Yumekuri Review

Makoto and the Onsen Maidens

Yumekuri isn’t the anime I planned to review today. But, since Zom 100 has been delayed yet again, here we are. It was the only one-episode OVA I had on my list that wasn’t effectively hentai. Though, you wouldn’t know that from the cover art (not included in this review).

Now, before I get into the content of Yumekuri, there are some things you should know. First, Hiro is the original creator. You may be familiar with one of their other works, Akebi’s Sailor Uniform, which I really enjoyed.

Second, Yumekuri is older than I thought it was. This anime came out in 2012. And, unfortunately, I only saw it available in 480p quality. It would have been better if the picture quality was a bit higher. Anyway, finally, this is a short OVA that’s only six minutes long.

Due to its length, this anime is more of a trailer for the manga than a real OVA. But, it does introduce us to all the main characters. The protagonist is Makoto Yukami, a guy who works at a hot spring. And the other five characters are girls who also work at the hot spring.

Akino Mikogai is the first and youngest girl we meet. She refers to Makoto as onii-chan, but there’s no indication they’re actually related. Next, we have Tokura Ushiki, who seems to be the oldest of the girls. From what we see, she’s a classic older sister type.

Tsutsuji Tounosawa is the energetic, sporty girl of the bunch. At least, that’s what I gathered. And Mitomo Rokuya is a bit of a mystery. We don’t get much of her. But, she has a smug face in the cover art. Finally, there’s Yuri Shirahane, the goddess of the hot spring.

Goddess of the Hot Spring

Yes, you read that right. Yuri is the goddess of the hot spring. But, what exactly does that mean? It means she’s a goddess with supernatural powers, duh. However, that’s not as unique of a description as you might think.

It turns out that all of the girls who work at the hot spring have supernatural powers. And, we see three of the girls use these powers when they need to heat up a bath. They have the ability to heat up water with some kind of magic.

Tsutsuji also seems to exhibit superhuman physical prowess. After neither she nor Akino can adequately heat the bath, she runs off in search of Yuri. And when she returns carrying Yuri, she does so by dropping out of the sky. This is why I said she seems like the energetic, sporty type.

So, again, what does it mean that Yuri is the goddess of the hot spring? Is she actually a goddess? Or, does that title simply mean that she’s the most skilled of the hot spring attendants? After all, she was able to heat the bath to the perfect temperature when the others couldn’t.

Tsutsuji wasn’t able to make the bath water hot enough. And Akino made it so hot that it began to boil. Yuri was the one who made it just right. To me, that makes it seem like Yuri isn’t actually a goddess but holds a specific title, instead.

However, there is one other bit of information I’ve kept from you. In the cover art for this series, Yuri looks different. Within the OVA, she has black hair like Mitomi. But, in the cover art, her hair is white. So, there could actually be something special about her.

A Hot Spring for Cats

Based on the six minutes of this OVA, it’s a bit hard to say what the full series is about. But, since this is a review of the OVA, that’s all I’m going off. And, according to what I saw in it, it’s about a hot spring for cats.

Akino wants to bring a cat into the hot spring, and Makoto says no. Then, everyone works together to make a separate hot spring for the cat and a bunch of other cats show up.

In the end, however, the girls end up taking the cats into the main hot spring anyway. Why? Because they remembered that this is their off-season. That means cats in the hot spring won’t be bothering any other guests.

So, case closed, right? The series is about a hot spring for cats.

I don’t think that’s actually what Yumekuri is about. Though, it’s very possible that I’m wrong since I haven’t read the manga. But, my impression from this OVA is that it’s about a “normal” (supernatural) hot spring. Not a hot spring for cats.

As we’re told, the only reason they could bring the cats into the hot spring was because it’s the off-season. I’d imagine that the majority of the series doesn’t take place during the off-season. And that would mean that for the majority of the series, there are no cats in the hot spring.

If Yumekiri ever got a full-length anime, I’d watch it. From what little I saw, it seemed like it could be a good slice of life series. But, I doubt that’s ever going to happen. It’s been 11 years since this OVA came out and the manga ended back in 2016. What incentive is there for an anime series now?

Yumekuri: 6/10

In the end, I gave Yumekuri a 6/10, which is higher than the OVA’s average score. Yes, it’s short and the picture quality is bad. But, piqued my interest in the series. And, who knows? Maybe you’ll even see a review of the manga from me in the future.

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