Yumeria : Enter the Dreamscape

Reviewed By: Carla Land

ADV films DVD

Review based on volume 1 (episodes 1-4 )

Rating TV-14

What it’s (basically) all about: Sixteen year old Tomokazu Mikuri has started having very real, very strange dreams that are crossing over into his real life. It all started the morning of his sixteenth birthday when the girl he had been dreaming about is in his bed when he wakes up. Now his friends are all showing up in the dreams, too, and they are all fighting against forgotten pieces of consciousness that are trying to take over the waking world. As the foes get stronger, Mikuri and his friends will have to learn all there is to know about their new found powers to save the world- and they still have to pass their classes, too.

Nitty Gritty: Mukuri is a typical sixteen year old boy. He feels awkward talking to girls, he’s not above thinking about sex, and he has a teacher that doesn’t like him. So when he finds himself surrounded by a bunch of girls ranging in age from 10-19 wearing strange costumes and wielding superpowers in his dreams, he’s not exactly upset. Not even when they start appearing in his bed and at school.

There’s some fan service in Yumeria, a couple of “panty shots,” stylized nudity in the transformation sequences, a busty guardian who wears some flimsy night wear, but Mikuri usually acts embarrassed and tries to diffuse the situations by laughing nervously. There are a couple of instances where Mikuri (who’s job is to recharge the girls’ power) accidentally grabs a boob, but the girls are always quick to put him in his place (even when it’s not intentional.) The teacher that doesn’t like Mikuri also has a Lolita complex and is seen wearing a dominatrix get up once (a visual implication that Mikuri’s detention is going to be hell.)

One thing that might raise a flag is that during a flashback, Mikuri and his guardian are in the bath together. Mikuri is probably five or six at the time and he asks if he can touch her boobs. While in Japan bathing with elders isn’t a big deal, some parents might not appreciate the cultural differences.

Language in the show isn’t much. “Bastard” is used in the subbed and dubbed versions, but other than that it’s mostly clean language.

The fighting done on the show is mostly fantasy violence, and the girls use magical combos to defeat scary creatures that don’t seem to have any sentience at all.

Special features include the opening Anime Network and Newtype USA promotions. Also included is a preview for volume two of Yumeria, which is played at the end of episode four and is accessible through the main menu, and clean opening/ closing animation. ADV previews for Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobasi, Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok, Final Fantasty: Unlimited, Gatchaman, Pretear and Ghost Stories are included, and are appropriate for all audiences.

Survey says: As much as it looks like a lot of fan service, there weren’t any instances where I felt it was over the top or unreasonable. The show is rated TV 14 and I think that’s only because of the stylized nudity (which is the standard “magical girl” type.) The show itself seems to be geared for younger audiences. I think this is appropriate for teen collections.

Personal Ad: I wasn’t sure if I’d care for this, but it wasn’t bad. The plot is pretty simple, which is why I think it was made for little girls and not older kids, and it's fun.