Comics / Manga

Someday's Dreamers: Spellbound: Volume 1

By Leroy Douresseaux
December 20, 2006 - 16:02

Nami Matsuo is a student at Nagasaki Ryokunan Senior High, and she is also a magic user.  Although she can get specialized training in magic to make that her career, she finds that her heart isn't in using magic.  Some of her classmates seem to think that her magic is the answer to making them succeed in their athletic endeavors, but Nami is reluctant to use her magic because her spells have disastrously embarrassing results.

Nami has a keen interest in helping other people, and she finds herself drawn to the new boy in school, Ryutaro Tominaga.  A silent and sullen motorbike-riding teen, Ryutaro actually has a soft side, but he's reluctant to let down his guard.  Slowly, the two come together with various fits and starts.

Someday's Dreamers: Spellbound, even with the lead character having magical powers, is actually a high school melodrama and teen romance.  It is mannered in its pace, but the characters are as mercurial as real teenagers.  Writer Norie Yamada has created a compelling story of teens struggling with their futures and ambitions.  Kumichi Yoshizuki's art strikes the perfect note for this tale, acting almost like a straight man to Yamada's teen angst.

Here, the failure of magic is a metaphor for a time in life when the easy way won't get it, and here the struggle is more interesting than the magic.

6/10

Thanks to barnesandnoble.com for the images.

 

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12