There is another party involved. A girl in a strange set of clothes. She falls on top of Yumeji one day and, after getting her hat back, finds her way into his world. Her name is Merry Nightmare, a dream eater. She has no memories of from where or who she was and seeks to return to the world of dreams.
Dream Eater Merry (or Yumekui Merry in Japanese) is a manga by Yoshitake Ushiki, which was serialized in Manga Time Kirara Forward from 2008 to 2020 and compiled into 24 volumes. It was adapted into an anime in the winter of 2011 by J.C. Staff. Touhou Project fans may recognize the author from his doujinshi work Advent Cirno, and the people handling the music as IOSYS.
It also has a Spin-Off Prequel three chapter manga called Kagefumi Merry (Shadow Stomper Merry).
Tropes in Dream Eater Merry include:
- 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: In the anime, giant fish bones, brought to you in CG glory.
- The Ace: Shiragi Kyou transfers into their school and is a dedicated perfectionist, talented at everything he puts his hand to.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Given his first line about the cruelty of meeting in a dream, Chris Evergreen seems to be a nightmare of this trope - a dream of meeting and falling in love only for it to collapse upon awakening, leaving nothing but a sense of unrequited longing when you remember the dream after. Though it's implied Chris felt something of the same thing in return for Mei. Fittingly, his appearance also prompts the collapse of Takateru and Yumeji's own unrequited crushes on Mei.
- Animation Bump: The Opening and Episode 1 are much better animated than the rest of the series.
- Badass Adorable: Merry. If you get in her way? Prepare to be pummeled. You mess with her when she's enjoying her doughnuts? Run. Hurt her friends? She will break the fricking moon.
- Baku: Merry Nightmare has powers revolving around dreams and nightmares, and she has a strong baku motif.
- Barehanded Blade Block: Merry performs one against Engi in episode 5.
- Bathtub Bonding: Isana and Merry get to know each other in the bath when Yumeji walks in. Isana notes this is the 15th time he's done that. Later, John and Yumeji get in on this, only for Merry to walk in on him.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Following Hercules's defeat, Shiragi Kyou has stepped forward as the new villain and deals primarily in this - he somehow fulfills the dreams of those who are hosting a Nightmare, but in the process slays the Dream Demon in question and yet somehow fixes the damage to one's dreams that this would normally cause. Those with shortsighted dreams, such as something that could be fulfilled by a singular event, seem to be almost as lost as people who lost their dreams entirely, as they now no longer have anything for which to strive. Others have come out of it surprisingly intact, but for the death of the Dream Demon.
- Big Damn Kiss: Chapter 141 has Merry give Yumeji a goodbye smooch before she returns to the dream world for the last time.
- Bishie Sparkle: In chapter 5, both Yumeji and Taka gave out some while convincing Mei to go to karaoke with them.
- Bittersweet Ending: Yumeji, Merry, and their friends manage to stop Rem's plan to fuse the Dream World with the Human World, but the Dream Demons must now part ways with their human friends and return to their world, with Merry to resume her duties as the gate keeper. The humans will forget about the Dream Demons, but Yumeji promises to remember Merry, and it leads him to write a novel based on their adventures.
- Black Eyes of Evil: Ichima until her Heel–Face Turn.
- Subverted with Takateru, whose eyes are almost entirely black (with very thin slices of whites visible around them), only he's probably the nicest guy in the cast. Played with. See, he's possessed by the Big Bad... but Taka really is that nice, normally.
- The Blank: The pre-formed dream demons known as "Blanks", have no faces or features whatsoever and only gain them after absorbing enough dreams to become whole so that they evolve into true dream demons.
- Catchphrase: Merry's one is "There really are no hopes or dreams."
- Cat Girl: "Chaser" John Doe has some working for him. He later brings a whole army of them to help Merry and Yumeji. They can transform into cats, sans-clothing, in order to escape from being hurt then transform back again with clothing starting to form itself around them. Yes, they are made of fanservice, why do you ask? He also has cat boys.
