"A not so merry nightmare..." | Mizu's Yumekui Merry Review

I am disappointed, better yet, extremely displease and yearning for more, why is that? Oh, well I am glad you asked! I just finished Yumekui Merry (Dreameater Merry), and up until the final episode I loved it... remember, I am using past tense here. I am almost positive people loved this show despite this fact; myself being one of those, and I love Merry for it''s original story, character, theme, plot, ideas, and premise, I mean I don't think I have seen such an original concept in a long long time, but... it feels incomplete, very incomplete, no... totally RUSHED is what I am going for.

This is my first review, so please bare with me... I have a lot to say, and feel this wasn't the best anime to tackle as my first review... but that's the challenging part, so whatever! Just... bare with me please~<3

JC staff had what I thought was going to be the best anime of the season, but yet... it feel short with chopped up story telling, forgotten plot points, and a whole plethora of character who got COMPLETELY PUSHED ASIDE, in favor of Mistiltienn's antics. Where was Elcres, where was John Doe, why is Merry referred to as one of the Three-Piece sisters by John Doe? What led Merry to reality? Did she really go back? Does JC Staff really know how to structure a story? These are all questions I asked myself while watching.

 

The first episode gives us John Doe, and explains his plan of wanting to use Yumeji as a vessel so he may enter the human world or reality. For a while you would find it logical to think: 

"Oh he is the big bad, and he fits to part too!"

But sadly... you'd be mistaken, the anime takes a curve ball, and starts facing merry against random Dream Demons also known as muma, why they chose this route, is beyond me, and for a while it actually works! Espescially when John Doe appears again in the second episode, he really acts villainous and has an undying will to take Yumeji's body as his vessel or die trying... well not really DIE, but you get the point.

Then you get to the end of Episode two and Misti (Mistiltienn) makes her appearance. At first, I though she was just going to be a nuisance, but nope, turns out SHE IS THE BIG BAD. THIS RIGHT BELOW IS THE BIG BAD OF THE ANIME SERIES, I MEAN REALLY?

Adorable, don't you agree? Well that is... until you find out this chick is out to crush your hopes, dreams, soul, and life's desires... oh and lets not forget she is spawned from the deepest pit within hell, just sayin'. You hear her voice and think "OMG she is so cute, wanna take her home!" then she goes insane, super insane. Which at first proves to be a very good plot, but... she makes the anime feel rushed and incomplete. Here you have all this talk about Elcres, and the Lighthouse that draws dream demons to the light of reality, you even see him! 

Quite possibly he is the most terrifying character in the Yumekui Merry... well other than Misti and her plot-twist of a sadistic vessel that you will never see coming and will not believe. Oh also, Merry goes BATSHIT, in a fight against Engi... but yet, you never see the keys, the door to the dream world, or anything else related to her past ever again, its a freaking TEASE at best.

And while I adore this anime, its character, theme, and plot... I just can't help but feel like something is missing. And I know EXACTLY what that something is, I will sum in up in a few screenshots taken from my PSP while I was watching.

 THIS

DEFINITELY MORE OF THIS

AND THIS

AND A WHOLE HELL LOT MORE OF THIS

 John Doe was a great character, and to disregard him the way they did? Absolutely, positively, most undeniably unacceptable! And lets not forget all the hype for Elcres, Yumeji's power, Engi/Play's sister, Merry's memories, and pretty much every other plot hole that was made when something was only shown ONCE then ignored so they could flaunt Misti's intentions in our faces.

Really, I think JC Staff could have done a much better job producing this anime, it feels just as rushed as the first 13 episodes of Shakugan no Shana II/Second did, which make me wonder why i bothered to even finish it. I know I am biased with this, but as a writer... I just can't understand HOW THEY THOUGHT THESE PLOT HOLES WOULD WORK IN THE LONG RUN. I demand a sequel, a sequel that ISN'T 13 episodes, Merry needed AT LEAST 24 episodes to even make the story FLOW. Give us more John Doe, give us more Engi, give us more Yumeji badass moments, and for the love of GOD do not beat around the bush and abandon certain plot elements! Here is the line in Merry's last episode that made me start questioning why I should continue watching:

Very powerful message to convey within a story such as this... but the way it was done didn't leave much of an impact, positive or otherwise. I mean here Yumeji is being all badass, blocking all of Misti's attacks, and then this line is thrown out... really? Is that the best they could come up with? I mean really.

luckily he makes up for it a few seconds later and summons John Doe's sword, at first I about shit a brick, especially when he started fighting Misti all on his own . Then Merry reawakens and Yumeji backs of and tells her to "believe in herself, because he believes in here, and she should believe in him." If that isn't a blatant Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann reference, I really don't have a clue what is!

