Yumekui Merry

Story(4/10): The story gets rushed at the end and they throw in a throw away villain who's supposed to be "Omega Strong" and all but it fells like a rushed ending doesn't touch on the actual main antagonist at all except for a few scenes. Not only that but the anime suffers from the manga not being fully released so they suffer from filler at the end and little to no story told. Art(4/10): They may have some cool screen shot moments but the animation didn't age well at all. With the interesting dream worlds and character designs the animation is very plain and doesn't look that good. Sound(5/10): The music has its ups and downs and it overall just eh, while some of the sound design can get on your nerves. Characters(4/10): Like I said the main villain at the end is pretty generic and was rushed in for filler, and we also don't see much of the main antagonist at all. The main characters don't have much character development mainly because of how little source material they had, also they explained none of the back story of the main characters. Enjoyment(5/10): Its a eh experience overall, only reason I had some enjoyment was because I was a fan of the manga, those who didn't read the manga will like this series less and see it as generic trash.

CONTAINS A FEW SPOILERS I had heard of the name of Yumekui Merry on several boards around the internet about a year ago. I had never really looked into it or even read about it in the aforementioned boards. But, the name somehow just stuck with me. Then, a couple of days ago, a person I know recommended this anime to me after I had asked for a random recommendation meeting the criteria of ‘it just has to be interesting’. Well, I just watched it and his suggestion really delivered. That was just that, though. Yumekui Merry is only interesting. Now is that a bad thing? Definitely not. But is it enough? Absolutely no. The concept of Yumekui Merry was pretty good. It was really slow at first but it had me hooked in its strange world by the third episode. What I am saying is that the execution was bad. So, to explain my qualms with this anime, I’m going to have to spoil it a bit. Yumeji is your average high school kid. Well, not completely average. He can read people’s dreams. He is not a super cool fighter or an extreme genius. OK, that’s good. He’s rather upbeat. That’s nice. One day, when his life is in danger while he’s trapped inside a ‘day dream’ (think of it as a battle arena in 3D fighting games), he meets this supernatural girl called Merry. She saves his life. Pretty soon, after some childish complications I will not go into, they become friends and try to get Merry back to the Dream-world. Ah, the Dream-world. Well, that’s the place where Merry, along with many other characters, hail from. In Yumekui Merry, there is the Human-world and the Dream-world. Humans exist in the Human-world (obviously) and they can also visit the Dream-world when they go to sleep. Nightmares (Merry and the gang) live in the Dream-world. They can go to the Human-world but, they need a host if they wish to remain there. Well, not wish. They can’t go back to the Dream-world once they cross over. And that’s the overall plot here: Merry somehow crossed over and she wants to go back. Can she? I don’t know. Even if I disregard spoiling Yumekui Merry, I still can’t tell you. This is because the show is incomplete. It needs another season or two which we will never get. Now let’s talk about Merry. She’s an amnesiac Nightmare. Talk about cliches. It’s a good thing I don’t mind cliches because I don’t believe in originality but that still doesn’t mean I’m not irked by this. After 13 episodes, I still don’t know just what KIND of Nightmare (plot-point) Merry is. In fact, she doesn’t even regain a single memory over the course of the show. I get it, season one. Incomplete story. Yadda-yadda-yadda. But, this is not how you make shows. Apparently, the fault lies with the director and the animation studio because the Yumekui Merry manga (ongoing) has gotten much better scores and reviews. And I hope that the manga is, indeed, better. This is because at this point of the review, I’m supposed to talk about the side-characters. But, I can’t do that as none of them were memorable. I’m not joking. I just watched this anime a few hours ago. The only somewhat memorable character is Yumeji’s blond school friend who plays no actual part in the plot. He spouts haikus and talks like a bishi (super handsome homo man). That’s it. What’s worse is that he became rather annoying to me in the latter half part of the anime. How low can this go? But, HEY! The world presented is interesting enough for me to not drop Yumekui Merry. Merry and the other Nightmares kick some serious ass. The fight scenes are fluid and roughly animated but, that actually adds a neat flair to it. It’s kind of hard to describe. Merry wants to go back to the Dream-world. She kicks the asses of other Nightmares to send them back and free their hosts with Yumeji’s help. OK, I guess. This is how most of the fights go. There is an added tension in the last few battles due to a plot twist that what Merry is doing is actually very very wrong but that just makes the fights worse for me. The plot-point of emotional death for hosts when a Nightmare is defeated had surprised me but, it was kind of in poor taste. It didn’t really any impact. After some initial concerns, Merry and Yumeji are left to just deal with it. “Oh, we believe what we’re doing is not bad at all. There’s no point in spending more time in looking for an alternative method”. Well, OK then. Outside of the fight scenes, the animation is pretty standard for it’s time. There’s nothing unique about it. It sometimes fluctuates in between scenes but I have no problem with that. Voice acting is pretty normal as well. Nothing to comment on there. Now, the music. I have to say that the background music is gorgeous. It reminds me of the old cartoons with their cheery orchestral music. So good. I’m already downloading the OST as I am writing this. I didn’t like the Opening song, though. Even the visuals of the Opening was bad – too damn dark and brown. What is this? Gears of War?! The Ending song is lovely. Overall, I have to say that Yumekui Merry is only an interesting show. It’s not good nor is it really bad. It could have been done so much better. Is it interesting enough for me to read the manga? Sadly, no. So I’m going to give it a 7 out of 10. It’s not a 6 because… dat suondtrak! Should you watch Yumekui Merry? Sure, if you’ve got the time.

