Mirai Nikki (TV)

Notice: this review will contain a few spoilers. I'll mark them but if you haven't watched this yet, proceed with caution. Sorry about that.

Survival games have always been one of my favorite kinds of stories. I just love them. So naturally, when I heard about Mirai Nikki's premise, I was greatly looking forward to it. Unfortunately, after an excellent first episode, this series began to get worse and worse; by the end of it all, it had become nothing but a huge disappointment.

Let's begin with the positive aspects of this show. The art and animation in Mirai Nikki are, for the most part, rather good, ... but nothing very impressive. As for character designs, it's pretty hit-and-miss. Some characters look OK, while others are so ridiculous it makes the anime seem/feel less serious than it should be, which is NOT a good thing for a thriller/mystery.

The music is great. Most of the tracks are somewhat memorable and fit their scenes well. The OPs and EDs are also very nice, with the first OP being particularly awesome. I never skipped them. Voice acting-wise, everyone does a solid, consistent job, except for Yuno's seiyuu. I'm sorry, but her voice was annoying and hearing that infamous "Yukki!" every god damn minute was painful.

Now let's get to the bad stuff. While the premise is amazing, the story & script are very poorly written. Thing is, Mirai Nikki is a shounen trying (and failing) to be a seinen; thus, it lacks the maturity and depth needed to handle the kind of story it offers. Many questions are left unanswered, some of the writing choices are just plain stupid, half of the characters have a very low IQ and, for a mystery, there aren't that many twists, and those the anime DOES have are often predictable.

The whole concept of using Future Diaries to outsmart opponents in deadly, tense battles is BARELY explored, plus the battles themselves seldom involve complexity. When you've got tools as powerful as those, you'd think there'd be gambits just piling up on each other, but no. Many battles are over within a minute and are so basic it's insulting. Speaking of insulting, this show has a nasty tendency to have its world just forget about some of the big events related to the diary holders. Normally the media would be all over a series of bombings, massacres, etc... but here? Nah, it's just Tuesday again. It's astonishing how everyone can easily get away from anything.

Another problem with this anime is its bad habit of throwing in bits of humor in the middle of serious moments. It really kills the atmosphere and it's not funny. Even in the more lighthearted scenes it's not funny. Since we're talking about the atmosphere, have I mentioned that some details in crucial moments are overlooked, which obliterates the immersion? Empty hospitals, incompetent cops, silent bystanders...it's the little things that can make or break the mood. A shame, really, because the anime IS able to create a good, creepy atmosphere at times (ex.: the end of episode 3).

Remember what I said about there being a lot of predictable twists? I kinda lied. The biggest twist in the whole story, which unfolds in the last few episodes, took me by surprise. Did it make sense? Well, yes, at least until the anime began to blatantly make shit up on the spot. Did it answer a few questions? For sure. Did it raise even more questions - most of which remain unanswered - and present to us an INCREDIBLY STUPID twist later? OH YES.

Now for the worst part of it all. The characters. If you're already angry at me, stop reading because I will not be gentle.

For starters we have the male protagonist, Yukiteru (or just Yuki). This guy. Let me tell you something about this guy: he might just be one of the worst written characters I have ever seen. No hyperbole there. Not because he's a wimp 95% of the time - I can understand why. No-one normal would stay frosty after being dragged into a survival game full of maniacs. So why is he so bad then? It's because he's absurdly inconsistent. Most selective memory of all time, gullible when not paranoid (never with the correct timing), ability to forgive that defies common sense and, later on, he can't even settle on a personality (which seems to run in the family). Worst part is, his personality shift happens suddenly; he gets almost no development for 18 or so episodes then BAM! complete 180. If you're going to change a character's attitude, make sure it isn't baffling and that it sticks.

Then we have our female protagonist, Yuno, the main source of yandere-ness, fanservice and body bags. THE poster girl of Mirai Nikki, to the point where she may be more popular than the show itself - just look at how many favorites she has here at MAL. The creator knew of this, so s/he made her the most complex character in the whole cast and genuinely fun to watch. Unfortunately, that complexity only really shows up in the last few episodes, so until then she's pretty much a one note character - crush, kill, Yukki!. Moreover, the yandere trait eventually wears off, meaning she can get kinda annoying afterwards, even with all the carnage she provides. If it cannot wear off for you, then Mirai Nikki will be considerably more entertaining. Either way, Yuno was a hit-or-miss character for me.

The supporting cast - Yuki's friends and the other diary holders - is where it gets ugly. Out of the former group, the ONLY truly memorable character (and, might I add, one of the few characters in this anime that I liked) is the intelligent Akise. His personality and abilities are a perfect match for this kind of story, which is a shame because he didn't get enough screen time. The other three, despite getting some things accomplished, end up being inept at almost everything, to the point that Akise pretty much has to carry the team.

As for the other diary holders...just where do I begin? For starters, they're pretty much all insane or very dangerous individuals, except for maybe 2 of them; that alone raises a pretty important question: "why did Deus even consider letting one of those crazy bastards be his successor?". Another problem is that some may as well have "fodder" written on their foreheads: most don't even last for three episodes, plus they're lucky if they get a mediocre, unpolished back story full of cheap shocks to make you feel bad for them.

*SPOILERS PRESENT IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPHS* What kills me is that some of the diary holders are such piles of stupid writing it's absurd. I mean, one of them is a 5-year-old kid who's just as messed up as the others, somehow has access to stuff like toxic gas and who can formulate rather elaborate plans. Another is the mama bear of an orphanage composed of people who are willing to erase anyone for her - dressed as ninjas, no less. Yet another is a blind Power Rangers fanatic who dresses up as an eyeball (and who can somehow bring dolls to life. Never explained!) to fight crime. Remember, this anime takes itself seriously.

There's also the eleventh diary holder, the Hitler wannabe who gave Deus the idea for the diaries. Since the anime never even tries to further explore such an important character, allow me to ask some questions: how did he (or any of the diary holders) meet Deus? Why did Deus even listen to this obviously crazy man? Why future diaries, and not some kind of superpower? By the way, why is Deus decaying? What is MurMur's origin? Why did EVERY ONE of the diary holders only gun for Yuki? The questions pile up fast once the characters are taken into consideration.

Was there not a single diary holder that I liked? The answer is yes. That would be Minene, the ninth, the series' resident internationally wanted terrorist (at the tender age of 18. Seriously). She was pretty awesome and likable for most of her screen time, which made watching her turn into a textbook tsundere even more painful. And let's not talk about her ABSOLUTELY STUPID role in the final marathon of twists. *SPOILERS END HERE*

What about enjoyment? Believe me in this one: if you pay attention to the writing, Mirai Nikki will be painful. The mountain of questions, the absurd decisions that some of the characters make, etc...you just won't get a lot of breaks after the first few episodes. So what if you employ the good ol' "turn off your brain" strategy? It probably won't be all that enjoyable either. As I've said before, this is a shounen trying to be a seinen. You can just FEEL it try. And fail. I don't know about the rest of you, but that really kills the experience for me.

In conclusion, Mirai Nikki is a huge disappointment. Its messy story and weak characters are simply not fit for the genre it belongs to. Even if the art was OK, even if the soundtrack was great, even if the anime has its moments and holds the potential to be enjoyable should one ignore the writing issues, it simply does not live up to the hype. I'm probably gonna get lynched by its fanbase; however, I don't really care. I'm done. I needed to get this out of my system, and there it is.

Thanks for reading this review.

I'm going to tell you all a story. Once, there was a man. A man who loved trains. This man loved trains so much that every year or so he would put different things on the train and send it off for other people to see and enjoy. Sometimes he would put fruit on the train, othertimes he would put toys. All to see the end result that his precious train would deliver.

One day, said man decided to put as many fucked up things that he could find on this train. He put razors, cyanide, bombs, and even decided to mix in some sweet things ... with all of this, like boxes of sugar and a pink dress fit for a loli. He piled the train up, barely being able to fit in all of this stuff onto it, and set it off - awaiting for the end result.

Of course, with the train being overloaded with a bunch of different shit on it, it was only natural that the man's train would crash. And crash it did. However, the man did not care. For he would see it that this trainwreck made all the way to its destination, no matter how much shit he had to pull out of his ass to make it work. And so, with everything in the train clashing into one another as the man pulled his own strings to make the train continue going (no matter how much logic it defied in the end) he eventually got the train to reach the end.

Some people looked at the mess of the train and thought, "Wow! Look at all of this stuff! There's knives in this train? Stuffed animals? Explosives? Books? How marvelous! What a wonderful thing this train has brought everyone!" while others looked at the end result and knew right away what a terrible mess all of this stuff was. Rest of the town was too busy watching K-On! to care.

The moral of the story? When you take as much random crap as you can and load it all into one train, it will crash. And if it crashes you should end it. Oh, and people like trainwrecks.

If you haven't already voted this unhelpful for the seemingly irrelevant story, I'm here to tell you that this tale was my description of "Mirai Nikki's" story - a trainwreck. I won't give you a rundown on what the story is about. You have the synopsis and Google for that, so I'll just get straight to the point. The story doesn't really have any idea where it's going or how it should be directed. They made sure to throw in as many psychotic characters, themes, events and mix it in to be able to attract as many viewers as possible. Seriously, you'll find everything from rape to child abandonment to feeding children grass - all to make the story and characters look like they have depth and the viewer to feel "cool" for watching such miscellaneous shit. The transition between events in the story doesn't flow and all seems very random at best. It's as if these events happen just because the plot demands it.

The story had some strong points - while the fighting scenes didn't always make the most sense or had little to no build-up, they were very entertaining to watch and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in seeing how it played out. However, the poor writing and lack of common sense in most of the story is what makes it so terrible. The plot loses all of it's purpose by the end of the show as well, which just makes everything worse. It's a good story to be mindlessly entertained, but for those of us who were paying attention you can tell just how often things failed to make sense. It was all driven off of shock value and crazy, psychological things.

Speaking of crazy, psychological things, let's talk about the characters, or as I like to call them, "plot devices." Each of the character exists only for convenience of the plot and nothing more, and same goes for their past. Every diary holder, save for First & Eight, has something that makes them insane or crazy in some way or another so that way they can serve purpose to the plot. If these characters weren't all deranged or had these insane backstories than they would be of no threat. So why did a bunch of characters with messed up lives get chosen to be diary holders, and then someone like Yuki (I won't focus on the Eighth) who lives a completely normal life gets chosen as well? It doesn't add up.

As for the characters themselves, Yuki is just a normal guy thrown into a pit of madness. Many hate him, some pity him. Me? I pity the guy. You can't help but look at it realistically - he's a normal kid thrown into this survival game where everyone has some type of mental issue and is out to kill him. This doesn't make his crying and patheticness any less annoying, but it's justifiable. At the same time you can't help but wonder why Yuki was chosen to be a diary holder in the first place considering how out of place he is. Then we have Yuno, the main reason why everyone watches the show. Yandere. That's pretty much her whole personality. (save for her own fucked up past that tries to give her depth and reasoning.) Yuno is like a robot, per say - only programmed when desired to scream "Yukii!", act innocent, then kill people. And apparently that sells. She's a selfish, unreasonable character who's popularity is earned from her constant blushing and murdering. While she was indeed suffering from major emotional trauma, none of that justified the actions that she had towards Yuki and the people he cared about. Despite her "love" for Yuki, she still constantly hurt him and the friends that he loved - doing what she can to turn him against them instead of letting him be happy with both him AND his friends. She's simply an annoying character with no actual depth or personality.

As for the other diary holders, they're mostly forgettable and run a cycle of "appear for a few episodes, fight Yuki/Yuno (mostly Yuno), win, reveal traumatic past, fight Yuno, lose" and repeat. In short, most of the diary holders were just forgettable and used only for the sake of being killed and adding excitement to the show. Side characters like Yuki's friends (namely Akise) are on-screen more and provide more to the story then even most of the diary holders. That doesn't change the fact that everyone is pretty flat. No real development is given the the majority of our cast. The development that does occur for a few of our characters is written or presented pretty poorly with very little reasons to back it up. I won't say too much as to not spoil the series, though. As I said before, these characters are nothing more then plot devices - created to make the story more "interesting" and to shock the viewer into thinking they're looking at an emotionally deep character.

Artwork is nothing to be fawned over and is mediocre at best. Character designs aren't terrible but they aren't something that I'd call memorable either. The bloodbath scenes are the ones that look the most realistic and it's obvious that the animators took their most time in animating these. The animation is pretty fluid throughout the fighting scenes, but it's an overall forgettable performance save for the blood and gore that they flesh out so well.

The soundtrack was again, not very memorable, but you can at least say that it stood out. Emotional music fit those so-called "sad scenes" pretty well (despite the lack of real feeling in the scenes themselves) and was well-played out. The battle music and of course, suspenseful tracks were also well-fitting and it's easy to say that those tracks were what helped keep you on your toes as to when something may be getting ready to happen. The seiyuu's did a pretty good job considering their roles, but based on a personal experience I can't say that hearing Yuno screaming "Yuki!" every episode and listening to Yuki cry every episode didn't get annoying or ear-aching. But overall no real complaints here.

