Mirai Nikki (TV)

This is the first anime review I've ever written, so hopefully everything will turn out ok. Any feed back would be appreciated as long as its constructive ;)

This review won't contain any spoilers.

What would you do if you had something that told you the future? If you already had all the answers for an upcoming test, or knew how to avoid bully's on the way home from school? What about if it told you were going to die?

Mirai Nikki is a brilliant mix of a Psychological Thriller, Action, and Romance. Yuki is a boy who gains the ability to read the future ... through his personal diary, which is awesome until he finds out that there are 11 other people who also have their own diary's and are his opponents in a competition to become a god. But thats not all bad, he happens to have someone to protect him. Enter Gasai Yuno, a cute girl who goes to Yuki's school. She also has a future diary, and it turns out she has a bit of a crush on Yuki.... and is an insane psychopathic stalker, or Yandere if you will. The story follows these two as they try to survive in the killing game they've been placed in.

Personally, i think the anime is a 10/10, but for this review i gave it a 9 because of a few small problems in the story.

Story 9 - The story of Mirai Nikki is at its core a Romance, though its so much more than that as well. It explores how ones actions and willpower can change the future and how good people can do go insane or do terrible things because of traumatic experiences. The pacing is fairly fast, but not forced, even when there's no intense action going on, you find yourself on the edge of your seat knowing that an enemy could pop up at any time. I experienced all sort of emotions throughout the anime, fear, happiness, excitement, sadness.The shock value was insane. My reason for a 9 instead of a 10 was that some of the things that happen in the anime are soo over the top ridiculous and unbelievable that i just couldn't reasonably give it a perfect score and that some of the things that happen in the last few episodes get a bit out of hand, you'll see what i mean when you watch it.

Art 10 - Don't know what all there is to say about the Art. It's not the best ive ever seen, but there's no problems with it. The action scenes are fast paced and well animated and the characters all look fine. I see no reason to dock an anime points unless the animation is so miserable that it has negative effects my viewing experience, and one of my favorite animes is Berserk, which is terribly animated.

Sound 10 - The Opening and ending themes are fantastic, and go along perfectly with the anime. The first opening theme is my favorite song of all of them and does a perfect job of maintaining the feel of the anime. The music generally goes very well with the scenes that its played over, especially when Yuno does something awesome.

Character 10 - I would rate this higher if possible. The characters is where Mirai Nikki truly shines. Yuki is a kind of a wimp who has to rely on others to protect him, and ive seen plenty of people complain about this, but in all honesty i think that makes the anime so much better. He's a 14 year old boy thrown into a battle royal with people trying to kill him, I would probly be a bit of a wimp if that happened to me too. He's forced to seek aid from and rely on others in order to survive. And he isnt without redeeming moments either. All the side characters are well developed and have their pasts and motives explained in the story and a few of them are just plain awesome. All that being said, the part of this anime that got me hooked, and the reason its become one of my favorites of all time, is the female lead Gasai Yuno. She's incredibly cute, and incredibly psychopathic, and the perfect yandere. Shes also one of the most unique characters I've ever seen in an anime. Most of the psychological thrills stem from trying to figure out what the heck shes going to do next. At one moment your scared of her, another you can't help but smile at how cute something she does is, then you notice the knife in her hand and your scared of her again. Sometimes you want her to do something insane and at others your shocked about something insane shes doing. She's the selling point on the entire anime for me.

Enjoyment 10 - I couldn't stop watching Mirai Nikki, i watched it over the span of 2 days. And spent the entire day at work the second day anticipating what would happen in the anime after i got home. I have yet to watch an anime that kept me on the edge of my seat to such an extent as Mirai Nikki.

Overall 9 - Mirai Nikki is a great and unique story, the characters are excellent especially Yuno, who is one of the most unique characters ive ever seen in an anime. Mirai Nikki is certainly worth giving a shot.

I basically had went to the trouble of signing up an account for myanimelist.com just to write this positive review for Mirai Nikki after watching episode 5.

Like the synopsis said this is a psychological thriller, with murders, gore, sins and some demented killers.

However unlike most thrillers the story is extremely good, the characters are all very unique, each with deep, well developed personalities that are slowly revealed to the viewer as they watch more and more episodes of the series. Its a mechanic that makes shows very addictive to watch, just like how you want to spend more time with your date as they ... reveal more and more nuggets about their interesting personality.

Story 10 - Story is amazing, the first 5 to 10 minutes of the first episode was pretty typical, and it was deceiving (in a good way) because the story quickly ramped up and starts to deliver. Every time I watch an episode it delivers something new and unexpected, like a plot twist, or a revelation about the certain existing characters. And every time these plot twists had me wide eyed in pleasant surprise, thinking "Wow this is so cool!" or something like "OMG, holy S*&t! I didn't expect this!"

Art 8 - Art is decent i guess, the action sequences are well done, but pale in comparison to this season's "Guilty Crown" for action. Overall art is 8 as I compared it with last season's artistic masterpiece "Hanasaku Iroha" , which the art was so good for a weekly anime series that I believed it set a new benchmark for artistic quality in weekly anime.

Sound 8 - The music (OP and ED) are decent, they wisely avoided sound during some of the intense, dark & scary moments where they let the suspense and fear build up in the viewers.

Characters 10 - Characters are fantastic, awesome for an anime (or manga). Each and every starring character had unique personalities that are uncommon to the typical person. I am only at episode 5 of the anime and I have never seen such a demented and crazy cast. Only the main character Yukiteru-Kun seems the most normal, but even he has his fears and complexes that makes him withdrawn. The best thing about the characters is that the story only reveals small nuggets of their personality and motive every now and then as you keep watching the series. This means that the uniqueness and most likely, the demented craziness of each character drives the storyline further and further as each character's motives are revealed.
Best thing is that most of the time you don't expect the revelations made about these characters, giving you a "wow" moment and surprises you with a plot twist.
An yea, many reviewers give props to "Yuno" the other main character of "Mirai Nikki". And I agree, a pretty girl who has a hidden killer personality, stalks the lousiest loser in school like the most diligent killers in slasher movies, and hacks and slashes everyone else with a handaxe. How cool is she! She stays a mystery and keeps viewers wanting to see more and more of her real motives, personality and her backstory.

Enjoyment 9 - I would give this a 9.5 if they allowed it in the ratings system. After watching 1 episode of "Mirai Nikki" at a random anime livestream channel it drove me to find and watch all the other existing episodes and wait fervently for the release of the latest ones. Only thing is that I probably can't have a good appetite while eating and watching this anime, due to the gore :)

Overall 9 - Again I would give Overall a 9.5 rating if allowed, "Mirai Nikki" has a great plot. A psychological thriller with gore is not your typical anime. Most of the time anime makers would turn away from such bloody twisted story for the fear of censorship and lack of young viewers. However "Mirai Nikki" is a great watch for anyone above 16. Everybody can enjoy the suspense of a good thriller and be hooked to the various character developments and plot twists. I would easily rate this anime as my choice for anime of the year 2011. Basically if you are even reading this review, find a way to watch the show by any means possible, yes it is that good, enjoy "Mirai Nikki" :)

DEAD END. You are facing your inevitable demise. But you possess a Future Diary, allowing you to evade death. However, other holders will be after your life to win Deus Ex Machina's twisted game and to become the next god. But don't worry. Gasai Yuno will protect you...

Mirai Nikki is an extremely excellent anime that does a fantastic job of incorporating the "Battle Royale" atmosphere and creating the perfect yandere. The storyline was complex and well-structured, almost flawless. It does well as a psychological thriller, weaving intense situations and suspenseful moments into an intricate pattern.

Story (10):

It is interesting how the director and character designer of ... Shuffle! were able to string Esuno Sakae's manga into an exceptional storyline. The story itself may sound a bit odd at first (diaries that predict one's future events), but its compelling components such as the prize, becoming a god to replace Deus Ex Machina, the absolute god of time, definitely justify the method of portraying the story in an uncommon manner. With diary holders trying to kill each other in greed for power, the content of Mirai Nikki is dark; much blood and gore is spilled in the survival game. To a person who enjoys "kill or be killed" style plots or psychological thrillers, such as myself, Mirai Nikki would be very appealing because of the intense survival game and dramatic focus on the character's mental state rather than the physical world.

Artwork (8):

Nothing much needs to be said about the artwork. Although the artwork and animation was good, without anything to complain about, it was not as extravagant as Guilty Crown and not as creative as Bakemonogatari. The animation is violent with much blood and gore spilled; it generally carries a Gothic ambiance of which is fitting for the dark story of Mirai Nikki.

Sound (8):

The first opening was fantastic, perfectly fitting the Mirai Nikki atmosphere. There is nothing wrong with the second opening, but I did not think it resonated as well with the anime as the first opening had done. But overall, the OST was great without many complaints.

Character (10):

The character development of Mirai Nikki is simply perfect. Gasai Yuno is the perfect yandere without a doubt, holding up an innocent middle-school girl exterior. Amano Yukiteru is portrayed as a weak-willed and timid boy, with a voice actress that accurately represents his personality. Yuno is developed into a psychopathic stalker who becomes obsessed with Yukiteru, stopping at nothing to preserve their "relationship." Yukiteru relies on her protection to stay alive in Deus Ex Machina's game. Yuno is a yandere; Yukiteru is a coward. There is absolutely no flaw in the characters' structure and development in Mirai Nikki.

Enjoyment (9):

With people constantly murdering, the little comic relief is enough to release the viewer from the intense buildup, such as the after-credits shorts with Mur-Mur. Generally, the action scenes are exciting but bloody. To some, it may even be nauseating. However, it is definitely enjoyable to one who enjoys these kinds of battles.

Overall (9):

I would recommend this to anyone who likes survival games, psychological thrillers, or yandere girls as it is a great anime. But if you want to watch cute shoujo romances, this is definitely one of the farthest things from it.

“The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” - Abraham Lincoln

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

When you're little, have you ever thought about the future? Have you ever wanted to know what it would be like five, ten, or twenty years from now before you grow up? It is probably a thought most of us came upon in our lives. However our protagonist Yukiteru "Yuki" Amano is a loner who instead of thinking about the future instead spends his time daily writing a diary on his phone. Talk about a strange habit for a ... kid without friends. But, surprise will hit him faster than a bullet train when he learns about the future in stored for him.

Mirai Nikki (also known as The Future Diary based off the manga of the same name), is a story of survival game where the ultimate prize is to become God and given the gift to change the world forever. Being a survival game, it is not complete without its contestants. These contestants known as the Future Diary owners are given diaries in their own form whether it's a cell phone, a sketch book, or a scroll which tell them different things about what will happen in the future. The contestants themselves are also worthy noting that have a wide range of stark personalities ranging from a terrorist, to the devoted collective couple, a child prodigy, and a man who seeks justice in his own unique twisted ways.

Then, there are the side characters. Yes, I'm talking about those classmates that later enters on into the story. Despite their relatively normal selves, we can see that the survival game later becomes realistic and changes their view on the world. I can't blame them though, I mean who can act and be themselves when you realize that you can see into the future?

In today's anime series, there are many type of characters. Tsundere, yandere, mysterious, princely, you name it. Then, there is our yandere (hero or anti-hero? you decide) Yuno Gasai. She is described as the typical Yamato Nadeshiko by those who sees her outer self...a girl of perfection who is popular with students, good at academics, and generally an ideal woman. Behind that outer shell however is a girl with insecurities with disturbing stalker-like tendencies for our protaognist, Yuki. Her obssession of Yuki can be labeled as yandere as she is willing to hurt or kill others. In fact, she won't hesitate to sacrifice other people because to her, the only important thing is that she and Yuki survive the game. Her goal of wanting to make that “happy end” (hehe, turn that imagination bulb on) with Yuki is one of the main drives she wishes to achieve in this story.

