Common Name: Merc Storia
Alternative Names: Merc Storia: Mukiryoku no Shounen to Bin no Naka no Shoujo, Merc Storia: The Apathetic Boy and the Girl in a Bottle
Score: 7/10, 3/5
Length: 12 Episodes
Genre: Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Super Powers, Supernatural, Magic, Romance
Summary: In a world where humans and monsters live side-by-side, there are those gifted with the ability to magically heal the hearts of monsters to maintain the balance. Yuu, a young boy who has grown apathetic to the world around him since his father went missing, is one such healer. Despite his desire not to put his skills to the test, though, due mainly to him also being afraid of monsters, he is still constantly pushed to improve by his one constant companion, a mysterious girl who lives in a glass bottle named Merc. Having no memories of who or even what she is, Merc is determined to see the world and get the answers to all her questions. Of course, Yuu wouldn't dream of letting her go off on her own. So, together with a pudgy carbuncle named Toto and a merchant named Jamo, the two set off on a journey to see the wonders their world and its countless unique countries have to offer.
Review: Based on a gatcha mobile game with a story that follows a similar storyline, it should come as no surprise that Merc Storia isn't necessarily the most original title to grace the anime world. There are most obviously a good number of plot points and ideas that this title cribs from other gatcha titles like Granblue Fantasy but with a few minor alternations to the formula. Though, to be fair, this game did come out a few months prior to Granblue, so it might be unfair to claim that this stole its ideas from the more successful property. The similarities between the two are uncanny, though.
Oh no, is this another one of those Pokemon vs. Digimon situations?
Unfair as it might be to compare these two titles, their similarities do make it a lot easier to digest what exactly this show has to offer. Firstly, there's the general setup of the series. Like Granblue, you have a pair of protagonists who are indelibly bound by fate to reach some vague, distant goal that may very well be impossible. One of these two is a boy who is ignorant of the world around him but has an urge to go out and see it, albeit a deeply repressed on in Yuu's case. The other is a mysterious and likely magical girl with no memory of who or what she is that serves as the boy's call to adventure. The only real difference is the tweaks in personality, design, and their role to the overall story. Yuu, for his part, is your standard protagonist character who tours the world doing good deeds for everyone he meets because it's in his power to do so. Specifically, as one of this world's mysterious and magically gifted "healers," he has the unique ability to calm, tame, and otherwise befriend monsters that he encounters. In other words, he is gifted with something similar to Lyria's ability to heal, befriend, and then summon the Primals that fill the world of Granblue Fantasy. In terms of personality, though, the only difference between him and Gran is that Yuu is a bit more childish and cautious toward his calling as the show's protagonist--especially at the beginning of the show when he's still dealing with his quickly forgotten fear of monsters.
Where most properties might see a horrifying abomination that wants to tear you limb from limb
this show sees poor, misunderstood little monsters who had their feelings hurt at some point and need some tender love and care. You know, so they'll stop wanting to tear you limb from limb.
As for the enigmatic slime girl who lives in a bottle, Merc, it's easy to peg the similarities between her and Lyria. Like the female lead of Grandblue, she suffers from a terrible case of "who and what am I" that leads her to rely on her male counterpart to help her get by until she finally remembers her past. Yet, rather than going on a journey to find some lost civilization that may or may not exist, Merc's journey is built primarily on the idea that touring various countries might spark her lost memories or that she'll just meet someone who knew her before she met Yuu. On that topic, Yuu's contribution to the overall goal of the journey is the exact same as Gran's: look after his combat-incapable partner and maybe find his long-lost dad who vanished when he was still a kid. Unlike Lyria, though, Merc oddly has an infinitely more compelling personality going for her. Rather than dealing with a dark past that is just as enigmatic as her powers, Merc isn't hampered by her lack of memories. Rather, she just tries to enjoy each and every day since every experience might as well be a first for her. Full of smiles, sass, and energy, she does a lot to keep things fun and engaging even when Yuu is in the middle of one of his tsundere hissy fits.
Look, I'm not saying I necessarily like her more than Yuu or even Lyria, but she's just too cute and endearing to be anything less than one of the show's biggest draws.