Did I enjoy "Mirai Nikki?" I don't know, do I enjoy not knowing where the hell a story's going? Do I enjoy watching pink-haired girls who only exist for "love" do a bunch of random, messed up stuff to everyone every other episode? Do I enjoy trainwrecks? No, I can tell you right now that I don't. The thing that made this show bearable, however, was Minene and Akise, who were probably the two most interesting characters in this show for me. Minene got more screentime then most of the diary holders and was actually tolerable, while Akise held that intelligent personality that always spices up a show for me. Otherwise no, this show held little to no enjoyment for me. Even though I'm a sucker for thrillers if there's nothing to hold it up, not even a simple plot that can be explained in a few words, then I won't enjoy it.

Overall, "Mirai Nikki" left a bitter taste in my mouth. The lack of any reasonable directing - or even reason at all - along with a mix of unlikeable, forgettable plot devices, or as we all call them characters made this show nearly intolerable for me. It took as many different, fucked up things as possible in order to appeal to the general audience, threw in some blood and a horny yandere and viola! A masterpiece! Or so says the people who only look on the outside of the trainwreck. For those of us who are examining this train and everything that actually happened for the end result to be.. this, then you'll be able to see just how terrible "Mirai Nikki" actually was.

This anime is one that has a lot of good surrounding it by word of mouth, and every once in a while you hear someone say it was meh or not worth watching. When I originally watched this, I had only seen the opening and I thought it was amazing and one of the best openings I've ever seen, as I still hold to this idea today. Upon watching the first few episodes, I was intrigued, but not impressed. When I finally finished it, I felt like I had wasted a tremendous amount of time and immediately wrote it off with a one out of ... ten and rushed a poorly written and bad review of it here, which no longer exists. Then, after many months, I began to think: "What if it actually wasn't as bad as I initially thought?" and so I began the perilous quest of rewatching my most hated anime at this current time, and after finishing it, I wrote this review.

This review takes a bit to get going to my main points, but if you're seriously considering watching this anime, I HIGHLY suggest you finish my review, and then read some other reviews that may/may not be more positive than mine.

Art: 6/10
I will start with the art, as this is obviously the first thing you notice. For a 2011 anime, it's definitely up to par and has no really glaring problems, and is actually rather well done. That being said, I have seen much better anime, even in the same year. It also has some CGI, but it's nothing amazing, but it was done tastefully enough that it doesn't seem really awkward or make a bad contrast with the rest of the art. However, a large problem I have with this is if you are watching an uncensored version (AKA Not the TV version) like I had the misfortune of doing, then you will see some anime boobies. This may or may not bother you, but it bothered me as it was unnecessary fan service and it was more creepy and distracting than anything. Why am I mentioning this in the TV version? As a warning to those that there is a difference. The TV version also censors some very odd things, at least to a North American viewer such as myself, like severed limbs. Japan may have some different laws or preferences to us in NA, but it looks really dumb and childish when something like this happens, and it really takes you out of a suspenseful scenario.

Sound: 8/10
As I have already stated, the opening is great, and I watch it almost every time. Same goes for the second opening and both endings. I highly enjoy all of these, and they are worth sticking around for instead of just jumping into the episode or to the next. The background music fits the tone for almost every scene and Tatsuya Kato did a good job in producing it. However, unlike some other music directors, like Hiroyuki Sawano, none of his tracks are very memorable, and so makes the music in the actual anime lacking to an extent, as there was nothing unique or fresh about his style. This is only a real problem for those of us who like anime OST's and will search them up after watching a scene where the song is what really made it for you.

Story 4/10
Now this is where my review starts getting negative. If you're a big fan of the show and you don't like constructive criticism, turn away now. The story is about a young boy named Yukiteru Amano who is a very lonely and boring middle school child, who is just going through the motions of life trying not to disturb anyone and only observing the daily events that unfold around him. He himself never takes a large role in anything in his life. The only thing he has to go home to is his imaginary friends, Dues ex Machina, the "god" of space and time, and his servant, Mur Mur (Japanese pronunciation Mura Mura, which I much prefer and shall be writing it as such from here on out), who does nothing and a lot of it. One day, Yukiteru wakes up and finds that his diary entries, had already been written for him. Immediately writing it off, he starts his daily routine. Suddenly, the events in his dairy begin to unfold as they were written. Taking advantage of this, he starts utilizing his "future diary". However, he is soon approached by a pink haired classmate named Yuno Gasai, who somehow knows what Mura Mura looks like, even though she's just a part of Yukiteru's imagination. Yukiteru is appalled by this, and runs off, only to be continually cut off by Yuno, who then explains to him that there are eleven other diary owners that are all trying to kill each other to become "god", as the current one, Deus ex Machina, is dying and needs a suitable replacement in one of these diary holders. Yuno also makes it a point to confess her love for Yukiteru, by showing him her future diary, which tells her everything there is to know about Yukiteru, perfect for a stalker, as she has been doing for the past year. Now, thrust into this game of life and death, Yukiteru, with much help from Yuno, must outwit and outfight his enemies that are the other diary holders.

Okay, that's the intro. Cue lots of filler and boring episodes where nothing happens, episodes that are really reminiscent of generic "villain of the week" shounen anime, and so many plot holes you could sink a ship with them. Upon rewatching this, there were many episodes I skipped because either A: Nothing happens in them, or B: They're just so boring to watch you can't help but skip them. I have so many problems with scenes or ways characters handle things that I could write a spoiled version of this review and it would be twice as long, but I won't. I will just warn you that this anime assumes you're stupid sometimes and creates hype with no build up and no pay off. But let's be honest here. If you have a friend that told you to watch this, but you're not so sure and want to read a review first, there's a reason they wanted you to watch this show...

Characters 1/10
Now, for the absolute lowest point of this anime, it's characters. If you're a hardcore fan and decided to still read this review despite my warning, here's where you will be raging. My biggest problem with many shows are weak protagonists. Whether they are just too generic, too perfect, or in this case, too pathetic. Yukiteru, is not a good character. Most anime is marketed towards high schoolers and young adults, hence why most anime is in the Slice of High School Life Rom/Com genre. The reason for this is because if you can have a connection with the characters, you are way more likely to enjoy the show and keep watching. Therefore, when you're mains are all middle schoolers, you can't relate to them as much, or in my case, at all. In a survival game where you have to kill people, I understand why a middle schooler would be hesitant.

Sake Esuno, the original content creator's solution to this? Yuno Gasai, whose brain doesn't work normally and easily is the first thing that will pop into an otaku's head when they hear the term, "Yandere". Yuno murders everyone and anyone who gets in between her and Yukiteru, unless Yukiteru has explicitly told her not to, but occasionally not even then, if she really hates them. While this isn't always a bad thing, listening to a middle school kid cry and scream is not pleasant, even if it's warranted. More on Yuno, she eventually loses all purpose and then begins doing crazy things just to be crazy so that you'll point at the screen, laugh and say, "Oh that Yuno, always being so nuts!". This is another part of the "hype because hype" driving factor behind some scenarios that ultimately make them blow up in the episodes own face. As for the supporting cast, they are either really well done and don't get enough screen time, or get some but are very obnoxious and you'd just wish they'd go away. Because of this, none of them are worth even mentioning, even though I quite like some of them.

Overall: 3/10
I give this anime a three out of ten because I believe it had a ton of potential, but it was only squandered in favor of poor plot devices, lame twists, and boring fillers. An example of this is this anime is way too long. It has 26 episodes, but it could have easily been finished in 20/22, as the last four/five episodes all drag on very long with extraneous scenes. It may have only seemed like this as I have viewed the show before so I know what was going to happen, but I still feel it could have been shortened. Couple this with some episodes that literally have nothing to do with the plot, and you have a lot of wasted screen time, but more importantly, your time.

Also, a "spoilerless" note about the ending, on the topic of tediously long scenes, I have no idea why there is an OVA other than to make viewers scream at their screen until they find out about the OVA, as the Manga ending is literally two pages away from the animes. Keep in mind, a manga page would contain anywhere from 10 seconds to a minute and a half of anime screen time.Sorry, don't mind me. I had to have another tangent, as this anime has given me much to gripe about.

My final verdict is that this is not worth the watch. However, if, you still decide you wish to view this anime, please watch the subbed version, as the dub for this anime, while not bad, is just wrong, to put bluntly. While the dub voice actors do not do a "bad" job per se, I find it vastly inferior to the subbed version, as Tomosa Murata did such a fantastic job as Yuno, even though the character is poor.

As for alternate anime with survival game themes or feels, I redirect you to instead watch Deadman Wonderland. Bear in mind, Deadman also has a whiny protagonist and a mysterious girl that saves him from everything, and that I don't hold this anime in high regards. I would be cautious with watching it, and even though I enjoyed it, I don't think it's all that special or great, but still a better watch than Mirai Nikki, and you'll spend only half the time.

For an anime that I did like with a survival game feel, I highly HIGHLY recommend Fate/Zero, the prequel to the Fate/Stay Night series. And if the name "Gen Urobuchi" means anything to you, and you haven't seen Fate/Zero yet, I really suggest you fix that. And the dub is amazing, by the way.

Please rate my review as you see fit, and if you have any questions or clarification, please post to my wall, and I will respond when I see it, thanks!

Mirai Nikki - you won't stop shaking your head.

Mirai Nikki is a poorly executed show filled with contradictions, illogical character behavior, forced plot advancements, haphazard personality changes, inappropriate scene changes, moronic plot twists, lunatics and most of all: imbeciles.

The plot is quite simple. The God of Time and Space (Deus Ex Machina) is looking for a successor. Thus, he invites Yukiteru (our male protagonist of this story), Yuno (our female protagonist and Yukiteru's ally/classmate/stalker/girlfriend) and ten others to a battle royal in which the last survivor becomes the new God of Time and Space. While everyone's identity is concealed from each other, Deus Ex Machina ... declares Yukiteru his favorite to win this death match. Subsequently the other participants decide to focus their attention on Yukiteru. Strangely they are kind enough to stand in line, waiting for their turn to make their appearance. Coincidentally the majority of the contestants are wacky, deranged individuals.

All contestants are given a "Future Diary" (in most cases integrated into their cell phones) which tells about future events as the holder would perceive it, as long as the future doesn't change due to any interfering actions of a diary holder. That means: First, the diaries can be used to change the future, which also automatically rewrites the entries of all Future Diaries. Second, the diaries don't necessarily tell the truth.
Example: A person holds a coin in his right fist, while his left is empty. Your diary tells you the coin is in his left. You respond accordingly. Without revealing the coin he assures you that your answer is correct, and your diary had predicted your perceived future correctly, even though it was a lie.
What kind of information those predictions contain is unique to each holder and seems to depend on his job and interests. Best example would be Yuno's diary: As she is quite obsessed with Yukiteru, her diary contains information about his future actions in ten-minute intervals.
Disadvantage of those diaries is, that damaging them results in the owner's death.

While the setting of Mirai Nikki had any means to create clever, sinister characters and stories, it turned out to be a badly executed, mindless slaughter show. That is primarily because of the vast number of inept characters and the implausible changes in their personality.

The average IQ of the cast seems to be crawling around the ten point mark. The plot advances often by exploiting the sheer stupidity of the cast, forcing them to behave in such unrealistic manners that it insults the intelligence of the viewers and ruins even the slightest bit of credibility of the characters as they simply don't act like humans.
Example: Your friend 'A' is sitting unconscious on a chair, located in a very suspicious-looking room which looks like an obvious trap. Your friend 'B' wants to go into the room to check on 'A', but before going inside, he tells you to stay back and hold the door open. You shout enthusiastically "Leave it to me!". Satisfied with your response he goes into the room.
So, what do you do as a brainy character of this show? Damn right: Ten seconds later you waltz into the room, the door closes behind you, locking you all inside, and you make a face which literally screams "Oh snap! I totally didn't see that coming!".
(While the manga handles this scene slightly differently, it isn't errorless either.)
The worst thing is, that such irrational behavior is being used all the time for almost every character as if there were no intelligent alternative.

Adding to the characters' idiocy comes their fluctuating personality changes.
Yukiteru is an antisocial, gullible, pathetic, insecure, unmotivated, spineless, gutless and brainless teenage boy and Yuno is a crazy, insane maniac with a psychopathic obsession with Yukiteru.
While the original personality of most of the characters can be accepted by itself, the real problem lies in their unpredictable and unreasonable personality changes - especially those of Yukiteru - making them do the most ridiculous and unbelievable things.
Turning a coward into a leader-like figure, letting him kill several dozen people with a callous countenance and then, just moments later, turning him back into his coward self, making him sob "I never wanted to kill anyone!", is just one example of many baffling personality changes.

As Mirai Nikki is a show about a tournament in which the winner becomes nothing less than the new God of Time and Space, you would expect that some events had an influence on their surrounding world or that they would carry some other sort of significance. But many events are just swept under the mat, as the characters act like they've never happened in the first place. That is not only due to a poorly written script, but also thanks to absurd and erratic scene changes. The combination of both makes it feel like the viewers are supposed to forget these events, as it seems much more important to see the characters visiting a bridal fair or grabbing boobs in a hot spring.

While the ending was already predetermined, the rest of the show felt like a messy series of introductions and killing offs of characters. Although some individuals were given a background story, none of them played a significant role or showed any ambition to win this death match. In the end they served no real purpose and were quickly forgotten.