- Chained by Fashion: Chizuru wears a very prominent handcuff bracelet.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: To an extent, Isana. She's not really all that clingy, but she DOES get jealous when a girl she doesn't know shows up asking for Fujiwara. It's Yui (and Engi) coming to train him and Merry. All considering, her jealousy may just be for Rule of Funny.
- Closing Credits: In the final chapter, scenes of the cast getting together and catching up are interspersed with staff credits.
- Clothing Damage:
- A non-fanservice type happens during Merry's fight with a Dream Demon in the 6th volume. Her opponent thinks that her coattails look like eels and he rips one of them off. Merry isn't amused.
- Other non-fanservice example is Yumeji, from Chapters 57 to 60, his ripped and bloodied shirt looks a lot like a dark version of Merry's coattails.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Yui, with her penchant for concocting strange stories about the dolls she collects.
- Club President: Mei, for the Literature Club.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Yumeji can see what kind of dreams people will have from the color of their auras. Often he's wrong since most dreams are a confusing array of colors rather than anything stable and coherent, except for Black: Is 100% nightmares and daydreams when a Dream Demon tries to take over a host or is already in one.
- Compressed Hair: Minato and "Sonar" Clione have hats that hide their long hair.
- Cute Bruiser: Merry. "Chaser" John Doe notes how much strength Merry can invest in those flimsy little arms. In the waking world, she's not quite as strong, but she's still pretty sturdy for her slender little frame.
- Dream Land: The Dream World which is comprised of multiple Dream Demon yards (Daydreams) which are worlds of their own.
- Besides his eye ability, Yumeji can also enter the dream world of others - which surprises Merry.
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: During the first karaoke-bar scene in Episode 4. Someone down the hall is heard singing the OP, and doing a remarkably good job of sounding like the original singer.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: When John summons the cat girls to help with Yumeji's wound, look at the one holding the medicine. Is there any reason she has to hold it like that?
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: The victims of Dream Loss Syndrome, who are not so much unhappy as unmotivated, almost to the point of complete catatonia. They were formerly symbiotes or possessed vessels of Dream Demons; when the demon's killed, all the dreams and ambitions of the human vessel die with it.
- Evil Gloating: Hercules loves to do this since he's a Large Ham. It helps that he's strong enough to tank enemy attacks while barely breaking his train of thought. John uses this against him in the big fight by baiting Hercules into gloating, then ending the daydream since it was in John's yard, to throw Hercules off mid-gloat.
- Exotic Eye Designs: Most Dream Demons have unique-looking pupils. For example, Chukai has cross-shaped pupils, while Chris Evergreen has tilting H-shaped pupils.
- Expressive Mask: "Chaser" John Doe. It's very subtle, but his otherwise motionless mask can change from a frown to a smile or vice versa between shots.
- Expy: Ryouta Ijima is quite similar to a certain smooth criminal/troll, Yuuki Terumi, even has the same Evil Laugh.
- Fall-in Angel: Yumeji first meets Merry when she falls out of a tree onto him.
- Finger Gun: Chizuru does this a few times, saying "bang" as she does it.
- Forgotten First Meeting: Between Yumeji, Merry and Isana. Kyou also claims there was one between him and Yumeji and Merry, and also Isana. But he is a stretching the truth a bit.
- Genius Loci: Each nightmare is not only the discrete person but their "yard" or the field that forms around them in a daydream. So John Doe is as much the empty city that he chases Yumeji through at the very beginning and the cat warriors who fight for him, as he is the masked cat-man who does the chasing. It seems only the nightmare whose yard in which the current daydream takes place has the power to end it, though it seems to take a few moments' concentration - meaning a nightmare can't just pick a fight and then end it when things suddenly go badly for them. Hercules's greatest power, as the "lighthouse", is to direct others into his own yard where he controls the shape of local reality, which means he has the home field advantage whenever he wants it and can prevent anyone from escaping.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Isana's dad has a scar down the right side of his face.
