Story: If there’s a way to describe the story of Diamond Daydreams, then I suppose it could be described as a collection of short stories revolving around love and the myth of Diamond Dust. However, Diamond Dust isn’t anything special, it’s just the freezing of water molecules in the air during the winter season. There are many tales saying that if you see Diamond Dust, then you will find eternal happiness, but despite getting so much detail, it ends up not being the bulk of the anime.
Each short story (six in all plus one final episode) follows one of six female leads, each with their own problems and flaws. For instance, the first leading girl, Atsuko Akanagi, has the problem are being engaged to a man who she doesn’t even love and only wants to find true happiness in her own way. It is a basic tale, which manages to make something in your chest move. The next character, Karin Shiraishi, has the problem have being very sick, but in order to get well, she has to take a surgery that she’s deathly afraid of. Her only way of reaching out to the world is her online blog.
I’ll try not to spoil any more of the story, but each short story comes with their own characters and aren’t linked in any way, but in a strange way, that’s a strength the anime has. Each story lasts about two episodes (with the exception of one story lasting only one episode), but within those two episodes, the creators manage to attach audiences to the leading characters and make them completely understand their dilemmas and while the story’s don’t always end the way one might want them to, it ends right. Although, it is easy to become a bit disheartened after the first half of some of these stories, but that just makes it so you're willing to watch the second half.
Animation: Diamond Daydreams doesn’t imply any new sort of animating style and while each of the leading characters have their own unique appearance, most of the minor characters look a bit generic. Regardless of that, the characters and scenery isn’t too bad to look at. If anything, the characters look fairly normal. By normal, I of course mean there aren’t any girls with enormous chests or anything of the sort that’s so popular in animes these days.
Sound: The opening themesong is as catchy as a cold that I’m sure that everyone gets at least once a year. Not that that’s a bad thing. It’s very cheery and just makes you want to jump (for good reason too). However, it sort of counters the real mood of the anime, considering that some of these episodes are quite sad. The ending theme fits the mood much more appropriately and is also just a good as the opening theme, in my honest opinion.
The voice acting is good, both in English and Japanese, however the dubbing of English voices are quite a bit different from their seiyuu counterparts, but don't ruin the show. Other than that, the voice acting is decent. Each character performs their parts nicely and affectively. Music throughout the anime also gives a mood that fits each scene perfectly.
Overall: Diamond Daydreams is nice short and simple anime that ranges about 12 episodes long and yet it captures the essence of love perfectly. Not just love between boy and girl, but love for one’s friends, for one’s family, for one’s fans, and for one’s passions and their work. Despite some generic designs and differing audio tracks, Diamond Daydreams is a good watch if you’re in need of something that does things a little different, whether you’re in a relationship or not.
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