Animation-wise there is nothing extraordinary to mention. It's pretty much mediocre. The animation shines best when showing one of Yuno's many facets of her going crazy.
The voice actors fit the cast quite well, the soundtrack is nice to listen to and serves the show as a decent musical accompaniment.

To sum it up: The combination of lacking intelligence of the cast, the fluctuating, random changes in their behavior, the nonsensical, erratic scene changes and the stolid, rushed plot advancements makes Mirai Nikki an utter disaster.
While I never take fictional work too seriously, Mirai Nikki's overkill of stupidities made it difficult even for me to enjoy myself.
Otherwise, I can only recommend this show to people with a predilection for trashy shows as they will most likely have their fun with it.

Oct. 9, 2011:
Mirai Nikki's anime adaptation begins.

--DEAD END--

A mess. That's probably the easiest way to describe Mirai Nikki. From beginning to end, it was simply a total mess. The story begins as an apparently simple battle royale between a bunch of varyingly crazy people who can predict the future. By the end it's a dimension-hopping cluster of ridiculous plot twists and some veeeeeeery half-assed writing.

I wouldn't want to spoil this... unique series for anyone, but I'm just going to say that it involves stuff like one character killing and impersonating herself, a gay guy pooped out by GOD who sends texts while getting his head ... chopped off (yes, while), and a crazy bitch with a bomb fetish who can fly and has babies that can also fly. Around the final arc it has completely ceased being about the survival game and has degenerated into Dragon Ball Z-style energy beam fighting. Yes, really.

And, really, most of it comes out of nowhere. Whole plotlines are dropped and brought up very suddenly with alarming frequency. Character arcs are usually resolved in an extremely hasty manner with some form of contrived ass-pull excuse. This is just a very poorly plotted story, not that I've read the manga it's based on. Maybe that fared better? Probably not.

The protagonist is beta as fuck, too. I sympathised more with the 'villains' (using that term verrrrrry loosely) of the "Yukki's daddy issues" arc, as they had a genuinely sad, yet heartwarming backstory. Yukki is just a pussy and Yuno is a crazy bitch who makes no sense half of the time. Best character is Minene, though. She's cool. But her hair in episode 2... honey, no. That look is so not you.

The nicest thing I can say about Mirai Ball Z is that the opening songs are both fantastic. Particularly Dead END by the lovely Faylan, which I loved before I even started the series. The lyrics don't make any sense at all (The girl with the sharp thorn in her flesh, I met you at your story...?) but it sure is catchy. The first OP with its dramatic choir and counting up in German (EIN ZWEI DREI) was also very memorable.

It was fun, though. This is the kind of series you make fun of with friends. It was all just so ridiculous and stupid that I couldn't help but kind of like it.

If you want a solid "so bad it's good" series, Mirai Nikki will prolly satisfy your desires.

--HAPPY END--

Yandere.

Yandere.

What in the mighty fuck is a yandere?

Well, good sir / madam / whoever the fuck you are, a yandere is a common term in otaku fandom, a yandere is a person (usually female) romantically obsessed with someone to the point of using violent means to get them in their arms. Often seen with a sharp weapon and a psychotic grin. Now maybe the most known character to be this type is Kotonoha in School Days since while she’s calm and gentle, she can also be unstable and quite messed up in the head, as the final episode sequence proved that (although that was the ... only good part about that anime) but enough about that considering this anime I’m about to review also has an yandere character that either has its fans as of recently and it also goes to show you that we need to stray from crazy psychotic girls like Yuno Gasai, Yu no? *rimshot and then gunshot*


High school 2nd year, Amano Yukiteru, is a boy who has problem making friends. He thinks of himself as a bystander and will always write down everything he sees in a cell phone diary. Yuki initially has no desire to win the game, but after Deus informs the other contestants that Yuki, as the “1st” Diary owner, is his favorite to win the game, he is forced to team up with the 2nd Diary owner—his obsessive stalker, Yuno Gasai—in order to survive the constant attempts on his life by the other diary users, who see him as the biggest threat. Tormented by solitude, Yukiteru began to imagine things like a friend called Deus Ex Machina who is apparently the Lord of Time & Space. Seeing Yukiteru’s miserable state, Deus gives him a new ability. His diary will now record events that will happen in the near future. Yukiteru is then forced to participate in a game which the winner will become Deus’ successor.


Well, the plot is precise to mostly the concept of Battle Royale where you better make sure you got the tools and skills to survive whatever gets thrown at you but with the addition of knowing your future beforehand via a future diary but the thing about them is that they’re not exactly 100% reliable as some of them do manage to do the opposite of what the diary predicted and you also know the whole ‘anything can happen if you do the opposite of what the diary said and still might live or not. It’s your choice and all that bunk.’ But as the premise sounds entertaining for a while and it did executed it for a while, it went off the rails and ended up being a trainwreck and it’s not a pretty sight as it’s more of people doing some heinous ridiculous shit that really seems uncalled for. I’ve compared this show to Deadman Wonderland much like I’ve compared This Ugly yet Beautiful World to Mahoromatic and like how I said Mahoromatic is superior to TuyBW, Deadman Wonderland beats out Future Diary by a margin and while Deadman wasn’t exactly a masterpiece, it didn’t felt like it was trying too hard to be mature or a seinen as you will (Although Deadman should’ve been longer than Future). Yeah, there’s blood, gore, gunshots, knives, and tits and ass but it isn’t really trying to tell a mature story; it’s what people said in some professional or amateur reviews, it’s more like a shonen series disguised as a seinen series and we can see through its ruse and not to mention, the tone is inconsistent when it comes to humor, especially at the end of every episode where Murmur (Murmur? Really?), the apprentice to Deus Ex Machina encounters with most of the characters in the show in a comical fashion. I don’t mind it as most characters but it felt very jarring after watching an episode.



Characters are the worst part of the series as I really hated the two main leads, Yuki and Yuno, but more of Yuki than Yuno. Why’s that, you asked? Yeah, Yuno is a crazy pink-haired psycho bitch with the basic traits of being lovingly devoted to Yuki and killing everyone who gets in her way but Yuki…….the guy has some fault in this. This isn’t a trait where the main protagonist isn’t at fault since all the shit that happened, all the stuff that happened to his friends, his family (oh, the hell with his father!! I hate that guy even more!!) Even to some of the competitors, which 3 of them are exactly more interesting than the main two such as The 9th (or Minene Uryū), who actually has more of a compelling background story although she has the textbook tsundere bitch thing going for her and The 7th (or Marco and Ai) and both of them are a better couple than Yuki and Yuno. They’re psychotic and crazy killers but they’re more entertaining and I actually gave a shit about them more.


The animation quality is alright. I really don’t know much about the company, asread, as they do have their own anime productions such as Corpse Party OVAs, Minami-ke, Shuffle among other series they only did some parts of and the look of the show does give out its crazy psychotic vibe and sometimes it get too purple. Yeah, like how K uses blue way too much, Future Diary uses the color purple so much that you think someone splashed Grape Kool-Aid into your eyes and yes, gory shit is happening around these parts.



Music-wise, I think the first opening theme of the show, “Kūsō Mesorogiwi” (空想メソロギヰ) by Yousei Teikoku, is the most positive I can get with the show so far because the song will always be stuck in my head and it does got the destructive and terrifying tone that the show desperately tries to be. The other opening song was good but nothing that really grasp into my mind later on. For ending songs, while I equally like both of them, I’m sliding towards the 2nd ending theme, which is also sung by the 1st opening artist, Yousei Teikoku. Also, can you imagine someone using this song for their own personal life? As for the FUNimation dub, it’s not a bad dub but it just felt wrong and not wrong in the sense of watching the original language is better but I think it’s just the casting choices. Brina Palencia may not have been the right choice for Yuno, but I feel like no one else would’ve done it better than her. She’s acceptable in the role but not really a highlight for her. Josh Grelle is a good voice actor, but him voicing Yuki sounds a bit odd than usual. Rest of the cast does strike more as ‘meh’ choices and I did confuse some voices like how I thought Jamie Marchi voiced Yuki’s mom but it was actually Colleen Clinkenbeard and how I mistake Monica Rial for Murmur when it was Leah Clark.



FINAL VERDICT: Yeah, I hated Future Diary. That’s it. Some people said it was terrible but fun and while that may have a little bit of fun, it doesn’t convince me that it wasn’t entertaining. I hate the main characters and wish some of the supporting characters were treated better than they were in the show and the story is sloppily executed despite me being somewhat interested in it. It is one of those shows you should see once and if you like it, well, good for you but otherwise, avoid this clunker. It is not worth it.

--Sorry for my English, I'm from a non-English speaking country--
Ok, right now this show is incredibly overrated, at first I was enjoying it, there is some gore, action, and even some fanservice, but that's about it, because the story is a total mess, it makes no f**king sense at all! There is this God Deus and he is giving cell phones (or future diaries) to some people so they kill each other in a game and the one last standing will become the new God, that's the premise and I know it doesn't sound so bad (it kinda reminds me of Death Note) but things ... only keep interesting the few first episodes, the rest is just brainless fighting, oh and the characters, OMG, Yukiteru has to be one of the less likeable characters I've seen in my entire life, he's a coward and he's also f**king retarded, for example:
( SPOILER )
There's Yukiteru's loving mother and there's Yukiteru's selfish terrible father, his mother (who has showed love and affection the entire series) is killed by his father, yes his own father kills his mother, and if that's not enough he also tried to kill Yukiterou in exchange of having his debts paid. Ok, here's the problem, Yuki makes more fuss and shed more tears for his father than he did for his mother, it makes no sense, he even was aware of his father's intentions to kill him, and he knew he was the one who killed his mother, but this is Mirai Nikki, the nonsensical anime, so he even forgives him and then he becomes, totally out of the blue, a perfect assassin (he was a coward without combat skills), and all credibility goes downhill from there...
( END OF SPOILER )
Yuno is not as bad a character as Yukiteru is, but she's a very shallow character, she's there just for the sake of gore, I think the writers tried to make her a complex character, but they failed, she's also pretty annoying. In some episodes I was like " I swear, if I hear 'Yuuuukiiii' one more time..." LOL
The rest of the characters are even more poorly developed... there's a detective boy who looks exactly like Kaworu Nagisa from Neon Genesis Evangelion, he's supposed to be the mysterious white haired character, and the three friends of Yukiteru, they serve some purpose but there's no deep in their personalities, the same goes for the villains, there's many of them and they look more interesting than the "good boys" but they get killed so fast we don't get to really know them at the end, the only exception are the cop and the one-eyed terrorist psycho girl, these two are probably the more likeable characters on the show. Oh and I almost forgot, there's this woman with a HUGE head, she looks so out of place, but no one seems to care "Hi woman with the huge face", I know this is anime, it's not supposed to be realistic, but c'mon, she's the only person with such a huge head yet everyone seems oblivious to it (and she's the only character with a huge head).
As I said the story is a mess, a fan fiction could do better, it's full of ridiculous dialogue and laughable plot twists.
Sound is average, opening and ending themes are pretty good, the OST it's just ok.
The art it's not bad, I like the character's designs (especially the character design of the girls), they look a bit generic, but they look great. The animation remains consistently good (just don't expect the quality of Death Note or Code Geass), but it's downgraded in some episodes. If you are expecting a suspenseful psychological thriller, then you may end up very disappointed, Mirai Nikki it's not the next Death Note or Monster, it's all mindless action and nonsense... there's some mystery to the story, but I would rather recommend you to watch Another, it's infinitely more interesting and mysterious than Mirai Nikki.
I'm gonna give some credit to Mirai Nikki, the show is a bit addictive, each episode leaves you wanting more, but that's just because they come up with some stupid plot twist that seems interesting at first, but at the end nothing makes sense.

Story - 2
Art - 7
Sound - 6
Character - 3
Enjoyment - 5
Overall - 4

Bring me all the "Not Helpful" you want, but I know deep inside of you, you know I'm right ;)

Have you ever watched an anime that simply left you speechless, unsure of what the hell have you just watched, but in the most obnoxious way possible? We all probably did, shows that cause this type of reaction tend to be considered the worst ones. Well, let me introduce you to Mirai Nikki.

Mirai Nikki is the worst anime I have ever watched.

No, I'm not kidding, nor am I being hyperbolic. This unholy abomination of a series left such a negative impact on me when I originally watched it back in 2012, that I actually started to hate anime in general and lost interest in the ... medium for a couple of years because of the fact that Mirai Nikki was the most popular anime back then. It baffled me how anyone could like such an atrociously-written crap without an ounce of irony, and if this is what people were accepting as "good" anime, then this medium is fucking doomed.

Thankfully, as the years went by, people started to notice Mirai Nikki's bullshit and this show's reputation nowadays is considerably worse than it used to be, which is exactly the kind of thing that happens with terrible shows that were once loved merely out of hype while not having substance to back it up. The hype dies away, people will watch it again, some new viewers will also give it a shot, and the awfulness of the content will come and hit you so hard you'll wish you were Chris Brown's wife. Maybe if Mirai Nikki was your first anime, or at least your first """""""""""serious""""""""""" (there's still not enough quotation marks there, believe me) anime, you'll probably feel nostalgic about it, and thus, unable to judge it as the shitshow it actually is.

