“Would you believe me if I told you in real life?”
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Ryoma Kitada
Translation: Medibang
What They Say
Even in university, Chono is stuck in the past regrets of his high school years. His dull days come to an abrupt end when he comes across a mysterious book… A book that allows him to return and re-do his high school life in his dreams. Follow Chono and the girls of his dreams as they reshape their wasted youths!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
One of a couple of new projects that got underway in early 2023 in Shonen Jump+, Yumeochi: Dreaming of Falling for You comes from creator Ryoma Kitada. Kitada has a couple of titles under their name but is mostly known for the Super HXHeroes property which saw an anime adaptation. I hadn’t seen any of their original work before or the anime adaptation but the reputation with lewd or fanservice-oriented material certainly is out there. With this series, it has a pretty good look overall though nothing that feels like it’s going to be really radical or anything. There’s certainly appeal in this genre for many and it’s also easy to see why a lot will avoid it. I’ve avoided a lot of it over the years and that just makes this a bit more accessible for me since I’m not as worn down and disillusioned by it. It helps that Kitada has a pleasing art style and the general approach of the book looks to be pretty solid.
Ending the previous issue with Omura letting herself fall off the edge of the school was pretty dramatic but it works well in putting Chono in a chaotic moment. And he reacts well by trying to get to her and manages to do so, if only brief before they both fall. His nervousness about now knowing what would happen if they die in this shared dream really is making an impact on him and he doesn’t want to find out. For Omura, she just figures it’s the fastest way to wake up from all of this and is frustrated when it doesn’t happen since he saved her – even though they take a tumble through the trees. Even worse, she says out loud that she just wants to wake up in a forcible tone and that allows Chono to try and make it clear that they’re experiencing the same dream. And that’s just too ridiculous for her to believe, reinforcing her view of him as an NPC. An aggressive one, at that.
What Chono is able to do, however, is to accidentally kind of suggest an in-person meeting outside of the dream to prove it. She doesn’t believe it and he begs off on it, but once she’s awake and in the real world again, that temptation starts to creep in, especially since she hasn’t been out much recently. It’s amusing to see her give on this and basically stalk him from the outside of the store while trying to figure out if it really happened or not. Of course, she’s eventually seen and Chono realizes what’s going on but she’s able to avoid actually connecting with him. But this is one of those moments that changes everything because she realizes that there is something going on here and her brain is going to start firing on all cylinders about it.
In Summary:
Yumeochi has certainly slowed down a bit with its focus on Omura but it’s not a surprising slowdown either. Things went fast and pretty big when it comes to him and Asakura so introducing someone else dealing with this shared experience and working through a bit of their character motivation isn’t a surprise. Omura’s fun enough but it doesn’t work as well for me as it does with Asakura. It’s definitely solid and explores some other things that they weren’t looking at before so it works well. It’s also continuing to look great so that’s a huge plus as well as we move between reality and the dream.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Manga Plus
Release Date: April 15th, 2023