Sometimes I wonder if there is a formula for being able to mess up things like telling a cohesive story, establishing character motivation, and outlining a linear plot that builds interest with each passing episode. If there is, the writing staff behind Dream Eater Merry coined it. Now it isn't the worst example I've seen of this, because that still belongs to titles like RaXephon and Soul Taker, but nearly everything about Dream Eater Merry suffers from this horrible cocktail that ravages a lot of modern anime I watch. If you can only do ONE THING, give me a reason to care. STORY: One of my biggest problems with storytelling in anime nowadays is the overused template of shrouding EVERYTHING in mystery until an episode or two away from the finale. A common way to utilize this is usually by having a character with amnesia to center around. This often gives the writers a reason to "flesh out" aspects in incredibly vague detail and you can use cryptic smash cuts to an event that will be more elaborated on later in the plot, you know, FORESHADOWING...barring my interest is retained enough to get that far. It's never directly explained how Merry gets lost, or why she's in the human world. It's tossed up, but never paid enough attention to, so she just eats doughnuts. Yumeji is able to see dream signs in people, but it's not touched upon how or why he can do this. When the show isn't spending its time explaining key things, it has a monster-a-day pacing that fails to pick up in intensity while throwing several red herrings that go nowhere. Dream Eater Merry seems disinterested in building no momentum to anything until the end, which leads to a pathetic finale that's more appropriate for a mid-season arc, not a climax. With 13 episodes, elements felt rushed when they didn't have to be while dragging at various points. SCORE: 4/10 ART & ANIMATION: The quality that went into the production is one of J.C. Staff's poorest efforts. Other than Merry's design herself, the characters look like your standard anime template of vanilla teenagers. If you lifted Isana or Saki and placed her in Special A, you wouldn't notice. Engi Threepiece and John Doe (probably the only character that comes off as "cool" to me) are unique designs, but come off as glorified cosplayers as far as I'm concerned. The animation and direction is a mess. The messy action sequences are kept mercifully short, because the framerate and character detail quality drops to a distractingly low level as soon as things have to start moving. The editing is choppy during talkie scenes, the camera is needlessly focused someone's feet, then cuts to a windowsill, and immediately back to a girl's thigh. These kinds of things will give me vertigo!! If there is one detail this camera stays locked onto is Merry's midriff. There is no other anime I've ever seen that focuses on panties as much as you will see Merry Nightmare's midsection. To be fair, she has a great torso and one of the more prettier girls with a petite physique. SCORE: 4/10 SOUND & MUSIC: I own the English dub released by Sentai Filmowrks, who have done some pretty decent work as of late. It felt pretty good to hear Hilary Haag as Merry, I feel like I haven't heard her since she destroyed her voice dubbing Excel in Excel Saga. Blake Shepard is serviceable as Yumeji, but he's one of those male VAs whose specifically cast to sound like Default Male Character. Know what I mean? Yuri Lowenthal, Bryce Papenbrook, Sam Regal...if you need a voice that kind of sounds like a teenager, but clearly sounds like a 40 year old man? Chris Ayers is wasted as John Doe. The opening theme is pretty catchy, so high marks overall in the music department and English voice acting. SCORE: 7/10 CHARACTERS: Eeehhh, Dream Eater Merry bites off more than it could chew in this department. Being that I haven't read the manga (I'm leaving it out of the equation and focusing on the present material), I'm certain there's more to Merry Nightmare herself than this series leads on, but she wants to find a way back to this vaguely described Dream World. This left me with a great deal of questions that would probably take more than 13 episodes to verify, but with that in mind, they did as little as they possibly could to inform you on what to look forward to. None of these characters have arcs, revelations, they seem to learn nothing, and for the most part, it's treated as none of your business!! So because there's quite a few characters here, they just keep adding more, like Engi Threepiece and Leon, but does little to nothing with them that's of any relevance. Until the final deal towards the end, there's no sense of character development and everything that happens simply feels like a sequence of events leading to the next. The character that has all the answers, John Doe, is left out intentionally, otherwise, there wouldn't be a plot. There's just too many characters and not enough time to give them purpose. SCORE 5/10 IN CONCLUSION: Dream Eater Merry did not have much going from my perspective, so it's not really a huge fall from grace. It just comes off as yet another run-of-the-mill anime that exists in this era of very placid shows. Other than the animation, everything else seems serviceable, but this otherwise a very weak cup of tea. A plot that fails to garner traction, art design that seems unmotivated, and lazy characters make for a very tepid anime viewing experience. It's bad at what it does, but I've seen far, far worse. OVERALL SCORE 5/10