Of course with survival game genres, there are consequences such as life and death. In the end, there is only one winner and it's every man for himself. Luckily for our protagonist, his stalker is madly in love with him so that means an alliance. So do the math here: two heads are better than one right? Well, that would be the case but Yuki's insecurities tells him in his mind that killing is wrong and things like this can be ended peacefully. However, in survival games like this, there is no peace. There is no true alliances. There is no true God (yet), no angel, no heaven. There is only blood, betrayals, and power. And in the end, there is only one winner if by miracle that you don't reach your own Dead End first.

What I found this series quite interesting is that it sticks to the game from the very beginning. Yes, there are those sidelines and mini-fillers (even ones that weren't in the manga) but it sticks with the pace overall. The memories and flashbacks we see of various characters is realistic and the tragedy and mood of what they been through makes them who they are. And of course, there are those fan-service scenes that keeps our eyes glued to the screen involving our yandere Yuno and some other characters.

As a survival horror, blood and gore is present. What did you expect? This isn't one of those happy love-dovey series involving teenage romance and love triangles. If you want that, go watch Amagami SS or something. Honestly though, I thought that some of the violence is necessary for this series to engineer the reality of the game. In other words, the survival game for the throne of God is real. The contestants are dead serious on winning. And, the consequences for losing are disastrous.

The show being labeled as a psychological on MAL also shows its colors once the episodes progresses especially later on in the series. Like I mentioned before, there is drama, there is blood spilled, and backs being stabbed metaphorically. The moments are tense and for those who have watched Final Destination or any other related series of related theme would understand this with the thriller-like endings that keeps the viewers at our seats. In other words, it keeps the viewers from predicting what's next and what or when things happen. I mean, it's not like you have a real Future Diary to predict the events of the anime as you watch them. Now, that would be something you don't see every day.

Another noteworthy mention of Mirai Nikki in my book would be the soundtrack of this series. I'll be honest here. It is epic. The OST mixes in with the various scenes well ranging from psychological, comedic, emotional, and action. Additionally, the OP songs performed by Yousei Teikoku and Faylan portrays the metaphor of the series. If we look carefully and listen to the lyrics, we can see the realism of a survival game and picture it in our minds as the song plays.

Unfortunately, I found the art of the series to be just average. It's not that unique or something that made me go “wow, I haven't seen something this beautiful before!” I've already had that feeling after watching many Makoto Shinaki films.

Overall, I would say that this series is enjoyable. It's not just because I'm a sucker for thriller and psychological genre despite some of the fan-service and cliches. Thankfully, Mirai Nikki didn't push that too far even if it did in a few cases. Despite my initial hatred for that excuse of a protagonist by the name of Yuki, I did find his later character development and values to be worth noting. Then, there's the yandere Yuno in the series added in like a little bonus of cherry to a delicious cake. And of course, don't leave the terrorist Uryu out as her character development of the series is perhaps one of the most interesting aspects that makes you want to learn about her more and more. (perhaps even fall in love and marry with her like one of the other characters) The soundtrack is powerful and conveys every moment of the series from emotional, comedy, or thriller. It will keep you at the edge of your seat as you predict what will happen next using your own imaginative diary that's called a brain. Perhaps the only problem I had was with the ending of the anime adaptation. I won't spoil it for you but it's not something I originally hoped to see. With a package of 26 episodes, expect psychological plot twists, character development, and thriller that will make you want more and more. Looking to watch something with your best friend on a weekend after finishing your job or homework? Then, you might of just hit a jackpot because our yandere Yuno will surely give you something to remember by.

May 19 12:55 pm

Stark700 finishes writing his Mirai Nikki review.
Hope you like what you see and I wish you a Happy End.

[Spoiler Warning]

What would you do if someone would drop a "bomb" on you saying you can become god. It sounds fun huh? it is... until the same person says you have to kill other people involved in the same game. Mirai Nikki... Future Diary. The game spins around these devices that lead participants close to their objective.
I found it frustrating, in a good way, that when an episode ended it made me want to watch more.. so I couldn't take a break.So I continued watching being constantly impressed by the things people can do when their lives are at stake or when they want to ... become god(for more ambitious ones). It was really tiresome to see Yukiteru being "stabbed in the back" over and over again only to find him always alone. Still this points out a horrible truth about this world, the fact that you can't see someone for who he really is.
Also, the series is full of interesting motives and philosophical concepts that makes it worthwhile watching.
Artwork consists of a perfect balance since its not too flashy and characters as well as background are designed well, making it ideal for those who want to follow the story as me.

1. Introduction/Synopsis:

Suppose you are an everyday, normal high school student with no outstanding attributes or friends. You're not particularly good at sports or at academics, though you are pretty good at throwing darts. You spend most of your time keeping a diary of random things that happen around you and talking with an imaginary friend you invented called "Deus Ex Machina", the God of Space and time and his adorable little side-kick "Murmur".

Then suddenly, one day out of nowhere, Deus gives you a diary and mentions something about a game. Entries pop up in your diary you haven't written yourself and it foretells ... future events spanning the next 90 days. All of it comes true.

Your whole world turns upside down as you find out that your life is in danger and you have been placed in a game where there are 11 others like you with a diary that can be used to predict and even rewrite the future. You are forced to kill or die in an elimination battle to determine who will next ascend the Throne to Godhood after Deus. In the process, you gain an unnerving, relentless stalker girl who at first seems cute, but is completely insane.

You are thrown into battles with opponents several levels out of your league from child prodigy to cult leader, with no one to protect you except the stalker. And more and more is revealed along the way to unnerve you as plot thickens and conspiracies unfold to make you shake in both fear and excitement.

Congratulations, you now know what it's like to be Yukiteru "Yuki" Amano, the main character of Mirai Nikki.

1. Story: 9/10

Two things stand out most when watching Mirai Nikki - its thrilling plot and its vast array of characters with their own unique back-stories and layers of depth. What makes the plot amazing is the characters, and what makes the characters amazing is the plot.

The story itself employs the "layer" method, which peels away depths of the story and the background of the two main characters - Yuki and his stalker girlfriend Yuno as we progress through battles with each and every other unique diary user. And this method is extremely effective as we switch between finding out more about the two main characters Yuki and Yuno, battles and back-stories with the other ten diary users, Deus and Murmur, and even non-diary users that become relevant to the central story.

The mood of the story is very, very dark - it is both psychological thriller and partly horror. Not supernatural horror like ghosts and zombies, but the horror comes in the form of Gasai Yuno. And the best part about the story is ---spoiler--- that you cannot bring back those you have killed using either cheap plot devices or Deus Ex Machina (which is ironic, because that's the name of the God of Space and time). That in itself gets a lot of points.

With the dark mood and the layer method that slowly peels away at dark secrets and locked away pasts that we are scared, but excited to see, the story becomes very captivating and really draws you in. To be frank, I was pretty much addicted to the show throughout.

And the ending, My GOD the ending. If there is anything so perfect and amazing to the plot is how the series ends, when the final layer is peeled and we find out terrible things about Gasai Yuno, who is not whom she seems to be. I won't go beyond that so that I won't spoil anything, but trust me when I say you will want to watch it to the end to find out the unravel entire back-story of hers.

If I do have one gripe about the story, it's that it seems the original creator wanted Yuki and Yuno to touch base and have a standoff with every single character. That is not realistic, in my opinion, and I feel it would have been better done and more realistic if more of the other diary users could fight with each other rather than have them all face the two main characters.

It is a survival battle, after all and in reality, other characters will try to face other characters in the meantime.

2. Art 9/10:

The style of art is quite well done. I really enjoyed the dark style that comes with the setting and horror element complimented with some light-hearted, humorous events that span the series from school life to Gasai Yuno's awkwardness and hilarious stalker things she does.

And the best part was the style in the opening theme with the use of darkness and light. And Gasai Yuno's insanity was portrayed really, really well.

Excellently done. I am not a big fan of horror itself, so I couldn't find it in me to give the style of art a full score. If I particularly enjoyed horror, I would have given it a perfect 10/10!

3. Sound 8/10:

Music - the music was wonderfully done, complimenting the horror and the action scenes very well. The opening theme and the ending theme was superb in my opinion and I would personally love to hear more by people who created the music!

Voice Acting - Ugh... while I do enjoy some, if not most of the voice actors (especially Gasai Yuno, whoever voiced her is a genius), I could not quite find it in myself to give the voice a full score because of Yukiteru Yuki and his constant whining. He's not the character with the strongest of heart and he isn't the most annoying character in the history of anime, but that still does not mean I don't want to tear my hair out if I have to hear him whine one more time. Anyway, my rant on Yukiteru will continue in the Character section.

Sound effects - very well done, especially the gun shots, the explosions, and the clash of sword on sword.

Overall, aside from a few minor complaints on voice acting, I rather enjoyed the sounds!

4. Characters 10/10:

We're going to break this down into 4 major categories: Yuno and Yuki, Deus and Murmur, the other diary users, and the non-diary users. Warning - there WILL be LIGHT SPOILERS ahead. I will always try to keep it to a minimum, but with Mirai Nikki, it is almost unavoidable.

(1.a) Yukiteru "Amano" Yuki 6/10 - Starting out, he showed promise. He was a normal high school student, perhaps slightly selfish and a loner, but he seemed like the kind of guy who had potential to make exciting things happen. And then, he... doesn't follow through.

Now, I don't mind that he is a weak character. I don't need a character to be strong in order to like him or her. Gasai Yuno more than makes up for him (see 1.b Gasai Yuno). What I cannot stand is an overly idealistic character that whines all the time and tries to save everyone even though he neither possesses the skill nor strength to do so. He cannot accept reality and is extremely emotionally weak. To me, he is the true damsel in distress in the series who is constantly whining with Gasai Yuno being the knight in shining armor turned monster. If I have to hear him whine and say "I want to save everybody" one more time, I will either tear my hair out or the person's next to me.

But towards the end, he does turn out quite interesting in his own way, especially when he is later corrupted by Gasai Yuno and he does things that cannot be taken back, breaking gears just to find out that he cannot reverse it. And that's why I did not give him a failing score. We're going into heavy spoiler zone here, so I'll just leave it at that.

So to those who want to drop the series just because of this guy, I say - grind on. There is hope for him in the end, yet! :D

(1.b) Gasai Yuno 12/10. Yes. 12. Not 10 out of 10. 12 out of 10. That's how amazing of a character she is. I rarely grade a character above a full score, but for her, I had to make an exception.

She is Yuki's psychopathic Knight in shining armor turned Monster. She is the epitome of Yandere and characters. She did so many unspeakable things and hides them so well that it took Yuki and even Akise (the genius detective and the strongest non-diary user) a long time to find out. She stalks Yuki and tricks him so many times into loving her, then betraying his trust, but in the end, he still falls for her. Plus I love girls going after guys :D.

She also gets bonus points for being a strong female character, as I am quite fond of anime who have males and females balanced with equal status. I am a strong advocate of equal rights and opportunity after all. She takes out some of the strongest diary users like they are nothing as if she were rigged (and towards the end, you find out it makes perfect sense). She has one of the most horrible and darkest secrets that you WANT to find out about as well as a past that explains it all. She is mentally unbalanced and completely insane. And she seems to be in conspiracy with either Murmur or Deus.

