Ranked #163

Mirai Nikki (Manga)

One of the most interesting and best supernatural mangas around right now I'd have to say. It starts with what seems like a high school manga with what seems to be psychological elements but soon turns into a supernatural survival where anyone could be a possible enermy and trust becomes a hinderence.

The plot is great and the art is good but what really get you sucked in is the characters of the 12 diary holders, including the two main characters and the battle scenes between the diary holders. Though these aren't typical battle scenes of swords and the like you usually see, rather these are battles of smarts and stratergy with thier future diaries as weapons and "followers" as thier soldiers. Also, one gets a feeling that the main characters are not at all invincible and have just as much chance as getting killed as thier opponents, though Yuno, stalker of Yuki and the 2nd diary holder is a monster even among the sadisctic murderers that are the 10 other diary holders.

The characters of the manga vary, from the cowardly and self loathing Yuki to the manipulative and complex 4th diary holder Keigo Kurusu. It seems as though each diary holder has had life problems making them the way they are, although some are not revealed and each has a reason for killing the others and becoming God and many seem almost psychotic. Yuno the 2nd, is one of these who is obsessed and devoted to protecting and saving Yuki. She's not at all effected by killing others except him and has incredible battle capabilities. However Yuki, the main character is quite the opposite. Too scared to fight, dosn't have much skill or strength and trusts too much in other people. Thier future diaries in a way reflect them as Yuno's diary consists only of the future events surrounding Yuki, and Yuki's consists of much information on the future but none about himself.

I gave the manga an overall 10 simply because I genuinly think it's one of the best supernatural mangas around with complex characters and plots, it leaves the generic and bland like Shonen mangas in the dust.

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This manga tells the story of Amano Yukiteru, a social outcast who records everything he sees in his cellphone. Out of desperation, he has generated an imaginary friend to accompany him, Deus Ex Makina, the lord of time and space. Deus, who sympathize with the boy decided to give him the his cellphone's an ability to foresee the records that he will make on the future. Little did Yukiteru know, that comes great power, comes another eleven Diary Holders(people who have the ability to predict the future) who can do the same thing. To Yukiteru's dismay, this is the beginning of a horrific game.

And to top it all off, each diary holder has a different prediction of the future.
Yuno, Yukiteru's mentally demented stalker, has the prediction to see what happens to Yuki in every ten minutes and the rest(dont wanna spoil it).
If you wanna get a better idea on what Mirai Nikki is, then think of it as the offspring of Battle Royale and Death Note.

Mirai Nikki is a genuinely chilling dissection of how willpower can alter fate itself.
In my opinion, Mirai Nikki emphasises how small the characters are and how oppressed they are within their surroundings. It tells us how trust is even better than predicting the future, as the future is not always what it seems to be.

This is no ordinary shounen, but one that aspires to be an epic, and it definitely is for the genre. It is the overall experience of, Mirai Nikki, however, that makes it such a great manga. The slow pace at the start is actually an asset, because it gradually grows momentum as Yukiteru discovers the real reason behind the future diaries, until the manga totally takes off in it's main premise and turns into a fun house of horrors.

It is deliberately paced, but endlessly creepy, horrifying manga. Suspense is a key element in the manga. There is a sense of walls closing in, something approaching, getting closer and closer. An atmosphere of deep foreboding emanates from each diary holder, unaware of what each identity and motive are, it is disturbingly stirring for both Yuki and the reader.

The art is not really appropriate to the cold and oppressive mood this manga intended it to be but then again, so as most horror manga's. The style is vagrant, it can convey the situation very clearly and the captions are simply oozing with palpable texts. The suffering of each diary holder is also depicted exemplary not to mention the bloody good morbidity.

Mirai Nikki is also very much thought-provoking. It is also a manga not easy to forget, and proves that when done well enough, and with a great deal of care, a horror, psychological manga can rise to a plane all its own. This manga is still publishing and so far, it hasnt lost its touch......yet.

I am deeply impressed with the scare it gave me and even the meticulous but sometimes over the top, psychological warfare of the Diary Holders. I recommend it to anyone who wants either horror or psychological without reservation. read more