Survival games have always been one of my favorite kinds of stories. I just love them. So naturally, when I heard about Mirai Nikki's premise, I was greatly looking forward to it. Unfortunately, after an excellent first episode, this series began to get worse and worse; by the end of it all, it had become nothing but a huge disappointment.
Let's begin with the positive aspects of this show. The art and animation in Mirai Nikki are, for the most part, rather good, but nothing very impressive. As for character designs, it's pretty hit-and-miss. Some characters look OK, while others are so ridiculous it makes the anime seem/feel less serious than it should be, which is NOT a good thing for a thriller/mystery.
The music is great. Most of the tracks are somewhat memorable and fit their scenes well. The OPs and EDs are also very nice, with the first OP being particularly awesome. I never skipped them. Voice acting-wise, everyone does a solid, consistent job, except for Yuno's seiyuu. I'm sorry, but her voice was annoying and hearing that infamous "Yukki!" every god damn minute was painful.
Now let's get to the bad stuff. While the premise is amazing, the story & script are very poorly written. Thing is, Mirai Nikki is a shounen trying (and failing) to be a seinen; thus, it lacks the maturity and depth needed to handle the kind of story it offers. Many questions are left unanswered, some of the writing choices are just plain stupid, half of the characters have a very low IQ and, for a mystery, there aren't that many twists, and those the anime DOES have are often predictable.
The whole concept of using Future Diaries to outsmart opponents in deadly, tense battles is BARELY explored, plus the battles themselves seldom involve complexity. When you've got tools as powerful as those, you'd think there'd be gambits just piling up on each other, but no. Many battles are over within a minute and are so basic it's insulting. Speaking of insulting, this show has a nasty tendency to have its world just forget about some of the big events related to the diary holders. Normally the media would be all over a series of bombings, massacres, etc... but here? Nah, it's just Tuesday again. It's astonishing how everyone can easily get away from anything.
Another problem with this anime is its bad habit of throwing in bits of humor in the middle of serious moments. It really kills the atmosphere and it's not funny. Even in the more lighthearted scenes it's not funny. Since we're talking about the atmosphere, have I mentioned that some details in crucial moments are overlooked, which obliterates the immersion? Empty hospitals, incompetent cops, silent bystanders...it's the little things that can make or break the mood. A shame, really, because the anime IS able to create a good, creepy atmosphere at times (ex.: the end of episode 3).
Remember what I said about there being a lot of predictable twists? I kinda lied. The biggest twist in the whole story, which unfolds in the last few episodes, took me by surprise. Did it make sense? Well, yes, at least until the anime began to blatantly make shit up on the spot. Did it answer a few questions? For sure. Did it raise even more questions - most of which remain unanswered - and present to us an INCREDIBLY STUPID twist later? OH YES.
Now for the worst part of it all. The characters. If you're already angry at me, stop reading because I will not be gentle.
For starters we have the male protagonist, Yukiteru (or just Yuki). This guy. Let me tell you something about this guy: he might just be one of the worst written characters I have ever seen. No hyperbole there. Not because he's a wimp 95% of the time - I can understand why. No-one normal would stay frosty after being dragged into a survival game full of maniacs. So why is he so bad then? It's because he's absurdly inconsistent. Most selective memory of all time, gullible when not paranoid (never with the correct timing), ability to forgive that defies common sense and, later on, he can't even settle on a personality (which seems to run in the family). Worst part is, his personality shift happens suddenly; he gets almost no development for 18 or so episodes then BAM! complete 180. If you're going to change a character's attitude, make sure it isn't baffling and that it sticks.
Then we have our female protagonist, Yuno, the main source of yandere-ness, fanservice and body bags. THE poster girl of Mirai Nikki, to the point where she may be more popular than the show itself - just look at how many favorites she has here at MAL. The creator knew of this, so s/he made her the most complex character in the whole cast and genuinely fun to watch. Unfortunately, that complexity only really shows up in the last few episodes, so until then she's pretty much a one note character - crush, kill, Yukki!. Moreover, the yandere trait eventually wears off, meaning she can get kinda annoying afterwards, even with all the carnage she provides. If it cannot wear off for you, then Mirai Nikki will be considerably more entertaining. Either way, Yuno was a hit-or-miss character for me.
The supporting cast - Yuki's friends and the other diary holders - is where it gets ugly. Out of the former group, the ONLY truly memorable character (and, might I add, one of the few characters in this anime that I liked) is the intelligent Akise. His personality and abilities are a perfect match for this kind of story, which is a shame because he didn't get enough screen time. The other three, despite getting some things accomplished, end up being inept at almost everything, to the point that Akise pretty much has to carry the team.
As for the other diary holders...just where do I begin? For starters, they're pretty much all insane or very dangerous individuals, except for maybe 2 of them; that alone raises a pretty important question: "why did Deus even consider letting one of those crazy bastards be his successor?". Another problem is that some may as well have "fodder" written on their foreheads: most don't even last for three episodes, plus they're lucky if they get a mediocre, unpolished back story full of cheap shocks to make you feel bad for them.
*SPOILERS PRESENT IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPHS* What kills me is that some of the diary holders are such piles of stupid writing it's absurd. I mean, one of them is a 5-year-old kid who's just as messed up as the others, somehow has access to stuff like toxic gas and who can formulate rather elaborate plans. Another is the mama bear of an orphanage composed of people who are willing to erase anyone for her - dressed as ninjas, no less. Yet another is a blind Power Rangers fanatic who dresses up as an eyeball (and who can somehow bring dolls to life. Never explained!) to fight crime. Remember, this anime takes itself seriously.
There's also the eleventh diary holder, the Hitler wannabe who gave Deus the idea for the diaries. Since the anime never even tries to further explore such an important character, allow me to ask some questions: how did he (or any of the diary holders) meet Deus? Why did Deus even listen to this obviously crazy man? Why future diaries, and not some kind of superpower? By the way, why is Deus decaying? What is MurMur's origin? Why did EVERY ONE of the diary holders only gun for Yuki? The questions pile up fast once the characters are taken into consideration.
Was there not a single diary holder that I liked? The answer is yes. That would be Minene, the ninth, the series' resident internationally wanted terrorist (at the tender age of 18. Seriously). She was pretty awesome and likable for most of her screen time, which made watching her turn into a textbook tsundere even more painful. And let's not talk about her ABSOLUTELY STUPID role in the final marathon of twists. *SPOILERS END HERE*
What about enjoyment? Believe me in this one: if you pay attention to the writing, Mirai Nikki will be painful. The mountain of questions, the absurd decisions that some of the characters make, etc...you just won't get a lot of breaks after the first few episodes. So what if you employ the good ol' "turn off your brain" strategy? It probably won't be all that enjoyable either. As I've said before, this is a shounen trying to be a seinen. You can just FEEL it try. And fail. I don't know about the rest of you, but that really kills the experience for me.
In conclusion, Mirai Nikki is a huge disappointment. Its messy story and weak characters are simply not fit for the genre it belongs to. Even if the art was OK, even if the soundtrack was great, even if the anime has its moments and holds the potential to be enjoyable should one ignore the writing issues, it simply does not live up to the hype. I'm probably gonna get lynched by its fanbase; however, I don't really care. I'm done. I needed to get this out of my system, and there it is.
Thanks for reading this review.