For the sake of being specific about why I hate Mirai Nikki so much, be warned that >>>I'M GOING TO SPOIL THE HELL OUT OF THIS SHOW FOR THIS REVIEW<<< because I don't think I can express how bad it is without spoiling it. If you're somehow masochistic and want to waste your time with Mirai Nikki without being spoiled, then I advise you to not read any further, I also advise you to go watch something else that's more worthy of your time, or maybe go see a psychiatrist. For everyone else... You may also want to do something else that's more worthy of your time than reading some autistic weeb rambling about how much he despises a shitty japanese cartoon that's 7 years old at this point, but if you really want to keep reading, then be my guest.

Some people usually talk about how good Mirai Nikki's premise is, even others who also think this show is horse shit, tend to admit that it had a good premise. Well, I don't think it had a good premise at all, honestly Mirai Nikki seemed stupid to me ever since the very first episode, and I'm going to explain why. The premise is that there's this guy called Amano Yukiteru, he's your average socially awkward loner teen and has the habit of writing down everything that happens around him in his cellphone, while talking to his imaginary friends, Deus Ex Machina, and his partner, Murmur. Turns out Deus Ex Machina and Murmur are not really Yukiteru's imaginary friends, instead Deus is actually the God of Time and Space, he turned Yukiteru's cellphone into a Future Diary, a device capable of predicting the future up to ninety days, and dragged Yukiteru into a deadly survival game. In this game, Yukiteru and eleven other participants posessing their own Future Diaries with their own specific effects must kill each other until one remains, and the sole survivor takes Deus' place as God of Time and Space. Why? Because Deus is actually dying and must get a successor before that happens.

Yeah, if this premise being stupid wasn't self-explanatory enough for you, then I'll tell you why it's stupid. First of all: Why the hell is Deus dying? The show never ever explains what exactly is killing him, hell, I thought gods were supposed to be immortal, but I guess Deus just got some kind of God AIDS and now he's about to pass away. And second: If Deus is the God of Time and Space, then why doesn't he just use his powers over time and space to look into the future and just make whoever won the game there into his successor already? Isn't he in a hurry to get this damn successor before he dies? Does he just want to see a bunch of people killing each other before dying? Either way, it's fucking dumb as hell, there's no reason to even come up with this game when you know exactly who is going to win in the end. Even if you make the argument that he's giving the participants the chance to change this future that he already knows is coming ahead, this is pointless because the winner of the game by the end of the series is exactly who Deus knew was going to be all along. Really, what is the point of everything that happens in this series?

And no, that's not even the worst part, the story somehow actually manages to get dumber after that masterpiece of a premise.

Among the other eleven participants of the game is Yukiteru's classmate, a girl called Gasai Yuno, who has been obsessively stalking the guy and vows to protect him at all costs, her Future Diary is even made specifically to help her protect Yukiteru. Together, they vow to defeat the other Future Diary owners and bring this game to an end, and as you may have guessed it: Most of the diary owners are generic anime bad guys, ranging from a terrorist, to a girl who commands a creepy religious cult, to a serial killer, to a psychopathic loli who somehow has access to dangerous weaponry and so on. Why would Deus choose a bunch of deranged people to this game? I dunno, it's almost like this is an anime and Yukiteru is supposed to be the protagonist who fights against a bunch of villains or something. There's a cop in the game, though, apparenly Deus' motivation to choose him would be to balance things out because the other Future Diary owners were horrible people, because surely one cop can stand up to almost a dozen dangerous criminals.

Predictably, most of the other participants target Yukiteru because he's Deus' personal favorite pick for winner of the game (in other words, he's the protagonist of the show) and they all end up being defeated. Good thing they all conveniently attack him one at a time despite having a common goal in mind, otherwise I would start believing the characters in this show are actually smart or something. But even if they did attack Yukiteru and Yuno together, I'm sure the writers would find a way to make them fail, because Yukiteru has a plot armor that's somehow thicker than Sakae Esuno's skull. The bad guys have to be really dumb in such unbelievably contrived ways in order to lose their battles against Yukiteru and Yuno that it's really hard to take this shit seriously. Take Minene, the terrorist who's the ninth diary user, for example, she sneaks into Yukiteru and Yuno's school and somehow manages to set up bombs all over the place without being seen or suspected by anyone, which is fucking ridiculous, but I'll buy it. What I won't buy, though, is that she conveniently blows up one part of the school at a time, and it's always giving Yukiteru and Yuno just enough time to get away before they get blown up. She then blabbers about how this was all a plan to lure Yukiteru out, and she actually threatens to blow the whole school up. Well... Why doesn't she blow the whole school up? Isn't her objective to kill Yukiteru? By just blowing everything up from the get-go, she would have killed both Yukiteru and Yuno, two birds with one stone. But we all know why she didn't just do that, because then this garbage would have lasted for a mere two episodes.

The other battles against diary users aren't much better than this, it always comes to them having Yukiteru and Yuno backed into a corner, with all the opportunities in the world to kill them, but failing because they're plagued by the powers of bad writing. The Future Diaries themselves are barely even worth talking about here, seriously, they're almost completely forgotten by the characters during these fights, and only do actualy predict the future when it's convenient to the plot, which makes them more of a cheap gimmick than anything else. Action scenes in spite of that aren't even that good, so just turning my brain off and enjoying the action was an impossibility, they're serviceable enough, save for some really stupid moments such as the fight against the twelfth diary user who acts like a tokustatsu hero, he hypnotizes some followers of the sixth diary user and they also wear wacky tokusatsu costumes to fight alongside him. His strategy is to confuse Yukiteru and Yuno because the costumes look similar, so they have trouble telling this guy apart from the others... Except they shouldn't have so much trouble because the costumes have different colors in their helmets, so even if he did blend in together with the others, he still has a specific color in his costume's helmet, but Yukiteru and Yuno are fucking idiots and take forever to get this guy for some reason. God, this is so dumb...

Even worse than the fights is Mirai Nikki's pathetic attempt at character development. The diary users for the most part are generic anime archetypes with some edgy backstory thrown in there so the unfortunate viewer can maybe sympathize with them, and I mean, they do try really hard to get you to sympathize with these characters, if their stupid backstories didn't get you feeling sorry for them, the fact that most of them die right after those backstories are revealed definitely will! Or maybe you're an actual thinking person, and you realize these backstories don't matter in the end. Look at Tsubaki, the sixth diary user and leader of the previously mentioned generic evil cult that does whatever, she's a backstabbing bitch who wants to win the game because she hates the world and wants to destroy it. But hey, look at her background, she was randomly gang-raped by all the other males in her cult right after losing her parents, how ~sad~ and ~tragic~ a character this one is! The rape really drives the point home, it was completely necessary and had everything to do with the plot, man! What about Minene? The terrorist who blew a school up and possibly killed thousands of students in the process? Minene lost her parents and spent her childhood alone in some eastern country where religious extremists caused violent conflicts to happen, which eventually led to her hating religion... And eventually becoming a terrorist who fights against religion because God is evil and yadda yadda, yet doesn't think twice before blowing up schools and murdering thousands of students to achieve her goals. But wait, you're gonna love what comes next, trust me! Minene ends up being romantically engaged with a cop called Nishijima... A damn cop is in love with a terrorist who recently killed a lot of innocent people! Minene then "softens up" starts acting like a cookie-cutter tsundere in their "cute" romantic moments together, and it's like she never did anything wrong to begin with! She never shows any regret for killing all those people she killed back then, and may I remind you that Nishijima works for the Police! What the hell IS this shit? Am I supposed to just accept this as some kind of cute anime romance? What, does Nishijima see the real human bean behind this poor terrorist who's responsible for the grief of many families who sent their kids to school? Fuck you, Mirai Nikki. Fuck! You! It's already bad enough that you're implying rape victims become psychopaths, but now you're trying to pass murderous terrorists off as misunderstood humans who deserve love? What the fuck, man?

Not even our main characters are exactly well-written either, Yukiteru is wildly inconsistent through the story and can go from a helpless loser to a badass whenever the plot needs him to do so, his relationship with Yuno is as deep and engaging as the romance in the Twilight saga is. He slowly starts to realize that Yuno may have a few screws loose and keeps oscilating between trusting her and not trusting her, yet this motherfucker keeps trusting Yuno even after she tries to kill his friends and even turns against him later! He has no real reason to trust Yuno aside from the fact that she protects him, but at this point it's pretty obvious that she has obscure reasons for doing so. Yuno is a yandere who loves Yukiteru, and that's basically all the characterization she gets, all of her dialogue and actions are about Yukiteru, and she also has a dark past, of course she does. Yuno was abused by her parents and became depressed, she was a loner in the classroom until one day she talked to Yukiteru and sorta made him promise he'll marry her in the future, he thought it was a joke and just accepted the proposal in an obviously half-hearted way. Do you think that's dumb? Yeah, me too. Oh, and also Yuno has what seems to be some dead bodies inside her house, which makes Nishijima get on her tail and start to question her about these rumors, Yuno reacts in the most "obviously I did something wrong" way possible, but Nishijima for some reason doesn't follow her or anything. I swear this dude is the worst cop of all time.

But enough of this, time to crank up this diarrhea dile, because we're going to dive into the final act of Mirai Nikki, where things get even more hopelessly stupid than they already are! Yukiteru's father, who previously abandoned his son in a collapsing tower to save his own ass, by the way, was deceived into killing Yukiteru's mother by John Bacchus, the mayor of the city and the eleventh diary user. This makes Yukiteru go after him, the two to share an "emotional" reconciliation moment, only for them to get ambushed by Bacchus' goons who kill Yukiteru's father. Turns out this whole game was actually Bacchus' plan and he is the one who designed the Future Diaries, Bacchus somehow convinced Deus to go with this game and his motives for wanting to become the new God of Time and Space is that he's basically a Hitler wannabe. Why would Deus go with this plan to begin with? Is it even worth giving a fuck about the plot at this point?

Now Yukiteru wants to win the game because he believes that will give him the power to revive his family... Yes, he thinks the God of Time and Space has life-restoring powers... This is our protagonist, ladies and gentlemen! This is hilariously retarded enough as it is, but Yukiteru could have literally just asked Deus if he could revive his family if he became the new god, there was nothing stopping him from doing so in the scene where Murmur implied the revival thing to him! "Why doesn't Yuno tell Yukiteru that he's going full retard?" you may ask, it's actually because she's also deceiving Yukiteru into believing that! Woah, what a shocking turn of events! Yukiteru just believes her, of fucking course he does, even though she lied to him multiple times at this point, caused the death of his friends and almost even killed him. But yeah, there's a really nonsensical plot twist regarding Yuno, and I'll spill it out right now.

Walmart Kaworu eventually finds out that the Yuno that's been around the whole time is actually another Yuno from a different timeline where she indirectly killed Yukiteru and won the survival game. Seeing that she can't bring Yukiteru back to life, she then traveled back in time, killed her own parents in this timeline, as well as killed herself from this timeline and took her identity as Yuno. She's basically doing an infinite time loop where she spends time with Yukiteru, kills him at the end of the game and returns to the beginning to start it all over again.

First of all, how is Yuno even still around? She went back in time and killed her version of this time, which means she was killed before entering the game and shouldn't be participating on it as a result. Alright, let's assume she's immune to time travel bullshit because she's technically God of Time and Space, then... How the hell can two Gods of Time and Space exist in the same universe? How is Yuno's meddling with time affecting Deus? Couldn't Deus see that Yuno comes from another timeline or that she's actually another god? If Deus died in the previous timeline, how can Yuno just travel back in time and have him be alive? Why doesn't Deus just do that to himself so he can just exist forever instead of bothering with all this stupid shit? What does Deus dying even mean? He dies but can be brought back to life later? His existence gets erased out? Who the hell knows? It's not like the writers are going to explain shit!

Anyway, Yuno and Yukiteru are the only survivors left in the game, turns out Murmur has been secretly manipulating the game all along in order to have Yuno win, which is something Deus apparently never suspected, even though he's the fucking God of Time and Space and can see into the future! Murmur and Yuno travel back in time and end up creating a third timeline, but this time Yukiteru interferes with Minene's help. Yeah, Minene was kept alive by Deus. They end up saving the Yuno from that timeline and her parents before Yuno and Murmur could get to them, which ends up making this the happy timeline where not only Yuno, but everyone else apparently have peaceful lives now. How exactly does Yuno being saved affects everyone else's lives? What does Yuno's life have to do with Yukiteru's parents not divorcing? I don't know, I don't care either.

The Yuno we've seen this whole time kills herself and Yukiteru then becomes the new God of Time and Space. What does he do? Nothing, he becomes depressed over Yuno's death and doesn't do anything... Even though he's the fucking God of Time and Space and he can just travel back in time, meet Yuno in a new timeline, maybe save her and her parents like he did in the third timeline, I don't know. I guess that would mean Deus would also come back and there would be another death game, because this show's use of time travel is just great. Ten thousand years later, Yukiteru decides to create a new timeline while Murmur plans to create another survival game. Yeah, it's basically a failed attempt at a Gainax Ending.

