Line #9 Manga/Dreamland


1	[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dreamland_4971.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:349:From left to right: [[ThisLoserIsYou Terrence]], [[BloodKnight Savane]], [[TheStoner Sabba]] and [[{{Jerkass}} Ève]]. They form [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits the Lucky Star Team]]!]]
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4	Created by Reno Lemaire, this French comic written, drawn and edited as a {{Manga}} turns around the life of the lazy OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Terrence Meyer, who is afraid of fire since his mother died in one. One night, during a nightmare, he overcomes his fear and "awakens" inside his own dream. Soon after, an old man with a [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic massive cross-shaped pendant]] and a pipe shows up before Terrence and explains him he is currently in {{Dreamland}}. For people who become conscious of this world by overcoming their phobia, Dreamland literally becomes a second life: they are called Travelers and are granted a special power. When they wake up, they disappear from Dreamland and return to their powerless self in RealLife; and if they die in Dreamland they merely become unconscious dreamers once more.
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6	Terrence receives the power of PlayingWithFire although he's not exactly good at using it. First Terrence wanders in Dreamland with the vague idea of "protecting the dreams of people". Then he runs into a romani BoisterousBruiser named Savane who has the unique ability to summon fish, and a weed-addicted, cowardly art student named Sabba who wields a magical brush but for some reason has no power of his own. The group is soon joined by Ève, an insufferable fashion victim who happens to be the best friend of Lydia, Terrence's real life LoveInterest. The group (well, mostly Terrence) ends up starting to search for Edenia, a mythical kingdom in Dreamland that is said to host the souls of the dead. Problem: nobody has ever found it, nor even proven its existence.
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8	That's the "Dreamland" part, but the series also makes us follow Terrence's RealLife in the French city of Montpellier and its more ordinary -- but no less difficult -- challenges. As the series progresses, other groups and plots are developed as we discover the vast and dangerous universe of Dreamland, and Terrence's two lives overlap more and more.
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10	The series has been running since 2006 and is still going with 20 volumes out. Along with ''Manga/SentaiSchool'', it is usually considered one of the precursors of the "French manga" trend that would become more noticeable in the following decade with titles like [=VanRah=]'s ''Stray Dog'' or Tony Valente's ''Manga/{{Radiant}}''. The series has a limited, faithful fandom in France but is completely unknown outside of it. It doesn't help that the humor and the real life depicted are all very typically French, and thus far from the usual tone of Japanese comedies. No Main/{{Moe}} or harem antics here: Terrence's teenage life involves failed exams, partying, alcohol, and yes, losing his virginity.
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12	An animated adaptation by French studios Creator/EllipseAnimation and Chouette Compagnie has been announced in 2022.
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14	Not to be confused with the trope {{Dreamland}}, although it sure qualifies for it.
15	----
16	!!The series gives us examples of:
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18	* AerithAndBob: Ève and Lydia are common French names. Terrence not so common but it does exist. Savane, Sabba or Sealvia however…
19	* [[AliensSpeakingEnglish Aliens Speaking French]]/CommonTongue: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] by Réno in a FAQ, who explained that in Dreamland everyone speaks "the language of spirit": they don't actually speak the same language but understand each other regardless. Which also means the characters of different countries who interact in Dreamland (like Terrence and Shun) ''wouldn't'' understand each other if they met in RealLife.
20	* AnIcePerson: The Ice travelers but especially Shun and Zero since they are the only two who can create ice from nothing. And of course there is the [[IceQueen Ice Nightmare Lord]] Prévice who takes a very good care of those two.
21	* ArtEvolution: The drawings are clumsy and rather empty in the first volumes, but the author's style gets more and more refined. Some assistants joined too, which explains some of it. The first two volumes were later re-released with improved graphics.
22	* ArtShift: The fight between Arka and Dolce, and the fight Between Attila and Saturn are drawn in a different style.
23	* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: A Canadian named Shun, a Venezuelian named Geriko, a Mongolian named Arka, a Spaniard named Dolche, an Indian girl named Flam… the names of the non-French characters are a bit random to say the least.
24	* AuthorAvatar: The author makes no secret that Terrence is heavily inspired from his own teenage years (same city, same high school and section, for example)
25	* BarbieDollAnatomy: Surprisingly averted!
26	* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Apparently, UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud and Carl-Gustav Jung were travellers and the former was tattooed by Lord Crazy, no less.
27	* BrainyBrunette: Lydia. Heroes don't want redheads this time.
28	* CallingYourAttacks: Mostly averted, except with Zero and Shun for some reason. Terrence once calls one of his attacks… the Asshole Ass-kicking Attack.
29	* CatFolk: In the Night of The Black Cat arc.
