Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto

With all my heart!

Yume Kikuchi is a 15-year old girl who travels from her hometown in the north of Japan to Tokyo for an internship in the use of magic. Even though she has possessed magical abilities since birth, she is prohibited from using them until the obtains a license from the Bureau of Magic. For that purpose she becomes an apprentice, supervised and trained by Masami Oyamada, a young mage who lives in a house above the salsa cafe he runs.

Mahou tsukai Ni Taisetsu Na Koto (literally: "Things That Are Precious To a Mage"), also known as Someday's Dreamers, started out as a Manga series by Norie Yamada and Kumichi Yoshizuki. It takes place in a world where magic is a very common phenomenon, and where becoming mage is an official occupation. To obtain her license, Yume must perform requests by clients, which can range from trying to get into the news to recovering memories from decades ago. Most of the series deals with the serious decisions Yume faces regarding the use of her magic abilities and how it affects the relationship with her clients and the people surrounding her.

The series was animated in 2003 by J.C. Staff, with a somewhat altered plot and added characters. There is also a sequel called Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto ~Natsu no Sora~, with a storyline and set of characters so totally different that it warrants having its own page. The show very much has a Slice of Life feel, with the emphasis more on the main characters' emotional development than the magical feats themselves--even though some of those are still pretty impressive.

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Tropes used in Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto include:

• Ahoge: Yume has three, but she is by no means stupid.
  • Her losing them becomes a plot point in one episode.
• Book Ends: The show starts and ends with Yume at the famous crossing in Shibuya, Tokyo.
• Bishonen: Kera and Masami.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Angela has a hard time telling Inoue how she feels for him. That poor Tokyo Tower...
  • And then there's Melinda's issue with Masami.
• Coming of Age Story
• Conspicuous CG: Especially when magic is used.
• Country Mouse: Yume
• Creepy Cool Crosses: Angela's magic sign is a cross.
• Crowning Music of Awesome: The opening music is beautiful. ^[1]
• Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: Melinda drinking champagne with Runa's mom to cheer her on.
  • The ending qualifies as well.
    • The whole darned soundtrack.
• Dead Little Sister: Or in this case, Masami's dead girlfriend Takako.
• Emotionless Girl: Angela , most of the time.
• Flash Back: Numerous.
• Left Hanging: The question whether Masami and Melinda will get together is left unanswered.
• Male Gaze: Not used overly much, but still present, usually invoving Melinda or shots of Yume's behind.
• Mental World: Yume has the power to do this , which becomes important in the end.
• Mission Control: Apparently needed when controlling mages.
• Ms. Fanservice: Melinda.
• Mundane Fantastic
• Mundane Utility: Most of the requests for magic involve rather boring applications of such powers.
• Phenotype Stereotype: Angela, being non-Japanese, is of course blond with blue eyes.
• Psychic Powers
• Shirtless Scene: Kera and Masami get one in their first appearance.
• Shower Scene
• Tear Jerker: Numerous. This is a rather serious show.
• Token Mini-Moe: Runa.
• Tokyo Tower: Playing a very prominent role in one episode.
• Twelve-Episode Anime
  • Technically eleven, since episodes 1 & 2 form a double length pilot.
• Wangst: Yume beats herself up badly when she finds that her magic doesn't always lead to a solution to people's problems.
• Wizarding School

1. ↑ I actually rented the series because the music in the preview (from the trailers on Ai Yori Aoshi's DVD) was so nice.