She drives the plot forward towards the future and even back into the past with the backstories. Every time something is revealed about her or she does something unspeakable, you never fail to cover your mouth and gasp. She is full of surprises and never ceases to amaze you.

If there is any reason to watch Mirai Nikki, it is her. Trust me, just like you want to watch Great Teacher Onizuka just for Eichiro Onizuka, you will want to watch Mirai Nikki just for this girl.

Again 12/10. Masterpiece.

(2) Other diary users 10/10 - There are 12 in total, so excluding Yuki and Yuno, there are still 10 others. I enjoyed every single last one of them from child prodigy to cult leaders. I'm not going to go into depth on all of them as my review is already longer than I had anticipated. So I'm going to talk about the few that I particularly enjoyed.

Namely - Uryuu Minene XD! *Goes into fanboy mode* She hands down my 2nd favorite character next to Gasai Yuno. She is unpredictable as she is an international terrorist (yes, terrorist, and no I don't think she's part of the Al-Qaeda) and she uses BOMBS, takes HOSTAGES, and is not afraid to use any method no matter how unorthodox it is to survive. Plus she loses an eye early on and has to wear an eyepatch. I wanted to date at least one girl who wears an eyepatch after that XD.

After her would be Reisuke Houjou, the 4 year old child prodigy who has the knowledge of an elite university student and he is so cute that you cannot help but neglect thinking of him as someone dangerous. And then wake up and find yourself in a setting similar to the games that John Kramer from "Saw" has planned. The child sets you to be trapped in a twisted "game" where he makes the rules and you have to play by those rules. He has fun along the way, not killing you immediately but instead toying with you along the way to get maximum enjoyment to the point where even the invincible Gasai Yuno is almost killed by him. This is the first time we meet a character who is as twisted and insane as Yuno herself.

And the other 8 are nearly just as good! They each have their own backstory from twisted to tragic. Each of them are geniuses in their own rights and have their own unique ways of fighting from commanding humans/beasts to setting traps and even dueling you in straightforward combat.

Not all of the diary-users and their back-stories are strong, but they are strong enough overall to make me give them an overall 10/10. They are a wonderful cast and very few of them will leave you bored (*cough* though I can't stand that masked superhero*cough* He annoys me almost as much as Yuki).

(3). Deus and Murmur 9/10 - I can't say much without spoiling much, but let's just say they make quite an interesting pair. they are exactly the polar opposites of each other. He is huge, she is tiny. He is cold and calculated, she is cute and bubbly. He is sane and thinks with reason, she... doesn't. XD

And they play each other for fools, as they each have their own way of trying to figure out the intentions of the other.

(4) Non-diary users 8/10 - Most of them are a bit meh for me. Nishijima (a police officer who is in love with Uryuu Minene) and Kosaka (who used to bully Yuki and then turned his friend) are slightly enjoyable in their own way, but also very annoying. So is the girl Hinata Hino who ---spoiler--- commands the army of hounds for her grandfather who turns out to be the true diary user.

So why give it such a high 8 out of 10? One word - ARU AKISE XD! *Goes into fanboy mode*

He is my 3rd favorite character and hands down my favorite male character in the series. First, he is a genius detective and is extremely hilarious. ---spoiler---He fools you into thinking he is a diary user and even I suspected and groaned when I thought he was, but was shocked to find that he is not. ---spoiler--- He merely has genius deductive skills to the point that you think he could predict the future.

He is amongst the first to figure out the truth behind Yuno and Murmur (no, I won't tell you what it is in the review, so either you watch it for yourself or google it, though I highly recommend you watch it for yourself). He is the strongest of the non-diary user with both wits and brawn and nearly matches Yuno in hand-to-hand combat. If Yuno is the most unpredictable character, then Akise is the best character at deduction and prediction.

PLUS ---SPOILER--- He shares a kiss scene with Yuki at some point, which will probably appease all the Yaoi fans out there.

Again, the characters make the plot work, and trust me when I say you do want to watch the series for the character, which I feel is the one element Mirai Nikki did best.

5. Enjoyment 10/10

Finally, enjoyment? It sends me on an emotional coaster and a huge mindfuck through the entire series. It is one of the pinnacles of psychological thrillers alongside the big names of Death Note, Code Geass, and Monster, etc.

Is never failed to keep me captivated, even if I felt it started slow at first. It escalated really fast and ALL the characters get their own time and backstories.

Overall Conclusion

This is one of my all-time favorite series. It is one of the reasons I am glad to have joined MAL, with special thanks to AviJii who introduced this to me in the first place. :D

It made me laugh, it made me gasp, it made me cry, it kept me captivated through. This is one of those series that I highly recommend to anyone who wants to watch an anime that will blown your mind away.

Highly recommended to anyone who wants a good story with SOLID characters, including an insane stalker with an unstable mind XD.

9/10 Excellent


Remember, this review is personal and based on my personal experience of it, and it will be unfair to expect everyone to agree.

So I ask you, the readers of my review: What about you? What did you think? Feel free to agree or disagree and point out what you thought you liked or disliked about Mirai Nikki! :D

Just your average-everyday anime-viewer here, with another review!

As any accustomed anime-viewer on the internet and surfing about in the vast corners of the ever expanding sea of information (or in my case, the shallow waters of 9GAG), then you have probably already heard of what could really be considered as the birthplace to "The Original Overly Attached Girlfriend", or at least by the anime community. I am of course referring to Yuno. Booting up the first episode and having quite a few expectations as to what I am about to witness, not only were they confirmed but actually exceeded these expectiations quite exceptionally. But (yes, ... there's a butt), as this show is highly claimed to be one of the better horror, gore and phsycological anime out there, which I totally agree on, there are a few flaws that just needs to be adressed. And now, I can already feel that DEAD END coming for the button "Not Helpful" by mobs of people who are sharpening their pitchforks and lightening the bonfires. In this case, the Mirai Nikki fanbase...

Before reading on, this review is spoiler-free, so don't worry should you want to watch this show after reading the review. I take it that you've read the synopsis yourself and maybe even watched the show. This review also comes with a TL;DR section as well as a few additional details, right at the bottom before the conclusion.

The Story: 9/10
With a premise of a Deathgame (one that we should be quite used to after this, Deadman Wonderland and many others, including The Hunger Games), this one actually has the most interesting twist to the game, or at least in my humble opinion (IMHO). In the beginning of the show, everything we need to know is covered, nothing more and nothing less, leaving what will actually happen in the game itself very vague and up for the imagination to come up with how they will execute the plot (and players). This is crucial, as this leaves an exciting and often curious mind-set into each and every episodes, which however lasts only in the first few episodes. They show us these few episodes and the set-up quite remarkably fast and informative. Then, the show divides itself up in different parts where Yuuki and co. has to kill (or something else) the player of the episode. Or rather, episodes. Here lies one of the problems I metioned in the beginning. While the player-arcs are interesting, thrilling and a treat to watch, other arcs feel emptier. Not by means of action and excitement but BECAUSE of the player-arcs, they seem insignificant even though they are not. Towards the end, everything connects and starts to conclude the series when you suddenly remember that one thing from the second or third episode and realise that there's three more episodes left. I'm not saying that the ending was bad, but if it was something I want to adress to the ending, it was that urge and need to stand out, and therefore, it felt rushed and incomplete. Mirai Nikki, you already stand out in terms of storytelling, execution and characters. C'mon, you're better than that. But, it still leaves with a hail-mary and a strong, solid exit (as long as you see the OVA: Mirai Nikki Redial).

The Art: 8/10
One thing I immediately think of when referring to the art of Mirai Nikki is its great crispness of details and actual emotions & distress (and on multiple occasions, Yuno's absolute horrifying expressions she can make) that they manage to display to us. Blood and action is basically the name of the game here and it is where Mirai Nikki truly shines, with progression through aggression. Action-scenes are a feast for the eyes and every action counts, every DEAD END significant and every death remarkable. It blends extremely well with the tone of the show and even parts that aren't that common in anime makes great usage here. And by that, I mean how they use 3D models. Sure, 3D-models shouldn't really be used unless with absolute necessity but they managed to pull it of here. And after all this praising and telling how good it was, I gotta tell ya, it doesn't stand out. For a thriller, the colours are warmer than most other thrillers out there, but can get to those levels when the plot requires it to be so or under heavy rain (...). But still, it passes with flying colours and there shouldn't be any complaints here, but neither should there be excessive amounts of praise. Have to balance out...

The Sound: 8/10
I'll start off the same way an episode of a usual anime starts, with the OP. Having two OPs, the first one being "Kūsō Mythology" performed by Yōsei Teikoku is one that not only reflects the anime brutally perfect within the one-and-a-half-minute it is on air, but also sticks on your mind during the episode and after it as well. And as they usually do, they replace it halfways. Compared to the first, "Dead End" by Faylan has nothing on OP1. Inside the episode, the music amplifies the scenes complimentary with great effect, but only the heavy action scenes and the rare "feels-scenes". Here lies another problem, as great as they are, none are rememberable and are used a few more times than I wanted. Still, I find Mirai Nikki having great pieces of music that fit well with the show but not outside of it.

The Characters: 9/10
We've got the coward, Yuuki. We've got the mad one, Yuno. And we've got a heck of other characters where we do not know who to care enough of shit about. Don't get me wrong, the cop and the girl who can escape from anything are interesting characters and have an interesting backstory to boot. But what about the other characters? Is a two-minute explanation of a players motives good enough? Here, they can variey, as all characters are unique and have unique motivations along with unique diaries. Then there are the side-characters, who the series try their very, very best to make us give an actual fuck about and even made one of them important! All I'm saying is that there are many great characters, add on a few characters where we kinda give a fuck about and a handful of which we give absolutely no fuck about. The problem lies within the amount and significance ratio between them and spread butter evenly on a 24-sliced loaf and some characters will have more fucks deserved and a few lesser than they need. And you only have so much fucks to give...
But, all the significant characters are interesting, have actual human thoughts and reasons (excluding Yuno or others when thinking about it...) and their reactions and emotions feels real (excluding Yuno at certain times...).

My Enjoyment: 10/10
It was a fun ride, and with that 26-episode mark, a rewatch was all worth it. I give 10/10 here and I have nothing more to say other than that I really enjoyed this show despite its flaws that comes along with it.

