Diamond Daydreams Vol-1 (2004)
Animation Production: Studio DEEN
Released by: ADV Films
Episodes: 1-4
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

One of the compelling reasons we love anime here at Japan Hero is the sheer diversity of titles produced every year. Sometimes this isn’t particularly evident because companies spend their marketing dollars promoting sure-fire titles, which is quite understandable given present market conditions, but on the flip-side this has the effect of keeping more unique or compelling releases away from the limelight. Some releases that come to mind as having suffered this fate include Kino’s Journey and Stellvia.

Today’s review subject Diamond Daydreams is an interesting release that truly demonstrates the flexibility of the animation medium and its power to realistically portray simple life situations, in the case of this series that being the life experiences of several young women and their struggles to fulfill their dreams.

It goes without saying that this is not business as usual in the world of anime. Let’s take a close look.

Story

“Atsuko Akanegi is a simple girl helping her mother run the struggling family business. She works hard, stays out of trouble and tries to not let life get too complicated. But then, she discovers that she has an arranged marriage waiting for her in the future. And to make matters worse, she thinks her groom-to-be is a bit boring and self-centered. Then, more complications. Atsuko meets Kurata – a mature, interesting and passionate soul who mingles his way into her life. She is torn. Atsuko must find within herself the delicate differences between the comfort of firm stability of and the pain of a wanting heart. Karin Shiraishi is very ill. She has been hospitalized for a over two years with little hope of recovery. And her physician, Dr. Amakasu, doesn’t make her feel any better – neither in a medical sense nor emotionally. He is cocky, brash and aloof to her needs as a person. The only thing that keeps Karin going is her web blog. There, she vents and expounds upon her experiences and manages to find some warmth and sanity in the otherwise cold and sterile confines of the patient ward. Eventually, her blog gathers quite a following, and she meets someone wonderful. Kind and caring, her new friend is everything she’s been longing for. That is, until they come face to face. ” - DVD box

Review

Please note that this review is based on an early preview copy of Diamond Daydreams Vol-1 so not all the episodes are contained within the DVD nor are the menus and final content. All materials reviewed here may be subject to change.

This first volume in ADV Films’ release of Diamond Daydreams Vol-1 is slated to contain episodes one through four in the series, which include:

Episode 1:
Atsuko Akanegi is a down to Earth girl that helps her mother run the family’s fish shop. Due to the unexpected death of her father when she was younger she spends most of her time working, wondering what it would be like to be with her college-attending friends and not having to live with an arranged marriage hanging over her head. Yearning for something different, to discover the unknown Atsuko somehow ends up meeting Kurata, an older gentleman who plays jazz music at a local club. The air of mystery and newness that surrounds him captivates her, but does she really know what she wants?

Episode 2:
Atsuko finds herself more and more confused by her situation and doesn’t know what to do. Perhaps Kurata can show her the way and along the way teach her that sometimes the path you thread to get to your dreams is the harshest of all.

Episode 3:
Karin Shiraishi is bedridden in a hospital bed with a terrible lung disease. The only way for her to get better is to get a simple surgical procedure done, but she refuses, as her father passed away during that same surgery several years ago. Now the only thing that makes Karin happy are her dreams, which she shares with the world through her personal website. Lately though a mysterious fan has started e-mailing her words and photos of encouragement, could this enigmatic writer be someone she already knows…?

Having just finished watching the first 3 episodes in this releases I came away from my anime TV center with an overall positive impression of this series. It did take me a little bit to get into the slower pace of things and the generally simple atmosphere, but once I entered the show’s universe on its terms, I was able to get a lot our of the different stories and characters that govern them.

Basically this show is made up of several short stories that focus on several young women. Each of the self-contained stories take place across the length of two episodes and tell a different tale of friendship, love, family and heartbreaks. This narrowed and contained focus allows us to take a deep look at each character’s life and come to somewhat of an understanding of their struggles, dreams and circumstances, which is essential to what this anime sets out to do, which is to bring us in as viewers and allow us to see in the characters experiences our own struggles, be they present or past ones.