- Merry has one on her right arm, she just keeps it covered until the Beach Episode in chapter 11. Yumeji had a scar, but it's long since faded. Curiously,
his was in the same place that Merry's is. And now the spot where he had his scar is starting to hurt after he exits a daydream...
- Merry has one on her right arm, she just keeps it covered until the Beach Episode in chapter 11. Yumeji had a scar, but it's long since faded. Curiously,
- Gratuitous Spanish: In chapter 64, the boys who signed Saki Kirashima up for the bread-eating contest said "Gracias!!" when Saki jumped and grabbed the hot dog bread with her mouth causing her boobs to shake all over.
- Hatsuyume: The Threepiece sisters each represent some of the items dreamed.
- Both sisters have triangle pupils representing Ichi-Fuji(1. Mt. Fuji)note .
- Engi is the first set: her hair wings represents the Ni-Taka(2. Hawk); her Sannasubi sword for the San-Nasubi(3. Eggplant).
- Patti is the uncommon second set: her fan hair decoration represents the Yon-Sen(4. Fan)note ; her pouch represents the Go-Tobako(5. Tobacco)note ; her Rokuzatou katana for Roku-Zato(6. Blind Zato)note .
- Hellish Pupils: Dream Demons often have them called Nightmare Pupils.
- Merry's pupils are rectangular (like a sheep's or a tapir's). She has Unusual Ears, too.
- Some of the eye patterns that were seen in the manga. Clockwise from the the bottom-left: "Chain" Noir's looks like a chain-link, the Threepiece sister's is a triangle, Ichima's is a swirl, "Chaser" John Doe's is his mouth on his mask, Chris Evergreen looks like a sideways H, "Maze" Landsborough's looks like a sideways #, and "Pharos" Hercules looks like a sun or a shining light.
- Yumeji's eye take on the pupil of the Dream Demon whose power he is replicating with Lucid Gadget. In chapter 24, Yumeji's eyes took on the pattern of John's mouth on his mask when he first formed John's weapon. In Chapter 25, Yumeji's eyes took on the pattern of Ichima's swirly eye pattern when he used her power to call forth one of her giant kokeshi toys to protect John. In Chapter 30, Yumeji's right eye takes on Chris's eye pattern when Yumeji uses Chris' Rocket Punch move. In chapter 31, Yumeji's right eye takes on Noir's eye pattern when calling forth one of her chains.
- Heroic BSoD: Both Merry and Yumeji get hit with one. Merry when Engi tells her that, once they get into the real world, there's no way back to the dream world, and Yumeji after he realizes that by killing any Dream Demon who's already taken a vessel, ''they also destroy that person's dreams... both the at night kind of dream AND the personal ambition variety (the only exception to this is if is Merry the one defeating the Nightmares).
- Hidden Agenda Villain: "Pharos" Hercules draws nightmares to the waking world, brutally kills any that won't follow him, and lets his followers run wild. John Doe is trying to puzzle out his plans, questioning every revelation, even those from Hercules's right-hand minions. Merry thinks Hercules is just out to cause chaos and is using the appearance of a master plan as cover to keep his foes guessing. Hercules eventually reveals his grand scheme: to destroy the Gate between Dream and Reality so nightmares may be physically present in the real world, but not so he may conquer the world - but so he may crush and destroy everyone, nightmares and humans both. He is a nightmare of fire after all, the signaling flame, and as a living fire, all he wants is to consume and burn brighter. So technically Merry was right, but his methods were frightfully sophisticated.
- Humans Are Special: Despite all their powers and superhuman strength, nightmares envy humanity's ability to grow and change; and some hate that their existence is entirely dependent upon humanity.
- Identity Amnesia: Merry just can't remember who she is.
- I Don't Know Mortal Kombat: Merry loses 383 games of a Wii fighting game to Yumeji. On the other hand, she successfully uses a technique from the game to block Engi's sword.
- In the Blood: Hercules attributed this as the reason for Yumeji's recovering in chapter 57. But as it turns out, they are not brothers, but the origins of their power is from the same person.
- Idiot Hair: Yumeji's most recognizable physical trait. Merry remembers him almost solely by seeing it again — she refers to it as an "antenna".