How it was Overall: 8.8/10
By no means is this the best show ever, trust me. But it is a fantastic show that has the stamp of a "Must Watch" on it and it is a perfect addition to my (and hopefully yours) ever expanding library of anime. Having one of the craziest lunatics in anime-history, Yuno will kill you if you don't watch this anime and enjoy it to a certain extent. If not Yuno, then the Mirai Nikki fanbase. This show has hype, and most of it is well deserved :)

TL;DR
Story:
+ Original Deathgame
+/- Great pacing at certain parts, downright wrong in others
+ Every action and death has impact
+/- Twisted but strong ending (remember to watch the OVA)

Art:
+ Great detail and overall animation
+ Action-scenes are the best
+/- Doesn't have that kind of dark-tone that thrillers usually have, but it's good enough

Sound:
+ Awesome OP1
- Replaced halfway by a comparably worse OP2
+ Great overall background music that amplifies the show well
+/- No rememberable pieces
+/- Set on repeat

Characters:
+ Great main-characters
+ Interesting and diverse player-characters
+/- A tap too many characters
+/- The side characters overall
+ Most characters have real human emotions and reasons

Enjoyment:
+ Worth it
+ Must see
+ That urge to watch another episode is strong on this one

Additional Details:
* Romance: Well, not your average kind of romance...
* Gore & Blood: Excessive amounts, but used sparingly
* Comedic Add-ons: Rare and often not noticable
* Feel-warning?: You could say that towards the ending
* Fan-service?: In small amounts, nothing that'll bother you enough to ruin the show

Well, if you've managed to get this far without immediately gotten a DEAD END on your phone or just headed straight for the "Not Helpful" button after having read the intro to this review, I would like to thank you for your time spent on reading this review by basically the most pathetic, average, no-life of an anime-viewer that I am...just like Yuuki :)

So, smack that "Helpful" button for me (or Yuno, whatever you prefer) and leave a comment so I can make better reviews that might fit your taste better :)

- Just your average-everyday anime-viewer
//VoidX

Sakae Esuno’s Mirai Nikki (Future Diary) is a fine combination of suspense, blood, and violent action. It is a psychological thriller that revolves around two middle schoolers, Yuki (the male protagonist) and Yuno (the female protagonist), participating in a deadly battle royale with 10 strangers. It’s personally one of my favorite gory anime, but it lacks the opportunity to become a more frightening series. Mirai Nikki’s reputation as a gruesome anime is mostly thanks to the memorable Yandere character, Gasai Yuno. Commonly known as Yuki's psychotic stalker in the series, Yuno describes herself as “a half moon” that has “a bright half and a dark ... half.” The anime involves reverse gender roles with the girl protecting the guy under any circumstances, delivering bloody violence at every corner. However, the few downsides of the anime, including plot twists and some wacky characters, can cause one to produce mixed feelings about this anime.

Story (7)
The rules of the game are pretty straightforward: kill everyone until you’re the last one standing. Thankfully, there are no sudden changes in the rules or mercy shown between characters to interrupt the flow. The participants’ sudden actions constantly changes the future of other participants, creating new objectives between characters. However, it causes a slight downfall when Yuki is immediately made the center of attention among the other 11 diary holders, when Deus Ex Machina declares Yuki as his favorite to win the game. Despite the shocking events that leads to the conclusion of the game, that particular part of the story already makes the story seem clichéd. The reward for the winner is becoming Dues Ex Machina’s successor as the next God of Time and Space. It sounds boring, but it is understandable considering the powers that come with being a god. Characters have either good (reviving a lost friend or family member) or evil (time traveling to cause destruction to an individual’s life) intentions. The characters’ motives bring some excitement to the story, but it could’ve been a more captivating story.

The plot is not original as it is another battle royale anime, but there are some unique aspects to the story. One is the different forms of their diaries. Although the majority of the diaries are cell phones, other diaries are suitable for certain characters’ situations. Each diary also has special features specifically for that particular diary holder, giving that person an advantage over other diary holders. The show provides backgrounds on each participant of the game, instead of only focusing on the two main leads, to help the viewer determine whether or not certain characters are likeable.

There is some light humor within the series, particularly with the quotes. E.g. Yuki yells “Crazy stalker alert!” or similar quotes in his head in reference to Yuno in an episode or two. Additionally, the characters' actions may seem illogical (e.g. a diary holder mysteriously hopping on a motorcycle to escape from death), but it’s important to be mindful that the anime is meant to be supernatural. The winner becomes the God of Time and Space after all.

The story is fast-paced and doesn’t beat around the bush with fillers. The violence in the anime goes from light-heavy-light (introduction of the game to its conclusion). Deaths are not sudden, allowing the viewer to understand the characters’ motives by providing backstories. Romance is one-sided in the beginning as a cowardly Yuki only teams up with the tough Yuno to protect himself. However, love slowly becomes mutual as they survive several obstacles together.

Multiple plot twists and plot holes cause questions like “Wait. What just happened?” There are tons of them present within the series. It requires patience as some parts are not fully explained until the last few episodes. The ending throws in a major plot twist by taking the viewer through parallel universes, so it could appear confusing. It ends with a cliffhanger, but its 30-minute sequel Mirai Nikki Redial completes the story.

Characters (7)
There are both notable and forgettable characters in Mirai Nikki, and the characters’ personalities range from wacky to badass. Character development is excellent, even though it takes a while to become present in some characters. Within the 12 diary owners, you have a terrorist, a 4-year-old mastermind, and a fatal married couple. Although there are a few unattractive villains, the majority of them are unforgettable and capable of becoming one’s favorite character from the show or anime in general. Uniquely, all 12 diary holders, including Yuki and Yuno, are named after Roman gods and goddesses. Yuki is named after Jupiter, the god of the sky, weather, and lightning.

Yuki appears in the show as a whiny and gullible male lead, who doesn’t seem to understand or accept the dangers of the game. His character develops into someone more self-confident and manly as one tragic event leads to another, contributing to the show’s terror. Yuno is the Yandere female lead of the show who truly highlights the gore and violence that makes Mirai Nikki an excellent psychological thriller. Although she is shown as strictly a creepy obsessive stalker in the beginning, her character becomes more reasonable near the end as her past is completely exposed.

Art (7)
Animation was mostly good and fit the horrific and bloody atmosphere, especially Yuno’s killing sprees. Character designs are both good and bad. All characters are distinguishable, even though some designs are non-menacing. Some of the villains had ridiculous designs that would probably scare the crap out of you if he/she stands at your bedside, but it may appear more comical through the screen, unless you’re watching it in 3D. E.g. The Twelfth diary holder wears a large, round one-eyed mask, while acting like a Marvel superhero. Also, Deus Ex Machina and Murmur looks more like child-friendly mythical creatures instead of horrifying. Although there are bloody and disturbing scenes that are intended to make Mirai Nikki horrifying, the character designs take away a portion of the horror.

Characters’ emotions and personalities were detailed, giving off the fearful atmosphere. E.g. Yuno’s appearance was timely with immediate switches from her innocence to psychotic features. Yuki’s eyes displaced fear within the series to fulfill his earliest role as a major coward.

Sound (10)
The Japanese voices expresses the anime’s terrifying atmosphere more so than the English voices. Japanese VA Tomosa Murata has the perfect voice to bring out Yuno’s psychological features. She gives Yuno an innocent voice to embrace her split personality. In contrast, English VA Brina Palencia makes Yuno sound like a tomboy, and there's no innocence in her voice. Yuki’s character is voiced by a female seiyuu named Misuzu Togashi. A female voice is more reasonable considering his pathetic and cowardly attitude within the series. The OP, ED, and background music suit Mirai Nikki’s creepy theme, making it one of the anime’s strongest points.

Enjoyment (8)
I’m a sucker for anime listed under the horror and psychological thriller genre, and Mirai Nikki is quite a thrill. The action and murders are entertaining, but I wished for the story to be more menacing that it already was. The character development enabled me to tolerate certain characters after a while and find some of them likeably remarkable. I grew confused with the plot twists, but the story began to unravel near the end. This is one anime I wouldn’t mind re-watching multiple times.

Overall (7)
Mirai Nikki has an interesting story full of gore and violence that overcomes the plot twists. The viewer is introduced to a vast amount of potential likeable characters. A small number of characters may look and act too comical, making the anime seem less serious. On the bright side, the combination of the suspense, character development, and sound contribute to Mirai Nikki’s psychological theme. If you're a fan of gore and survival anime, I recommend giving Mirai Nikki a try.

This is a great series

Story 9: This is essentially a Battle Royale with a very unique romance story.

Battle Royale angle: We’ve all seen versions of this before, where 8-12 people fight to the death to obtain a grand prize. The strength of Mirai Nikki’s plot is not about the originality of the premise but about the originality (and insanity) of the journey. There is an excellent mix of action, slashing, backstabbing, detective work, plot twists, and craziness. I was impressed by how clever this anime was which is a breath of fresh air. This isn’t a “horror” anime but there are a number of ... legitimately creepy moments.
Romance angle: Woven into the storyline is an odd-yet-touching romance between the two main characters which revolves around Yuno’s “Yandere”-style pursuit of Yukki (btw this is NOTHING like School Days). I really liked their dynamic as it stayed away from many of the anime-relationship clichés: tsundere female slowly warming up to an endlessly patient male lead, the classic high school love triangle, or super shy male flirts with super shy female for 23/24 episodes before finally making a move. No, no, no…not with Yuno/Yukki. Without giving anything away (as this is apparent from episode one), the primary romantic dilemma is really best summed up by this quote: “do you really love me or are you just insane?” That's for you to decide and the series keeps the audience oscillating back and forth from “poor, sweet, vulnerable Yuno” to “Ok Yuno stop…you’re scaring the shit out of me.”
When you put the whole story to together you get an exciting and captivating ride.

Characters 9: Best part of the series by far. The romantic aspect of the relationship is hilarious because of how crazy Yuno can be.
I went into Mirai Nikki with no warning or context. My first impression of Yuno when she met Yukii in the elevator was “oh sheesh, another one of these cute, cardboard harem girls who inexplicably falls in love with the outcast loner” i.e. Megan Fox in Transformers. Man was I wrong. Yuno is a DEEPLY flawed and psychotic female lead who just so happens to have many redeeming qualities...and an itty bitty crush on Yukii. Yuno could never be a harem girl simply because she would kill all the other competition...yay monogamy. I'll shut up about Yuno and let you judge for yourself but I'd just like to emphasize how substantive her character is. Unlike Ein from Phantom, who was pretty much an emotionally empty blank slate, Yuno knows what she wants...

Yukii was harder for me to like (maybe it’s a guy thing). There is no shortage of anime that start with a wimpy, insecure male protagonist but something about Yukii seems particularly pathetic and angsty. Maybe the beanie? Maybe the high-pitched voice? The nonstop CRYING! But… as he begins to develop as a character he becomes slightly more likeable. *sigh* It’s a long journey. Fortunately, even if Yukkii is a wussy at times, it just creates more space for Yuno’s personality to shine.

Side Characters: I really liked the way the way the other contestants were built up. Every one of them is unique, memorable and deadly in his/her own way. There were certain characters that had me laughing out loud. I also appreciate how the series devoted a number of flashbacks that explored the backgrounds of many of the side characters. If I had one complaint it's that I did find Yukki’s friends and his family to be a little boring. I would have liked them to have been more fleshed out and believable.

Art 9: I really liked the animation. I’m a complete layman when it comes to critiquing anime art but the animation seemed sharp and the color contrast was extremely striking to me. I especially liked the way the character’s eyes were drawn. It’s hard to describe but they would often add an extra iris for effect (creating terror and crazy eyes). It was perfect for me and something I don't remember seeing in other anime.

Sound: 9 I liked the first intro song much more than the second. This is purely a matter of personal preference. The only other part that annoyed me was just Yukkii’s high pitched voice. I really wish they could have cast a male lead an octave deeper. Once again this is just me being picky.

Enjoyment 9: I loved this anime. It’s exactly what I wanted to see, which was a bizarre romance with a lot of dark, twisted action and suspense.

Overall: Has everything I want in an anime


Misc:
Violence/gore: Lots of blood and collateral damage.
Love/Romance: atypical love story. Yukki/Yuno’s relationship is a big focus of the series.
Sex/Nudity: *sigh* Lots of undergarments, cleavage and panty shots. I actually wish they toned it down a bit. I found it weird that they are all supposed to be 14 but Yukki has the voice of a 12 year old and Yuno has the body of an 18 year old…Welcome to the confusing world anime…

NO SPOILERS. I promise! :)

Mirai Nikki, for most people, will be a hit or miss. It tries to combine a HELL of a lot of genres into one small package's worth of 26 episodes. There's probably a misconception that Mirai Nikki can be classified a "psychological thriller" the same way Death Note or Steins;Gate is commonly labeled, however, Mirai Nikki takes on a slightly different tone. At its core, Mirai Nikki was a romance.