Story: The concept of dream and dream demons was very interesting. I liked the idea and adding a cute heroine definitely made things better. However, it just didn't deliver as well as I would have liked. They had a good thing going but the ending felt so complete. They added all these undeveloped bits that I wonder why they added them in the first. What was the point of mentioning the romance or introducing certain ideas if they won't be carried out? The ending was mediocre at best leaving many unanswered questions. It had good ideas and theme along with some cuteness and humour but that wasn't enough. The series is short and is easy to go through so it didn't feel like a complete waste of time. However, it was definitely disappointing. Animation: It was alright. The character designs were all pretty and attractive; however, Merry was the only memorable one. The real world was nicely animated but the dream world fell short to me. The dream world were lackluster and bland when it could have been much more. The action scenes were disappointing as they were very choppy. However, for the most part, the animation was pretty and they gave enough fan service without being ecchi or overdoing it. Sound: I really liked the opening. I actually liked the opening more than the series itself. However, the rest of the music was subpar. The soundtrack varied from generic gamer music to woodwinds. Although it wasn't bad, it was strange. The ending was ok and catchy but generic. I probably won't remember it in a while. The seiyuus did a good job though, Characters: Good ideas without enough to flesh them out. Like the plot, they started out well but didn't have adequete development or background. There were parts of them that were introduced but were never fully explained. However, for the most part, they were cute and likable. Overall: Good idea but disappointing. It will start out fun but leaving you unsatisfied....

The story drags itself. Characters that seem to be essential to the plot just disapear in the middle of the story, like Hunter John Doe and his cats and even the main vilain! The side stories of the suport characters are left mostly untouched and are boring. The main characters don't evolve, don't learn anything from previous encounters with other enemies, and at a certain point the heroin is able to performe a mysterious and awesome atack, only to have it never used or even mencioned again! Also, the setting of a dream is poorly explored. The art of the characters are fine, but the background is inexpressive. They could have made it awesome and beautiful, even surreal. Instead, the scenery is static, mostly unchangeable, like a fighting game background.

This anime has some great potensial, but it doesn't deliver. J.C. Staff has done a poor job on this anime. You ask why, it's because after the third episode the anime doesn't seem as fun as it was the first 2 episode's and it takes some time before the action starts. But something that's save's this anime from being a failure is the characters. The characters in this anime are outstanding. They are really well design and have great personality's. It wasn't one character I finded annoying, and you have to love all of them. It's a decent anime, if you don't have anything other to watch then this should at least pass the time a little.

Yumekui Merry, this was one interesting anime. All about those dreams and a mission set forth by our protag. Basically setting up a 2 world system, the real one and the dream one. But let me break down the categories that I can set this anime in and telling you my side of things. Action. This is a action anime. There is some type of action conflict that arises in every single episode. The beginning was fairly good and tied in some of the major points of this anime together but you have to really focus a bit to understand what is going on for the first two episodes. Supernatural. Dream demons are the things in this anime that take hold of humans to make them their vessels. So needless to say, it is supernatural. I don't think I should go any further into it than that. On a side note, some parts of the anime reminded of some romance but it is not the main focus so really should not pay much attention to it. Overall this anime is good but it is not great. I wish that they would not rush things too hastily but I feel like they did a bit but I think the overall score of this anime is good. I wouldn't recommend this anime to anyone who is just starting to get into anime for it might be hard to follow sometimes and this is not the greatest anime out there. For those who like action and supernatural, this is up your alley. You will enjoy this anime but not really love it. If you have time, watch this anime, but if you have other priorities like some other anime, then go watch those. Sorry, no witty comments in this review. See you next time.

