In late 2000, after the disbandment of their bands After effect and Shiver respectively, vocalist Gara and guitarist Yuu, only briefly acquainted through a few live events, contacted each other in hopes of a fresh beginning.

In the following months of 2001, a series of meetings and discussions over the phone eventually led to the recruitment of the three other members, Tetsu, Nero and Kenichi in that order, and the five of them formed in October 2001 what was to be known as Merry today.

Following more live shows, the band created their own independent label Gekiyaku records and released their first maxi-single titled "Haikarasan ga tooru" in February.

In the same month the band were working on their first promotional video (PV) of "Violet Harenchi", which was then released on a DVD limited to the one-man live at Shibuya Koukaidou on 29 August.

In September Merry participated in a large-scale event, "Kingdom Rock Show 2004", held at the Nippon Budokan, performing beside major bands like Psycho le Cému, Janne Da Arc and Sex Machineguns.

March 2005 saw the release of "Sakashima End Roll ~The Phantom of the Gallery~", a brand new maxi-single and DVD on reverse sides of single disc – it was to be one of Japan's first titles on the new DualDisc formAt.

The sold-out and highly successful one-man live at Shibuya Koukaidou on 31 March saw the long-awaited announcement of the band's major contract with JVC's Victor Entertainment – home to artists such as Buck-Tick, Boøwy, Cali Gari, The Back Horn and Love Psychedelico – much to the tearful elation of loyal fans.

Fool's Mate published a pair of history books documenting the band's appearances in the magazine, coupled with long interviews and a special CD and DVD.

From July to August, Merry set out on their "Last Indies Tour", which finally culminated at the Hibiya outdoors music hall on 10 September – their first major one-man show.

Concert footage of the Hibiya live was later released on a DVD entitled Sci-fi Nu Chemical Rhetoric ~First Cut~, which similarly made it to the top of the charts.

On 26 May, Merry performed at the J-Rock Revolution Festival held in Los Angeles, America, alongside artists such as Mucc, Girugamesh and D'espairsRay.

Many prominent artists pay their tributes to the founder & front man of the influential 80s punk band, including Buck-Tick, Group Tamashii, Dir En Grey, Jun Togawa, Wagdug Futuristic Unity, Yuki etc.

Singer Gara discusses Japan's politics and societal issues with French reporter Mandah Frenot in an in-depth interview for VerdamMnis Magazine.

[12] Like many others, the members themselves were influenced by Japanese pioneer rock bands of the 80s and early 90s such as Buck-Tick, D'erlanger, Luna Sea, Kuroyume, The Blue Hearts and Boøwy.

The main songwriters are the two guitarists Yuu and Kenichi, the former writing majority of the slower, groovier songs and the latter composing faster, catchier melodies.

It was the time of avant-garde; industrialisation saw the introduction of jazz and blues to Japanese culture, bringing about the rise of music cafes, bars and clubs.

Lyrics-wise, vocalist Gara writes on a broad variety of topics, ranging from themes of war & patriotism (Rest in peace, Japanese modernist, 愛国行進曲 "Patriot march"), politics & society (迷彩ノ紳士 "Gentlemen in disguise", ニセモノ天国 "Fake heaven", Lost generation) to those of dreams, life, love and hate (窓 "Window", 恋愛交差点 "Intersection of love").

Some of these carry a retro feel in their imagery (黄昏レストラン "Sunset restaurant", 薔薇と片隅のブルース "Blues of the rose and corner", 東京テレホン "Tokyo telephone" and R-246), once again attributed to the influence of Taisho era romanticism.

Merry is most notably connected to the popular Dir en grey – the band's name never fails to appear in the "very special thanks" credits in every release.

Gara is also known to hold a lot of respect for Kiyoharu (solo artist and vocalist for Sads and Kuroyume) Horror punk band Balzac has also been very supportive of Merry.