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Diamond Daydreams Vol. 1: Atsuko +
Karin
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They might not be the things that are taking over the anime
marketplace here in the United States, but the last few months a
number of “slice of life” series have become available. By this, I’m
not referring to some of the more outrageous series like Super
Gals, but those that have a dramatic look at life itself, from a
Japanese point of view of course. Human Crossing and
Rumiko Hakahashi’s Anthology are two perfect examples, and now
you have another to add to the list; Diamond Daydreams.
Diamond Daydreams also has another thing that is something of
a rarity; the series is set in Hokkaido. There are a few series that
use this far northern location to set the story, but often times
most anime is set in Tokyo, Osaka, some alternate dimension, or the
far reaches of distant space. It’s not just location or the plunge
into reality that sets the series apart however, it’s the format.
Diamond Daydreams is actually an anthology series with one short
story encompassing two episodes. This also is a series that’s based
on a video game, though it’s one that undoubtedly will never been
seen in the United States.
From start to finish, Diamond Daydreams will look at the
hopes, dreams, loves, and even crushing blows of six young women
living in Hokkaido. This first volume introduces us to two of them;
Atsuko and Karin. The characters however never meet face to face,
and so far, what ties the series together, aside from the theme, has
been references to a radio show as well as wishes of diamond dust.
In Atsuko’s story, we find a young girl who has been given no choice
but to work with her mother in the family fish market. Her father
has died at a young age, the bills are beginning to pile up and the
bank is close to taking everything away from them. Atsuko’s mother
has made arrangements for her to marry a well-to-do young man from
the city, but she isn’t interested. Although it might solve their
financial woes, she’s more interested in love, and there’s a much
older man. It seems however that he might have a secret as well as
his own dream that he’s following.
The idea of an arranged marriage probably seems strange to most of
us in the West, but it still is a readily used idea in Japan, though
not nearly as much as it was in the past. However, this story is one
that has a happy ending, and in many ways there is an underlying
theme that the ways of the old aren’t necessarily as accepted as
they once were, especially by the youth who do understand that it
should be love, not convenience, that makes a marriage. This is even
seen however in some of the older generations in this story.
Diamond Daydreams isn’t a series that you will find working
its magic from robots or strange visitors for another planet. This
is a dramatic approach to anime, and one that utilizes events and
sets of circumstances that could very easily happen in Japan just as
they could here. The ladies are the real focus, but this isn’t
necessarily something that would be the Japanese equivalent of a
“chick flick.” Atsuko’s story for example is well thought out, and
while it becomes very obvious what her feelings are, there is a
slight twist that begins to emerge as the second act (or episode in
this case) progresses on.
The second story features a young girl named Karin. She’s been
hospitalized from the past two years and needs to have surgery that
will not only save her life, it will send her home. She’s been
spending her time working on her website which is her retelling of
dreams she has had. Yuki, one of the nurses at the hospital, happens
to be a big fan of her website, and problems start for the young
girl when a new doctor begins attending to her. At first, she
doesn’t like Dr. Amakasu, but after she starts to receive emails
from a mysterious fan, she thinks that he is the one behind it. She
soon learns there is something much different going on than she
thought, and the secret crush she has developed on him will soon
leave her broken hearted.
Karin’s story is a bit different. Atsuko’s portion focused on love
for the sake of love, but for Karin, it’s more about puppy love,
those crushes that someone finds themselves overwhelmed with at a
young age, or even a older age. Karin’s illness really isn’t so much
a part of the story. Her dreams play a very large part of the story
as they not only show her hopes, but her fears. When she was little,
her father died after having surgery, and that has always stuck with
her. The emails begin to cheer her up, and this is also when she
begins to develop a bad case of puppy love for Amakasu. I’m not
going to ruin things here though by telling you who is sending the
emails or what she eventually discovers, but she does finally
overcome her fear and goes ahead with the life saving surgery.
Though the slice of life aspect may seem simple, the animation
doesn’t suffer. The character designs are very good and quite
lifelike, though they also retain that definitive anime look to
them. Since Hokkaido is the setting, you’ll find a number of things,
such as food and even locations that are present in the episodes.
Even the eye-catches utilize actual photos from the Hokkaido region.
There are a few edits though that I found annoying, in particular
there are some quick, jump cuts in the Atsuko episodes, but for the
most part, the series is done very well and is quite intricate in
the overall design.
