of Masami Shimoda. It is loosely based on the storyline of the first manga series, with new characters added to the story. It ran for a total of 12 episodes on TV Asahi and was later licensed by Geneon Entertainment USA. After the closure of Geneon USA, the series was relicensed by Sentai Filmworks.^[2]

Another story set in the same universe, Someday's Dreamers: Spellbound (魔法遣いに大切なこと太陽と風の坂道, Mahōtsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Taiyō to Kaze no Sakamichi), written and drawn by the same author and illustrator, was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Comic Dragon Age. It ran from December 2003 to February 2006 and was later released in five bound volumes. In 2006, Tokyopop released the manga in the United States.

In 2007, Norie Yamada and Kumichi Yoshizuki began work on a third title in the Someday's Dreamers universe, titled Summer Skies (魔法遣いに大切なこと〜夏のソラ〜, Mahōtsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora). It was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Shōnen Ace and began its run in the April issue, released on February 26, 2008. Summer Skies was scheduled to have a live action movie adaptation released on December 20, 2008, though it was originally scheduled for a summer 2008 premiere.^[3]^[4] The story was also adapted into an anime television series, following the new main character, Sora. The series is directed by Osamu Kobayashi and is animated by Hal Film Maker. It aired on TV Asahi from July 2, 2008 to September 24, 2008.^[4]

Plot

Someday's Dreamers

The story is set in present-day Tokyo. Much of the setting is based upon real areas, the more obvious ones being the Shibuya Crossing and the Tokyo Tower. The main backdrop of the series where all the characters reside is Shimokitazawa, roughly six minutes west of Shibuya on the Keio Inokashira Line. The Bureau of Magic is in Tokyo, which employs Mage Labor for certain special requests by everyday people. However, the mages must only use their magic with special permission, and any unlicensed use results in a penalty. The story is very gentle and centers around the protagonist, a witch named Yume Kikuchi (菊池ユメ, Kikuchi Yume), a second-year senior high school student from Tono in Iwate prefecture. In order to train as a magic user, she travels to Tokyo during her summer break to apprentice under the charming Masami Oyamada (小山田雅美, Oyamada Masami). The story tells of Yume's trials and tribulations as she works toward her eventual graduation as a full-fledged magic user licensed by the Bureau of Magic. There is a strong undercurrent of romance which is never resolved.

Mahōtsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora

Sora Suzuki is a cheerful girl with magical abilities who lives with her mother in the small town of Biei, Hokkaido. With the intention to honour a promise made to her late father, she successfully applies for a magic internship in Tokyo and temporarily moves into a boarding house in the city. Over the course of a summer month, she meets other teenagers studying to become accredited mages, including an initially aloof boy who appears to lack magic abilities. Under the guidance of their mentors, the apprentices learn more about magic, each other, and life in general as they attend formal classes and work to fulfil contractual assignments for clients.

In the manga, Sora has a strange trait to her magic that manifests itself despite her ire; whenever Sora casts a spell, the result always involves sunflowers, though otherwise almost always how Sora intended it. This is absent in the anime.

Cast

Someday's Dreamers

Yume Kikuchi – Voiced by: Aoi Miyazaki (Japanese); Kari Wahlgren (English)
Masami Oyamada – Voiced by: Jun'ichi Suwabe (Japanese); Otto Towne (English)
Angela Charon Brooks – Voiced by: Akeno Watanabe (Japanese); Shereen Hickman (English)
Melinda Iwashita – Voiced by: Akiko Hiramatsu (Japanese); Dina Sherman (English)
Go Kato – Voiced by: Hiroshi Iida (Japanese); Bryce Papenbrook (English)
Gin Pun – Voiced by: Kouji Tsujitani (Japanese); Jake Martin (English)

Mahō Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora

Sora Suzuki – Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (anime), Performed by: Rio Yamashita (live action)
Seiichirou Hara – Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama (anime), Performed by: Tetsushi Tanaka (live action)
Gouta Midorikawa – Voiced by: Tomoaki Maeno (anime), Performed by: Masaki Okada (live action)
Hiyori Yamabuki – Voiced by: Mikako Takahashi (anime)
Honomi Asagi – Voiced by: Marina Inoue (anime), Performed by: Yurie Midori (live action)
Saori Shiraishi – Voiced by: Urara Takano (anime), Performed by: Hana Kino (live action)
Kouji Kuroda – Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (anime), Performed by: Taiga (live action)

Music

The composer of the anime soundtrack, Takefumi Haketa, hoped that girls would identify with the lead role and created music which had a nostalgic feel to it, evoking both English and Irish suburbs, but also memories of the European Middle Ages. Using traditional instruments such as Irish whistles, he created tracks based on jigs, reels and a real salsa track. For two themes, he employed the voices of a 10-member-strong choir of schoolchildren. The vocal songs were also arranged by Haketa and sung by Miki Taoka. The CD of the soundtrack was released in the U.S. in 2003 by Pioneer Anime LDC, Inc.

Songs

Someday's Dreamers

Opening theme: "Kaze no Hana" by Hana Hana
Ending theme: "Under the Blue Sky" by The Indigo

Mahō Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora

Opening theme: "Fly Away" by Thyme
Ending theme: "Kawaita Hana" (乾いた花) by micc

Media

Manga

No.	Original release date	Original ISBN	North American release date	North American ISBN
01	—	—	March 7, 2006^[5]	978-1-59816-178-6
02	—	—	July 11, 2006^[5]	978-1-59816-179-3

No.	Original release date	Original ISBN	North American release date	North American ISBN
01	—	—	December 12, 2006^[5]	978-1-59816-642-2
02	—	—	April 10, 2007^[5]	978-1-59816-643-9
03	—	—	August 7, 2007^[5]	978-1-59816-644-6
04	—	—	December 11, 2007^[5]	978-1-59816-645-3
05	—	—	March 11, 2008^[5]	978-1-4278-0201-9

Anime

Episode list

Someday's Dreamers

Episode #	Episode name
01	Sunset of a Steel Frame Part One
02	Sunset of a Steel Frame Part Two
03	The Greatest News
04	A Summer Night and a Mage
05	An Apron and Champagne
06	I Want to Become a Mage
07	A Mage Who Couldn't Become a Mage
08	Enormous Power in the Name of Love
09	Yume, the Girl and a Seed of Summer
10	Magic's Whereabouts
11	A Broken Rainbow
12	Things Important to a Mage