Story - 8

It's difficult to judge Mirai Nikki's story. While it's concept is incredibly unique, it's hard to say that the presentation of it is done well. The plot twists are unexpected ... and wild, especially as the story reaches its climax, but gaping plot holes tarnish the experience a bit. You will NOT enjoy Mirai Nikki's story if you are expecting a bulletproof mystery story.

The first few episodes were extremely interesting for me. As the story progresses, however, it becomes apparent that many questions are left unanswered, and the show starts to become dull and dragged on. Mirai Nikki is another example of an anime that was too long for the story it had to tell. However, the show pulls itself together during the final episodes and picks up the pace in time to leave a mixed final impression.


Art - 9

The art is great, but not outstanding. It's evident that a lot of work was put into the action scenes to make it, well, action, and characters are drawn well. Overall, the art scheme is simply very fitting for what Mirai Nikki is. It's dark enough to be taken seriously as an action/psychological/thriller, but comedic and lighthearted as well for the aspects that need it. Mood changes within the anime are carried out pretty well.


Sound - 9

Great openings, endings, and BGM. Nothing too memorable, though.


Character - 10

Character is where Mirai Nikki becomes something to love or hate. For one thing, there are so many characters in this anime that it could not possibly hope to develop all of them or properly introduce them. The one thing it never falters from, however, is the focus on the two main characters, Yuki and Yuno. And this is where I believe Mirai Nikki truly shines.

A note on the main protagonist: Yuki is the typical Shinji archetype. He's weak, pathetic, and socially screwed, and although he goes through some incredible character development, he never becomes strong. If you are looking for that kind of Shounen anime, you should turn away now, because this kind of main character gets annoying REALLY fast.

There is no doubt in my heart, though, that Yuki becomes an entirely different person at the end of the show. He goes through a beautiful cycle of love, depression, misunderstanding and regret. Although Yuno's character development seems nonexistent at first, she is a truly unique character that is slowly unraveled and developed as well as the story reaches its climax.


Enjoyment - 8

Overall, I was pleased with the feeling that Mirai Nikki gave me. The only aspect of the show that brought it down to an 8 was that the story dragged on too long in the middle and my interest waned. I was pleasantly surprised, however, as the series finished. And although I usually come to dislike most endings, the ending to Mirai Nikki wasn't too bad.


Overall - 9

Watch it for a unique experience, but it may not be what you're looking for.

Now let me get this out of the way, I'm not the biggest horror anime fan, but this anime is only bit scary first. Let me broaden the animes I watch, which are basically more of the cheerful ones.

Let me go through the storyline first. The story is basically about a kid, Yukiteru, who I guess we could call a "Loner" dare I say. All Yukiteru does is type into his cell phone diary about random things he does throughout the day. Broadening more on the loner character, Yukiteru has "imaginary friends". One of those friends, Deus Ex, is the god of space and time ... (if I recall). Now this is where it gets tricky. this god gives Yukiteru a cellphone that pretty much predicts everything he's going to do, just, random things. To make things even more complicated, his classmate, Gasai Yuno, also has one of these special cell phones, except her's is basically she knows what happens to Yukiteru in the near future. After certain events, both Yuki and Yuno get teleported into the "imaginary" dimension and see 9 other silhouettes of people. This is basically where the story gets even more intense. Basically, Deus Ex is on the verge of ceasing to exist and needs someone to take his place. So he gathers these 12 people to play a survival game to decide who will become the next "god". These 12 players use their special phones with different powers to play the game and try to beat each other which is of two ways: 1. you kill them or 2. you break their phone.

I also liked the art style of this anime. now again, I usually watch the more cheerful animes so I definitely thought the art style was good. The only reason I rated this a 9 was because the art style does not fit the atmosphere of this anime as its literally about people killing each other, and it gets extremely complicated and dark later on. To be honest, I didn't know jack shit about this anime as I came across this anime from watching a different series. At first it does fit the atmosphere, but boy do you quickly throw away that thinking.

Regarding sound, I thought the sound was extremely well done. The OST for this series is probably one of my favorite, even out of movies and non anime shows. To name a few songs, the sad piano music just fits every sad part. I swear I get the feels everytime I hear that song come on. The Epic Battle Theme was another favorite and its just intense. If you're not going to watch this anime, at least listen to the OST, I promise you, you'll like it.

Characters (a bit of spoilers) , there are a few notable characters I liked. 12 amused me a lot. I totally thought he was crazy and gonna be scary, but the way he introduced himself to the main characters was just funny. My favorite has to be Akise Aru, I can't really go into him that much if I don't want to spoil it. I'll just say he's an extremely smart person and just has a cool aura around him. 9th was another cool character. Deus Ex is probably the biggest troll character I've come across, you'll understand once you watch. 7th probably gave me the most feels out of any of the characters.

Overall, I enjoyed this anime a lot. The storyline was extremely well executed, the music fit every scene and overall and extremely good OST. All of the characters except a few were likeable. I definitely recommend this anime to anyone, if you can get across just a bit of blood and one f*cked up part, you'll enjoy this anime, even if you don't watch these type of animes like me.

Mirai Nikki (or The Future Diary in English) was a mixed bag for me. While there are some very good moments, there are some that just make want to pull out my hair in frustration. But there is one thing I know for sure: I felt somewhat underwhelmed. It wasn't horrible; it just wasn't as great as I thought it was going to be.
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Story: 7/10
In the world of Mirai Nikki, the god of time and space, Deus Ex Machina, is coming to the end of his lifespan. In order to find out who will be his successor, he sends something called "Future Diaries" (ranging from ... cell phones to a coloring book) to twelve different people and places them a life-and-death game, similar to the ones in The Hunger Games and Battle Royale.

For the most part, Mirai Nikki's story is quite decent. It shows how the actions of people can change the future, because as the saying goes: "Actions speak louder than words." It also shows how events can cause an impact on their reasoning of becoming God (seeing as all the diary holders (or at least half of them) are emotionally broken in some way). However, one of the problems with the story is its inconsistency, plot holes, and predictability. While there were parts that kept me on the edge of my seat, there were also parts that just left me absolutely confused. This confusion was evident during the last few episodes, where I was like: "What the hell is happening?" The ending also left a somewhat sour taste in my mouth... (Yes, I DO know that there's the OVA, "Mirai Nikki Redial". I just haven't watched it at the time I'm writing this review)

Overall, while the story did have some hiccups, and was predictable at times, it was still engaging enough to keep me watching.
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Characters: 5/10:
Mirai Nikki has almost the exact same problem that SAO had for me: its characters. While not as frustrating as the ones in SAO, it's still the weakest part of show for me.

First, Yukiteru (or Yuki for short). His character is similar to that of Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion (and to an extent, Simon from Gurren Lagann), in which he's pretty much a wuss; but that's not my problem with him, because I would feel the exact same way if I were in his place. My problem with Yuki is his stupidity, as well as the inconsistency of his character. How the hell can he be still in love with Yuno after she locked him up, as well as preventing him from making any friends? I just find it mindboggling. I know he's the key to keeping her sane, but still! Another thing I don't like is how his personality does a complete 180 degree turn during somewhere within the final third of the show. I was like: "What? This came out of nowhere! Please explain to me what just happened!"

Secondly, there's Yuno, who is pretty much the fan-favorite of the show, as well as being the poster-child of yanderes. I'll be honest: I'm not a fan of Yuno. Maybe it's me, but I'm not the biggest fan of yanderes, as well as very possessive girlfriends. Yes, she does have her moments of batshit crazy awesomeness, but whenever she goes "Yuki!!!" several times, I'm just thinking "Shut up already!!" I do understand she does get some complexity, but that only really happens throughout the final episodes. And before you Yuno fans scream at me, let me say this: While I don't like Yuno, I DO understand why she's so popular, and why people do like her. I'm just not one of those people.

The supporting cast didn't fare much better. From Yuki's friends to the other diary-holders, none of them seemed memorable to me. They range from alright to just unbearably irritating. There are two exceptions to this, though. The only side characters (as well as only characters from the show in general) that I actually enjoyed were the Twelfth, Akise and Minene (9th). They were just really interesting to watch. I really wished Twelfth had more screen time, though.

With the exceptions of who I stated above, the cast of Mirai Nikki didn't leave an impact on me.
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Animation: 7/10
While the animation of Mirai Nikki isn't anything spectacular, it was pretty decent. The action scenes probably best animated parts of the show, being fast-paced as well as being VERY entertaining, especially when Yuno is on one of her many killing sprees.

While nothing special, the animation was good for what it was.
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Music: 8/10
The music, for me, is the highlight of the anime. While I can't find a song that stands out, the background music does a very good job fitting every scene in the show. Both of the openings are amazing. They have a good amount of energy and fit the tone of the show perfectly (The first opening has become one of my favorites), and while the endings didn't do that much for me, they were still interesting enough to listen to for a few episodes).

All in all, the music is by far my favorite part of Mirai Nikki.
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Enjoyment: 8/10
Despite all of its flaws, Mirai Nikki was definitely entertaining to watch. While there were parts that left me with confusion and/or frustration, there were parts that just wanted me to click "Next" to watch the next episode.
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Overall Score: 7.0 out of 10
Mirai Nikki is an anime that I have a love-hate relationship with. While the show did have some "bumps in the road" character-wise, it did not deter me from finishing the anime. While I don't love the show as much as others do, it was definitely worth the watch. It was definitely entertaining, to say the least.

*Feedback/Constructive criticism would also be nice. Just don't be too nasty about it.*

Please note that this is the review of the anime not the manga.Also this is one of my firsts reviews on MAL so please bare with me.
Mirai Nikki translated as future Diary is an Anime adaptation of the manga. This far the anime has followed and tied up well with the manga as the story.

Story:9

The story is unique and interesting. The idea of seeing your future diary and fighting others with similiar abilities makes an great action and psychological anime. It is full of twists. If you liked death note or Steins;Gate then you will definetly love this!
This is not one of the usual ... anime in the highschool, its something diffrent in a good way!
As for the romance if you like a strong willed yandere love then this is the right anime for you.I know i do! Yuno, the heroine is simply amazing and her voicing is flawless!

Art: 9.5

The art is Great and so far i saw no mistake in it!
Sound: 9

Sound:9

The soundeffects are simply amazing and the voices are played really well leaving no mistake. As for the music used om the opening and ending i think its fairly good.

Character:10

The characters are outstanding, each of them with their own traits and an unique personality. Such as my favourite of them all. Yuno the stalker.

Enjoyment:10

Theese guys manage to set the scene great and the action in the anime and the action in the anime makes you enjoy it to the maximum.As the story goes further it will get more and more interesting, making you wondering what will heappen next?

Overall: 9

I give Mirai Nikki an overall score of 9 being enjoyable but at the same time leaving a feeling of mysterious to it. Makes you wonder what will heappen next and how it will end.I cannot say too much about it as it is at episode 5 at the moment but i will be sure to update this review as more episodes come out. Also please dont forget that this is review is based on my opinion.

Disclaimer:
1. This review is probably as crazy as Future Diary the show itself.
2. There are little to no spoilers in this show, and should not ruin your viewing pleasure of Future Diary even if you have not watched the show when going through this review (There will be brief mentioning about some characters that might be minor SPOILER of the story!) .

"Irresponsibility is part of the pleasure of all art; it is the part the schools cannot recognize." ~ James Joyce

Future Diary is art.

