Dream Saga

Dream Saga (夢幻伝説 タカマガハラ) is a shōjo manga by Megumi Tachikawa, serialised in Nakayoshi from February 1997 to June 1999, and reprinted in 5 tankōbon.

It is a fantasy adventure tale about a young girl called Yuuki Wakasa, who one day acquires a magical red stone. The stone allows her to travel to Takamagahara (高天原 "High Plane of Heaven"), the dream world, when she sleeps, and can only return to Nakatsukuni (中ツ国 "middle country"), the real world, when she goes to sleep in the dream.

Yuuki discovers that she must save the sun, Amaterasu, from being trapped and destroyed in Takamagahara, or the light will be lost from both worlds forever. The plot draws elements from the samurai epic Nansō Satomi Hakkenden by Kyokutei Bakin, and from Chinese and Japanese mythology, particularly the Amano-Iwato legend.

The manga has been translated and republished in German by Egmont Manga & Anime from November 2002 to May 2003, and English by Tokyopop from August 2004 to August 2005. The series has since gone out of print.

Characters

 * Yuuki Wakasa (若狭 結姫)
 * Birthday: January 7, blood type: B.
 * Yuuki Wakasa is the heroine of the story. Because of her mother's personality she has to look after her three brothers, Kousuke, the oldest brother, and the twins Youichi and Youji. She uses Seiza for punishment. She is loud, outgoing and clumsy 5th grader that can make everyone shut up. She was once a normal fifth grader until a strange stone fell from the sky in her hands. After that she was sent to find the four other stone bearers and save Amaterasu. Unlike the others, Yuuki travels between Nakatsukuni and Takamagahara in the same body. She is easily moved to tears by the plights of nature caused by noncaring humans. Yuuki is also called "Horizon Girl". She is also the next Lady Amaterasu. She also has a crush on Takaomi which later on confess her feelings towards him.


 * Takaomi Kai (甲斐隆臣)
 * Birthday: January 30, blood type: A.
 * Takaomi Kai is a boy in Yuuki's class and her crush. He has an older brother, but he never appears in the manga. In Nakatsukuni, he has a mellow attitude and cares about Yuuki which is about the only thing he has in common with the Takaomi in Takamagahara. The one in Takamagahara is 15 years old and a leader of a band of thieves. His hobbies are eating, sleeping, and hitting on every girl he meets. He says that he does it to be polite. He is very aggressive and violent. He also has a mysterious mark on his forehead.


 * Takaomi also is the recipient of a magic stone. He too has a part in the legend as he finds out after rescuing Princess Kana from the crystal snake. King Tsukuyomi reveals that Takaomi's role in the legend is to transform into the god of destruction and eat Amaterasu. This will destroy both worlds.


 * Binga
 * Karyubinga, or Binga to Yuuki, is a female bird. When Yuuki uses her powers, she can make Binga bigger anytime she likes. Only those with a magic stone can talk with Binga. Binga has a fiery temper.


 * Souta Inaba (因幡 颯太)
 * Birthday: February 21, blood type: A.
 * Souta Inaba is in Yuuki's class. He enjoys studying and is very smart (which he often likes to point out, especially to Nachi). He tends to argue quite often with Nachi. In Takamagahara, Souta is a long-haired priest who predicts the future by dropping his stone into water. They use his fortune-telling skills to make money in Takamagahara, seeing as all of the others tend to get fired from their jobs because of their constant arguing. He has been researching "the end of the legend," and tells Yuuki that he never thought that he'd be part of that legend. Souta has a fear of ghosts. The symbol on his stone is "sariyasu" (cloth).


 * Taizou Hyuga (日向 泰造)
 * Birthday: May 13, blood type: O
 * He goes to the same school as Yuuki, but is not in the same class. He's sort of a bully, and is said to have beaten a junior high student. He has an older sister (which was never shown), and he doesn't spend much time studying. He first meets Yuuki and the others in Takamagahara when he attacks Takaomi for the bounty on his head. He then finds a magic stone in the net that the poacher used, and that's when he gets his memories from Nakatsukuni. He then meets Yuuki in Nakatasukini when he discovers that she checked out a book from the library that he was going to borrow, telling her afterwards that there is another student in his class with a magic stone. He has a crush on Miss Nakime.


 * Keima Sagami (相模 圭麻)
 * Birthday: June 12, blood type: AB
 * In Nakatsukuni, Keima is Taizou's classmate. He loves to recycle things and invent things from the trash the gathers. He's good in school. In Takamagahara, he is an innovator. He still loves to sift through trash. He is 15 years old.


 * Nachi Izumi (和泉 那智)
 * Birthday: December 27, blood type: B
 * In Nakatsukuni, Nachi is Yuuki's classmate. He is good at sports, but he puts no effort into his studying. He will grow up to inherit his parents' company. He has a crush on Takaomi. In Takamagahara, he is the only one with a different gender. He is a 16 year old girl. Nachi still has a crush on Takaomi.


 * Miss Nakime
 * Blood type: A
 * Miss Nakime is Lady Amaterasu's assistant. She is smart, calm, but very lonely. She can't communicate with the magic stone holders very well. Taizou has a crush on her. She is losing energy as she supports Lady Amaterasu. She was the one who initiated the Amanoiwato Project.

Release
Written and illustrated by Megumi Tachikawa, the chapters of Dream Saga were serialized in the Japanese magazine Nakayoshi from February 1997 to June 1999. The chapters were collected into five tankōbon volumes by Kodansha and published from October 1997 to September 1999.

Tokyopop licensed Dream Saga for an English-language release in North America and published the five volumes from August 10, 2004 to August 9, 2005.

Trivia

 * All three of the Imperial Regalia of Japan appear in Dream Saga. The mirror Shinjukyou (Yata no kagami) and an additional mirror, the Shinkakyou, open the stairs to Tenjukyu. A sword, most likely the Kusanagi, is retrieved from one of the crystal Orochi's scales. And the magic stones resemble the Yasakani no magatama.