Yumeji Fujiwara

"I'll borrow it! Lucid Gadget! (insert Dream Demon title)"

- Yumeji Fujiwara

Yumeji Fujiwara is the main protagonist of Yumekui Merry. He is a high school student, and ten years ago, he received the ability to perceive the aura of people's dreams which allows him to predict what kind of dreams they will have.

Appearance
He has dark colored hair that has a hair antenna.

Personality
Yumeji is a lazy, yet strong-willed and determined person with a heart of gold who is always ready to help others. He is also a member of a writing club at his high school and is a big fan of the superhero called Guricho. He meets Merry when she falls on top of him as he comes back from his errands, and together, they enter a daydream, a dream that occurs in full daylight. He has firmly decided to help Merry get back to the Dreamworld, even though she is not convinced at the beginning, but they soon end up becoming very good friends.

History
Not much is known about Yumeji's past. When he was younger, he often stayed at the Tachibana's home when his parents go off to work. This is how he came to know Isana, her dad and her mother Ayumi when the latter was still alive.

One time during his stay (10 years before the start of the series), he appeared at the Gate of the Realms in the Dreamworld when he fell asleep while watching a Forward Man video and met a Dream Demon named Merry Nightmare. Merry tried to tell him about the Dreamworld and Reality but didn't get it at first, thinking he was kidnapped. After explaining again and introducing herself as the gatekeeper, she notes that he shouldn't be at the Gate and that he is the first human she ever met but he wasn't paying attention and was instead stacking the keys that were lying around. Yumeji was berated by Merry for moving the keys from their place. As he watched her place them back where they belong, he was amazed that she knew where each of them were suppose to be.

Yumeji then formally introduced himself and asked to be friends with her. He guesses that he is in an alternate dimension and gets excited. As Merry tries to tell Yumeji how to get back to the Real World, he grips her right wrist and drags her off to explore. After a bit, they come across a Dream Demon's door and Yumeji wants to peek inside but Merry adamantly tells him not to since she is the only one who can safely touch the doors and doesn't know what would happen if a human touched one. Yumeji relents since heroes shouldn't make girls cry and the return to the Gate.

Back at the Gate, Yumeji questions Merry if she is stuck here and she explains that is the Gatekeeper. He wonders who told her to do this job, whether it was her parents or teacher. She explains that Dream Demons don't have those and it was her role ever since she existed. After a brief pause, he tells Merry that since his parents are always working, he is the person left in-charge of the house but he often goes to Isana's dad's place and have fun. He asked her if she is not lonely an she tells him that thought never crossed he mind. Yumeji takes her word and since he doesn't want to disturb her job anymore and excuses himself by pinching himself awake.

The next time he fell asleep, he meets Merry again surprising her. Merry asked him to tell her about his world which he does. He tells her about donuts and cola which made her want to try them. He also tells her about his favorite hero at the time, Forward Man.

After a while, they were sky gazing at the floating doors, Merry pointed out a door ("Pharos" Hercules' door) which seemed to be getting nearer to other doors but Yumeji can't tell. Merry wonders aloud if the positions of the doors are changing bit by bit. Yumeji takes that as it is time for Merry to do her job and begins to excuse himself. Before waking himself, Merry asked if he could come see her again which he affirms saying that they are friends.

The next time he slept and returned to the Dreamworld, he apologizes for forgetting to bring his Forward Man mask but then sees Merry leaned over her pile of keys and asked what was wrong. She turns her head and he gets startled by her dreadful face. Merry tells him that one of her keys was missing. She panics that with out the key the Dream Demon can't summon a human to it's yard. Yumeji asked why it was bad and Merry explains that if a human doesn't go to a Dream Demon's yard, the Dream Demon would die. Merry then accuses him of taking it which he tells her he didn't. After a bit of arguing, Yumeji then runs of to find the key.

After awhile he found the key in front of the door that they first stopped at when he first came. Suddenly a giant white rabbit Dream Demon came out of the door and grabbed Yumeji. The rabbit invites Yumeji into his home to eat carrots but Yumeji exclaims that he wants tomatoes and hates carrots. The last thing angered the rabbit and was about to punish Yumeji but then Merry came. Yumeji then sees the rabbit slam his fist where Merry was which made him think the rabbit crushed her. Before the rabbit pulled Yumeji in, he saw the other doors and decided to bring in the ones beyond them to also eat carrots. Yumeji yells at him that he would get in trouble if he touched them without permission. The rabbit asked who's permission which then Merry appears standing on the rabbit's door archway and proclaim that he needed her's. The rabbit then puts Yumeji down after putting together that Merry was the Gatekeeper from seeing the key she summoned to her hand and the many doors. The rabbit apologizes and explains himself, that he didn't mean any harm which Merry tells him not to do it again before he retreats back into his yard.

He voluntarily became the vessel to Merry Nightmare. He would lose some memories and the event changed him.

When he was seven he discovered that he could see the aura of what a person's dream would be. With Isana's help, he tested and experimented it to find out what is what.

In middle school, he became friends with Takateru Akiyanagi. One time he wanted to view Takateru with his "dream vision" but Takateru didn't want it and Yumeji promised him not to do so anymore. He also met Takateru's sister Mizuki Akiyanagi around this time.

When he entered in high school, he and Takateru became members of the Writing Club, meeting the club leader Mei Hoshino. Around this time he also met fellow club member Saki Kirishima who became intrigued with his ability.

Just before the summer break of his second year of high school, the Writing Club decided that they will review his own written story when they return from break. During the break, he had writer's block and began having dreams of being chased by cats making him a bit tired in the day. During this time, with Isana and her dad they visited Ayumi's grave.