And I am not even kidding.

Future Diary should be clear to any potential viewer that it is yet another one of ... those Battle Royale-style story, in which there will be a bunch of high school kids and throw them into a situation where they have to pit off against one another (alright, I am oversimplification of things in Future Diary, but you get the idea). Such story should not be foreign to most people, seeing the popularity of similar plot in popular western franchise such as the Hunger Games, as well as in Japan, such as the Zero Escape or Fate franchise. Many people was sold on the idea that Future Diary is going to be a thought-provoking psychological thriller that blows their mind, only to have all their expectation thrown out, getting a seemingly incomprehensible mess that was far from what they actually expected. It is very much due to this that many viewers develop a distaste for Future Diary.

Many people have used the term 'trainwreck' to describe the final outcome of this show, but I personally think that that is too demeaning of a term to be used on Future Diary. Simply said, the sheer craziness of Future Diary can't just be contained within a train (or 2 or 10 or 10,000 for that matter). Future Diary may be an incoherent mess, totally illogical, with the story flowing through by any means but with a constant flow. If the thought of the aforementioned turns you off, then Future Diary is definitely not a show for you. And there really isn't much point for you in continuing this review. Of course unless you are interested in knowing why Future Diary is an art, then welcome on-board the train. You still with me? Good, let me convince you why this mess is absolutely wonderful (Allow me to articulate this clearly, this review is not a piece of satire).

Let me first talk about what I deemed as one of the best part of the story: the twist, oh the plot twist, hail them. The "deus ex machina" (the plot device, not the character) present in this show is often subjected to multiple criticisms by critics and reviewers alike. Not only do the twists seems absolutely nonsensical and bonkers at times, they only further elevate the amount of questioning in the show. Future Diary is absurd and ludicrous to the core, do not expect good logical flow in the story. This again, is what makes Future Diary so amazing: the roller coaster ride of events after events to an unthinkable extent, logic simply does not exist.

Allow me to put it this way: both the original mangaka (Sakae Esuno-sensei) and the staff are an irresponsible bunch. They couldn't care for the logic in this show (if they even care for it in the first place). However, it is also precisely due to this that Future Diary could be successful in the first place. The people working on this show knows what Future Diary lacks (logic) and at the same time is clear of its strength (the absurdity). The ridiculous pacing turns away most of the viewers, but this perhaps really just highlighted the greatness of this show. It just gives you this crazy adrenaline pump to continue watching. It spends little to absolutely no time to explaining the illogical stuffs (For a couple of reasons, such as too many of them, inability to explain, or as I see it, unnecessary in this crazy show) and will just let the next major event before the viewer can even take a breather. This is why, the very essence, the heart, the core, of Future Diary would be these insane and out-of-mind plot points. You expect it to come, it had being foreshadowed all the way from the beginning, you are waiting for it to happen, yet you just could not pinpoint what exactly and when exactly it will occur, and you will get completely overwhelmed by it why it comes (in both a good or bad way).

The following point will unfortunately incorporate my arguments made for the story relatively closely, and that is the characters in the show. Once again, if you are looking for well fleshed-out characters in this show, sorry but there really isn't any. While most of the characters do get a backstory explaining their course of action (of course, the stories being totally illogical), their presence is merely a fodder for the story to progress, and not as a being that drives a story forward. If there were any characters that I might want to focus on, that would be the main characters Yukiteru (Yuki for the rest of the review) and Yuno. Yuki is the wimpy, ain't-getting-anything-done protagonist that just unfortunately generate lots of hate among the viewers. From his character design of wearing a abnormal hat to his every action in the show, it just screams "weak". It is no doubt irritating to see the main protagonist not doing anything. Personally, while I am no fan of him, the hate generated due to him seems quite unreasonable (Oh my, I'm talking about reasons in Future Diary). Come on guys, he's a kid thrown into crazy stuff that he could not even imagine, forcing him into all these crazy stuff just seemed all the more nonsensical (now I'm talking "sense", welp!). This is more so ridiculous in the presence of the all-powerful girlfriend, Yuno. Yuno is totally bonkers, crazy, because as if I need to reiterate that. Disturbing staring of the eyes and pink hair in the air every time she swings her axe, she is probably the poster image for a psychopath in anime. However, if there were any character, it was her that keeps the show going. Her absurd antics to win Yuki over and have him accept her, the preposterous acts against the other diary holders, it was almost entertainment at its finest. And for her to keep this momentum going... she is definitely not any great protagonist by any means, but there will be no doubt in her being one of the most memorable one. Now, you combine the wimpy kid and the dominating queen, a weird and illogical combination, but it is this dynamics that drive the show and further heightens the general atmosphere.

Regarding stuffs such as animation and sound, I really doubt that there is much to talk about. I do want to praise the first opening theme ("Kuusou Mesorogiwi" by Yousei Teikoku) for the mysterious-chant at the start of the song to hype the viewer up each time, as well as the crazy amount of foreshadowing in the sequence. The rest of the theme songs and decent though nothing especially great. The voice acting, well, having the voice actors shouting and screaming around doing what they usually don't is always entertaining. Animation, by Studio Asread, is nothing amazing though nothing much to criticise on as well. Fight sequence are generally well-animated well the more "daily" scenes have a lower animation quality, which I personally do not mind and has no qualm with.

I genuinely enjoys Future Diary. If I had any reason for such, here is my hypothesis (feel free to skip it): The fruit of wisdom had let mankind gain the ability to question, and thus quench the thirst of knowledge. Future Diary, (un)fortunately, leaves the viewer with an insurmountable number of questions, completely perplexed at what they had seen. But does it matter? I do not think so. While logical thought process is important, humans still could not escape the control of emotion, the illogical side of every human being. Perhaps, really, nothing could top Future Diary in this domain. Anything can happen. The madness and lunacy just snowballs throughout the whole show without a stop. It is a spot-on hit on the illogical side of human, something that targets the hysteria and psychopathic side of mankind. You know that something stupid is going to happen, yet you will (not) advance. You want to see how Future Diary's absurdity can top itself every single episode. It is this pulpiness and the juiciness in Future Diary that just make it more so interesting. This is not something that an institution which favours logical thinking will be pleased with. Future Diary really is something that appeals to the more inhumane side of human, the illogical and overly-emotional aspect. To phrase it in another way, Future Diary is not (supposed to be) a critic's favourite. If you are only going to favour the logical aspect of the show, something that is absolutely missing in Future Diary, then it is anything but hard for one to slap a 4/10 or 3/10 onto this show and criticise every single plot point in this show. However, Future Diary is those show that should be judged by upon anything but the logical flow of thoughts in the show (because it does not exist). If anything, Future Diary appeals to that emotional and illogical side of human. If anyone is going to ask me why didn't I rate Future Diary a 10/10, I would pretty much just answer that there is this little bit of sanity and logical flow left in me that simply could not ignore the flaws in Future Diary (Come on now, what I am trying to say is not that people who criticise this show are emotionless creatures and that everyone that gives this show a 10/10 is a psychopath). I am in the opinion that Future Diary is no doubt one of the more controversial and subjective show that anyone will see in a long time. The way how Future Diary commits to bringing entertainment than to explaining logic makes it stand out from the crowd. The fact that it does not bind itself to the usual structure of what to expect from fiction just makes it all the more so enjoyable. I definitely do hope that more people can appreciate and recognize it.

And so, with that, I conclude the reasons of why do I think that Future Diary is quite a piece of "art", although definitely not one that everyone can appreciate equally.

Let me touch on one more point before rounding this off. Some people have suggest that Future Diary as a satirical masterpiece, a deconstruction of the logic in story, magical girlfriend, deus ex machina etc. (to prevent spoiling) trope. Personally, this is not something that I will concur with, but seems interesting of an idea that I would brought it up, and would actually be a great explanation to everything that happened in this show. However, I still prefer to keep my opinion of Future Diary as just a crazy batshit show without overthinking it too much, but hey, it's an interesting opinion.

Some of my points may be indeed controversial here, but I do want to talk about my opinions of this show. Not everyone will enjoy this show, definitely, and even when on the same point, could have differing opinions. So, yeah, I kinda got what I wanted to talk about Future Diary here.

Well, looks like I got side-tracked a little, pretty irresponsible...

Damn.

What a fine piece of art I am.

====================

Tl;dr

Story: 5/10
+ Almost entirely supported by crazy twists
+/- So bad that it's so good
- Logic doesn't apply

Art: 6/10
+ Good animation during fight scenes
+/- Character designs unique but weird
- Meh during the rest of the scenes

Sound: 8/10
+ Great 1st OP
+ OST fitting for atmosphere
- Nothing apart from the 1st OP especially memorable

Character: 3/10
+ Yuno defines "Yandere"
+/- Simply exist for "entertainment" purposes
- Lack of fleshed out characters
- Most characters doesn't make sense in real life

Enjoyment: 9/10
Sorry, but for this you have to see the long explanation above.

Overall 7/10
Good show for me, quite flawed but thoroughly enjoyable.

Something that I've seen all too often and which disappoints me greatly in all forms of media, whether it be anime or not, is when an anime has an extremely intriguing and unpredictable story but fails to execute it in a manner befitting of how good the actual story is. And sadly enough, Mirai Nikki is one such series which pains me to watch due to how poorly executed its good story is. However, personally, Mirai Nikki was still an absolute blast to watch due to the unpredictable nature of its story and the rather strange but extremely interesting cast of characters.

Story: 6/10

Mirai Nikki focuses ... primarily on Yukiteru Amano or Yuki for short, a cowardly and lonely boy who for some strange reason, keeps a diary of everything that happens around him on his phone. He is involuntarily thrown into a Hunger Games-esque fight to the death by Deus Ex Machina, the God of space and time, in order to determine the successor to his throne. Each of its twelve contestants is given a future diary which aids them in seeing the future. It is then that he meets and teams up with Yuno Gasai, a beautiful grade A student who is actually a psychotic and obsessive bitch... to put it lightly.

Sounds rather simple right? Yes. Yes it does. But what makes Mirai Nikki's story so intriguing and addictive is that it isn't just a simple kill-everyone-to-win sort of story. The story actually has depth. Not all the characters have the desire to become a god. Some characters see the benefit of creating alliances instead of killing at first sight. A few of the characters have a sense of morality and help those who they are meant to kill. All these small additions of character to the anime create depth and gives the story substance.

Furthermore, the story also includes many, many, many plot twists, probably too many for a 26 episode anime. While most of make sense to a certain degree ane one of them completely blew my mind (I'm sure it will blow yours too), almost all of them contained some sort of plot hole, some unexplainable plot device, or an inconsistency. I can't even count the number of times I asked a question that I knew would be answered on my own two hands. Eventually, and metaphorically speaking, the anime gets to a point in the story where people start gaining the ability to fly, aliens start attacking the earth, and it turns out your neighbour is Satan. Well, that might as well happen, given that very few things are explained well, if explained at all, in this anime.

Another extremely disappointing thing to note about Mirai Nikki is the after credit scenes. Initially, it is explained that the afte credit scenes would be used to give backstory, information about some scenes during the episodes, or some details on something you might not have picked up during an episode. I only recall one time where the after credit scenes were useful; in the first or second episode where it helped the viewer piece together a few events which might not have been linked together by the viewer. Otherwise, every single after credit scene is just a sorry excuse to add some humour to every episode.