- Improbable Hairstyle:
- Engi's hair is shaped like wings. It's also Prehensile Hair since Engi can move them.
- The New Transfer Student in volume 5 has his hair combed and tied back where it spikes into Anime Hair.
- Improbable Weapon User: "Chaser" John Doe has something that the author said was a cross between a saw and a guillotine. Yumeji, using his Lucid Gadget, creates a smaller version to use against "Maze" Landsborough and "Chain" Noir.
- Invisible to Normals: When Dream Demons are able to appear in the real world, they and their abilities are only visible to humans who are/were/and could have been vessels for Dream Demons. Examples include "Chaser" John Doe's Little Chasers, "Garden" Engi Threepiece's swords,
- Ironic Echo:Yumeji: "It's SHOWTIME!!"
- I Wrote Our Story: In the finale, Yumeji begins working on a novel with illustrations by Isana. Although he can't remember much of his time with Merry anymore, the final panel reveals that the light novel is likely Yumekui Merry itself.
- Kick the Dog: Treesea and her vessel Mr. Ijima love doing this. In episode 9 he beats up the vet girl after she kills her dream For the Evulz.
- Lethal Chef: Yui. Her teacher calls her brand of cooking Magical Chemical Cooking. Yui's friend Nao has also said that not even a dog would eat Yui's cooking.
- Light Is Not Good: Heracles is described as the guiding light (the kanji of his name make up the word for lighthouse), drawing other Dream Demons to Reality. Because of that, the whole balance between the worlds has been thrown out of whack. Then there's his personality...
- Meaningful Name: The names of both lead characters are related to dreaming: Yumeji - "Yumeji" means "Dream Road", or "Road to Dreams" depending on personal interpretation. Merry's surname is Nightmare, and her full name is "Sheep" Merry Nightmare. The author also states in an omake that her name is based on Mary, as in 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'.
- Both of the protagonists' names explain themselves. Yumeji could mean "Path to the Dream", which is his Chekhov's Skill, while Merry Nightmare, as ridiculous as it may sound, just mean merry nightmare.
- Many of the Dream Demon's names are this, like "Chaser" John Doe being a hunter, "Maze" Landsborough traps people in a maze, "Chain" Noir uses chains, etc.
- Pharos means "Lighthouse" and is referred as the light that guides all the other nightmares to the real world. This becomes even more meaningful when you remember that a lighthouse is to guide, and only to guide.
- Chris Evergreen is a dream of pining for an unattainable love. How fitting that the inside of his cloak looks like a starry sky.
- Mega Manning: Yumeji can call upon the powers of Dream Demons he met before.
- "Pharos" Hercules can also do this for those he defeated.
- Meido: The uniform for female employees of STO cafe.
- Isana dresses as one when working. Merry has to dress the part when she works for Isana's dad. Later Yui starts working there part-time as well.
- Monster Clown: "Maze" Landsborough, the one-eyed imp-like Dream Demon could be seen as this. His Mooks, however, are this without a doubt.
- Most Writers Are Writers: Yumeji, and the rest of the Literature Club, by extension.
- Mood Whiplash: At one point, Yumeji is injured and at the mercy of "Chaser" John Doe, who coldly tells him that it would be incredibly easy to take over his body at that moment. Yumeji cringes at what's coming – but John promptly states that to do so would be crude and unsportsmanlike ("I am a hunter, not a thief"), and summons a pair of cute voluptuous cat girls to tend to Yumeji's wounds!
- Also Taka's story about his little sister where he talks about how she was sickly when she was little and kept being bounced from hospital to hospital until she could no longer smile. At least until Taka started with those ridiculous poems of his, sparking his dream of wanting to make everyone he meets laugh through his poems. He then pauses before saying that she's completely healthy now and even working part-time at a burger joint.
- And you get another one from Chapter 36, when it is revealed that Takateru is Hercules's host, and his little sister being healthier is due to Hercules putting a dream demon in her, to hold her hostage against Takateru.