"There really are no hopes or dreams." The tagline is Merry Nightmare's famous catchphrase, and it hold true to the source material. In the world of Yumekui Merry, dreams and reality are one and the same. Originally created by a 東方Project dōjin artist (known for creating the somewhat-famous comic, "Advent Cirno"), the story has a fresh take on the Japanese lore of dream demons, known as muma (夢魔); and the trickling string of fate that ties them to the entire human race! ⚠️ This review has light spoilers ⚠️ —Story/Characters This series starts off strong, with the introduction of Jōji Nakata's character, "Chaser" John Doe! This character is enigmatic and has the presence of a roaring lion. The introduction to him, using the dreamscape, is a running-start to the series. But, despite the intrigue and hype that this character creates, he is only shown briefly (very briefly, I may add) two other times in the series! Part of me wonders what the point of even introducing the character was; wait, oh! I know, it's to lure the audience into a series that is as poorly thought-out as a 60 meter dive. Every character that gets a cameo from the source material is poorly rendered or built-up to be something (especially in the case of "Mystletainn," often translated as "※Mistilteinn"), but ideas are as adhesive as water in this disaster of a production! ※the literal translation is "Ocean of Trees" The story starts out strong with a world set, on a stage full of colorful characters. The lead heroine, Merry Nightmare, is an ingénue, despite her goat eyes and gothic attire. The protagonist, Yumeiji Fujiwara, starts out the story by being a tactful guy, with other-worldly abilities. His insight into peoples' aura and dreams, gives him a metaphysical chessboard to solve issues both in the real world and the dream realm. Yumeiji and Merry's blossoming relationship is genuinely captivating, but everything get capsized, as more and more characters get introduced. It would be impossible to tie together every loose-end, by the end of the single-cour TV series. Unless you were a savant at a making everything come together, in a way that appears to make sense, which Mr. Yamauchi was unable to do. What made things worse is the increasing decline in quality, the visuals became absurdly bad in the final three or four episodes! It was hard to keep track of all of the intersecting side-plots, and Merry's significance is gradually outshined by Mistilteinn; a character that is played up to be horrendously over-powered, but then sinks as quickly as the Yamato battleship did, during World War II. —Technical Luna's Favorite Works by Each Respective Creator = ✅ Shigeyasu Yamauchi (director, episode director, storyboard), notable works: * Casshern Sins * Digimon Adventure 02 (Part 3, in the English version of the film) ✅ * Dr. Slump * Dragon Ball Z (※eps 200-291) * Dragon Fist * Han yori Dango * Inferious Wakusei Senshi Gaiden Condition Green * Kimi no Iru Machi * Kōchū Ōja Mushiking: Mori no Tami no Densetsu * Magical★Tarurūto-kun Movie * Motto! Ojamajo Doremi: Kaeru Ishi no Himitsu * Ojamajo Doremi Sharp Movie * Saint Seiya: Kamigami no Atsuki Tatakai (Movie #2) * Saint Seiya: Saishū Seisen no Senshi-tachi * Saint Seiya: Shinku no Shōnen Densetsu * Saint Seiya: Tenkai-hen Josō - Overture * Street Fighter Zero The Animation ("Street Fighter Alpha: The Movie") * Xenosaga The Animation ※End of the World Tournament saga and the entire Majin Bū saga. He also directed many of the movies: #3, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, and #13. Along with the "Saiya-jin Zetsumetsu Keikaku" OVA. Commentary: Not the biggest fan of Mr. Yamauchi's style. I am a fan of the Neo Human Casshern series; leading to me attempting to watch Sins and then dropping it several times, before trying to pick it back up again. And Yoshihiko Umakoshi's designs for that series are amazing; I mean, HeartCatch PreCure is still one of my favorite shows! I also was one of those children (back in the day) who watched Dragon Ball Z, loved the Cell saga, and then dropped off around the Majin Bū arc. Someone close to me was upset with his handling of the adaptation of Kimi no Iru Machi, too; though, I've personally never read the manga and have only seen the first episode of the anime. I cry every time I watch the Digimon Adventure 02 movie, but I think that has more to do with the character writing, than the actual cinematography... I remember there being a few awkward moments in that film, despite the high budget and eye-catching scenic shots. In the case of Yumekui Merry, the action scenes are barely animated. The visual direction more contorts the faces of the characters, rather than attempts to convey the illusion of two characters duking it out. Like Casshern Sins, the screen is darkened in the final few episodes and the character poses/movements are very uncomfortable to look at. They basically amble around—while loud, orchestral, bassoons blare in the background. Mr. Yamauchi would later apologize for the sloppy animation and choreography, by stating that he "had a difficult time blending the moe style with action scenes." Gia Manry from Anime News Networks describes the series as a "poor man's Soul Eater with its definite sense of style over substance." That quote basically sums up how I've felt about Mr. Yamauchi's filmography, over the years. Hideki Shirane (script, theme song lyrics, series compositions, screenplay), notable works: * Android Ana Maico 2010 * Binzume Yōsei * Boku no Kanojo ga Majimesugiru Sho-bitch na Ken ("My Girlfriend is Shobitch") * Cross Game * Date A Live ✅ * Date A Live III * ※Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darō ka ("Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?") * Futari wa Milky Holmes * Hayate no Gotoku!! * Hidan no Aria * Hundred ✅ * Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari * Kaitō Tenshi Twin Angel: Kyun Kyun☆Tokimeki Paradise!! * Kill Me Baby * Last Period: Owarinaki Rasen no Monogatari * Maburaho * Mameushi-kun * Monster Musume no Oishasan * Nozo x Kimi * Ōkami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi * Ōkamikakushi * Ōkiku Furikabutte ("Big Windup!") * Queen's Blade OVA * Doki Doki School Hours * Shijō Saikyō no Deshi Ken'ichi ("Ken'ichi: The Mightiest Disciple") * Tenchi Muyō! GXP * Tenchi Muyō! Ryōōki 4th and 5th Seasons * The iDOLM@STER ✅ * Yami to Bōshi to Hon no Tabibito * Zettai Shōgeki: Platonic Heart ※Mr. Shirane also did the scripts and series composition for the OVA, Sword Oratoria, as well as for the second and third season of the series. Commentary: This script writer is a hit or miss, but they mostly miss the trajectory entirely. The best work that they ever did was the four episodes they wrote for The iDOLM@STER series, their contribution to the Data A Live franchise, and their script for Hundred. It seems like they really didn't know how they wanted to adapt "Dream Eater Merry," they introduced so many characters, and yet not many of them (if any) got a meaningful conclusion. The screenplay in this anime is a really big head-scratcher, I mean, what was the purpose of having Yui play an imaginary trombone in the very last scene. Was it supposed to be a deep allusion to the interstice between reality and the world of dreams? You can't randomly try to make a series deep, if the rest of the cast isn't fully developed. Ayane Sakura as Merry Nightmare (as well as performed the opening theme, "Daydream Syndrome"), notable roles: * Yotsuba Nakano, 5-tōbun no Hanayome ("The Quintessential Quintuplets") ✅ * Rise, Alice or Alice * Maia Tsukigane, Aquarion Logos * Tomoka Kase, Asagao to Kase-san. ("Kase-san and Morning Glories") ✅ * Prinz Eugen, Azur Lane * Shizuku Hanaoka, Ballroom e Yōkoso ("Welcome to the Ballroom") ✅ * Ran Mitake, BanG Dream ✅ * Subaru Wakaba, Battle Girl High School * Ochako Uraraka, Boku no Hero Academia ✅ * Pheona, Chain Chronicle ✅ * Nao Tomori, Charlotte ✅ * 9'δ, Darling in the FranXX * Dorothy, Glass no Hana to Kowasu Sekai ✅ * Kokoa Hoto, Goc…