30	* ChekhovsGun: The old man's huge cross [[spoiler:is a Key of Dreams that allows him to continue to exist in Dreamland even though he is dead in the real world.]]
31	* CoolMask: Zero is always seen wearing a mask. he even have a collection of different mask, like a clown mask or a Venom one.
32	* CrapSaccharineWorld: Dreamland itself. It's a nice-looking and dreamy world… full of aggressive creatures, travelers who fight to the death and war-waging Nightmare Lords. [[SarcasmMode Welcome and enjoy your stay!]]
33	* DeadAllAlong: Carl-Gustav Jung, [[spoiler:aka "the old man with a pipe", has been dead for 50 years in the real world and is the only soul in Dreamland who refused to go to Edenia.]]
34	* {{Dreamland}}: ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
35	* {{Doorstopper}}: Volume 15 took a year and a half to be completed for a reason. It's almost twice as thick as normal volumes.
36	* DyingToWakeUp: Those who overcome one of their phobias in a dream become travelers, dreamers capable of [[DreamWalker consciously exploring]] the titular DreamLand and using a superpower related to that phobia. While both travelers and regular dreamers will wake up just fine in real life if they die in a dream, dying for a traveler means losing their ability along with all their memories of Dreamland and returning to being a normal dreamer.
37	* EnfantTerrible: Prévice, Actarus and Asmodeus were nicknamed this in their childhood.
38	* EvilOverlord: The Nightmare Lords, although the only one who is really depicted as AxCrazy is the Fire Lord. The others are pretty sympathetic.
39	* FirstKiss: With an aftertaste of vodka!
40	* FloatingContinent: The Celestial Kingdom.
41	* FormulaBreakingEpisode: The entire volume 10 is deliberately made with an odd structure and none of the main characters are seen in it. Basically, it presents several groups that participate in a survival ordeal and alternates between said survival and the OriginStory of each group.
42	* IceQueen: Prévice is a litteral one, but she is kind and caring… in appearance at least. However, seeing how she considers the people of [[WretchedHive Waste]], she may also be an IceQueen in the trope sense after all.
43	* JustAFleshWound: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since the wounds received in Dreamland disappear when the Travellers wake up. [[spoiler:Except if they sold parts of their own soul to buy ''weed''.]]
44	* IdealizedSex: Thoroughly averted: teenage sexuality between [[spoiler:Terrence and Lydia]] is depicted in all its awkwardness.
45	* MegaNeko: The Black Cat in volume 9, as well as all the Cat Lords. Hilariously inverted with the Cat King who looks more like a kitten.
46	* MoodWhiplash: Jerzey and Shun just had some good time and everyone else in their team is bored to guard an area where nobody ever comes or goes. Then a [[GoodScarsEvilScars scarred guy]] shows up out of nowhere… [[spoiler:and meticulously proceeds to slaughter the team members one by one, taking an eye and an arm to Shun. Turns out he's a Duke of the Dark Kingdom, an EliteMook of the most powerful Nighmare Lord in Dreamland.]] OhCrap indeed.
47	* ShirtlessScene: Actually, it's hard to find a male character in this series who ''doesn't'' have one. Even Ève has several (unwanted) ones.
48	* SirSwearsALot: The word "politeness" doesn't seem to be in Lord Crazy's dictionary.
49	* SlasherSmile: Attila, all the freaking time. Arka also have one.
50	* SuperpowerLottery: The power you get in Dreamland is directly linked to the phobia you overcame. If you were affraid of [[PlayingWithFire fire]], [[ShockAndAwe lightning]] or [[CastingAShadow darkness]], good for you. If you were affraid of ''swings'', [[HilarityEnsues well]]...
51	* SuperpoweredEvilSide: [[spoiler: Terrence seems to have one.]] We don't know what it is exactly though.
52	* TheStoner: Sabba
53	* ThisLoserIsYou: When looking at Terrence, ''many'' readers must have wondered "is it me or I look like this guy?"
54	* TookALevelInBadass: Jimmy, [[CameBackStrong every time]] [[DeathIsCheap he is killed]]. And Savane [[spoiler:when he acquires the poisonous fish's power.]]
55	* VomitIndiscretionShot: Nearly every time a character is a bit too drunk, especially if it is Terrence.
56	* WalkingShirtlessScene: Jimmy, so much… Savane is also almost always shirtless when he is Dreamland, sometimes only wearing a scarf, but is also a repeated offender in RealLife.
57	* WretchedHive: You have Snow, the beautiful and pristine capital of the Ice Kingdom. And just below you have Waste, an ugly suburb where the melted snow from above turns into rain and mud and whose inhabitants hate the Ice Lord to no end.
58	* XtremeKoolLetterz: Frequent, along with a lot of GratuitousEnglish.

Context Manga / Dreamland