What else can I even say about Mirai Nikki? The visuals and animation aren't anything to write home about, in fact it looks weird sometimes and the CGI is terrible, but at least it looks okay for the most part. Music is also just there, I don't remember anything when it comes to the soundtrack, but the openings are pretty good, so at least there's that. The direction is also pretty sloppy sometimes, although it may be the fault of the source material, but aside from the characters dying pretty much in the same episode that reveals their background, this show has the tendency to immediately brush their deaths off by showing the main characters doing some random comical stuff right afterwards, which diminishes the impact of those deaths even more, and those awkward transitions are present in most of the story. Even if it was the source material's fault for having those same transitions, the anime should have improved on that instead of being such a literal adaptation.

Regardless, Mirai Nikki is a trainwreck in every sense of the word. A poorly-written and poorly-directed mess that pretends it's smarter than it actually is, tries to mask its terrible plot and characters with shock value caused by gore, edgy characters and other themes it handles terribly, and can only be enjoyed people who literally turn their brains off, as many suggest. I would like to say there's some positives to talk about in the story, but I can't see them, the premise is stupid, the story has enough plot holes to cover the moon, the characters are not only unlikeable, but also poorly-written, and the ending is a forced attempt at tragedy. Some people still like Mirai Nikki, even though they admit it's not a good anime, because apparently it's "so bad it's good" so they watch it for laughs, but I seriously can't even give Mirai Nikki this much credit because I was outright pissed off when I watched it, I just couldn't believe how retarded all of this was getting, and the final act was the point where I just gave up and wanted to finish this anime just for the sake of finishing it. I would watch other bad popular anime like Sword Art Online, Guilty Crown, Akame ga Kill or even School Days over Mirai Nikki any day of the week, at least most of those shows had something going for them, they actually made me create expectations before going to shit. Mirai Nikki, on the other hand, is a show I went in with extremely low expectations, and it didn't even meet those low expectations to begin with.

It's been quite a while since I've seen a series as laughably bad as Future Diary. Focused on a survival game with our weak-willed male lead Yukiteru and a yandere gal named Yuno obsessively in love with him, this series is a huge mess with plot and character developments, proper logic, mood consistency and relishing in its graphic and depraved content way too much.

The biggest issue that stems with Future Diary is that it seems to get too fixated in advancing its plot head-on without any regard for proper depth, buildup and consistency. There are a number of unexplored elements to the series like how ... Yukiteru became acquainted with Deus and why many of the folks Deus chose for the survival game are a bunch of psychopaths, criminals and loons. Logic is tossed out the window with how certain plot setups occur and characters making decisions that don't make much sense like one character able to rig a ridiculous number of bombs throughout a school without anyone even noticing and Yukiteru continuing to trust Yuno despite knowing full well how much of a nutcase she is. A number of the players in the survival game don't get much depth beyond being crazed loons and criminals, and those who do get some sort of depth only get them in a scope of a couple episodes where their mentality for the violent and depraved acts they commit don't make any sense and seemed sloppily pasted together. The series lacks a consistent mood as it tries mixing around deadly serious storytelling and comedy at a number of points with the interactions between Yuno and Yukiteru, which felt awkward and ill-timed in execution. The final episodes of the series seemed sloppy in their execution with convenient developments and plot twists that either get convoluted or are poorly explored. And lastly, it tends to relish too greatly at many points in its graphic and depraved content with a good number of violent and gory scenes, a good amount of nudity and sexual content, torture, rape, child abuse, terrorism and a diverse number of ways to murder folks. It's like whoever made this series wanted to make it a seinen title, yet winded up with the immaturity and cheesiness you would find with a cookie-cutter shounen title in the way it is set up and structured.

The visuals to Future Diary are on the plain side with character designs sporting the typical mainstream look and scenery shots being decent with what they deliver. The CG animation for this (used mostly with vehicles or rendering the world of Deus ex Machina) is a bit sloppy as it looks awkwardly rendered and clearly sticks out from the typical animation of the series. The animation is nothing to write home about either with flat choreography during fight scenes and a decent number of animation shortcuts used throughout the title's run.

Overall, Future Diary is one of the biggest messes in quality that I've seen in a while from a title getting plenty of hype from anime fans. With no regard for proper depth, consistency and buildup in the treatment of its plot and characters, as well as relishing in its objectionable content and themes, Future Diary is a lovely train wreck of a title that may get either disgust or unintentional laughs from fans with its content and sloppy execution.

You know that guy at school that thinks they know more than what they actually do? It’s that person full of overblown confidence, walks around with that air of superiority and tries their best to act above their age. Mirai Nikki is that in anime form. When you search deeper, going beyond just the looks, and actually ask questions of them they fall apart. You realise it’s all one big ruse. I kind of want to pat Mirai Nikki on the head and make it feel better about itself. “That’s so cute. You tried to be a seinen” I’d say with a tear in my ... eye. It takes a death game and approaches it with reckless immaturity in its themes and its writing. Any tension that should be there doesn’t exist because of that and not even an interesting conclusion could save it.

Mirai Nikki (aka Future Diary) tells the story of twelve contestants trying to become the next god of time and space in a death game where each individual can see into the future. It’s a pity that in a show with that as its starting point that logic is sacrificed for the sake of entertainment. Sadly what’s left over is messier than an oil spill. Most characters get such little screen time you couldn’t care less what happened to them. There’s some exciting set pieces but often are more about style over substance. If I had a dollar for every time I said the phrase “But why didn’t they just [insert alternative here] instead” then I’d be doing quite well for myself. My assessment of Mirai Nikki may be harsh but the show puts itself into a corner quite quickly. It initially treats its premise seriously before topping it up with fanservice and changes in tone that were completely uncalled for.

I’ll start things off with our main character Yukiteru Amano who might be one of the most difficult to understand characters put to screen. Harsh? Judge for yourself. Yuki has this incredible potential to pull courage out of his backside before it melts away in front of his eyes. One minute he’s running the show and the next minute he is a whiny shrimp. His writing is incredibly incoherent. I’m also given little reason to get behind him and cheer him on to victory. The decisions he makes are laughable. In a death game he seems more focused on maintaining friendship and escaping loneliness as opposed to actually winning. “I don’t mind getting killed as long as I can be socially accepted!” What a load of tripe. His social ineptitude feels like something as a means to instigate his story, but not something for him to overcome. His problems aren’t deep or interesting and they have little of a role to play once the game gets underway. Granted it’s a death game and you’re not really in it to overcome your personal problems, but honestly it’s the anime’s fault for pushing this agenda from early on.

I have no idea what to make of Gasai Yuno, the pink haired yandere. I guess her unpredictability is most of her appeal, plus at least she has a concrete reason to fight, that being Yuki (Drinking game: Take a shot every time she says his name). Most of the interest I had in Mirai Nikki was “Oh I wonder what Yuno’s going to do now?” every time an event took place. She reacts with a purpose and doesn’t flinch in doing so, always lining up well with her deluded character. Because Yuki is such a bland individual I spent most of the show hoping Yuno would just mince everyone. However, Yuno isn’t a remarkable character, just one made to look better being surrounded by a bunch of forgettable individuals. Because her brainwaves basically shout “Yuki, Yuki, Yuki” her actions are pretty easy to read. With Yuno you’re really just in it to see how far down she can dig the hole.

Hardly any other contestant is worth mentioning. They’re a forgettable group which all come with their predictable ‘tragic’ backstories. Everyone is too cheesy and villainous to command your appreciation. In a battle royale setup, giving all the characters meaningful motivation is important. Losing a contestant should make me feel sorry for them, not make me shrug my shoulders and count another step backwards from twelve. Remind me again why Deus would make any of these twelve wackos his successor? Does he even value the universe he protected? I should also mention that some character designs are hilarious and again go a long way to making me take the show even less seriously than I already was. Check out this little kid who has somehow developed the tendencies of a serial killer or a matron whose head has swollen to the size of a medicine ball! The difference in the capabilities of each diary is also amusing. Some of them never stood a chance from the very moment the game started while the power of another contestant makes me wonder how they didn’t win within 24 hours at most. There’s a ‘comedy’ tag missing under the genres section.

This show shifts its tone more inappropriately than me after too many drinks at karaoke. When a serious mood is being built up, on too many occasions it was brought down instantly by some horrendous piece of comedy, usually with a jovial soundtrack to match. This wouldn’t be so bad if the show wasn’t on other occasions trying to treat its premise seriously and with a vain attempt at being mature. One minute we’re talking about the importance of free will and the next minute we’re talking about breast size with lesbian undertones... Because we just can. Nothing serious that Mirai Nikki has to say ever sticks with you because the cheap stuff that’s there to sell the show to the lowest common denominator taints it. It is never tense. It is never scary. It is childish and painful.

It’s not just the see-sawing in the mood that took me out of the experience but also the shocking way the show wastes its story potential, mostly in the way the characters interact. I wanted to get invested into the story, I really did. It’s such an interesting premise. The idea of people fighting to change their destinies when they can see into the future sounds great. But around half of the dozen contestants are absolutely pointless in the grand scheme of things. The writing of Mirai Nikki could have been a lot more focused if it cut down on the number of participants in the death game. Then we might have been able to see some meaningful interaction between the different parties. Heaven forbid, we might have actually seen the plans of many characters come into conflict! In a death game, where outwitting multiple people at once is essential, I’d expect this as a minimum. You won’t get that here.

Mirai Nikki is content to make it Yuki and Yuno vs. everyone else, and that is disrespecting the aforementioned potential. Introducing all their opponents earlier and seeing more of the contestants outside of our lead duo fighting against each other would have kicked this show out of second gear. It bamboozles me that everyone throws themselves at Yuki and Yuno at separate occasions, and confuses me even further that they don’t go after each other more often. What on earth makes the ‘first’ and ‘second’ so darn important that they’re there centre of everyone’s attention? Don’t approach this show expecting someone’s plan to interfere with everyone else’s, like it should if it treated its premise with decency. The game rarely feels intense because of this.

If I took a shot every time that a character had a clear cut opportunity to kill someone but didn’t do so then I probably wouldn’t be here to type up this review. I can’t stand it when a show doesn’t follow through with a logical progression in its plot just to stretch it out further for, say, entertainment value or to push some sappy theme. “I could kill you right now but before I do so you must prove to me you have learned [insert theme here]“. Come on. Really? Alliances in Mirai Nikki are also laughable. Very, very rarely do they actually make someone better off as opposed to just killing the other members. Yuki and Yuno find themselves often working through the game with the assistance of other contestants when it really wasn’t necessary.

The strange clusterfuck of an ending to Mirai Nikki actually salvaged it somewhat in my book. While I think it comes out left field it was somewhat foreshadowed, so it’s not cheap. It was the high point for entertainment value in the show by a long shot. I wanted to see how the new situation dealt to the remaining characters would be overcome, because the setting actually felt suffocating for once. I was left satisfied by the conclusion but the journey there, well, I can’t say the same for it.

If you want a thriller that’s easy to digest, one that can also throw an interesting surprise in your face, then give it a shot. If you’re able to look past the cast and give most of your attention to some of the action and set pieces then there’s fun to be had. Being more of a story and character-driven viewer it wasn’t my cup of tea, so I don’t think it’s my place to pick up the megaphone and shout into your ear that Mirai Nikki has zero value. Judge for yourself. It’s almost worth it for what waits at the end. Almost.

Okay. Let me start off by saying this reminds me of Deadman Wonderland. And that's not a good thing. The art of Mirai Nikki is great, no doubt about that. No doubt about the sound either. But, obviously, since my overall rating is a 4, I'll talk about the stuff that really made me "wat" this entire series. Already.

The story:
4/10. Imagine you thinking about an imaginary world when you're alone. Now, you've thought of a God. A God that rules over time and space. Because he is a God, he can do whatever he wants, so he is now reality! Following? Good. This God ... is no kind God, he likes to mess things up. And so he does. He gives twelve people a diary. Not just any diary - a diary in the form of a cellphone, which predicts the feature of the owner up to 90 days in advance.

If you're bound to trip at 1pm on Monday, and you do, nothing happens. If, however, you know this, and take another route or make a jump where you're supposed to trip, the future changes, and this will reflect upon the future diaries. If your cellphone is broken, your future is gone, so in short: you're dead. The God sends all 12 on a quest, a game if you like, to survive. If you are the last man standing, you are the successor to his throne. Okay, sounds cool, right?

Well, no, not really. The main character, Yukiteru, is nothing but a wimp. Just like the main character in Deadman Wonderland. I'll have to look into who produces this show, but this can't be a coincidence. Yukiteru is a loner. His class consists of average people. Everyone wears shorts, jeans, skirts, proper shirts, shoes, has a 'real' hair color. All but one. Yuno. Yuno is a girl who wears a skirt that's seriously too short, and with bright pink hair. Oh, oh, guess who's going to co-star in this anime? Right. The pink-haired girl obviously.

Okay, to go on: Yukiteru reads his diary, sees he is going to die by "Third" and reads what is going to do. Example: 12:40 - I notice I'm followed. 12:45 - I'm still being followed. 12:48 - I run into a closed off building. 12:50 - I die. Now, this shitface KNOWS the future is accurate, and what the FUCK does he do? He runs into the goddamn building while he just passed dozens of people walking down the street, where he'd be safe.