I was inspired to write this review by bad press this show is getting on the web. Well, okay, more like random idiots badmouthing it. That’s how the Internet is. Anyway, I don’t think this show is as bad as some have made it out to be. In fact, I would even go as far as calling it good. The strength of Yumekui Merry is in creating mood. In particular all the freaky dream sequences, which are helped in no small part by the music. The characters are intricate and their interactions maintain sufficient complexity for an enjoyable watch (assuming you like your villains so thoroughly despicable). Unfortunately, complexity is also the show’s weakness. It never really decides what it wants to be. Throughout its run, the show attempts to weave together so many diverse elements that, instead of a tapestry, it winds up with a tangled mess of yarn that may leave you vaguely hoping for a second season to tie up some of the loose ends.

I had randomly found this show and decided why not. I ended up finishing it one night. It had a great story, great charecters, and looked amazing. I enjoyed it until the last episode where at it just ends. I was not to happy. I found the manga and the two are not the same. the anime varies from the manga. In all truth the manga was way better.

In a way, it sort of hurts to give this just a 6. The concept seemed really good, and there was a lot of potential to develop the characters, the story, and anything else. I guess it's a pitfall of manga conversions, but I haven't been this disappointed since Pandora Hearts at the lack of closure. The anime ends in the wrong place, with closure of one plot point, but no closure to the biggest questions, leaving it essentially unfinished. By the 13th episode the characters had hardly left the molds of their stereotypes, and that was another big strike against. It seemed there was a lot happening "off camera" between some characters, while others basically dropped out, and the main characters said pretty much the lines I imagined would be the defaults if this anime was made with a drag-and-drop tool. I do give it high marks for the art and sound quality, though, but there are plenty of good-looking, good-sounding shows out there that are at the least complete.

The initial idea that is introduced to you in the first episode is amazing. The magic of a world of dreams and creatures that hope to have a place in reality is quite intriguing and interesting. A Main character that's stuck in the real world without knowing why nor remembering how she got there in the first place gives you something to look after during the development of the series. And the needed male main character with unusual powers for a human (btw, he reminded me AWFULLY a lot of Yuuji from Shakugan no Shana). A very interesting idea, so I was happy with how it started. But then, I found myself utterly disappointed. The plot just... shattered down. Nothing made sense anymore, and the characters introduced later were lame and unneeded. I have to admit I was excited by Kawanami, but only because of my fangirling about a possible Yuri development with Isami... so it doesn't really count. But what was her purpose, really? Just so they could introduce a mildly cool Dream Demon? Mistletine. I loved her when she first appeared. The usually cruel and merciless villian, which is also a lolita. I always love that kind of characters. But... seriously? What the hell happened in the 12th episode? So Imma jump here, dodge there, evil laugh here, evil joke there, then I'm gone... EVEN THOUGH I'M KICKING THE GOOD GUY'S ASSES. No, I'm gone, bai bai. I can't finish these guys up since it's not the final episode (as one of the reviewers said already). It's the worse episode ever. Or so I thought, until I watched the final episode. Worst. Ending. Ever. The battle sequence during the episode was lame and boring. How she was killed was boring. The Power of the Dream is the Power of the Will... seriously? Seriously? (or something like that) They could've done a lot more with that battle. How come Merry vs Play was more interesting than the final battle? And once everything is over... what happened to the teacher? And what happened to the Ercles (Hercules?) Pharos? I was hoping they were going to fight against him, or is there a second season? Because that would be the ONLY explanation to have such a bad ending for an anime, though that's not a valid excuse anyway. Also, where the hell did John Doe went? He was, by far, the coolest Dream Demon in the whole series. They had so many elements to work with and made an amazing anime, and yet they just delivered a half-hearted effort of an anime. Aside from the Poor plot and mediocre character development, everything else was okay. The art was fantastic, wasn't expecting less from JCStaff since I'm a huge fan of them (Shana, Kaichou wa maid-sama, Ookami-san, Zakuro, Railgun, Majutsu no Index, etc), though it dropped a bit when the plot started being nonexistent, but still it was great. And on a final note. WTF Yui? Air Trombone? Wuuuut?

