Yumekui Merry 02 – Of Dreams and Hopes

 

Of Dreams and Hopes

「夢もキボーも」 (Yume mo Kibou mo)
“Dreams and Hopes”

Well, Episode 2 of Yumekui Merry is out and I had quite a few expectations for this episode after reading the next few chapters of the manga after the first episode. This episode didn’t have much going on, but progress was made and there was development. The episode is called Dreams and Hopes which is the same name of Chapter 2 of the manga, yet nothing in this episode happens in Chapter of the manga, but in Chapter 3 titled Only A Dream. In any case, there were a few things I picked up from the plot by comparing this episode to the manga. There were a couple of new bits, bits that didn’t happen in the manga, but I can imagine that this was due to the fact that not much happened in that chapter and needed to fill the gap. With all respect, more or less everything (with minor changes) in that chapter was shown in this episode.

Meet Isana's dad. Fact: He's awesome.

 

In the beginning of the episode, Merry wakes up in Isana’s room since she had collapsed earlier (last episode). It’s in this portion we get to meet Isana’s father who’s name is unknown, to the viewers at least. He lets Merry sleep in Isana’s room because he thinks that there’s probably a reason why she’s there. Given that he said that without knowing who she is, and the fact that he’s got a big friggin’ scar across his face, we can probably tell that this man probably knows a lot more than he’s letting on. One of the parts from the manga I’m glad the anime kept intact was the brief shower scene, as to where Yumeji walks in on Isana and Merry having a shower. Unfortunately, this part was better executed in the manga, because of the scenes that lead to it. Here in the anime, the scene felt as if it was sort just placed there.

 

Yumeji's reaction was simply boss, though.

For a split second, I thought this was Merry with a new hairstyle until she came to the window.

One of the first new things presented in the episode that wasn’t in Chapter 3 of the manga was the introduction of a girl named Yumi who appears have a friend called Serio, that in the real world, appears to have the form of a flower, but in the dream world he appears to take on the form of a small flower-like creature. Don’t know her deal all too well yet, but she appears to want to go on to nursing school to be a nurse. Serio seems to be her other half, but the fact of the matter is that Serio is a Dream Demon, and he appears to co-exist with Yumi. More on her later though.

 

 

D'awwww~!

Yumeji approaches Merry, who’s standing just outside the house on the balcony and the two of them have a conversation about the events of yesterday, but mainly we get to see the soft side of Merry. The “dere” side, if you will, of Merry’s somewhat light tsundere nature. She explains that there are many Dream Demons wanting to come over to the World of Reality. Some take over a person’s body and uses them as a vessel, or they simply co-exist with their host, which is Yumi and Serio’s case. These are the only two ways a dream demon can physically exist in reality.

 

 

Serio's dream world.

Now it’s at this part of the episode where I came up with some sort of theory. A rather a speculation. Merry claims that she isn’t using anyone as a host, yet she’s able to physically exist the way she is now. I think that Merry is either co-existing with a host or is using a host without her actually realizing it. Here’s a chat I had with my best friend on the matter.

 

[19:44:26] 【M E R R Y】 McTricky: I get the feeling that Merry is using a host or a vessel as it were.
[19:45:24] 【M E R R Y】 McTricky: The OP sequence has scenes of a child Yumeji and child Merry running about. Perhaps this Merry person is someone from his childhood, I don’t know.
[20:46:59] 4Saken Virtuoso: Yeah, I think she’s using a vessel and doesn’t realise it. Or maybe she is an exception.

 

"You might be onto something there, McTricky!"

I mean, even she was an exception, exceptions have to have really good explanations for them. Either Merry is a long forgotten childhood friend of Yumeji and [Isana], or Merry is someone from his dreams when he was a kid. But that’s just a wild speculation on the matter. After the events outside, Merry tries to leave the house whilst everyone is sleeping, but is seen by Isana’s dad (who I’m going to call “Scarface” from now on). He has no objections to her leaving but puts out the question if what she needs to do is something she CAN do alone or something his HAS to do alone. I’m gonna keep my eye on Scarface, he seems to be a pretty noteworthy character despite having minimal lines in this episode.

 

 

All eyes are on the new "tsun" chick. I mean, jeez. Way to make someone feel uncomfortable.

Another new aspect that wasn’t shown in Chapter 3 of the manga is the introduction of a new character who just so happens to be, as always, a transfer student. Her name is Chizuru Kawanami. Off topic here, but everytime I hear the name Chizuru, I can’t help but be reminded of that lesbian off Bleach. In any case, first let me make note (in case you didn’t notice) that this girl is the mysterious girl that appeared at the end of the [last episode]. We didn’t know what her deal was back then, and we still don’t know what her deal is here now. She does appear to have an interesting piece of accessory on her arm which looks like to handcuffs linked to each other acting as a sort of bracelet. Anyway, this girl is all serious business, and probably won’t ever crack a smile unless she’s harming someone. I love the poetic dude’s poem on whether or not she’s a tsundere.

 

 

I love this particular shot.

From here on out, the background art seemed to have taken a change. It got more urban and a bit more “creative” I might add. A pair of scissors appear in front of Yumi on the way home from school and she goes to pick them up, only to be pulled into the dream world. It seems that certain “objects” seem to be triggers to enter the real world. Remember when Yumeji interacted with that cat last episode which ended up bringing out Chaser John Doe? Similar concept here. In any case, the dream they are brought into isn’t Serio’s dream.

 

 

The artwork and animation during dream world sequences can be quite impressive.

Serio and Yumi are attacked by these chain vines, and Serio tries to save Yumi only to be consumed by whatever was attacking them. Yumi then sort of leaves the scene with a dead expression on her face. We can only assume that Serio is now gone. What I can imagine here is that something tried to take over Yumi and use her as a vessel but since Serio was a co-host, he had to be eliminated.

 

 

Quite sad really.

In any case, the end of the episode comes upon us and Yumeji makes his resolve to help out Merry, despite what she says, and Merry does the same only the opposite. The episode was good one and next week, we’re getting a treat. We meet another Dream Demon who co-exists with a little girl and keeps her from having friends.

 

 

Preview for Next Week.