Seriously, if you like pointless, unreal violence, to the point where it's just too much and it's silly, this anime is for you. If you're not - walk away. Fast.

My opinion:
This anime should be avoided by those who wish to see that things make sense. I cannot comprehend why this anime would get a 8,24/10 after the first episode. Nothing is wrong with settings in unrealistic universes and what not, but this is just a big no.

Like fossilized dinosaur dung, Mirai Nikki is composed of layers upon layers of shit – its original substance long since replaced with bad writing, laughable characterization, and jaw-dropping leaps of logic. It requires an observant eye and boundless patience to analyze its lousy script, but if done properly, one will be rewarded with solid guidelines on how not to write an anime.

Mirai Nikki’s internal consistency is shot. It is supposed to be a dark thriller with shounen elements that is unafraid to present moral and ethical dilemmas to its characters in their pursuit of godhood. It does not act like one. Life-threatening injuries ... are brushed off easily in this universe. A slice to the throat might as well be a paper cut. Characters are gutted like a turkey at a Thanksgiving dinner, and still manage to give lengthy Shakespearean monologues or pull off Olympic-level feats of strength and agility. The plot’s will is paramount, and death means nothing to these characters unless the story deigns it so. For example, one particular character is completely beheaded, yet they are still able to walk several steps in a straight line, perfectly upright, (holding a cellphone all the while) before collapsing. Mirai Nikki cannot decide whether it wants to be a dark psychological thriller or an over-the-top edgy comedy/shounen hybrid, so it tries to be both. In doing so, it collapses.

Due to the aforementioned identity crisis, an uneven narrative tone plagues Mirai Nikki. There is a swimsuit segment in the middle of episode three. Episode 13 presents us with a yuri-bait hot springs scene. A remote-controlled pack of dogs equipped with mechanical razor-sharp teeth is the main threat in episode eight. None of the series’ absurdity and unintentional humor would bother me if Mirai Nikki were a comedy/action popcorn flick. Hell, I would readily accept its campiness with open arms. Yet, it wants me to be emotionally invested in its violence, dysfunctional cast and tragedy for the majority of the time. I completely understand the need for moments of levity in an otherwise somber work. After all, a continuous, overpowering grisly tone is in danger of making viewers feel desensitized.

Nevertheless, out-of-place comedy and fanservice ruins the grim atmosphere. Its poor execution interrupts the flow of the story and causes pacing issues. Overlooking these tonal missteps would be easier if they happened infrequently, but they pop up so often that I can continue giving examples. In episode 16, Yuki’s dad comes into his room and sees him on the floor with a woman sitting on his back; she is adding extra weight to his pushup. The man enthusiastically screams to her, “Go ahead! Ride me, too!” as he gets on all fours, ass up in the air. Brilliant psychological thriller you got there, Mirai Nikki. Scenes like these drove me up a wall, and usually happened right before or after a brutal murder. It grinds the story to a screeching halt.

As if the misplaced comedy were not messy enough, we also have unnecessary fanservice to deal with. Yuno is the worst offender of the lot; at one point, she tries to murder several characters wearing only a white bra and undies. In another episode, she has a requisite shower scene. We get a close-up of Yuno’s breasts as she bashfully comments on how small her bikini is, which is then promptly washed away. Cue the upbeat, wacky music. Did I get tricked into watching an ecchi romcom? Unfortunately, she is not the only female character that is subjected to this. The camera lewdly focuses on underage girls’ panty shots. Hinata has her shorts ‘humorously’ pulled down in her first appearance. A male character falls on top of a woman and accidentally grabs her breasts. Very original stuff. This would all be pretty annoying and immersion-breaking as it is, but the director does something far more egregious and unforgivable.

Gang rape is used for gratuitous shock factor and to garner sympathy points from the audience. Rape as a backstory needs to be done very carefully, otherwise it comes across as insensitive and tasteless. Frivolous rape scenes that add nothing to characterization or plot progression are insulting to the characters and to the audience as a whole. One of these scenes did not exist in the original manga. Had this gang rape been taken out entirely, this character would act the same as they always did. It served no purpose to the plot. Shame on director Naoto Hosoda for the exploitative shots and anyone involved in adding this to the anime.

Yuki Amano’s character development is bumpier than Cedar Point’s roller coasters. Yuki starts the show as completely and utterly weak. He passively overlooks Yuno’s stalker tendencies to keep himself alive. Flirtations from the girl he likes turn him into a puddle of tears. He ponders how a loser like him is still alive. He would even go as far as to beg his rivals to, “give [his] death some meaning.” It is never really explained why he had all these emotional hang-ups other than his parents’ divorce. I prayed to the storyboard gods they would pull an Old Yeller and put him out of his misery.

Then, a miracle happened.

The boy who would cry at the drop of a hat, charged straight into a fire, hatchet in hand, to save a girl. He made friends who genuinely cared about him. In another episode, Yuno collapses after fighting an enemy, and he gives her CPR. Not only was he becoming braver as the story progressed, he was also gaining confidence in himself. Yuki’s emotional growth was – dare I say it? – a strong factor that kept me watching the show. The same person who I had written off as a complete dud. By the midpoint of the series, I was hesitantly rooting for him. We even had an important conversation illustrating how far he has come:

Yuki: “Don’t you want to become happier than this? You’re one hell of a stalker who followed me for a year, right? You’re going to become my bride, right?”
Yuno: “If it won’t come true…th-then I want you to live at least!”
Yuki: “You idiot! Don’t give up like that! I will make you happy! We’re going back. Even if you give up, I won’t! I’m not giving up. Because… I love Yuno, too.”

I felt vindicated. Pushing aside Yuki’s messy feelings for Yuno (which I will get to later), this was the peak of Yuki’s character development. He showed guts, positivity, and assertiveness. Unfortunately, the same guy who made that heroic speech, says the following three episodes later: “What could I have done?! I know I’m scum… I know I am… But I’m weak.” Moments of weakness are fine; we are all human. I still had hope…but it was all for naught. Without spoiling anything, the last couple of episodes cement his complete decay. By the end, his positive qualities are dragged into a sketchy back-alley, beaten up with rusty drainpipes, and then shot in the head execution-style. Ladies and gentlemen, let us give a moment of silence to his nascent character development. I’m still mourning.

Yuno Gasai is the villain protagonist that the plot wants us to cheer for. Her psychopathy and obsession for Yuki are iconic. The main reason a lot of us, myself included, went into the show was to see her crazy self in action. While her lust for murder and Yuki’s cock are entertaining to watch, she lacks any real depth. Her main problem lies on her stunted character growth – she remains her same empathy-lacking, love-stricken, bloodthirsty self for the entirety of the anime’s run. Being Yuki’s bride is her only long-term goal and personal motivation. How can she be a decent female character if her agency and self-worth solely revolves around a guy? Without being hyperbolic, a large chunk of her dialogue is calling out her crush’s name. I watched patiently, hoping that a good explanation for Yuno’s single-minded affection would appear. Surely she had an earth-shattering reason as to why Yuki meant the world to her. Instead, all I got was a very shallow scene that was neither touching nor romantic.

Despite committing monstrous actions, villain protagonists can be sympathetic. Just look at Griffith from Berserk. To the anime’s credit, it tries its best to humanize Yuno through her past. Bits and pieces of Yuno’s tragic backstory are presented to the audience. She’s had a hard life, no question about it, and yet…I was unconvinced. Let me explain. I could buy Yuno developing mental disorders and dysfunctional personality traits, like her paranoia, co-dependency, and difficulty relating to others. However, not to the extent that she went from a happy-go-lucky girl to Ms. Slice N’ Dice in a two-year span. But I digress.

Yuki and Yuno’s romance is toxic at every conceivable level and brings out the worst in each other. The script’s direction wants us to root for them to be together, but I could only see it as a sad case of Stockholm’s syndrome. There were times were I could enjoy their interactions with each other, like watching a slow-moving train-wreck unfolding in front of me. Anime has no obligation to portray healthy relationships, especially in a battle royale scenario. One-hundred percent agreed. However, it keeps Yuno from feeling remorse for her deplorable actions, since Yuki forgives her readily. And as for Yuki, he somehow becomes even WORSE as a character since he met her.

Let’s get to the secondary characters, like Uryuu Minene and Nishijima. It is a sad state of affairs when the child-murdering terrorist is the only one with any kind of meaningful character arc. If someone threatened me with a gun to my head, I would even say I liked her. Minene wants no pity since ‘everyone’s got tragedy in their lives’. Death and destruction marred every facet of her life, but she still wants to survive. Her fierce independence and fiery streak were a welcome contrast to our main hero’s spinelessness. She even calls him out on his bullshit. Bloodthirsty like Yuno, but still carries a small bit of sanity intact. Like all the other Diary holders, Minene’s backstory does not naturally unfold. It is told through random sepia-colored flashbacks and – to my disappointment – not as detailed as everyone else’s.

Nishijima is a nice enough cop, who is terrible at his job. He lets a known terrorist alone with Yuki at his hospital bed. In another instance, he asks a single question to a suspect wanted for murder – both sitting at a café, no less – and lets them go with an exasperated sigh when they do not answer. The anime suggests his shifting loyalty is due to his blossoming feelings for Minene, but the storyline does nothing to show us even the vaguest hints of his growing attraction. The plot tells us they are in love…so they are in love. Still a better love story than Twilight.

Deus Ex Machina and Akise are hard to write about without going into heavy spoilers, but I’ll try. Akise is a bargain-bin Kaworu; from his intense, yet unexplained, love for a boy (in this case Yuki), down to his silver hair and piercing red eyes. I will give him this much: he was an interesting character. At least his intelligent musings on the story’s mysteries kept me from becoming comatose. His thoughts on the nature, or lack thereof, of free will were fine. My biggest compliment to his characterization is that I did not want to throw him into an industrial-sized meat-grinder like the rest of the cast. Deus Ex Machina is disappointing; so much fascinating characterization can be written about a dying god looking for a worthy replacement. All I got were more questions, and few answers.

What can I say about the rest of these lovable characters like the nerve-gas expert toddler, a psychic loli, a superhero wannabe, the murderous battle couple, and a pseudo-Nazi sympathizer? Not much, really. Can you really expound pages upon pages about the tools in your garage? They are pawns of the script; they get a short, sad backstory, before being used up and discarded five minutes later. After the anime concluded, I forgot all their names. Hinata, Mao, Kousaka are there for comic relief and to fill up space – that’s about as much energy as I can muster up for them.

To the anime’s credit, it has a great gothic 1st OP that sets up the mood perfectly for a psychological thriller. Too bad the show is only cosplaying as one. 2nd OP has terrible English; the voice actress can sing, but I kept missing the 1st OP. It’s still catchy, though. At the most inopportune times, stock sound effects that seem ripped straight out of a Looney Tunes episode ruin the tense atmosphere. Surf rock plays during comedic moments. Playful piano pieces accentuate the lighthearted interactions between Yuno and Yuki’s slice-of-life moments. Both EDs are serviceable rock songs. Voice actors did a strong job portraying their insane characters, especially Yuno.

Deny it all you want, character designs are eye-catching. Asides from her perchance for violence, Yuno is an extremely recognizable character in the anime community. Her pink hair, bright smile, and menacing knife make her memorable. I didn’t dislike the colorful look of any of the characters except for the 8th player – Kamado Ueshita. She looks like a sentient bag of flour wearing a Smurf hat. Within the context of the show, her peculiar appearance goes mysteriously unacknowledged. Animation is fine for what it is; Makoto Shinkai can breathe easy. Kudos for drawing Yuno’s frightening expressions, though. There is some terrible CGI in this. Initial D’s cars took a wrong turn and ended up in Mirai Nikki.

And finally, the ending. I would talk more about it but I have only just recovered from a bad case of the giggles. Suffice to say it is the cherry on top of this rancid sundae.

Recommended to anyone who wishes to have a pink-haired, emotionally unstable, sociopathic, murderous teenager for a girlfriend. Don’t invite me to the wedding.

Future Diary aka Mirai Nikki is a series about a middle school kid named Yukiteru who’s all observant and distant and disaffected. He, apparently, has some imaginary friends called Deus and Murmur. However, these imaginary friends turn out to not be so imaginary. Deus turns out to be the god of space and time. Not only that, he’s turned Yukiteru’s cellphone into one that can predict the future. Oh: and there are also 11 other people who have this power, and now you have to kill each other so you can become my replacement as god.

Though I think the series is largely uneven and, ... by its conclusion, has completely jumped the shark, I do think it touches on some rather interesting ideas; or, rather, the central relationship and the character behavior/personalities offer more to chew on than whatever the central conceit is supposed to do. The relationship between Yukiteru and Yuno (his love interest) arguably drives most of the series’ action, but it also highlights the series’ attitudes towards dependent/abusive relationships. This is the only interesting part of the show.

Yukiteru’s diary and Yuno’s diary are oddly compatible, so they team up in order to survive the game. However, it’s less of a “team” and more of a “Yuno goes crazy any time Yukiteru is even remotely in danger.” The thrust of the entire relationship is thus: Yukiteru completely relies on Yuno to save his ass, and then feels horrible after she goes way overboard and kills everyone. Not only that, at points, Yukiteru almost begins to feel afraid for his life, that’s how intense Yuno is. Yuno pledges undying devotion and love and bodyguard services, and Yukiteru takes advantage of this, basically using her and lying to her, while benefiting from her protection. This dynamic is deeply screwed up.