Yumekui Merry had introduced an amazing concept,the idea of beings that inhabit the dreams of others and a world of dreams. The anime had great music as well as great animation. in the story department , however, the anime was lacking a lot. The fight scenes were decent when they could have been phenomenal and the story was okay when it should have been great. if you are into anime and are looking for something new that looks good and has an ok story than u should watch this. However, if you are like me and are not just looking for an anime but for something with a great story as well then u should give up on the anime and read the manga instead, its much better.

Yumekui Merry is an underrated but heartfelt anime that balances action, emotion, and a creative dreamworld setting. It reminded me that even when life feels heavy, holding on to your dreams and the people who support you can make all the difference. The art style is vibrant, the soundtrack fits the atmosphere so well, and the characters, especially Merry and Yumeji, left me rooting for them the whole way. It’s not just about battling nightmares, it’s about believing in yourself and finding the strength to move forward For me, that’s what makes it worth watching. Merry’s character design is iconic as she's instantly recognizable and full of personality. The dreamscapes are often surreal and imaginative, giving the anime a distinct visual identity. All in all, please go watch it. I really love the good old days of anime especially 2014/15 or older. Okayge

💭It Wasn't Supposed to Put Me to Sleep, Was It? °5.2° °avg° 💯%🔍 only minor spoilers DEM is about fighting in the world of dreams💭; waking and sleeping 💭💭💭 alike. Fujiwara Yumeji, who looks quite a bit like Sorata from Pet Girl of Sakura Hall (he had a thing for cats, too), has the ability to see this world including its dream denizens & fighters. He stumbles onto Merry who isn't entirely sure who she is. I love her look and her voice (Hilary Haag does the English dubbing). Merry does know she doesn't belong in the human world. She knows what she wants, too: She wants to go back home to the world of dreams. She also wants to kick every dream demon back to where they belong. Dream demons invade people's 💭 not only creating nightmares, but also parasitically stealing a person's hopes and aspirations, and there's been a breakout of this at school. As the early episodes flick by a horrible villain emerges. Merry & Yumeji will need help putting this baddie down. Unfortunately, DEM is scattered and lackluster. It failed to maintain my interest. I cannot recommend it, and knowing what I now know, I wouldn't opt to watch it at all. There's much better anime out there. That's not to say it's awful. If it was truly awful I wouldn't have finished it. It's just not good enough. DEM has bright flashes. The opening credit song starts with dongs that are very Michael Jackson's Beat It, in a fun way. There's more than adequate 🎸 riffs during the action followed by excellent 🥁. Love it. The English voice actors are always excellent. There's lots of quality touches, such as when Tachibana Isana is knocked out and her hair is spread out in a wing pattern that makes her look like an angel. It is appropo. One of the HS friends writes little poems about everything; it's cute. The last episode is quite good with its epic battle, twists, and wrap-up {The manga goes on, so we don't get a 'final resolution'. I've read that manga publishers often do a 1-season anime to generate interest in the manga, so this is deliberate.} The writing is good, and the author tucked in some gems. A reference is made to 'flower buds from the despair that is lurking in every human being'. A few moments later Fujiwara Yumeji announces that his dream is to never give up, and that despair requires quitting. The answer is to never give up. 👏🏾Amen. We'll also hear: "True strength is not in the body but in the heart." 👏🏻Amen to that, too. One duo commits heinous acts in an effort to do good. Their plan ultimately fails and they are left in the refuse that they created through their ill-conceived plotting. Their experience reinforces that the end does not justify the means, and the wrong means can destroy us. DEM is far from worthless. Some of the DEM animation team worked on Pet Girl of Sakura Hall (7.3 - great show but it dies off slightly in the latter episodes), which explains why our ML looks so much like Sorata. I'm still pretty new to anime - new enough that it was just this year when I recognized a voice actor by voice, from one anime to another, for the first time. DEM just provided a new thrill for me. Something in Tachibana Isana's eyes looked spookily familiar to the eyes of Linda, from Golden time (6.9). I looked up some animators and found that the animation director, Masahiro Fujii, was involved in both projects. I love the artistry of all filmed entertainment. It is primarily a visual medium, though every aspect is essential. Film will never match books in terms of detail. The visuals and sound ARE the tradeoff. From my sampling of anime rated over 6, I am continually impressed by how most shows have a familiar look but also elements that are unique to each one. That doesn't just happen: They take pains to provide us with visual goodies. QUOTE📢 If you're kind and support your friends, then in turn, they can be kind and support someone else. That circle of friends, supporting eachother can become a kind of strength. At least that's what my grandfather always told me… My kindness is the best thing that I can give. 〰🖍 IMHO 🎬4 📝6 🎭7 🌞4 🎨7 ⚡6 🎵/🔊7 😅2 😭4 😱5 😯4 😖3 🤔4 💤5 🔚7 Originally 〰️🖊 10/2023