Now, as for the journey itself, it is, again, much of the same. Like Granblue, the primary conceit of this show is to have its main cast tour a wide variety of countries that all have some notable gimmick going for them that defines their isolated culture. Whilst in these countries, both Yuu and Merc stumble their way into helping solve a problem for the country or some specific member of that country that might then accompany them on their journey when they have the time. As far as the mobile game is concerned, the execution is even exactly the same in that you build a party out of people the player characters have met and helped in some way and then use them to battle and pacify any monsters that'll inevitably trouble the party. For the show, though, none of the people helped ever actually join Yuu or merc on their journey beyond the story in their country. Despite that little bit of inconsistency between the show and the game it is based on, the show does still make it perfectly clear that Yuu and Merc are fostering friendships that could easily lead to that end.
And just like Granblue, some of those friendships are given a more romantic lean to them. At least it's a little less awkward this time around since Yuu and Merc aren't literal soulmates with romantic feeling for one another like Gran and Lyria
Rather than just featuring three or four different countries with entire arcs dedicated to them, like in Granblue, Merc Storia offers almost double that, spending no more than 2 episodes on any one country. Rushed as this format might feel at times, it does work to set it apart from other shows like it since it makes it something you can more easily sit back and enjoy. The characters for each nation might be fairly basic for this limitation but they ultimately still reach the same level of complexity you'd see from any individual character story in Granblue. Every character is built on some particular gimmick or trope that has served the industry well over the years, leaving staff to work more on appealing character designs which this show has in spades. It might be easy to just dismiss every country for its adherence to a specific theme, but the designs overall are as colorful and fun as they are cute and accessible to a large audience. Uruka Village, for instance, might just be your hyper-basic village town at the edge of a woodland region full of dog-eared people, but the characters themselves have enough going for them that they can be entertaining in spite of being formulaic. Harsh, for one, is engaging as the town's leader who is forced to pose as a boy to further emphasize her strength and discourage any neighboring animal-person tribes that might threaten her home. On the same token, Lily is a fairly well-constructed character that has a lot to offer as she tries to weight the costs and benefits of an arranged marriage with Harsh (believing her to be the man) that would protect her own village. Taken yet another step further as Harsh's true nature is learned and the feelings of Lily's toxicly masculine guard are taken into account and you have a solid story that only needs one episode to express everything it needs to.
Pair that with those adorable character designs and you've got the beginnings of a legitimately good kids' show, aka "Baby's First Fantasy Anime."
Where Merc Storia really shines, though, is the countries that get two episodes to develop their cast and country into something I'd go so far as to call "great." For instance, the Halloween-themed town is given plenty of time to work through the mechanics of both a real country with a depressing but understandable obsession with death and its imaginary world where dreams come true. It isn't so much the nature of these two different but connected worlds that makes this pair of episodes interesting, though, so much as what they have to offer their characters. Namely, the manner in which these worlds mend the relationship between a father and daughter who have grown apart as they each grieve the loss of a beloved wife and mother is nothing short of heartwarming and tear-jerking when all is said and done.
This show really knows how to get the waterworks going when it wants to.
More to the point, these paired episodes allow the show to really stretch its narrative limbs and experiment with what it can do. One such paired arc features a nation of bird people who revel in song to the point that one's ability to sing determines their worth, which can simultaneously help and harm the nation's citizens. Offering yet another tale of romance, a la Phantom of the Opera, this story offers a lot to digest as it tackles everything from the loss of freedom in a meritocracy to the cost of pride and the power of love to overcome all those things. Yet, to flesh out this story more and add color to this song-obsessed country and it's people, these paired episodes feature several operatic musical numbers that are utterly captivating. Both in terms of what they add the story as well as their overall quality, they made this country and its characters my absolute favorite in the entire series.
Sure, it's still a little heavy-handed and obvious, but at least it offers a ton of character beyond
the standard "boy gets a makeover to impress the girl he likes" story. Here's hoping this video upload actually works.
At its core, Merc Storia is a very basic and derivative work that takes a lot of its ideas from very basic character concepts and time-tested tropes. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Basic as it might be, it shows a lot of thought and creativity blended into the mix. Each and every story has something to like about it even though it was constructed from what might as well be a beginners guide to fantasy storytelling. In terms of quality, that means it regularly fluctuates between being aggressively average and jaw-droppingly amazing. The one thing that holds all these stories together, though, is definitely the consistently great execution. The character designs, art, and animation do wonders to make this fluffy, episodic kids' show a joy to watch. The bright, warm colors make it a veritable feast for the eyes. Pair that with the magnetic personalities of both Yuu, after he's started to act like the protagonist he is, and the quirky Merc, and you have what boils down to an honestly good show. It might not be for everyone since it's obviously targeted at younger kids. For anyone who wants a nice, warm, fluffy show to just sit back and enjoy without much thought, though, you can't get much better than this explosion of cute and colorful fun.