- Shiragi, as the new villain, seems to be specializing in inflicting this: he somehow fulfills people's dreams, at the same time killing any Dream Demon that has started to nest in them, but which has left several people feeling empty and drained after, as if now they have nothing worth striving for. Particularly harsh with Ren as he had been partnered with his Dream Demon, "Hunter" Quartier Latin, and briefly forgot all about Dream Demons after Shiragi "fulfilled his dream" of restoring his collapsing family life.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Isana's dad showing off his legendary Kick the Can technique, not to mention how he and Yumeji smash the watermelon in the Beach Episode.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Engi gets one after Merry starts going berserk due to Yumeji being nearly cut in half. Especially the moment when Merry shattered all of Engi's swords, prompting Engi to try rallying her nerve while explaining her blade could keep reforming forever as long as there was moonlight, to which Merry simply lifts her hand and shatters the moon.
- Yumeji gets this when he hears the people in his class talking about how they all had the same nightmare. He uses his dream-seeing trick and...every single person has the same black aura.
- Happens in episode nine of the anime when Yumeji learns that Isana's been possessed by a Dream Demon.
- Hercules gets one as well. And it's deliciously so, when Yumeji copies his ability.
- P.O.V. Boy, Poster Girl: Yumeji is the main protagonist and a decent fighter in his own right, but without Merry, there would be no plot.
- Power Degeneration: Any use of a nightmare's power while possessing a person or bodily manifest on Earth causes a kind of backlash against the Gate between worlds. This includes Merry's own strength, and as she is the Gate as well as the Sheep, it means that all her fighting to push nightmares back across the Gate has been harming her. In the battle against Hercules, Merry nearly destroys herself from using too much of her power in a blind rage.
- Prehensile Hair: Engi's hair is styled as wings which she can move.
- Refuge in Audacity:
- In the anime, Mr. Iijima trolls the entire cast by visiting the STO café; he sits down and orders coffee right in front of the protagonists. By this time they have already found out that he's Treesea's vessel and the one responsible for a lot of literally crushed dreams, and they're also painfully aware that he's scouting his next victim (Isana), but right then and there they can't do anything about it.
- Running Gag:
- Yumeji walking into the bath...and someone's already there, usually it's Isana. She notes that he's done this fourteen times before the two that we see in story. Later, Merry walks in on HIM.
- Yui telling people to depend on her as an older sister, and then being told she's younger than they are.
- In at least half the glimpses we get of Full Hell Boarder Glitchou, the main character hurts his wrist or ankle. It eventually gets lampshaded by Merry when Yumeji complains about a sore wrist and she asks if he's pretending to be Glitchou. Takes a more serious turn when Yumeji starts having bouts of blinding pain in that same spot, that have just been getting worse.
- Ship Tease: Isana's feelings towards Yumeji are as plain as day, and both Merry and Yui have given some hints of having feelings towards him as well, Merry more so.
- Merry's feelings are confirmed in the last chapter by giving Yumeji her first (and only) kiss to him before disappearing from the waking world.
- Show Within a Show: Full Hell Boarder Glitchou, a tokusatsu series that Yumeji is a fan of.
- Shout-Out:
- Spell My Name With An S: Do we go with Engi or its translation "Play"? Most say Engi.
- Star-Spangled Spandex: Chris Evergreen has this effect on the inside of his cloak.
- Stealth Pun: "Chaser" John Doe calls Merry a "lost little lamb" when they first meet. We later find out that Merry's full name is "Sheep" Merry Nightmare.
- Stylistic Suck: Yumeji's writing, mostly because he's trying to reflect the bombastic, over-the-top action and acting of Tokusatsu hero shows in written fiction, where it mostly comes off as ridiculous.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Yui: "I am not going to carve your name into a voodoo doll or anything."
- Sweetie Graffiti: There is a drawing of umbrella drawn on the wall of the old playground, with Yumeji and Isana names.
- This is actually the most productive way for Dream Demons and humans to interact. If a Dream Demon tries to take over full time, the host will wake up, possibly at the worst possible moment.
