Anime: Yume Tsukai

This animation's best part is the end. In the beginning, there are some enchanting scenes and character traits, but most of it is not outstanding. The character design and story in the script refreshingly leave behind much of the social cowardice which usually causes authors to nag the audience. Maybe the manga is even more bold. Unlike many anime which end a season with an unfulfilling sensation, I felt satisfied and that it had reached a conclusion. You are not going to get the full experience if you only watch the end without having the characters built up during the series -- though watching the entire series may feel a bit slow.

Yume Tsukai might have been good, once upon a time. Unfortunately, seeing as this anime was released in 2006 with production values that would be more appropriate for 1996, an already weak series is dragged down to the point of no return.

A brief summary: The characters are Yume Tsukai, and their purpose is to defeat nightmares that have manifested in the real world. Yes, a special powers anime, complete with transformation scenes and repeated ultimate attack scenes. The 12 episodes of the series are mostly episodic, until the final two, which pulls together all the little hints over the course of the series and creates an ending that is as bland as yesterday's oatmeal, with one little exception.

Animation: The animation is horrible. Was this really released in 2006? We're talking DBZ-levels of animation here, people. Rinko has permanently crossed eyes. All of the characters have stick-limb syndrome. Whoever drew some scenes has absolutely no sense of perspective. The special effects are bland and uninteresting. There is a lot of re-used animation. Seriously, this is BAD quality art and animation.

Sound: The sound is much better, though it's still not anything special. The character voices are pretty good for the most part, though poor Rinko gets a little annoying by the end of the show. Unfortunately, the OP/ED are uniformly terrible and the background music gets very obtrusive at times.

Story+Character: Terrible. Yes, this story is terrible. There's very little background information about anything, and what little there is, is completely generic. You get a few hints into the past of Touko as the series wanders around, one single episode that tells a bit about Misako and Hajime, and then you get into the final two episodes where the Terrible Secret Is Revealed, and then there's The Final Battle, and then there is The End. While I don't mind shows that follow a formula, that's with the condition that they do it well. An ugly and boring show without much in the way of a story? Yawn. GTFO of my hard drive.

The characters are nearly as weak as the story itself, but Hajime and Touko do have their moments. No characters really get developed in a meaningful way, aside from Touko, and even then, it's done with literally 2 minutes left in the show. Nice. And then life goes on.

Value + Enjoyment: Well, I watched it. And it was a waste of most of those minutes. There were a few parts that were ok, but most of this show was just...bad.

Conclusion: Ugly, boring, but at least it's short. If you're really, really, really, really bored...I suppose you could watch this. But trust me, there's much better out there.