First of all, we have the way in which Yukiteru almost seems like an abused spouse character. Because of Yuno’s diary ability, he can’t really escape from her (she knows everything he’s going to do), and it’s because of this that he allows himself to think of her company and her actions as normal. She’s just trying to protect me and win the game (because she likes me). But every time that Yuno goes all ruthless and flies off the handle a little more than the previous time, Yukiteru has to keep making compromises and excuses for her. He’s told repeatedly by other people that she’s dangerous or that she’ll be the death of him. Little by little, her behavior becomes rationalized and coded as “normal” or “acceptable” and soon the feeling that this is what he has to deal with to survive becomes inescapable. He’s trapped in the relationship; Yuno keeps him safe, and he can’t get away even if he wanted to.

Also of interest are any moments where there is opposition between Yukiteru and Yuno. There’s a particularly great episode where Yukiteru tries to make new, “normal” friends. They invite him out to take a look at a dead body (because that isn’t suspicious) and he cheerfully goes, because the prospect of getting away from what he knows is a toxic attachment to Yuno is mighty appealing. She tags along, but mostly watches from the sides, as Yukiteru laughs with everyone, cracks jokes, and whatnot. But then the narrative of the episode kicks in, and Yukiteru’s friends turn out to be not so friendly. Which is exactly what Yuno thought would happen. The drama of the episode is then about Yukiteru’s struggle to redeem this friendship, and make it real; and Yuno’s constant refusal to make friends with anyone else, throwing doubt on anyone who would get close to him, almost stabbing everyone whenever they do something unexpected. But this opposition never even lasts; Yukiteru’s too weak to ever put up much of a struggle. Even after everyone witnesses how crazy Yuno is, he still ends up making excuses for her. He’s terrified by her behavior, but he can’t quite say that he doesn’t need it. Yuno loves Yukiteru, wishes to protect him and all that; but it’s a love that’s selfish, possessive and obsessive. It’s a love that includes no one else. At points, it doesn’t even include Yukiteru. It’s her love alone.

And, ultimately, Future Diary, if nothing else,manages to dramatize this unique dynamic very well. Although it often succumbs to ludicrous plot twists, silly Yandere antics, and literal deus ex machine shenanigans, the series manages to show how crazy and twisted this relationship is. The series’ denouement shows the utter ruination of the main character; he’s destroyed everything he loves for a lie. And still he lives a lie.

copied/pasted from my blog: thenextthingblog.wordpress.com

Everyday, the human body produces approximately four pounds of fecal matter. That fecal matter goes into our sewage system and is eventually used as compost for crops. Sometimes, that shit does not end up in the sewer, but it lands on paper. Sometimes people don't know what shit looks like as it comes and different forms. This turd took the form of Mirai Nikki.

Aside from the vulgar metaphor, Mirai Nikki is an awful show. It fails on every level: sound, characterization, pacing etc. This show is abysmal.

The characters are very badly developed. Yukiteru, the male protagonist, is one of the worst protagonists in recent memory. ... He is whiny, abrasive and too trustworthy. He makes decisions that defy basic logic and reasoning. He is also bipolar and switches personalities every five seconds. The female protagonist, Yuno, is just as bad. She is a psychologically disturbed, stalker, who needs some kind of help. But the writers try to romanticize her mental illness by making her come off as overly affectionate. This couple has one of the worst chemistry I have ever seen.

The side characters are all very bad. Apparently, the writer thinks if these characters are raped or tortured in some way, that some how makes them sympathetic characters. They are not. The way rape is used in this show is disgusting and crude and makes you wonder how anyone with a decent IQ can enjoy this show in any intellectual capacity.

There are no themes that make this show worth it. There are plot holes the size of mount olympus and it poor integrates all the elements of a successful thriller. The tension dissipates after the first couple episodes. There are jarring moments between comedy and drama. Comedy shouldn't be in this show in the first place. The premise is also flawed to begin with.

This show is very bad and shouldn't be watched, unless you want to laugh at how terrible it is.

I give it 3 wipes of 10 wipes total. Which means, your butt still isn't clean...had to bring the metaphor back.

This show is really pathetic! To say I was disappointed after watching the first 7 episodes will be an understatement. Was expecting a lot from this show considering it's rating and popularity but was quite disappointed in script.

The script writer/mangaka insults the viewers intelligence when he thinks that whatever weird crap he writes people are going to follow and appreciate it. Really a 5 year kid obtains poison gas, antidotes, gas mask without the help of an adult,he has no problem taping the doors and window up to the ceiling and he is perfectly capable of shifting a tied and bound grown woman. Also a ... girl is able to somehow get a bike out of nowhere while standing in the middle of a ground. Only 7 episodes have passed and already there are no of plotholes which I am not going to delve into more as I don't want to spoil the plot(?) for anyone.

Mirai Nikki is a fine example on an anime starting great but then repeatedly trying as hard as it can to destroy everything that makes it good and bring on whole new levels of suckage.

The concept is solid. A battle royale of the owner of mysterious future diaries which give people different powers, for the right of being the new "God" of this world. During the first 3-4 episodes I was on the edge of my seat but the more episodes I watched the lower my opinion of this show got.

For starters we have our protagonist Yuki who is your cliche quite, pantsy type. ... He gets pushed into this conflict between the diary owners but himself lacks the motivation and reason to try to win this competition. What follows is Yuno being a brutal yandere and killing everything on her way.

First of all let's talk about Yuno and Yuki's relationship. In the start of the series Yuki keeps Yuno with him for two reason: 1 - he needs her to survive and 2 - he actually falls for her a little and starts thinking that they can be togather even with her...unusual personality.

As I said in the beggining it is played out in a good manner. Later it gets messed up and pretty hard (as well as the whole anime). Yuki keeps returning to Yuno and gives her numerous chances even if everytime she continues doing some insane stuff. Once she drugged him, tied him to a chair and locked him in the basement and after that he still continues to be with her and falls in love with her. I do not believe that a single sane person would continue to be with a person who drugged you and threw you in the basement...at least there was not rape.

The relationships between this two character strat out good and even somewhat touching but later they become so unrealistic and so forced that towrads the end I could not even stand how idiotic was the protagonist to stay with her. And guess what it came back to bite him on his behind.

The farther the show gets the more idiotic the protagonist becomes and he was not likable to begin with. This degression sadly also effects almost every other character in the show

The rape, is a second issue I have with this series. There is more than 1 rape scene in the anime and numerous attempted rape scenes, as well as nudity scenes. Yes that's right. Not fanservice but straight up nudity which plays ABSOLUTELY no role most of the time. It's just there to have a naked chick in the show.

The rest of the cast in this anime ranges from really good to walking gimmicks and carbon cutouts. Sadly exept for Yuno and Minene most of the other characters are either not interesting or are killed off after one or two episodes.

Towards the final episodes the show becomes a horrible trainwreck with plotholes, characters acting stupid and out of nowhere time and dimension traveling.

There are many other bad things in this show but it requires for me to go more in depth to explore them properly.

There are good things about the show. The animation and overall austetics are good. The first opening is really nice but none of the other OST stands out. There are good things and moments but very few and far between. Overall the show kicked itself in the balls by trying out some very stupid things and concepts on top of the already poorly written characters.

Warning: minor spoilers

There are certain standards and requirements that make a good show or movie. Well-written story, good character development, steady pacing, the works. The problem with Mirai Nikki is that it fails miserably at even the most basic rules of storytelling.

The story itself is sloppily written at best. The concept itself is actually quite great and the whole idea of being thrown into a survival game that uses future predicting cell phones where the winner becomes god of time and space is brilliant and it definitely adds interest to the show. However it’s the concept’s execution that causes the story to fall apart.

Mirai ... Nikki constantly presents itself in a way to make you expect certain things and then go in the complete opposite direction. The main weapon that all the contestants use are obviously their diaries all of which are able to predict the future and each have their own special abilities that make them unique and as the diary owners take actions, the future written in the diaries will change. With a concept such as this you would assume that means that the characters will have to use their diaries to outsmart their opponents and will show a lot of intelligence, cunning, and elaborate planning. But nope! Most of the characters are idiots and instead Mirai Nikki focuses not enough on the diaries and too much on action, fight scenes which are mostly bland and boring, and back stories for characters we don't care about. Many diary owners are defeated the same way. Yuno brutally hacks her way through all their minions before finally reaching the diary owner and slaughtering them in cold blood or destroying their diary. Mirai Nikki also has a bad habit of throwing in bad jokes in serious moments and there are MASS amounts of mood killers in this show that make Mirai Nikki seriously unworthy of the title "psychological thriller" the story moves slowly, the plot forces itself along constantly, and the overall show is ridiculously repetitive.

The show also tries way too hard to get you hooked as nearly every episode will leave off with a major cliffhanger, which would be fine except the next episode almost never picks up where it left off and will usually take several episodes to get any answers. The questions all lead up to huge plot twists that yes are definitely surprising. I did not see them coming. But surprising does not necessarily mean good. Most of the plot twists create more questions than they answer. Most of which will also take forever to answer or will just not get explained at all and there are a mountain of things in Mirai Nikki that simply don’t make sense. It gets even worse towards the end of the show when they start hitting you with plot holes big enough to fly a jumbo jet through. Plus all the completely random crap they start making up on the spot towards the end to the point where there is no longer anything in the show that makes any sense anymore.

Warning: The next paragraph contains spoilers.

I don't normally like to include spoilers in my reviews but I feel like I just have to talk about this. When you get right down to it, Mirai Nikki is a love story and if you want to see the worst, cheesiest, most forced love story ever that makes soap operas look like masterpieces then look no further. Yukiteru has a million reasons to hate Yuno, he spends most of the show lying about loving her, and then at the end he decides to fall in love with her for real with no logical or believable reason other than “just because”. This is immediately after she made him kill all his friends by the way. Not to mention that there is absolutely NO chemistry between the two of them at all. And even if she did save his life a few times, it does not justify the horrible way she treated him throughout the series and is still not a good reason to fall in love with a psychopathic serial killer that could do who knows what to you. *cough cough* She tries to kill him. *cough cough*

Still a better love story than Twilight? Nope. Not this time.

Spoilers over.

The characters overall are horrible. Many of them will often take actions simply because the plot demands it and as far as intelligence goes, the characters are flat out stupid. You know. The kind of stupid that’s painful to watch and makes you want to go smash your head against the wall. Keep in mind that this is supposed to be a psychological thriller.

Amano Yukiteru himself is without a doubt the WORST protagonist I have ever seen. Period! Seriously, how do you screw up the main character this badly? Why is he bad you ask? Because he’s a terribly written character who fails to fulfill his role as the protagonist and is simply unlikeable. Starting at the beginning of the show, Yukiteru is portrayed as weak, pathetic, spineless, cowardly, annoying, and helpless (hell he’s even voiced by a girl) But that’s alright because that’s what character development is all about! And we know he’ll get stronger and braver as the show progresses right? WRONG! Yukiteru spends the entire show doing pretty much nothing but hiding behind Yuno while she does all the dirty work and by the end of the show, Yukiteru is the exact same person he was in the first episode and has not changed at all. The protagonist is supposed to be the hero of the story. The relatable character we root for. Yet Yukiteru doesn't care at all about winning the survival game and does so little that his character could probably be removed entirely and the show would still work. Even when he does start to care about winning towards the end, it's for the most illogical reason imaginable. His character is incredibly inconsistent, he puts way too much trust in all the wrong people and is too quick to forgive thus he ends up consistently making things worse for himself, and as with most characters in this show, he is an idiot.

Now for the other main lead. The yandere poster girl. Yuno is your typical yandere who obsesses over Yuki and threatens to kill anyone who gets near him and she does this part of her role quite well. Murata Tomosa also does a fairly good acting job and her voice fits Yuno pretty well. On the flip side, like everything else in this show, her great potential is ruined. There are many traits that drag down the seriousness of her character. She often acts goofy. Many times even in serious situations and her dialogue is pretty pathetic (not a good trait of a psychotic character) and consists way too much of her constantly crying out “Yukki!” She is also seriously lacking in any decent personality besides yandere.

Regarding the other diary owners, they are obviously supposed to be the antagonist of the show and as such are portrayed as crazy psychopaths. Many of them also get their own tragic back story that I’m guessing is supposed to make us feel sympathetic towards them though it does not excuse the horrible acts they commit and ultimately just creates confusion. Are we supposed to like these guys or not? Of course it doesn’t matter whether or not you like them because most of them won’t be around long enough for us to care much anyway. One of Mirai Nikki's major faults is that it spends way too much time and effort in giving us detailed back stories on minor characters that are only around for a few episodes while the back stories of our main characters that actually matter are barely touched on.

As for all the other characters, they are mostly bland, forgettable, and as I mentioned before… IDIOTS! Though I will say that I kind of liked the character Akise Aru (and when I say "like" I mean "hated the least") Akise seemed to be the only character that possessed intelligence, which makes him a good fit for a psychological thriller like this, though his character is still far from perfect.

