Yumekui Merry (manga)/Characters

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A list of characters from the Manga and Anime series Yumekui Merry. Many characters have yet to be covered.

Yumeji Fujiwara

Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto (JP), Blake Shepard (EN)

A fairly average guy, except that he has the power to see into people's dreams. His encounter with the mysterious Merry Nightmare changes that, and he vows to be her companion, and to help her find her way back to the world of dreams. It's hinted that he and Merry have met somewhere before, and because of his abilities and potential, Chaser John Doe speculates that he may be Not Quite Human.

Tropes exhibited by Yumeji include:

Yumeji: "I'll borrow it <Insert power's name>!"

Merry Nightmare

Voiced by: Ayane Sakura (JP), Hilary Haag (EN)

The problem with Merry Nightmare is that she has amnesia. She knows who and what she is (she's a Dream Demon, and for some reason a very powerful one), but she doesn't know how she got from the dreamworld to our world, or why she's stuck here. Her only hope of finding a way home is to hunt down other Dream Demons in our world, and to find them she needs Yumeji's help.

Tropes exhibited by Merry include:
  • Action Girl: She has impressive physical power and strength.
  • Adaptation Dye Job: On the manga covers, her hair seems to be dark indigo, but the anime changes it to more of a burgundy.
    • Curiously, this doesn't just apply to her hair; there's no real indication of this in the original art, but the animators make Merry's skin slightly pinker than everyone else's.
  • Animal Motifs: Sheep, frequently lampshaded.
  • Badass Adorable: She is a cute petite girl who likes donuts and play videogames, which is able to hurt hings way bigger than her.
  • Bare Your Midriff: Constantly. The makers of the anime even treat it as Fan Service -- instead of Panty Shots, we get gratuitous closeups of Merry's bellybutton.
    • Subverted in the beach episode; Merry doesn't own a swimsuit, and the one Isana lends her is her old one-piece from school.
  • Barrier Maiden: Merry IS part of the system that keeps the dream world separate from ours. Her getting stuck in our world is one of the things that allowed Herakles to rise to power.
  • Berserk Button: Don't ever hurt her friends, especially Yumeji.
  • Betty and Veronica: The Veronica to Isana's Betty.
  • Catch Phrase: "I have no hopes or dreams".
  • Cute Bruiser: John actually wonders aloud how she can get so much power out of such a small body.
  • Cute Little Fangs: Canines growing from the uppersde of her dental arch.
  • Cute Monster Girl: She is a nightmare but aside of little details like overgrown fangs and pointy ears she is indistinguishable of a (flat) teenage girl.
  • Dangerously-Short Skirt: Never gets a Panty Shot, but she's still every bit as tough as the average Action Girl.
  • Facial Markings: Two little purple triangles, one under each eye.
  • Exotic Eye Designs: Her pupils are horizontal rectangles.
  • Gamer Chick: She likes playing them very much and is prety annoyed when she loses.
  • Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Does this after Yumeji starts blaming himself for Takateru's mind being completely consumed by Pharos.
  • Heartbroken Badass: When one misunderstanding almost gets Yumeji killed via Taking The Sword, Merry's rage is sufficient to cause her to Take a Level In Badass right then and there.
  • The Hero: Mostly by default, but she's pretty well-suited to the role.
  • In-Series Nickname: Yumekui Merry, of course.
  • Impossibly Cool Clothes: Her combination of coat and undershirt with a hat with ribbons on the side would be pretty impractical.
  • Lightning Bruiser: She is both fast and strong despie her diminutive figure.
  • Manic Pixie Dream Girl: She definitely manages to make Yumeji's life more interesting, although he wasn't quite an Ordinary High School Student to begin with.
  • Meido: Her work clothes.
  • Monster Roommate: Since she doesn't have a place of her own, staying with Yumeji and Isana is the obvious solution.
  • Ms. Fanservice: She wears thigh highs, has her belly button exposed, her skirt is so short you can see the outline of her femurs, wears a sleeveless top, and her undershirt exposes the lower side of her (flat) chest. And on top of all of it, the cover of volume 11 shows that her skirt is tight enough to expose the curve of her glutes.
  • Nice Hat: She almost never takes it off -- which is only to be expected, considering she was created by an author who used to be best known for Touhou doujinshi.
  • Pettanko: Despite her petite figure, she looks and acts much like the other high-school aged teenagers, putting her firmly into this territory.
  • Pointy Ears: Who denotes her inhuman true nature.
  • Security Blanket: In the first episode, she misplaces her hat, panics, and stumbles away from Yumeji mumbling "My hat, my hat, where's my hat..." When she later recovers it, she explains that she's just not comfortable without a hat on.
  • She Fu: Very fond of cartwheels.
  • Super Toughness: Dream Demons can be hurt, but they -- especially Merry -- can take a lot more punishment than ordinary humans. For example, there's a scene in the manga, where Merry, Yumeji, and a few others have stumbled into Maze's dreamspace, that involves Yumeji about to be hit by a robotic clown wielding a giant sledgehammer; Merry leaps in, takes the hit for him, and proceeds to beat the robot into scrap while shouting "THAT... FUCKING... HURT!!"
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Donuts. She adores them.
  • What Is This Thing You Call Love?: Claims not to understand love and other such human emotions.
  • You Gotta Have Indigo/Burgundy Hair (theatre)
  • Zettai Ryouiki: Wears grade S black and white stockings.