With episodes 1 and 2 Diamond Daydreams focus on Atsuko Akanegi and her life as a young woman whose life revolves around helping her mom at the family business and avoiding the man that her parents had arranged for her to marry. To Atsuko life is a fixed, mundane affair hardly filled with mystery or surprises. That’s why when the opportunity to better know the enigmatic jazz musician that frequents the family’s fish store she takes it head on, despite what everyone else thinks. For her this is a chance to do something unpredictable and to gain a whole new perspective in life. The problem however, is that despite wanting something different, Atsuko doesn’t know what she is after or why she is even pursuing something different.

Contrasting her confused heart is the man who opens up this new path to Atsuko, Kurata, a local jazz musician. Unlike our protagonist Kurata knows exactly what he wants and what path he wants to pursue as a musician. His dedication to his dream is such that he willingly left everything behind to pursue it, including his wife and daughter. Shocked by this revelation and the taken by Kurata’s heart, Atsuko’s mind begins to clear, but where she is headed now is yet to be seen.

The second story in volume 1 of Diamond Daydreams focuses on Karin Shiraishi a young woman whose confined to a hospital bed due to a lung disease. Without a necessary and simple medical procedure she will not get better, but due to her father passing away during the same operation she is to undertake, she’s opted not to do it. Time is running out though and if Karin doesn’t agree to let the doctors perform this intervention she could get worse.

Reality being as overbearing and restricting for Karin as it is, she often finds herself escaping the walls of her hospital room via vivid dreams that she has while sleeping. Such is her fascination with these dreams and her prince charming that she starts writing a web journal about them, in the process sharing her dream worlds and experiences with the world, which ends up attracting a mystery fan. This person soon becomes a pillar of support for Karin, but he is, no one is sure of, even Karin herself. Can her prince charming help convince her to get the operation she has been avoiding for the past two years?

Karin’s story is an interesting follow up to Atsuko’s in that it mostly takes place in her hospital room. Despite the lack of mobility and her physical condition, Karin, makes for an interesting character, whose spirit energizes those of the people around her. Her fear of going under the doctor’s knife is something we can all relate to and certainly adds a familiar element to the drama of her story. Like Atsuko, Karin, is also in search of someone who can fill her heart, although in the case of Karin, she is looking for the ideal prince charming that she dreams of, whereas Atsuko was motivated more by the search for the unknown and not necessarily someone she would fall in love with at the first sight.

That being said both stories have several elements in common, but are told from different perspectives and circumstances. With Atsuko we get something more relatable to people who are college bound or young working adults, whereas with Karin the narrative is more relatable to slightly younger set, with its emphasis on web logs and fairy tales. All in all both tales have the same core plot elements, which are the exploration of the heart and the pursuit of our dreams.

In terms of production this series is particularly well done, with many lavishly painted backgrounds and a surprisingly distinct set of characters that break through the clutter of cookie-cutter anime personalities. The animation frame rate is smooth and the color palette is bright, with many pastel colors put to good use. Visual effects are limited, but used effectively to add atmospheric effects.

On the sound front the music soundtrack for this series is a good fit for the stories it accompanies with many low-key pieces that accent each character’s struggles. Interestingly the opening theme song is done in such a lively, happy-go-lucky fashion that it stands in sharp contrast to everything else about this release! Don’t get me wrong, I loved it and it was catchy and all, but it sounded like something that would fit better with a show like Urusei Yatsura, Maburaho or Ultramaniac. The voice acting was as usual good, with the English voice dubbing being surprisingly well done.

This being an early preview copy of this product none of the extras, menus or inserts were in place. At this early stage the video and audio transfer look remarkably sharp and colorful. Can’t wait to see how the final product stacks up.

Final Thoughts

There are no heroes, kaiju, giant robots or space invaders in Diamond Daydreams. This is a show about the life experiences and relationships that fill our hearts and shape who we are. As such it is a series that elegantly touches on many sentimental points that we can all relate to.

Diamond Daydreams is a wonderful collection of stories that brings together many different perspectives to form a rich kaleidoscope of romance. Highly recommended for fans looking for something with a more serious bite to it.

Jeffrey Couto