Characters: 7/10

Every single character in Mirai Nikki is unique and interesting in their own way. The contestants participating in this game to the death range from a blind vigilante to a well known terrorist to a blood thirsty kid. Sadly enough, very few of the characters are explored at all and none of them aside from Yuki, Yuno, and 9th receive any meaningful character development. The character development they do receive is terrible, hardly related to the overall story at all, and could've made way for explanations of the many unexplainable plot devices.

Now I would have given the characters a higher score, probably an 8/10, but the creators of Mirai Nikki are perverted. I'm a guy but the amount of female nudity and fan service they chucked into Mirai Nikki, which is there just for the sake of it being there, is uncomfortable and just disgusting. Not only that but they also ran out of ideas when it came to many of the female characters' backstory. They essentially told themselves that if they wanted their supporting female cast to have troubled pasts, that they should say they got raped, put a scene suggesting as such, and leave it at that.

For the most part, Yuki's development as a main character is extremely inconsistent. At times he becomes the world's most confident man and at other times, he is the world's biggest coward. On the other hand, 9th's development is a little better, which really doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things. By the end of the story, she is a completely different person to the one you first meet but the events which caused her to change so much are strange and somewhat unexplainable.

The one extremely bright spot in the cast of characters is Yuno, though I do understand that many, many people will not like her. Her unpredictable and secretive nature was what really helped make the story so intriguing. When every character was more or less established in their roles, Yuno was that one character who continually had something new pull from under her sleeve. She receives a huge amount of character development, all of which adds fuel to her unpreictable fire and sets up for a plot twist which, as I have previously stated, blew my mind away.

Art & animation: 9/10

The art in this anime is honestly nothing special and I honestly wasn't impressed with most of it. There are, however, a few small details, especially in a few of the future diaries, which did catch my eye quite a few times.

The animation, on the other hand, is a lot more impressive. During the fight scenes, which need to be animated well in anime like these, was fluid and nice to watch. Other animation techniques like the splattering of blood and the eyes of "death" (a name I gave to the eyes that Yuki gets when he realises something bad or when Yuno goes into full-psycho mode) are also really well done.

Sound: 8/10

First opening. Great. Quality listen in my spare time. Second opening. Not so great. There's just something about English lyrics being sung by a Japanese person that I don't like but that's just personal preference. The background music is brilliant, especially combined with the animaiton. It always helped create the atmosphere, whether it be during a fast paced battle or when a psychotic Yuno is stalking you.

The voice acting (I watch Mirai Nikki dubbed) is actually somewhat good. Yuno was portrayed perfectly. She always sounded cute but you could also always hear that hint of psycho in her. Yuki was also portrayed well. During the emotional or horrifying moments, Yuki was full of emotion and his voice broke a lot, adding a bit more realism to his character. The supporting characters weren't as good. However, you didn't see most of them enough to really judge if their voice acting was good enough or not and I honestly didn't care if they weren't going to show up that much.

Enjoyment: 9/10

Personally, the only things which bugged me about this anime were the questions which kept managing to ask but never received answers to and the ridiculous amount of fan service. Otherwise, I was constantly on the edge of my seat, always wanting to see what plot twist would come my way. For most of the anime, I overlooked the plot holes, inconsistencies, and unexplained plot devices, and was able to enjoy what this anime had to offer. If you, unlike me, cannot stand a poorly executed story, then I suggest you turn away from Mirai Nikki. Otherwise, I highly recommend that everyone else watch this anime.

Hope you found this review helped! Any feedback is much appreciated.

Have you ever had a crush on someone? Did you ever have the courage to ask them out, or did you just stand by and watch him/her from afar? Then you start to ask yourself questions: What does this person do on a daily basis? What are their likes/dislikes? Do they like someone else? How far are you actually willing to go to know more about this person?

These are the themes present in Mirai Nikki. Sometimes, crushes can evolve into love, and sometimes, love can evolve into dangerous affection.

... -Story & Characters-
Yukiteru Amano (Yuki) is a typical young teenager: He goes to school every day, he goes home, does his homework, goes to bed, wakes up, rinse and repeat. Yuki doesn’t really like to mingle with other people and keeps to himself, writing down what goes on in his life in a journal on his cell phone. Yuki’s only friends are a pair of imaginary super-beings: Deus Ex Machina, the god of the universe, and a little girl named Murmur. Yuki’s simple life is suddenly flipped upside-down when Deus gives him a “Future Diary”, a bizarre power given to his cell phone, which allows him to predict future events. After coming to the realization that Deus and Murmur were, in fact, very real, he learns that he was selected by Deus to participate in a battle-royale against eleven other people who also possess Future Diaries. Deus, the god of the universe, is starting to decay, and if a winner, who will take the place of Deus as the new god, is not chosen by the end of the tournament within 90 days, Deus will die, and the world will end.

The main heroine, Yuno Gasai, is also a participant in the tournament. However, Yuno has a twisted love for Yuki, and wants to ally with him to take on the other Diary Users together. While it does seem like Yuno’s affection for Yuki is random, her reasons for her twisted behavior are justified after a huge plot twist at the end of the show. While the story of the show isn’t terribly original, the concept of Future Diaries and being able to predict future events takes a very tired battle-royale setting and makes it its own. The show also has a good dose of humor to balance out the overall serious tone of the story.

However, the harsh reality is that the story is not perfect, as the show has several plot holes and unanswered questions. For instance, we’re told that Yuki has been in contact with Deus and Murmur, who thought that they were a figment of his imagination. How did he meet them? How long have they been in association with each other? What do they talk about on a daily basis? Just how are these Diary Users selected?

There are also two very weak (and silly) arcs during the show’s first half, which really hamper the experience. That’s not to say that the first half is bad, because it’s not at all. In fact, those two arcs aside, it’s really quite engaging. However, the saving grace for the show is its amazing second half, which really cranks the story up a few notches, throwing in some unexpected twists and heart-wrenching, powerful moments. Throw in some really great character development to go along with it, and you have a very memorable second half.

The characters are what really drive the narrative forward, however. While there are maybe one or two characters that were kind of annoying *cough* Reisuke *cough*, the overall cast is quite likeable. Yuki is a strong lead, and acts as the confused, conflicted, and frightened hero. His reaction to the events around him are perfectly natural, and the fact that he has a crazy stalker that follows him around only makes his reasons all the more justified. Yuno goes to extreme lengths to keep Yuki in her sights, and hates it when he socializes with anyone that isn’t her, and even goes as far as trying to kill his friends. The rest of the cast is likeable as well. However, if you’re familiar with Black Lagoon, there is one character that is a complete rip-off of Revy: Uryuu Minine. Strong, aggressive, and stubborn, she is completely, utterly, 100%, no bones about it, Revy, making it feel like the writers had lost their creativity.

Faults aside, the story is well-told, well-paced, and interesting throughout, and once you reach the show’s second half, you will not be able to keep your eyes off of the screen.

-Visuals & Sound-
Mirai Nikki is relatively new, coming out in 2011. While its visuals aren’t really up to par with some of the other shows that have come out around that time, it’s still relatively attractive. The characters in particular are very well drawn and move with great fluidity.

The show’s audio, on the other hand, is easily its strongest aspect. The voice acting is absolutely superb, with the sole exception of Yuno, who, while not bad, sounded a lot deeper and didn’t quite fit her character, and it took a long time for it to grow on me. Aside from her, though, the voice acting was top-notch, there was no overacting, and everyone sounded, most importantly, believable. The music is of equal quality, with every song perfectly matching the situation that it accompanies. Even out of context, the individual songs themselves are just incredibly memorable, ranging from soothing acoustic guitar melodies to epic scores, and the soundtrack as a whole just as so much variety and is brimming with creativity. I highly recommend checking out the soundtrack alone, if that’s your thing.

-Conclusion-
In the end, Mirai Nikki is a flawed gem. It has plot holes and inconsistencies, yet its tale is still captivating. It’s not visually stunning, but its audio is terrific. Everything Mirai Nikki does wrong is counteracted by something it does right. While it’s not perfect, honestly, if you don’t watch it, I do truly feel that you’re missing out on something special. Would I recommend Mirai Nikki to any anime fan out there?

Absolutely.

+Interesting story
+Very likeable cast of characters
+Superb voicework, followed by an outstanding soundtrack
+Amazing second half
+Good sense of humor
-Some plot holes here and there
-Two very weak arcs during the show’s first half
-Not very original

Final score:
8/10

Mirai Nikki is an anime that has a fantastic premise with a lot of potential. The basis for the anime is that the god of the world (Deus ex Machina) is dying and has chosen 12 people as potential successors. They are each given a Mirai Nikki (Future Diary) with its own set of abilities and are told to play a survival game in which the last individual standing will become god. Each diary's ability gives the user a specific edge against their competitors whether it's being able to track down individual just by knowing their name or being able to predict attempts on their ... own lives. The catch to this is that the destruction of your own diary will instantly kill you. Now this sets up for a lot of interesting plot moments and a message that centres around the morality of it all that's rather subtle and carefully executed. The biggest problem with the story is it has many glaring plot holes. I can't mention many of them for the sake of spoilers, but the most glaring one in the show is they never explain why Deus ex Machina is dying or why he needs humans to be his successors. The plot holes really bring down a fantastic story to the point I can only say that it's good.

The art in this show is great. Animation is almost always clean and fluid showing marks of an anime that had a great budget going for it. The models are almost always anatomically correct and the backgrounds normally look great too. It doesn't stand out, but does an impeccable job at conveying scenes to a high degree of effectiveness.

The music in this show is amazing. Every track represents its corresponding scene perfectly. Some tracks don't just compliment, but improve the scenes themselves whether that be through intensity or subtlety (Track 7 on the 5th ost really stands out when mentioning the score). This anime has one of the best osts I've heard and deserves very high amounts of praise for the amount of quality present here.

I'm going to be blunt here. If you have any reason to watch this show, it should be for the characters. The other aspects of the show are well done, but compared to the amount of depth they give to the back-stories and personalities of these people who were chosen to participate in this game, you could take them all away and still have a solid show. You could choose any character in this show as your favourite and it would be just as valid as picking anyone else. Every single character manages to be interesting in some way even if they're only present for about 10 minutes of the show. This is a rarity not only in anime, but in many mediums such as American cinema or fantasy novels. I can't emphasize enough that these characters are what make this show a good watch as a whole.

This show is actually very enjoyable. It isn't the most enjoyable thing I've ever watched, but it deserves high placement for how it handled itself. It even had me on the edge of my seat in more than a few episodes as I was very interested in what was going to happen next.

Overall, this anime deserves a solid 8/10. If the plot were cleaned up and better executed, it would probably be deserving of a 9 or maybe even a 10. What's preventing me from giving above an 8/10 is that story and plot are the most important things for a show like this to have. With that in mind, I would still recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the genre. It is a very good show and is worth your time.

People overreact towards Mirai Nikki. Seeing the comments for the reviews here such as "worst anime", "stupid", "annoying", and so forth made me realize how belittled this series really is. With animes that reach Mirai Nikki's calibre in popularity, there's a slew of overly-critical reviews that follow that give unnecessarily bashful criticism that you would only see for popular animes exclusively. And with this said, this anime hasn't been given the justice it deserves and I've finally had enough. Mirai Nikki's one of favorites, and I've been attached to it ever since I completed it. And now I'm here to review one of my favorite ... animes and finally put it in some good light.

