“Aim, Break Away From Nerds!”
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.
The arrival at the karaoke place the last time around was fun as it basically helped to cement that the trio are together in experiencing this and that Omura isn’t alone. She’s still got some distance to go and is handling the fact that the VIP room is basically a giant bed with lots of other things. It’s cute to watch them referencing it and playing up its potential, that’s mostly Asakura being silly. Chono keeps shutting her down and Omura just dismisses the whole thing in the right way. The reality is that they’re here to bond a bit over karaoke since they never got to after school when they were actual students. The part that makes it quite amusing is that none of them can find songs that they’re interested in or know and we even get the fact that Asakura is pretty tone-deaf once she does get to the singing side of things.
Singing is off the table pretty quickly after that and it turns to finding other ways to have fun. It being a VIP suite is a plus but there’s also the discovery of all the food they can order from it. It shows us a bit of their personalities with their choices, though again this is a dream of some sort, so it’s fun to watch them just go all out and rack up over 21,000 yen in expenses. The silliness is kind of basic but it’s furthering the way they’re all getting along so much better. And when they leave after the fun of it all, we see how the whole thing has impacted Omura. Her remembering the way her actual school life was and the way people viewed her, and the comments of having no friends or anything, just washes over her and she essentially breaks with the way Asakura makes it clear that they are friends. It’s a great little moment that may not be fully earned but it shows just how much it’s weighed on Omura for so long.
In Summary:
The karaoke excursion proves to be a decent bit of fun overall with what it does but it’s something that almost comes too early in the friendship. They needed a few more shenanigans together in school to cement their bond a bit and then be able to enjoy this kind of experience more. That said, it’s certainly fun to watch them deal with being in the VIP room and all it entails and the humor of seeing just how bad Asakura is with her singing. Omura’s story is the one that gets the best part at the end and does what it needs to put her in a good place going forward. Here’s hoping things start picking up a bit more or gets because to some saucier material.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Manga Plus
Release Date: April 29th, 2023