Isana Tachibana

Voiced by: Ai Kayano (JP), Brittney Karbowski (EN)

Isana is a childhood friend of Yumeji's, a fellow member of the Writing Club, and harbors strong feelings for him. She lives with her father and works at the family-owned Maid Cafe. She quickly befriends Merry, and it is hinted that she and Yumeji met her at some point in their childhood.

Tropes exhibited by Isana include:

Takateru Akiyanagi

Voiced by: Shinnosuke Tachibana (JP), Chris Patton (EN)

Another member of the Writing Club, reflected in his odd habit of composing haiku at random moments, often with completely mundane subjects. As the only other male member of the club, he is shown to be good friends with Yumeji, and there seems to be a budding romance between him and Saki. He's also the unwitting host to the Big Bad Pharos.

Tropes exhibited by Takateru include:

Saki Kirishima

Voiced by: Mariya Ise (JP), Shelley Calene-Black (EN)

A close friend of Yumeji and Isana and a fellow member of the Writing Club, she seems to be fascinated by Yumeji's ability to see into dreams. She is quite confident and outgoing most of the time, but notably becomes rather timid when she's alone with Takateru.

Tropes exhibited by Saki include:

Mei Hoshino

Voiced by: Natsumi Takamori (JP), Emily Neves (EN)

President of the Writing Club, and unwitting host to Chris Evergreen, one of the first Dream Demons that Yumeji and Merry encounter. Chris appears to her as a pen-pal who she only knows through text messaging. She dreams of becoming a novelist.

Tropes exhibited by Mei include:

Yui Kounagi

Voiced by: Tomoko Akiya (JP), Luci Christian (EN)

Yumeji and Merry first meet Yui at the supermarket, and soon discover that there is more to her than meets the eye (unless it's Yumeji's eye). She is the vessel of Engi Threepiece, but unlike possessed persons seen thus far, her relationship with her Dream Demon is a sisterly one of mutual respect.

Tropes exhibited by Yui include:

Engi Threepiece

Voiced by: Aya Endo (JP), Shannon Emerick (EN)

The first benevolent Dream Demon Yumeji and Merry meet. She came to the real world with the intention of hunting down Heracles, who brought her older sister Patty there and ended up killing her. She is currently inhabiting Yui's consciousness, with her permission.

Tropes exhibited by Engi include:

Chaser John Doe

Voiced by: Joji Nakata (JP), Chris Ayres (EN)

A mysterious cat-like Dream Demon that first appears to Yumeji through a recurring dream, having taken an interest in Yumeji and his ability. His intentions and loyalties remain unclear, and he refers to himself as an "ally of truth", but he has nonetheless become something of a mentor figure to Yumeji. He currently inhabits the body of a cat in the real world.

Tropes exhibited by Chaser include:

Pharos Heracles

Voiced by: Kenta Miyake (JP), David Matranga (EN)

The main antagonist, little is known about him except that he is rallying Dream Demons with the apparent intention of occupying the human world and supplanting the human population. John Doe speculates that this is probably not the full extent of his plan. His host is Takateru.

