Flying Witch has left an indelible mark on the anime community since its release in 2016. While somewhat overlooked at the time, it gradually generated a large fanbase via word-of-mouth and has caused the often-overlooked iyashikei subgenre to enter a boom period.
Because of this, many anime fans are now seeking out new iyashikei series and revisiting older titles they may have missed the first time around. One such anime is Someday’s Dreamers, a charming series that shares a lot in common with Flying Witch.
The Plot of Someday’s Dreamers
Someday’s Dreamers began life as a manga, written by Norie Yamada and illustrated by Kumichi Yoshizuki. It was published in the pages of Comic Dragon between 2002 and 2003 before being adapted into an anime by the legendary J.C.Staff, the studio behind Revolutionary Girl Utena and Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?.
The series is set in present-day Shimokitazawa, a region of Tokyo famous for its independent businesses and entertainment venues. It follows Yume Kikuchi, a second-year senior high school student from Tōno who is also an aspiring witch. To train her magical abilities, Yume travels to Shimokitazawa during her summer break to apprentice under the watchful eye of handsome and charming professional mage Masami Oyamada.
Yume hopes she can learn enough to finally get the Bureau of Magic to give her a magic license, making her a fully-fledged magic user. However, this isn’t as easy as it sounds; during her summer break, Yume will find herself in various fascinating situations, all while dealing with the shock of moving from Tōno to Tokyo.
Why Flying Witch Fans Will Adore Someday’s Dreamers
The main reason Someday’s Dreamers will appeal to Flying Witch fans is that they share a similar elevator pitch. Both are iyashikei series following young magic users as they move to a new place to learn and improve their craft, and focus on general day-to-day events rather than grand overarching narratives. Both shows are also surprisingly emotional, capturing life’s highs and lows in a highly authentic and genuine way.
That said, Flying Witch and Someday’s Dreamers also have similar visual elements. Both use soft lines and warm color palettes to give the on-screen visuals a gentle an inviting vibe while never skimping on detail. As a result, the characters convey so much personality through their body language and facial expressions. Though naturally, Flying Witch looks slightly nicer due to it being a more recent series that takes advantage of modern improvements in anime creation and distribution.
However, this does not mean the two are exactly the same; one of the most noticeable differences between Someday’s Dreamers and Flying Witch is their setting. While Flying Witch’s setting is quite rural, the Shimokitazawa in Someday’s Dreamers is much more urban and the show heavily plays into this, visually and thematically. During her travels, Yume will use her skills to help people deal with distinctly urban problems, and she frequently learns that while the big city may seem intimidating at first, everyone deals with similar problems. The story goes out of its way to show the hidden beauty of the urban environment, frequently using unusual angles to help the audience look at the world in a new way.
Some of Someday’s Dreamers’ world-building is unique, even outside of typical iyashikei elements. The idea of everyday but government-regulated magic is handled well and raises some interesting questions about how the real world would look if such powers existed. Aat the same time, it doesn’t act like magic is a panacea. The show frequently shows how friends, community and communication are the keys to overcoming issues and having a good life.
Fans of Flying Witch will adore Someday’s Dreamers as they have similar premises and use similar elements, though they each stand apart in their own right. The massive difference in setting and individual episode storylines means they actually work well as a double feature, presenting two intriguing takes on iyashikei and its core themes.
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