"If you always go by the book, there are things you can't protect."
- ―Yume Minami to Yomogi, What's Your Reason For Fighting?
Yume Minami [1] is one of the main characters of SSSS.DYNAZENON. She is known in school for making promises she has no intent on keeping, though she hides her troubles and keeps them to herself. She becomes one of Dynazenon's pilots and fights against the Kaiju.
Conception[]
Etymology[]
The names of Yume Minami (南 夢芽) and Yume's sister, Kano Minami (南 香乃), are believed to come from the classical Chinese proverb of "南柯の夢" (Nanka no Yume). The proverb comes from the story of the Governor of Nanke, which can be summarised as "life is like a dream".
History[]
SSSS.DYNAZENON[]
When Yume was in elementary school, her sister Kano Minami died in an accident at a floodgate. Although she remarks that they were not very close at the time, the incident affected her greatly.
Yume was sighted sitting atop the floodgate where her sister died by Yomogi and his friends, who then discussed rumors about how she would break her promises. The next day, Yume and Yomogi encountered each other again as he was running away from Gauma. After a brief conversation, they agreed to meet up later at the same location after Yomogi's part-time job. However, Yume never showed up and simply looked over from a distance.
Shortly afterwards, Gauma confronted Yume about her broken promise with Yomogi. However, the conversation was cut short as Shalbandes appeared in the city. The object in Gauma's pouch began to shine and upon taking it out, it summoned Dynazenon. Subsequently, the mecha took in Gauma, Yomogi, Yume, and Koyomi as its pilots. What is a Kaiju User?
In the aftermath, Gauma passed Dynawing to Yume and told the her and the others to meet again the next day to begin their training, but Yomogi skipped out to go to work instead, even when Gauma went to his house to confront him about it. After reluctantly going off with Yume after school, the two of them got to know each other better, and Yume opened up to him about her sister's death. Despite Yomogi's lack of training, the four pilots defeat Greyjhom when it appeared. What's Your Reason For Fighting? The Kaiju Eugenicists made their presence known to the Dynazenon pilots and called out Gauma as a traitor, putting a sense of distrust into the others. When the Kaiju Burnaddon appeared, they were unable to unite their hearts because of their distrust towards Gauma, but were able to do so once again after he told them the real reason he pilots Dynazenon - so that he can meet with the person who entrusted it to him. After the fight, Yume wonders if, since Kaiju make the impossible become possible, they can revive the dead. What is a Traitor?
After contacting several other people, Yume was shown a private video in which she did not recognize her sister's usual personality. The one who showed it to her then tells her about a rumor that Kano killed herself instead of getting into an accident. What's Lover-Like Mean? Yume becomes depressed and irritated. She and the others then had to battle against Bullbind, but almost lost because they were out of focus. What Is This Pain? They are then rescued by Gridknight, who manages to force Bullbind to retreat for the time being. With the night passing after a failed attempt to locate the Kaiju, Yume decided to confide in Yomogi and tell her about her past with Kano, with Yomogi deciding that he would continue to help her look for more answers. What's Our Reason for Coming Together?
During Garnix's attack, Yume was sent back to the time when Kano supposedly left and then died at the floodgate. However, she started to forget about her true mission in the present, becoming lost. Fortunately, Yomogi managed to hold onto Dynasoldier and kept his awareness. Forcing his way into Yume's past, Yomogi helped her regain her awareness, and they both went to stop Kano from supposedly killing herself. While Yomogi left to help the others, Yume confronted her sister and learned that she died in an accident after all, and came to terms with Kano's death. Kano also mentioned that she was envious of Yume's ability to connect with others, which is why she tried to join the choir club in the first place. After saying goodbye to Kano, Yume went back to the "present" and helped the others destroy Garnix. Which Memories Do You Regret?
After Garnix's defeat, life seemed to go back to normal as the Kaiju Eugenicists ran out of Kaiju Seeds. After going around with Yume for a while, Yomogi confessed that he liked her and before Yume could say anything, they were ambushed by Sizumu, who revealed that he had been following them around to feed off their emotions. He tried to attack them but Gauma got in the way, almost getting killed. Sizumu then defeated Knight and unleashed Gagula to destroy the city. While Yomogi, Yume and the 2nd take care of Gauma, Knight fought Gagula as Kaiser Gridknight but lost. What Wish Can't Come True? Yomogi and the others then went to retrieve their parts of Dynazenon to pilot together for the last time, although while trying to get to Dynawing, Yume tripped over some rubble and got an "S" shaped scar on her leg. Even with their teamwork, they were still being overwhelmed by Gagula until Yomogi used Instance Domination on it to force it to move its mouth up and provide the others with an opening to attack. With everyone's efforts, they manage to defeat Gagula and the Kaiju Eugenicists. However, Dynazenon loses its color and Gauma seemingly dies.
Three months later, they visit the bridge where Gauma made his home before Knight and the 2nd leave with Dynarex and Goldburn. Yomogi is able to briefly sense Gauma's presence but dismisses it as nothing before going to school for a festival, where he dresses up as a mummy while Yume dresses up as a princess. What Was I Entrusted With?
Profile[]
- Stats
- Height: 160 cm
- Weight: 54 kg
- Age: 15 years
- Date of Birth: 1 August, 2004
- Blood Type: B
- Hobby: Karaoke
Trivia[]
- During an interview with "Terebikun Deluxe Aizouban - Chozenshu" magazine (Vol. 172, Spring 2021), character designer Masaru Sakamoto stated that the color of the character's eyes is based on the color of birthstones. Since Yume was born in August, her eye color is Peridot.
- In the same magazine, he stated he toned down the sexual motifs in character design, the opposite of how Rikka and Akane was designed. He prefers to make her stand out using facial expressions and her eyes.
- In SSSS.GRIDMAN, the school uniform design was greatly exaggerated. In DYNAZENON, however, he wanted to show a more realistic modern high school uniform.
- This is probably due to the universe where the events of DYNAZENON take place being a proper replica of the "real world" (the world where the original show takes place) Mad Origin created.
- While there are many debates about what the symbol of Ankh is supposed to mean, the most popular interpretation is it's a symbol of "life." However, Yume's late sister owned two Ankh and is colored black & white, respectively. The color black is popularly associated with death, and white is the opposite. Interpretation is up to the viewers.
References[]