Well my rant is giving me a headache, so I will just say.. Yumeji's crowning moment of badass was ruined when i found out what it was like in the manga, just... look it up yourself, it was awesome! Oh also, what's the the change in music when merry wakes up? I mean really, she is about ready to rip Misti to SHREDS and her light toned theme is playing, no badass music, no fight music, just a light music piece that really doesn't help to amplify the setting they are in.

 But enough of my complaining, onto the GOOD!
The BGM Music is great, I liked it just as much as I'VE SOUND, which is very very rare for me.
The characters are diverse, lovable and downright original.
The plot is a masterpiece of it's own, but the anime lacks the time and patience to actually explain most of the plot. So you are left with more plot holes than a new installation to the Kingdom Hearts series can conjure up with just one playthrough!
The idea behind it is extraordinary, and very original, I absolutely LOVED THE PREMISE OF IT, and I DEFINITELY want more.
The creator of the doujn game "Advent Cirno" is the one who came up with Yumekui merry, and I say for his first attempt at a story of this type... its possibly the most original anime I have seen in a very very long time.

Merry's seiyuu/voice actor was new to the biz, but did an astounding job in every episode, she really brought her character to life! As did John Doe's seiyuu, Yumeji's did a great job as well, hell the entire cast was a great choice to voice the characters. But around the end I got the feeling the voice actors were thinking something along the lines of: "So its the final episode, am I supposed to convey emotion in this line? Oh, I am? Meh fuck you, I am bored! :3" This is the most apparent with Engi and Yui's voices in episode 13, where they just sounded bored. And even though Engi hit Misti with a freaking slash of purple aura and shit from her sword, Misti didn't take a bit of damage! Instead she fails to block any of Merry's attacks, and takes a blow directly to the stomach, I mean REALLY? Just... no.

I want more, a lot more.
In the end Yumekui Merry started with potential, and kept that hype for the remainder of the series. I HONESTLY THOUGH that Elcres was going to RIP Misti to shreds before everyone could get to her, but I was sadly mistaken.

SO honestly, this anime is hit and miss, personally, I say to watch it, then head over to mangafox and read the manga, as it is far more superior to this clusterfuck of a masterpiece; lol contradiction!.

Great show, good style, music, characters, plot, theme, story, and most original idea. But the 13th episode is the muma that destroys all your hopes and dreams... sort of like Misti, I mean... where's merry when you need her?

I loved Yumekui Merry, but it feels rushed and incomplete, making you want even more. JC Staff could have done a better job, and I guess if you look at it differently, the way they approached it can make sense... somewhat. Maybe to a senile man, in his old age... a very OLD senile man, who has nothing better to do than eat, fart, watch golf, and think too much about pointless things... like this anime!

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While the first episode was promising, and the rest led up to a great finale. All the ignored plotpoints, blatant laziness, and Misti randomly showing up within the last few episodes drag this down from being my favorite of the season, to just being a slightly above average anime... not by much, maybe a sliver of hair, a really tiny sliver that can only bee seen under a microscope that can view molecular structure.. yeah that small

Yumekui Merry is a breath of fresh air as far as originality is concerned, and I suggest you watch it just for that reason! But it falls short in most departments due to the jumbled storytelling, plotholes, and missed opportunities.

Yumekui Merry hypes you up with an original plot, the badass that is John Doe, and great characters, but kicks you in the balls and disappoints you by ignoring all the introduced elements and going with the whole Mistiltienn arc/story instead. It's not bad, but because it was crammed into 13 episodes and not 22 - 24 episode as it should have been, I believe its lacking a lot of substance which will make you question the sanity of it's director and why they didn't elaborate more on the numerous plot points that could have made it the best of the season!

I guess the only good thing that came from this, is that I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there will be a sequel. There'd have to be in order for it to make even a lick of sense to anyone! 

My rating: 7/10