As for the art style, it’s fairly good though nothing special. The soundtrack is also pretty average overall but the tracks do their job of fitting the scenes and neither of the openings are bad. Mainly the first intro, which is definitely amazing.

So is there anything good in Mirai Nikki? Well... actually yes. As a matter of fact Mirai Nikki is overflowing with amazing potential to be a great show. The problem is that every ounce of that potential was wasted and shat upon in some way or another. And that's exactly why I consider this to be the worst show I've ever seen. I would rather watch a show that is bad from the get go (e.g. Pupa) than have to sit through the torture of watching such great potential be thrown into the trash heap. And believe me, I REALLY tried to enjoy this show. What’s upsetting is that there are so many underrated shows out there with fantastic characters and stories that clearly were well thought out and had a lot of effort put into them. Of course none of that matters anymore because nowadays you can just slap yandere on a character, throw in a bunch of hack and slash action and apparently that works. And it’s very disappointing that that's the type of show that gets popular nowadays.

So is Mirai Nikki worth it? Well if you’re one of those very casual viewers who likes to pull the good ol' "turn off your brain" trick and watch shows based on pure enjoyment alone and doesn’t care about flaws then by all means feel free to watch this show. Don’t think about it at all and you might like Mirai Nikki. On the other hand if you're any kind of critic with standards then you will probably want to avoid this show as you will most likely see it as the big jumbled mess that it is.

Thanks for reading.

Stating that Mirai Nikki is a bad anime series would be a severe understatement,its enough to look at the existing reviews to notice that the reception it received is mostly negative.

But not only is Mirai Nikki a terrible series, but its the kind of bad that makes you morbidly curious at how much worse it can get .And by the end of it actually delivers in that regard,but that's now saying much of course. A turd is still a turd no matter how you look at it.

Before going into to many details and without spoiling to much about it ,i would like to give ... some examples of situations that happen and as to what you should expect from this series, so if you haven't watched Mirai Nikki and don't want to get spoiled in any way shape or form please skip this next paragraph:

**Minor Spoilers
A 5 year old toddler getting violently killed for no real reason that could have easily been retrained or at worst slapped a bit,a female character who gets kidnapped and tortured also for no real reason after which she is immediately and casually released by the same person like nothing ever happened,a character writing a phone text message and getting beheaded at the same time (with a kitchen knife no less!!!!)


Notice a pattern here? Yes unnecessary violence for the sole purpose of pure shock value that adds nothing to the actual plot of the series ,exactly like in a low budged horror movie.Whats funny is that without these stupid moments the series would have ended up completely forgettable ,so at the very least it has that going for it.


So lets get to the story shall we.

Like most anime series nowadays the story starts out immediately from the very first episode, you are literally thrown into this world and into its plot with no proper introductions or any kind of foundation to it.
All in the idea of suckering in the viewer and leaving him/her curios as to where its going and adding crucial details and flashbacks along the way whenever it feels like doing so.

The basic premise is a survival battle royal following a young high school boy (of course) named Yukiteru and his classmate Yuno ,the other main character, in their efforts to combat the other participating members with their help of their future diary phones which can predict the near future.The winner of this death game will be successor to the God of space and time.Sounds simple and straight forward enough right ? How can it go so wrong then?

Well for starters the whole battle royal premise if misunderstood by the author from the very begging since all opposing opponents all politely take their respective turns to "battle it out" with the 2 main characters and almost never go against each-other.There are just 2 exceptions to this,where they do fight but it also directly involves Yuki and Yuno so it might as well not even matter.

Secondly the writing is just god awful,completely amateurish (he-he) as if written by someone just starting out in their early teens.
Flimsy plot - check,completely inconsistent characters with sometimes multiple change of motivation in the same episode - check,overly stretched story that takes to much time to go anywhere - check,plot elements that go nowhere or are completely forgotten -check, lackluster ending that cops out of whatever has happened and developed so far -check.
Mirai Nikki has it all that's for sure.


The absolute worst part of this anime however lies with its characters.

Yukiteru is just a atrociously bad and useless main protagonist ,he even makes the infamous Ikari Shinji from Neo Genes Evangelion look good in comparison. Spineless,childish ,gullible to the point of mental retardation,but of course very kind to his friends with no other defining characteristics .He is absolute joke of a character and downright cringe-worthy to have to watch.Even die hard otakus with no self-esteem would be like "ugh even i'm better than that loser".
Whats worse is the series tries to make a sudden 180 turn in character for him in the very last episodes ,but by that time it just comes out of nowhere and in no way well presented or acceptable story wise.

The second main character and the entire reason this anime got any sort of attention (the ridiculous fandom she has received over the years is just mind boggling), Yuno is a straight up psychopath.Lets not miss words here with all the yandere crap and so on .She is a psychopathic character which would have been good and maybe great if the writing wasn't so damn bad.
The motivation for her behavior is just laughable and a complete disgrace for people who actually suffer from this mental instability.Plus the anime never bothers to explain as to why she is so strong and has such keen reflexes and senses,the writer probably believed that if someone is a psychopath than he automatically is a super villain.
And lastly her constant shouting "Yuki-Yuki" will drive you absolutely insane by the time the anime finishes.

The secondary characters are extremely lacking and completely forgettable,they vary from nonexistent just to take some screen time to boring with no strong or defining characteristics to just all out laughably comically crazy.Notable mentioning goes to Minene Uryuu who is completely inconsistent and changes her character and motivation like a hundred times throughout the series.


Animation is the only thing this anime has going for it,but that's not saying much for a series released in 2011.Character design and backgrounds for the most part are good but somewhat inconsistent ,some character looks much better than others and there is some very weird use for CGI for simple things such as bicycles or mobile phones.

Sound is also ok,the VA for Yuno actually does a pretty good job at representing the soft and angry side of her character (minus the whole repeating Yuki-Yuki a billion times over and over) ,other VA do their job decent as well with no other stand out performances.



Overall when its all said and done the series just falls flat on its ass in multiple ways,the primary being the story and character which are the main factors for making or breaking a anime series.You can have all the highest production values you can possibly get,but with a terrible story and weak characters it wont get you very far.

What Mirai Nikki achieves is making the viewer either disappointed if they somehow still had any sort of expectations by the end of it or angry because they wasted so much time on such a sloppy series.
26 episodes is still a large number of episodes all things considered,you could easily spend your time with so many other series that don't have the nerve to mock the viewer the way Mirai Nikki does.

Mirai Nikki..one of those anime shows which starts off in the right track,then completely gets out of point...and finally attempts to partially redeem itself...resulting in a "DEAD END".
Initially having high hopes for the series,i felt quite satisfied in the first few episodes...however since then it went downhill,resulting in an absolute trainwreck.

Story- simple enough..the god of space time (Deus Ex Machina),gathers our protagonist Yukiteru,his obsessively stalking girlfriend aka psycho Yuno Gasai and 10 others to engage in a battle of death,each having their specific future diaries.The last one standing gets to be the next God.Thus began yukiteru and yuno's attempts to kill the other contestants and ... making yukiteru the new God of space time.

Characters- i almost hated all the characters,except Akise and Minene...
Yukiteru was a crybaby all the time,probably the most whiny character i've seen after obviously Shinji Ikari . Gasai yuno,whose insanity topped the charts..was enjoyable at the start but then was so annoying at the end of the series.All the other characters practically got no development.

Art- mediocare,not really mindblowing.

Sound- the op and ed were good.especially liked the "happy ending" theme.

Overall,mirai nikki showed a lot of promise...but the middle part was really pathetic.Even though i liked the ending,i expected a lot more.
So if u are a fan of the horror/gore genre..watching Higurashi or elfen lied is a better prospect than Mirai nikki.

This review contains mild spoilers.

It's hard to bring up Mirai Nikki without mentioning how great its premise sounds on paper. A survival game between twelve diary users, all with different motivations and reasons, to overwrite the future and survive a thrilling game of wits, courage and luck. It's an excellent premise, but also tried and done to death (especially in recent years, thanks to the Hunger Games movies/novels).

What often tends to be a deciding factor in them is how to make characters feel human, their panic and sense of calm in between feel real, and well...just not feel too extreme, really. A basic understanding of ... human psychology is required to capture that, and it requires a lot of solid character writing to accomplish that.

Oh, and there is also the (arguably) equally important plot armor aspect. A lot of what makes survival games so intense and thrilling to sit through is the unpredictability of what happens next. However, that can be sacrificed if the actual show has a script solid enough to carry through and excuse all the questionable incidents that occur over the course of the show.

Mirai Nikki fails in every single way, and it is easily among the most anti-climactic series I've ever seen. The script mocks me constantly for taking it seriously, yet takes itself more seriously than it can ever dream of being self-aware of.

The storyline goes nowhere past the basic premise, and there is no theme whatsoever to think about. The show pretends that there is the whole theme about "being able to dream of future and fight for it" and all that, but honestly, the show never foreshadows that theme til very late onto the show, as well as the ending, well, pretty much contradicting that.

Did I mention how much plot armor this show has? No seriously, any situation Yuki and Yuno are put into they manage to walk out of with little to no harm, and there is no real suspense once you realize that there is a particular formula which is pretty much that Yuno and Yuki come across one of the other twelve, that person either pretends to be an ally or becomes an enemy (don't expect any reasonable explanation either) and then they defeat that person only for a period of calm to come and then the cycle repeats itself again.

Seriously, this show is in some ways the worst thing a survival game should be. It's predictable, formulaic, the script is a walking joke and the characters are equipped with enough plot armor that can make Ichigo from Bleach blush. The worst thing is that this show has absolutely no idea how to balance its quiet moments with its hectic ones, with the quiet moments coming off as forced or too quiet, and its hectic ones coming off as extremely over-the-top and silly.

I also need to mention just how bad the script feels. It's bloody ridiculous, and some of what is permissible in this show can break any sane person's sense of disbelief. A terrorist blows up the school bit by bit and the show tells you that she is a terrorist with no real care for a human's life. Why? Just because. Why didn't she just blow up the whole school? A little kid tries to kill Yuno and Yuki with poison gas. Where did he get the poison gas? Who sold him the poison gas? Don't know? I don't think the show does either. I can go on and on, but I really don't want to spoil the entire show. Honestly props to anyone who somehow managed to suspend their disbelief for all this, it takes a lot to be able to manage that with a show like this.

There is also the characters. Where do I even start? They behave irrationally, act like a pack of immature brats who can't fight their way out of a paper bag one moment and suddenly can do complete and utter miracles the next. There is so much inconsistency in their behavior that I'm not even sure they even can be considered "characters".

The main characters are especially guilty of this. Yuki changes personalities to be whatever the plot demands him to be. He is normally a coward and a wimp, but you'd never guess that if you watched clips of his clashes with the various diary users over the course of the show. He is a wimp in the quiet moments of the show but becomes a complete badass when the plot demands it, and can throw darts with a surprising level of accuracy (which admittedly is foreshadowed early on). No matter how good you are at throwing darts, they can't be the Deus Ex Machina solution when all else fails.

Yuno is no better, with her character being foreshadowed to simply having a crush on Yuki then later turning to be a complete and utter maniac who kills people for fun and games, simply because it makes the show more marketable and easy for people to not get bored. To be fair, she is entertaining (and the main reason I finished the show) but I'm not entirely sure that it's for the reasons the writer planned her to be. She changes personalities off the drop of a coin and her monologues boil down to "this person looked at Yuki, I must kill them" and "this person is dangerous to Yuki, I must kill him". She is completely defined by her relationship with Yuki, and as such never once feels like an actual character. The show does attempt to explain this and fails miserably, coming off as incredibly edgy and laughable at best.

The side characters vary wildly, with most of them being every bit as stupid as our main duo, and others being pretty decent. I kind of like the detective in particular, his motivation was really easy to sympathize with and he is also the only person who was talking sense in the show. I could go on about other examples but I really don't want to spoil the whole show.

A special mention needs to be addressed about how women are treated in this show, however. Every single woman in this show is sexually abused or raped, sometimes both, and there is literally no special thought put into making this work or its psychological consequences.

Seriously, it's like the writer and the publishing company were thinking to themselves about how to give the female characters the harshest and most edgy back story possible, and they kept seeing rape and sexual abuse as the answer. It's absolutely disgusting.

The soundtrack is unremarkable at best, with some very strange tracks being put in the wrong time, sound effects being poorly implemented and the voice acting sounding poor and inconsistent, with a lot of strange noises that actually made me laugh whenever a character is dying or put into any danger.

The artwork is alright but nothing particularly remarkable to look at, with backgrounds looking really bland and the entire show looking as though everything is in a darker color simply because they wanted to make the show look dark, but coming off as incredibly edgy and (maybe I have bad eyes or something, I don't know) but I could swear that the character designs have this dark shade that is pretty nasty to look at. Seriously, why do that?

A lot of people like Mirai Nikki. I kind of admire them for that, since there is so much that the show does wrong in my eyes that I found myself struggling to watch episode to episode. The story is stupid, the characters inconsistent and the themes non-existent.

I honestly don't recommend this show, just watch the Fate series, read/watch the Hunger Games and read Battle Royale. I can assure you it's a better use of your time than this show if you're looking for some survival games. I'm not saying any of them are perfect, but they're way more satisfying to watch than this show.