Someday’s Dreamers: Spellbound Review

Someday’s Dreamers: Spellbound
Volume 1
Story by Norie Yamada
Art by Kumichi Yoshizuki
Published by Kadokawa Shoten and Tokyopop

“Magic is from the heart. Any kind of magic flourishes when people’s hearts draw close.”

It’s spring, and Nami has only one more year to decide what she wants to do. Although she is a magic user, she has never succeeded in casting a spell in her life, and she isn’t even sure if she likes it, so why does her family keep pushing her to become a professional? The answer to her dilemma is intertwined with the life of a mysterious boy. Can Nami find the strength within herself to help him?

At the start, the story doesn’t seem too special.  It had quite a lot of things that I’d seen before: Senior year angst, a mysterious boy, love triangles abounding. However, it still had its own charm to it. Although the situations were familiar, the characters were endearing and interesting. I could relate very well to Nami’s feeling about not knowing what to do with her life. The story also had a very smooth flow to it.

As the story continued, however, it did what I wished many manga like it would do:  It went beyond the surface, and began to look deeper at the characters and their issues, and how they could be solved. This started at around halfway through and continued to the end, escalating at the emotional climax. I really loved seeing how Nami’s character changed throughout the story, and how she came to the conclusions she did to fight through her issues and help the one she loved.

I do have a few complaints. I felt that Nami’s relationship with her father was not clearly dealt with- Their relationship changed very suddenly, and I felt it was unrealistic how they solved it without trying to work it out together. There were other complications which were not properly solved at all, with the only excuse being that after awhile they let it go, if any excuse was given at all. That made me feel like those things were just brought in for the sake of drama and then removed when they were no longer needed. Even so, it didn’t stop me from thoroughly enjoying this manga, even to the point of wishing it was longer, if only one more volume.

On another note, I loved the art! Especially the cover art, which is colored beautifully. The translation was fine, but I wished they hadn’t called them “magic users” which sounds…well, a little lame. I looked it up, and elsewhere they are called “Mages” which I think sounds better. Oh well.

There were a lot of different things in this manga that I felt spoke to my heart- not big things, no, but powerful none the less. Like the quote above about magic, which, in Nami’s Alternate Universe, is based  on people’s feelings. I think it says a lot about the importance of others in our lives. We were not made to live alone, whether we are Christian or otherwise.

Rating: B+

Murasaki Lynna
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2 thoughts on “Someday’s Dreamers: Spellbound Review”

  1. This is a great post. Would you recommend this manga? It sounds like a good read. I don’t have much time to read it now, but maybe another time.

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