Full of unique characters, Yumekui Merry has everything to get a second season soon enought. I stumbled upon this one because of Merry and could create some expectations when I first read the name. Saving dreams and destroying nightmares? Seems amazing, right? It indeed is, but a little more develpoment was missing on this one... {STORY - 6/10} Despite John Doe stealing the spotlight during first episodes, he somehow wasn't a big matter on the rest of the story. Yumeji is able to "detect" what John said to be "vessels", humans that share their bodies with mumas ("dream demons"), enabling them to vome to our world. Meeting with Merry was the first of his problems, since he was dragged to all this dream trouble thanks to her. Both Yumeji and Merry are special: he's able to access other people's dreams freely and she doesn't need a vessel to leave the Dream World. Main objetive they both have now is to stop Pharos Hercules, a powerful muma able to lead the others, like a guiding light. He has a brief appearance, like John. Maybe both will be more present on a possible second season... And we have that small cliche of taking over the world and everything. Pharos wants to replace all humanking by mumas, destroying everyone's dreams and hopes. Only thing that makes it different is that most mumas are interested on the real world. They want to see people's dreams and protect them from those trying to destroy them... {ART - 5/10} Since this anime features a good share of action scenes, it's expected to have really thrilling moments, but movements were poorly developed on most occasions. I wasn't able to feel the adrelanine... However, scenarios were very well designed, with a realistic effect that made them so original. {SOUND - 7/10} Retro-like background sounds are played oftenly, mostly on daydream scenes. Still, I felt a lack of effects on battle scenes and that was a little lame. Other than that, a really nice eletro song was featured on ED themes! {CHARACTER - 6/10} Many different mumas are featured in here, with unique personalities and shared interests. The weakest ones, like Pallette just want to know about humans' dreams, while stronger mumas, like Engi and Leon, want particular kinds of revenge. While Engi is a good muma, that tries to protect humans, Leon remains neutral, in order to accomplish his side objective. Evil ones, like Pharos and Mistletainn don't care about their actions and have separate ambitions. As for the other characters, Yumeji is overally weak, but is strong-willed and believes that every muma in here is able to return to the Dream World. Merry is a girl who doesn't recall about her past and want answers from other mumas. That's why she needs to leave the real world, despite no knowing how to do it. {ENJOYMENT - 7/10} It was a good anime, but I didn't fell amazed, unlike others I've watched before. The plot is really good, but it lacks emotion. Still, it was really enjoyable. However, I was a little disappointed with the ending... Could be better... {OVERALL - 6/10} Dreams shown in here are something everone holds onto. They are hopes, a reason to live so, without them, we're nothing, we have no ambitions. That's where Yumekui Merry makes her entrance, to "eat" all bad dreams and stop mumas with evil intentions. A hero with the sole objective of knowing who she is, now with a mission: to keep people dreaming and hoping. Future depends on our dreams, abstract things that give us strenght to move foward and be happy within ourselves.

It was an anime that got me really pumped up at first. The first few episodes are quite decent and somehow seem to suck you in. Despite this i would not recommend watching this anime unless you really have nothing else to watch. The main reason, actually the only reason i say this is because of the horrible ending to the series. The ending was a let down of let downs, it was literally as if the directed just added it to answer all the missing questions, nothing else at all, it was SHIT. If you want to know the story then i recommend the Manga, it is more diverse. Despite the fact that its not much better, it is better. Now this is my own PERSONAL review so if you must then eat ur

