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dream eater merry review

90

Episode #90

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The Cracked out Con Episode!

Episode 90: (Right Click and “Save Target As” to Download)

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– Opening –

Opening Song:

Masterpiece from the anime Yu-Gi-Oh Zexial by the artist Mihimaru GT

New Forum Members:

Sorraia, Asgeras, Mystix, Roarkyo, Linyuab12, Glomag, Luluxiu, and AyumuHunter

Trivia

Answer to Trivia: Madoka Magika

People who got it correct: Dramaticpaws, thaivun, GNDM-Exia, Asgeras, Grisly Bear, Bravogangus, and Soulrogue

Winner for the week: Grisly Bear

Happy Birthday To: Irish Otaku, Princess Buba, Nanashi, Great Teacher Tonizuka, and Mentosnotmental

The A.A.A. Mailbag

Submitted by: Zcomix

Question: 

Hey guys, love the podcast! i got a quick Question for you! in alot of
animes i’ve watched the protagonist has a major decision in which the
outcome is debated over throughout the entire series. Sometimes in
anime like Futakoi, a harem about a boy and a group of twins who like
him, the series ends with an open ending where their is really no
resolution. how do you guys feel about open ended animes? personally
they make me a little sad and frustrated because i never really got a
resoultion to the plot. thanks for reading and keep doing what you do!

Supercon Update:

The con went well, we met some great forum members at the table and look forward to future cons.  Thank you so much to the supercon staff who welcomed us and who helped us and hooked us up.  You guys were great and the con was a lot of fun!

Console Alliance:

We joined Console Alliance (www.consolealliance.com) for their Voice Over show, so check them out!

 

– News Break –

 

– Main Topic –

Our top and not top 10 for Anime Conventions.  Note: We enjoy all anime cons we go to and the pros always outweigh the cons.  We’re just tired and slightly cracked out so we just have fun with it.  Also this episode is slightly more explicit.

Top 10:

  1. Meeting awesome forum members
  2. Interviewing Awesome people like Steve Blum or Melissia Fahn
  3. The pervs at the con who buy Kimiko’s stuff
  4. Really great cosplayers who are also cool people
  5. Really helpful Con Staff
  6. Finding something you CANNOT live without and at a good price in the dealer’s room
  7. People who are understanding at panels, have a good sense of humor, and are interactive (Like saying Sega at the same time)
  8. When people recognize you in (obscure) cosplay and want to take photos with you
  9. When you go outside the con in cosplay, in a group, and everyone is like “WTF?!”
  10. Being accepted for your anime addiction by a large group

Added later: Companies who come to the con and give out tons of free stuff

Not Top 10:

  1. Very large people who smell AWFUL
  2. People who are disrespectful of the area and others
  3. People who trash the place with food, actual trash or themselves, I.E. ConRats
  4. When basic utilities and other basic structural aspects to the convention center don’t work or fail
  5. When carpets in hallways smell like urine and/or mold
  6. Bad Convention Layout
  7. People who want your stuff and lie!
  8. People that don’t get the hint
  9. Poorly Organized Cons and the jerks who don’t show up to do their panels
  10. When it rains at cons

 

– News Break –

 

– Reviews –

Ano Hanna – Kimiko – 5/5

Yumekui Merry  – Chiaki – 2.5/5

San Juu-sai no Hoken Taiiku – Mitsugi – 3/5

 

– Closing –

Closing Song:

Boku Quest from the anime Yu-Gi-Oh Zexial by the artist Golden Bomber

yumekui merry

Yumekui Merry

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Alternate Titles: Dream Eater Merry

Original Japanese Release Date: 2011

Episode Length/Run-time: 13 Episodes

Summary:

Fujiwara, a stereotypical good-hearted yet slightly oblivious high school boy, possesses the ability to see people’s “Dream-auras,” a colored haze surrounding a person which indicates the type of dream which they will have.  One day he meets Merry, a dream demon who is looking for a way to get home.  They end up teaming up as Merry enters his daydream and saves him from his own dream demon who was seeking to possess his body and enter into the human world.  The effort to return Merry home soon becomes locked in struggle against the dream demon Engi, who seeks to destroy others.

Review:

Dream Eater Merry is based off a manga which began back in 2008. It currently has 6 volumes and is still ongoing.  As a result the series suffers heavily from two main things.  One, operating from a story that has yet to reach a conclusion and likely won’t for some time (like a FMA versus Brotherhood situation).  And Two, as a byproduct of one, being far too short.

This anime is one that could have easily been great.

The animation alone is a notch above the rest, even among modern animation standards.  Everything flows smoothly and fight sequences are animated flawlessly.  But high-gloss colors and quality movement is a dime-a-dozen now a days.  What really takes Yumekui Merry above and beyond is the camera angels.  Shot like a high-quality cinematic film the angle for the images is used in both artistic and creative ways.  The style of art is a cross between dream-like and surreal.  Painting an astounding picture of each original dreamscape.

What further improves the atmosphere is the music.  Dreamlike, whimsical, and sometimes haunting the music of this show is fantastic.  A perfect example of how you don’t need a full blasting orchestra to create fitting and evoking music.

So right now, this anime is at a 5/5. Unfortunately, it was doomed to failure from the beginning.

The anime, as mentioned before, is only 13 episodes long.  This is not nearly long enough for this series.  The first arc focuses on establishing Merry and Fujiwara’s relationship and overcoming his demons.  Now about one third of the way through the series the focus shifts to returning Merry back to the dreamland.  In comes a slew of interesting characters and dream demons, a number of battles, and a thickening plot.  Each character begins to get fleshed out with decent back story and elaboration on the important parts.  Some more would’ve been nice and had it been longer we would’ve had the chance, but we didn’t.  Then around episodes 9 and 10 the creators went “oh shit, we have to finish this” and employed an arc that wasn’t even in the original manga.  As a result the story seems to jump from this careful development phase to a thrown together ending which feels forced and awkward, despite answering the necessary questions.

The premise of the story is cool, really cool, this connection between dreams and reality.  But the fact is they execute it poorly.  They don’t have nearly enough time to both set up this elaborate world, flush out the characters, and unravel the plot before the ending is upon the series.  As a result, it’s just about average.