- Talking Is a Free Action: Averted frequently. Someone will try to explain something in the middle of a fight and get punished hard for being too wordy and ignoring the enemy. Yumeji nearly gets killed because of this during the fight with "Chain" Noir.
- The Nicknamer: Merry gives nicknames to some of the characters.
- She calls Engi Threepiece as "Eggplant Lady".
- She calls "Chaser" John Doe as "Cat Mask".
- She calls "Pharos" Hercules as "Lighthouse Guy".
- She calls "Maze" Landsborough as "Little Clown".
- She calls "Chain" Noir as "Perverted Woman".
- She calls "Mistilteinn" Treesea as "Wood Lady".
- She calls "Familiar" Legion as "Upside-down Ghost".
- She calls "Sonar" Clione as "Songstress".
- She calls Ichima as "Monster Girl".
- There's No Place Like Home: Merry's main motivation. Curiously (it may be a plot point), Merry doesn't have enough of her memory intact to understand why she wants to go back — she only knows that she wants to go back.
- Title Drop: In chapter 4 (episode 3 of the anime) as a nickname for Merry given by Yumeji, comparing her to a baku — a tapir-like beast from Japanese mythology which hunts and eats nightmares. She argues that she does not actually eat them. The 6th chapter and the 4th episode of the anime are also called "Dream Eater Merry".
- Yumeji's novel that he is working on in the final chapter is titled "Yumekui Merry".
- Too Much Information: Fear not, Yumeji, Yui totally does not make voodoo dolls of people.
- Trademark Favorite Food:
- Merry loves donuts.
- Mr. Ijima likes rice
- Yumeji likes tomatoes. This is because Tomato is a palindrome in Japanese phonetics ("to-ma-to") and Yumeji thinks that has a manly feel to it.
- Wild Card: Treesea in the anime. "I don't have allies, only targets."
- Winged Humanoid: Engi. Subverted since her wings are made up of her hair, but she can move them.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Hercules gives and eventually receives, this.
Tropes in Kagefumi Merry include:
- Ascended Extra: The three Dream Demons Merry meets before "Chaser" John Doe have been given names with their roles, powers, and personalities expanded upon.
- The Cameo: The real Merry Nightmare makes a few throughout the manga. A notable one at the end of the manga is her passing behind Yuuki and neither meeting each other.
- Clone by Conversion: Wiles can turn other Dream Demons into copies of himself.
- Doppelgänger: The overall story is about a Dream Demon named Wiles making other Dream Demons into copies of himself to control and imitates many humans and Merry's attempt to stop him.
- It turns out that the Merry of the story is one of the Wiles copies who, upon touching the Gate, became a copy of Merry Nightmare.
- Evil Gloating: Wiles goes in a victory monolog when he believed he defeated Merry. He was dead wrong.
- Go Out with a Smile: As she dies, doppelganger Merry smiled at Yuuki as she asks him to call the real Merry "Kagefumi Merry" for her if he meets her.
- Meaningful Echo: Both Merry and Wiles say the lines "Lights! Camera! Action!" in their "yards" when initiating their power in it. It turns out that the Merry of this story is one of the Wiles copies.
- Prequel: The Spin-Off is set at some time when Merry met her third Dream Demon after coming to reality, before the first chapter of the main story.
- The Reveal: In the last chapter it is revealed that the Merry of the story is actually a Wiles copy who became a Mirror Self Doppelgänger of the real Merry Nightmare when she touched the Gate.
- Shout-Out:
- As Verbiest escapes from Merry in the second chapter, he says "Hasta La Vista Bey Bee" to her.
- Merry leaves a message for the real Wiles with the blood of one of the copies that say, "All your Wiles belong to me."
- Spanner in the Works: Merry for Wiles' plan to possess people with his copies. More so since the Merry of the story is actually one of Wiles' copies.
- Spin-Off: This story is an official spin-off of the main series.
- Title Drop: The Merry doppelganger asks Yuuki that if he sees the real Merry Nightmare, he should call her "Kagefumi Merry"note for her.