Plot
Yumeji Fujiwara/Manga Plot|Manga Yumeji Fujiwara/Anime Plot|Anime

Physical Attributes
He is an average strength human. When he was younger he used to skateboard.

Dream Powers
He is able to see what kind of dreams another person will have when he makes a ring with his fingers and looks through them. Different colors he sees determine what dreams will occur although it's only effective 30% of the time. However, black auras have a 100% chance of nightmares. Yet when he tries to look at Dream Demons such as Merry, they are perceived as transparent (having no aura). It is unknown if he still retains this ability at the end of the manga, after he returned his borrowed arm to Kyou and he used the last ounce of Lucid Gadget's power to give Merry a proper send off before she returned to the Dream World.

Yumeji also has the ability to use a Dream Demon's signature ability, which he names "Lucid Gadget"; and whenever he uses it, his right eye's pupil copies the shape of the corresponding Dream Demon's pupil. As of chapter 88, Yumeji's Lucid Gadget has reached a new state of power allowing him to actually transfer the dream demon of another vessel into himself, which means he can fully copy the entire power of any dream demon instead of just a weaker copy/duplicate of it.

After being forced to watch Merry get beaten up and not being able to do anything to stop it, Yumeji reveals an entirely new power altogether- "Lucid Install", which physically transforms him into the dream demons themselves instead of merely borrowing or transferring their powers into himself. When he enters this state, his right side takes the form of an infinite, and when he has the power of a dream demon, his left eye copies the shape instead.

This grants him all the same strengths and status as the actual dream demons, and even allows him to transform into entirely new forms, such as Pharos Hercules. There doesn't seem to be any current limitation to who he can transform into, the only requirements he knows are the nightmares.

Show/Hide table

Finally, Yumeji was able to summon John Doe and his cat army during the battle against "Chain" Noir, briefly showing the possession of a key-ring similar to Merry's. "Chain" Noir describes this power as the ability to connect the dream worlds of two different Dream Demons, an ability also shared by Hercules.

It is interesting to note that (so far) Yumeji seems to only be able to use his abilities with his right hand, the same hand that Merry has her scar on, which is also the same hand Yumeji had injured when catching Isana at the playground when they were children. In addition, Kyo Shiragi also has a scar on his right hand, which he appears to have used to send a Dream Demon inside of Sakagami. This is because he lost his original arm when he tried opening a Dream Demons door, and gained the power of the dream world when his arm was reformed afterward.

Also, Yumeji is able to enter Daydreams even if he is not a Dream Demon, nor possessed by a Dream Demon. Later in the manga series, John Doe points that this should be impossible and questions Yumeji's humanity.

Yumeji is immortal so long as Kyō Shiragi exists, because he is spiritually and physically connected to him due to the fact his original right arm is now a part of Shiragi.

Yumeji has his own Garden, and finally, summons it when fighting Hercules. It is shown to contain a moon, the same as Engi, likely as he used her Garden as a reference.

Merry Nightmare
Yumeji and Merry have a very strong relationship. When they first met in the present, Yumeji offered to help her get back to the dream world. At first, she refused, but as time passed they became really close. Merry sees Yumeji as a person pulling her hand when she needs help. He always encourages Merry when she is in depression. It is also confirmed that they have known each other before when they were kids.

Isana Tachibana
Yumeji and Isana are childhood friends who are like brother and sister. Yumeji always looks for support in Isana. When they were little, they would always help each other. Although Isana gets mad at Yumeji for peeking into the bath when she is taking a shower. When Isana became a dream demon's vessel, Yumeji was desperate to save her dream. After he and Merry revealed the existence of dream demons to her, he became more comfortable talking about it to her.

Takateru Akiyanagi
Yumeji and Takateru are best friends. Yumeji was much reproached for not having been able to prevent Takateru has been possessed by Heracles, but is determined to save him.

"Chaser" John Doe
Their relationship started very antagonistic with John trying to take Yumeji as a vessel. After John failed due to Merry's interference, John monitors Yumeji and watched over him when he was injured by Engi. John would often give Yumeji advice to help him.

Pharos Hercules
Yumeji's arch-nemesis. He is the exact opposite of Yumeji. Yumeji relies on trickery while Hercules uses brute force. Hercules considers Yumeji as his elder brother due to sharing the same source of their powers.

Trivia

 * It is questioned whether Yumeji is a human or a dream demon until Clione reveals he is both.
 * Yumeji is revealed to have the same energy signature as Heracles (sound is matched by Clione).
 * His zodiac sign is Cancer.
 * An ongoing gag is that Yumeji always walks in on Isana when she's taking a bath unintentionally
 * Years ago, when Yumeji explained his ability to read auras to his friends, Takateru asked him to never read his aura, since he found the idea disturbing. Yumeji accepted and is still keeping his promise, thus making Takateru his only close friend he is not checking for signs of Dream Demon possession.

Quotes

 * A black aura is the mark of a nightmare. Only that is 100% accurate.
 * Thanks for your invitation, huh? Chaser... John Doe. (to John Doe)
 * What are they? Dream and Reality. Merry. All I can be sure of is that she saved me. If that's the case, then, this time, it's my turn. Isn't that how it works?
 * I don't know what I can do. Nevertheless, I want to help her.
 * The dreams we see while we're asleep actually come from a parallel world. And are the beings that live there trying to use our bodies to come here? It still doesn't feel real to me, but I have to look for her.
 * I'll borrow it! Lucid Gadget!!