A surprise I definitely didn't expect. I started watching Yumekui no Merry without any expectations. It was a completely random choice; I saw a random scene in a video and found a character's design interesting enough to give it a chance. I knew practically nothing about the story, which ended up being one of the best parts of the experience. Overall, the plot is different, but it's not revolutionary. It tries to avoid some common genre clichés, and even succeeds at certain moments, but it still remains within a relatively familiar structure. It's not the kind of narrative that will redefine the genre or be remembered as something extremely innovative, but it's also not generic enough to be forgettable. The highlight, for me, is the aesthetics. The character design is very well done, with a unique style that catches the eye from the start. Furthermore, the settings (especially when the work explores the dream world) are creative, well-constructed, and visually interesting. There's a strong artistic identity there, something that greatly helps with immersion and makes the anime stand out even when the story isn't at its peak. Another important point is the surprise factor. Since I went in knowing nothing, I ended up getting more involved with the presented universe than I expected. Little by little, I became attached to the setting and the characters, even if their development isn't always deep or memorable. Still, there's a certain charm in the way everything is presented, which makes the experience enjoyable. My 7/10 rating comes largely from this combination: it's not a perfect work, nor remarkable in every aspect, but it delivers more than it promises, especially for those who go in without expectations. It's an anime that gains points for its visual identity and the atmosphere it manages to create. In the end, it's the kind of work I would recommend mainly for its aesthetics and its somewhat unconventional approach. It's not something you see all the time, and that's precisely why it's worth giving it a chance. =================================================================================================================Versão em Português===================================== Uma surpresa que eu definitivamente não esperava. Comecei a assistir Yumekui no Merry sem qualquer expectativa. Foi uma escolha completamente aleatória, vi uma cena solta em um vídeo e achei o design de um personagem interessante o suficiente para dar uma chance. Não sabia praticamente nada sobre a história, o que acabou sendo um dos pontos mais positivos da experiência. No geral, a trama é diferente, mas não chega a ser algo revolucionário. Ela tenta fugir de alguns clichês comuns do gênero, e até consegue em certos momentos, mas ainda assim permanece dentro de uma estrutura relativamente familiar. Não é aquele tipo de narrativa que vai redefinir o gênero ou ficar marcada como algo extremamente inovador, porém também não é genérica ao ponto de ser esquecível. O grande destaque, para mim, está na estética. O design dos personagens é muito bem trabalhado, com um estilo único que chama atenção desde o início. Além disso, os cenários (especialmente quando a obra explora o mundo dos sonhos) são criativos, bem construídos e visualmente interessantes. Existe uma identidade artística forte ali, algo que ajuda bastante na imersão e faz com que o anime se destaque mesmo quando a história não está no seu ponto mais alto. Outro ponto importante é o fator surpresa. Como fui assistir sem saber de nada, acabei me envolvendo mais do que esperava com o universo apresentado. Aos poucos, fui me apegando à ambientação e aos personagens, mesmo que o desenvolvimento deles não seja sempre profundo ou memorável. Ainda assim, há um certo charme na forma como tudo é apresentado, que torna a experiência agradável. A minha nota 7/10 vem muito dessa soma: não é uma obra perfeita, nem marcante em todos os aspectos, mas entrega mais do que promete, especialmente para quem entra sem expectativas. É um anime que ganha pontos pela sua identidade visual e pela atmosfera que consegue criar. No fim das contas, é aquele tipo de obra que eu recomendaria principalmente pela estética e pela proposta um pouco fora do padrão. Não é algo que você vê o tempo todo, e justamente por isso vale a pena dar uma chance.

Yumekui Merry is a fun, fast-paced, and eager anime, and while it's not a revolutionary work of fiction, it is loaded to the brim with cool visuals, interesting ideas, and honest enthusiasm. Beginning with the story, we follow the tale of a world in which metaphysical beings called 'nightmares' can possess people, either by taking control of their bodies completely, or entering into a mutually beneficial relationship of cooperation with them. Our protagonist Yumeji has some odd powers related to seeing and interacting with dreams, and Merry is a being that doesn't need a host to exist in the human world. The story is chock full of good worldbuilding like this, the kind that gives the story a lot of mileage to go off of- different people dealing with different nightmares with different powers and abilities could theoretically go on for several seasons without losing steam. Beyond the worldbuilding, it's just a solid story with good pacing and writing, striking a balance between comedy, SoL, and action. One shortfall it does suffer from, though, is that the metaphysics of how the whole dream world thing works isn't immediately clear, and gets seriously complicated towards the end of the show. However, with this anime it's not the story you're watching it for- it's the art, which is the strongest aspect of this anime by a mile. It is colorful, detailed, and downright electric, all the while maintaining this unique, distinctly stylized art direction, resulting in an overall look that I'd describe as a cross between Soul Eater and Madoka Magica. This shows in the fluidity of its animation, especially during the various fight scenes, that feel smooth and crisp throughout, but even moreso in its character designs. All of the characters, but especially the various nightmares, are so poignantly designed and positively loaded with aesthetic weight- they don't feel generic, as they very well could have, instead having a distinct sense of identity and style that sets them apart, even from other anime in similar genres. Once again, I compare it to Soul Eater and Madoka Magica for how it handles its general art direction and character design. The sound is good, with passionate voice work, detailed sounds of life, and an intriguing OST. The characters are also solid, feeling like good fits for the story they're in, even if the field is a little crowded, and Yumeji feels rather generic. Of the cast, my favorites are Merry, for her energetic, unique persona, feeling simultaneously alien and endearing, and Isana, for being a beacon of kindness, and a rallying point for the rest of the characters to gather around and protect. Overall, Yumekui Merry is a solid anime with a cool premise. While it's by no means a masterpiece, it is a well-executed example of early 2010s anime, and it is definitely worth a watch.