Yumekui Merry - Review

Yumekui Merry (Dream Catcher Merry) opened with a gripping premise, an anime concerning dreams which held no limits in terms of creative potential for eccentric characters and outlandish settings. Initially the anime did take advantage of both, introducing a colourful cast of dream demons and their domains. It was an ambitious project to say the least, but well captured. Everything was off to a good start.

It introduced two likable protagonists, both troubled with personal dilemmas. Merry Nightmare is a dream demon who exists in reality without a human vessel and human Yumeji is being hunted by dream demon Chaser John Doe, events which bring the two together. But the coincidences don’t end there. Yumeji has the ability to see the auras, an ability he discovered ten years ago around the same time Merry Nightmare became trapped in the human world. Which just begs the questions, how are these two incidents related? How are Merry and Yumeji related? Yet neither of which are answered or even explored, and here is where the downfall of Yumekui Merry occurs.

For some reason there isn’t enough material to work with and the anime has been left to cook up a filler story line in order to conclude the first season. Bottom line is by doing so the show lacks direction and consistency. A prime example of this concerns the series villain or lack thereof. In the beginning we are introduced to Chaser John Doe and his clear intention to make Yumeji his human vessel. Not only does this goal get abandoned, Chaser John Doe drops right out of the anime. Next a more allusive, major villain appears, but only long enough to cackle at some grand master scheme that the heroes remain in the dark about. As the anime draws to a close, the heroes are still unaware of his existence. Presumably here is where the original manga story ends and the filler anime story is force feed. Enter the third villain, Mistletein, a character with no real purpose, no depths and no bearing on the bigger picture. Not to mention not well thought through. A large portion of the second half is spent focusing on how unbeatable Mistletein is that the writers actually end up writing themselves into a corner. The only way out are a couple of unbearable deus-ex-machine moments, that only served to disappoint.

To its credit at least Yumekui Merry tried to solve this fiasco without resorting to fan-service or cheap gags in order to pass the time. As filler villains go, Mistletein fitted in quite comfortably with the imaginative side of the show, even her motive of bad for the sake of being bad could have easily been overlooked if the anime had been extend so as not to close with her. The nail on the head is Yumekui Merry should have been longer. Ultimately despite all the potential, the characters remain exactly where they started, they have no more knowledge about why Merry is in the human world, why Yumeji can see auras, their connection, or heck even dream demons in general. This is not an ending, it’s a midway point and Yumekui Merry needs to be picked up for a second season badly.

Rating: 6/10