You will find that Diamond Daydreams has a number of special
features available on the DVD. You can expect to find clean opening
and closing animations, but there is quite a bit more than just the
old standbys. There is a short interview with the series director,
Bob Shirahata, talking about how he took the idea from game to anime
and gives a bit of insight on the series itself. There is another
short segment from the Diamond Daydreams radio program (yes,
if you didn’t know, there are a number of anime series that have
radio shows to promote and reward the fans.) You will find a
collection of television sports for the anime, though I would be
interested in seeing ones for the game as well (if any were done.)
Oh, there’s still more, and some of this will be slightly
educational, especially if you know little to nothing about the
Hokkaido region. Since both of the stories take place in different
portions of the island, you will find a map of the area, as well as
information about the cities the episodes are set in. You’ll even
know what the travel time is from Tokyo to the locations. There is a
segment on the food of Hokkaido, though there don’t expect to find
out how to make them. This actually relates specifically to the what
is seen in the anime, no real pictures included. Last on the list is
Panda’s DVD diary. Who is Panda? The PR agent for Diamond
Daydreams of course . . . . it will all make sense when you
check out the special feature.
Explosions, giant robots, violence, gore . . . . this isn’t the type
of anime for that. Diamond Daydreams is about warm, touching
tales that are just as easy to watch by boys as they are by girls.
It isn’t overly romantic or sappy, and that’s part of what really
makes the series enjoyable. I’m sure some will easily be able to
relate to the stories in some way. Give it a try, you might find
yourself pleasantly surprised.
Episode 1 - Hakodate ~ Atsuko Akanegi (Part 1)
Things aren’t going well for Atsuko; all her friends are having fun
in college while she helps her mother at their shop. The bank is
ready to take their only livelihood away and now that Atsuko has
gotten injured, the only person to help her is Kurata, a much older
man. When her mother makes “arrangement” for Atsuko however, that’s
more than she can take.
Episode 2 - Hakodate ~ Atsuko Akanegi (Part 2)
Atsuko has no interested in marrying Minoru, the man that she is
arranged to marry and instead has run to Kurata. Soon though, even
her mother will begin to realize that love is much more important
than what she is trying to force her daughter into, and some help
from great-grandmother might just set things right.
Episode 3 – Kitami ~ Karin Shiraishi (Part 1)
Karin has spent the last two years of her life in a hospital and her
condition is getting worse. She needs to have surgery, but she’s
deathly afraid. The only comfort she has is in working on her
website and her new doctor, whom she originally didn’t get along
with, and emails from a fan, and she believes she knows who it is.
Episode 4 – Kitami ~ Karin Shiraishi (Part 2)
It seems Karin’s suspicions regarding her “fan” might be correct,
but then she discovers an awful truth. Dr. Amakasu happens to be
seeing one of the nurses and all her dreams are crushed. However,
she soon discovers the truth of who her fan really is, and it might
be just the thing to push her into having the surgery she
desperately needs.
-mike-
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Genre:
Slice of Life
Series Director:
Bob Shirahata
Directed by:
Episode 1 – Bob Shirahata
Episode 2 – Yuji Yanase
Episode 3 – Yuki Hayashi
Episode 4 – Ritsu Shimodaira
Written by:
Episode 1 & 2 – Ryota Yamaguchi
Episode 3 & 4 – Mari Okada
Based Upon the Video Game by:
Hudson Soft
Original Japanese Title:
Kita e Diamond Dust Drops
Voice
Cast:
Episodes 1 & 2
Eriko Ishihara (Atsuko Akanegi)
Yuij Takada (Joji Kurata)
Hiroshi Kamiya (Minoru Jinguji)
Sayuri Sadaoka (Sanae Akanegi)
Episode 3 & 4
Hiroko Takahashi (Karin Shiraishi)
Yuji Ueda (Mitsuru Shiraishi)
Go Aoba (Dr. Amakasu)
Atsuko Yuya (Nurse Yuki)
Mitsutaka Tachikawa (Dr. Nemoto)
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DVD
Features:
Dual
Language: English & Japanese
English
Subtitles
Interview w/ Bob Shirahata
DDD (Radio Show with the Japanese seiyuu)
Hokkaido Travelogue
The Food of Hokkaido
Panda's DVD Diary
Original Japanese TV Spots
Reversible Cover
Contains Episodes
1 - 4
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