Tropes exhibited by Pharos Heracles include:
  • An Axe to Grind: His main weapon.
  • Big Bad: Apparently. Chaper 60 reveals this is no longer he case, and he was only a opportunist using the fact the gate between the real world and the world of dreams was open to invade and further his own cause.
  • Cheshire Cat Grin: Seems to be perpetually present.
  • Dark Messiah: Falls somewhere between this and The Antichrist.
  • Disc One Final Boss: He reveals afer being defeated he is far from the cause behind Merry being thrown into the real world.
  • Evil Laugh
  • Frozen Face / Perpetual Smiler
  • Implacable Man
  • Jerkass / Kick the Dog: Yeah, not like it wasn't completely obvious from the start, but after he takes over Takateru completely, he rubs Yumeji's face in the fact that, by keeping his promise not to use his "dream vision" on Takateru, Yumeji essentially let Pharos completely take over his host. Then he taunts Engi about how weak her sister was, stating that his fight with her was boring to the extreme.
  • Light Is Not Good: Frequently associated with light motifs.
  • Won't Work On Me: Ignores Engi's Storm of Blades attack like it was nothing.
  • Visionary Villain: Although he's carefully avoided telling his underlings his true purpose, this guy has a clear idea of what he wants to achieve and how he'll go about it. Said goal is to alter the conscious world so that Dream Demons can exist without host bodies.
  • With Us or Against Us: His general approach to recruiting.

Maze Landsborough

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino (JP), Greg Ayres (EN)

A notable recurring antagonist, and an underling of Heracles. While not the biggest direct threat, his tricks and creations can be quite dangerous on their own. Merry has sent him back to the Dream World.

Tropes exhibited by Landsborough include:
  • Cyclops
  • Dangerously Genre Savvy: He knows better than to enter the fray directly when he's much more effective at a distance. Later attacks Yumeji while he's developing Lucid Gadget, and even lampshades it by stating that only TV characters give their opponents the chance to prepare. It doesn't do him any good in the end, though.
  • Demonic Possession / Grand Theft Me: Unlike some of the more benevolent Dream Demons, he completely took over his host's body without permission. This eventually caused him trouble, since a host personality not given freedom once in awhile is liable to surface at exactly the wrong moments.
  • Dirty Coward: Once Merry and Enji get past his tricks, he's an easy target and most likely would've kicked his ass long ago. It's only because of his human host that they lay off from destroying him. Too bad for him, Merry found a way around this problem and locked the gate to their human hosts.
  • Exotic Eye Designs: His pupils resemble the Tick-Tack-Toe symbol.
  • For the Evulz: Enjoyed screwing with his host's everyday life and generally acting like a jerk.
  • Human Shield: Used his host -- more specifically, his host's hopes and dreams -- as a shield; having become the embodiment of his host's dreams, killing Landsborough would leave his host an empty shell.
  • Meaningful Name: Uses his power to trap people in a maze.
  • Monster Clown: Both himself and his mooks.
  • Squishy Wizard: By his own admission. Still claims to be tougher than ordinary humans, but Yumeji isn't an ordinary human.

Chain Noir

A Dream Demon who faithfully serves Heracles, she operated through the body of a girl named Minato, who Yumeji and Merry had previously saved from another Dream Demon. She works alongside Maze Landsborough to take down Yumeji and Merry, but they both end up getting sent back to the Dream World.

Tropes exhibited by Chain Noir include:

Kyou Shiragi

A Dream Demon who appears after Hercules' defeat to take back a part of the powers who he gave to him, and soon after goes to the real world with unknown objectives, pretending to be an average high-schooler.

  • Assimilation Plot: His final plan involves humans being assimilated by voids, dream demons without a shape, so humans can spend the rest of eternity with their dreams realized, without having to deal with harsh reality.
  • Bad Boss: Mistreats his maid Yae for no reason at all.
  • Big Bad: He gave Hercules' powers so he would cause havoc in the real world and causes several other problems directly or using underlings once he enters the real world.
  • Bishounen: Very pretty, what earns him lots of fangirls.
  • Full-Frontal Assault: Attacks Hercules in chapter 60 in the nude.
  • Half-Human Hybrid: Chapter 91 reveals thanks to an incident that happened ten years earlier, he and Yumeji exchanged arms, turning one partially human and the other partially nightmare.
  • I Let You Win: Let himself several openings in his plans because its no exactly him, but his instinct that drives his plot, so he did want to lose.
  • Utopia Justifies The Means: Makes several other nightmares join him by promising each one will rule over a world personalized to each one's wills.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Claims he just wants to fulfill mankind's dreams. Our heroes oppose him because his methods have several negative effects, from outright leaving victims without things to fulfill once their dreams are realized without effort, allow nightmares to attack freely, to turning them into static plants who would spent the rest of eternity dreaming.
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