Story 7/10
In my humble opinion, this is one of the more consistent aspects of the anime. Despite the rave over the anime, the story's not all that complex; it's nothing but a simplified version of Hunger Games. You have Yukki, the main character, who unwillingly participates in a battle royale game with a group of other contestants. Each contestant is called a "diary owner". The basic idea of the game is to survive and be the last one left standing. This basically invokes the principle "kill or be killed". Each diary owner has a device called a "Future Diary" which differs in abilities to help the contestant triumph through the game. If the diary is to be destroyed, the contestant dies and furthermore is out the game.

Animation 8/10
There's not much to say about the animation. It's pretty standard; but it fits the anime perfectly.

Sound 7/10
Same with animation, it's pretty standard. Not much to comment here honestly

Characters 6/10
Now this is the part that makes peoples' heads turn. The general consensus I've seen in a number of reviews about Mirai Nikki is that Yukki is a whiny brat. And as much as I want to, I can't disagree. Yukki starts off as a timid, anti-social boy who's always complaining - pretty linear to Shinji from Neon Genesis. And then there's Yuno, the selling point of this anime. She initially has an average-school girl sempai-chasing look and personality, admiring Yukki from afar and trying her best to get close to him. But as the game progresses, you notice her true personality comes out: a yandere. The girl's insane. The depths she goes to protect Yukki throughout the game are unbelievable and sometimes unsettling. And as the anime has aged she's become a classic example of a yandere character. And as for the side characters, they aren't relevant enough for you to care about their personalities as much as Yukki and Yuno.

Enjoyment 10/10
I initially took my time watching Mirai Nikki, as I was watching other animes along with it at the time, but as I progressed into the series I became attached to it instantly. I found myself marathoning it at a pretty shocking rate. In terms of the thrill of this anime, I've only encountered a few that have matched it. Despite its faults it's amazingly entertaining.

Overall 9/10
As you can see this show is a hit or miss for most people. The people who watch it are divided into two: ones who like it and one's who don't. And it's a good number of both on each side to say the least. And in saying that, I think it's best to try Mirai Nikki and see with your own eyes how you like it.

Mirai Nikki or Future Diary is perhaps one of the best shows I have seen of the year of it's release. I personally think the show is a must see and would highly recommend it to those searching for a really good and exciting psychological thriller. While I do believe the show is great, it does however suffers terribly from a bad bandwagon effect so don't let negative opinions or reviews affect your time watching.

That aside, I'm going to start with the characters. On my list of things I liked about the show, characters or characterization is number one. I really enjoy watching shows ... were the characters have bad or traumatizing backgrounds stories because I feel like that really makes most characters grow emotionally and develop. I personally didn't care for the main character Yukiteru Amano because I dislike seeing the common archetype of mentally and psychically weak characters however, boy oh boy did that change. Of course thanks actions and behavior from the unforgettable and lovable character Yuno Gasai are annoying, weak main character was able to develop and grow (just a little) however sufficient enough to make him somewhat likable. In the characters department Future diary has so much going on for it.

The story, is perhaps one of the best for Psychological mystery, horror. Your ideal psychological and mystery horror genre is something that should "A.G.E.G. "Always keep Em guessing" and that is one thing I really enjoyed about future diary. There are lots of shows that try to keep the audience guessing, however most are either really predictable or obvious when it comes to solving mysteries. The Future diary however takes a totally different, and unexpected approach with this. The story really revolves around character growth and will. Mostly the will to get stronger... and well "Survive."
Another thing I liked about the story was the action, of course surviving the game meant killing other players and I found there were lots of fighting scenes and moments (Especially towards the end) during the show where I was completely engaged and moved. Lastly, romance. One thing I'll give extra credit to the future diary is for the romance. In spite of all the craziness that is going on, the bonds between most of characters are so strong. I loved seeing the bond between Yuki and Yuno grow during the show.

Soundtrack was amazing, I don't believe that there is a single anime fans music player that doesn't have at least one song from Mirai Nikki downloaded to it. It really ties in well with the story especially, and most noticeably the tender moments, such as love, or something sad. The music was so beautifully well composed, and it is just bliss to hear.

The artwork pretty good, standard 2010's art style, with great use of CGI during most scenes and used on certain characters. There is of course nudity in the show however nothing really stands out too much. Character designs were nicely done, a pretty decent transition from the manga adaptation.

Overall I found Mirai Nikki to be a well written (though cliche at times) and unique story. I would recommend it to those viewers and anime fans who want to see a great murder mystery with a game type theme/setting. Final review edit and score 9/10 for epic story and finish.

"July 28th. The day Yuki and I will be together forever."

"Eventually there will be no one left to kill but him. Then where will you be? You gonna protect the man you love from yourself? How's that supposed to work? What will your love be worth at the moment of truth?" - Minene Uryuu

Preface:

Mirai Nikki is another show that needs no introduction. #16 in raw popularity, and one of the most talked about anime alongside Death Note, Code Geass, and Elfen Lied- it's one that's left its mark on the medium, and is certain to be discussed for as long as there people ... around to watch it. While the popularity is certainly deserving, Mirai Nikki is nowhere near a perfect show, though it does have some interesting characters.


Artwork and Animation: 8

Asread, a studio I admittedly had never heard of prior to this show (but also responsible for the popular horror series Corpse Party) did a nice job bringing Mirai Nikki to life. While there are some obvious places that corners were cut with super low detail character models and stillframes with no pans, when it springs into action, it looks great. The backgrounds and attention to detail in certain environments are very well illustrated. A rather dark palette was used for a chunk of the show to match the tone, but all in all, it's a very vibrant looking piece of art.

One point of note is the use of cel-shade in Mirai Nikki. I've seen a lot of other reviewers and watchers mistakenly refer to the art style that Deus and his realm are rendered in as 3D CGI. Cel shade is not 3D CGI. It's what's known as a "non photorealistic" rendering. Also referred to as flat-D or 2.5D, Cel shading uses less gradients and shading to give art a comic book feel, rather than a wholly 'realistic' look, as seen in the ufotable produced "Fate" series.


Sound and Voice Acting: 9

I watched both sub and dub, and I have to say, game set and match- English.
Perhaps the sub translation that I watched was just poor (HorribleSubs was responsible), but the subtitled version had little to no emotional pull to it like the English did. It was entirely more heartfelt in English, and the word choice and elucidation from Zach Bolton's script made it a 'smarter' watch in my native tongue than in Japanese. While some moments were decidedly darker in English than Japanese, I never got the feeling that Yuno was any creepier or more insane "sounding" in Japanese than English. Given that part of the whole allure of the series is how nuts this main character is, it was a no brainer to watch it in what is familiar- and turned out to be better sounding. Josh Grelle's (Armin, AOT) Yuki was a much more ninnyboy middle schooler sound than Togashi Misuzu's. Brina Palencia (Holo, Spice and Wolf, Touka, Tokyo Ghoul) as Yuno was perhaps not the best casting, but again, Yuno sounded like an irrationally lovestruck middle school girl. She was a touch robotic at times, but overall good.

The intros and outros are all excellent tunes- upbeat J-rock tunes that were obviously written for the show, but still nice.


Characters: 8

Just as there will always be a debate about Lelouch's fate at the end of Code Geass, there will also be a near constant flame war between the fans and critics of one Yuno Gasai. Though Mirai Nikki was not the first, nor the anime that popularized the "Yandere" girl trope, it's definitely the most notable example. Calling Yuno Gasai a crazy bitch is only an infinitesimally small scratch on the congealed blood mountain of the unhinged, deranged, and confusing persona that she is.
Where some decry her as a shallow, plot-armored convenience, others claim her to be a complex mess of abilities, emotions and mental states only theoretically possible. Like some one-off case discussed in a Crime and Deviance or Abnormal Psychology class, or something.

Yuno, to me, exhibits what I see to be a very middle school perspective of the concept of love. Anyone who's been through middle school has seen these types of relationships- the ultra clingy, violent protectiveness and absolute adoration of boyfriend and girlfriend to/on each other. With this in mind, and given the supposed age of the characters involved, this works within the context of the show. A 15 year old's idea of what a healthy relationship is often vastly differs what someone even 18 would think- not to mention 25, 40, and on up.
Love is irrational they say, and everyone knows that hormonally imbalanced and impulsive teenagers are too... unless you're one of them- then you just talk about that "crazy couple that's all over each other".

What is Yuno? Yuno is all of these things, and more. Sure, Yuno has some crazy skills that no 15 year old girl should possess. Sure, Yuno gets out of a lot of situations that would mean hers or anyone else's ass were she not necessary in the story. But, in a story where there's a character named, literally, Deus Ex Machina, and people have phones that enable them to tell the future, there's already a suspension of disbelief going here.

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The supporting cast steals the show at times though, particularly Minene Uruyu, a fan favorite. Uryuu is probably the most compelling character in the show, and one that gets a lot of characterization where others lack it.

Unfortunately for the show, or perhaps as a means of making it more depressing is that everyone in the show has a grimdark past, not always for good reason. Kind of like how in Elfen Lied, with Mayu's abusive past shown just to kick the puppy, Mirai Nikki has several Mayus. First on the list is Tsubaki- who is like Sakura Matou level woobie. Crappy past, crappy present, and unnecessarily dark. Everyone who's a diary wielder, with the exception of 8th and 11th are either horrible people, or have been heinously abused in the past... or both. Basically anyone who has a flashback (and there are a lot of these) is going to have been a kicked puppy.


Story: 6

Where Mirai Nikki loses some points are the wild plot twists that take place in the last three episodes (not counting the OVA as a 27th episode). If I had not watched all three back to back, or had even so much as gotten up to get a drink during them, I would come back and been wondering what Yuki, Yuno, and the gang were doing in another show that had the exact same art style as Mirai Nikki. Seriously, sharks get jumped, and some real screwballs get thrown out there. What was a fairly consistently paced and twisted ride from episode 1 to 23 suddenly became a wormhole to another dimension where the title of the anime was Mirai Nikki, but what was going on was... not. A little Dragon Ball Z, a little Steins Gate, a little Donnie Darko, a smattering of nonsense, and a whole lot of "what??" happen in the last three episodes, but they do lead to a rather satisfying conclusion, particularly with the addition of the Mirai Nikki Redial OVA, which lends a new perspective to the final moments of the series.

Mirai Nikki is strong in that it keeps the viewer on their toes, or edge of their seat. It's not one of those shonen anime where every enemy that's defeated joins the crew and friendship prevails- it treats its characters harshly and with permanent results. While the setup of the death/survival game rings of an ensemble cast type setting, Mirai Nikki takes a slightly different path of arcs, with some overlapping characters. This works well for the show, and kept it from being needlessly convoluted with a lot of characters with disparate motives and threads of plot in every episode. It enabled the show to stay more focused on the conflict at hand and allow the complexity to grow as it went on instead of being all at once.


Enjoyment: 10

The Future Diary's popularity likely stems from its method of presentation- a very accessible teen drama with a lot of mature content- ultraviolence and nudity, along with an exciting plot with a rather unexpected conclusion. All in all, Mirai Nikki is a very electrifying and enjoyable watch- imagine a mix of the supernatural, a modern day Romeo and Juliet tale, then mixed with Natural Born Killers, were Woody Harrelson less unhinged and more of a sissy. It's a story of irrational love, and at the same time one of despair and how sick humanity can be for the sake of power over others. Definitely a show I'll remember well into the future.


Overall: 8


Recommended?

Certainly. Mirai Nikki is a twisty drama chock full of darkness and violence, but not relentlessly depressing. For those who find the Yandere girl trope interesting, this is a must see. For those who just want an exciting and fun but rough show - this is another good fit. Plenty of blood, guts, and angst to go with the mysterious and supernatural elements- just don't expect it to be grounded in reality.