Story:
The Story Of Mirai Nikki is your typical Survival Game/ Battle Royale/ Hunger Games show: A series of Contestants fight to the death in attempt to win something Grand or not get killed. In this case, it's the opportunity to be God of Space and Time. What makes this story stick out from the rest however is the depth the creators add to it. Usually in these survival game shows, you'll have some characters that are just expendable and there to be brutally murdered of some sort. Here it's different. Each Contestant is relevant and are given their time to shine, making it much more meaningful or impacting when you see a character that you now understand and relate with fight to the death. To say that this is just another Survival Game show is only half the truth, which leads me to another point on what Mirai Nikki does right: the Execution. Mirai Nikki could have easily been a, "Fight an opponent, win, move on, rinse and repeat" situation and while it does do that especially in the first half of the show, they really took advantage of the Romance element present between the two main characters. You see, there is an overarching mystery between the female lead, Yuno Gasai and the creators really used this situation to stray away from the usual fight to fight plot line and allowed the two main characters to get the development and dramatic reveals they needed in order to make the viewers constantly devoted to the two characters. By the end of the show I was in total shock at where each character ended up! This makes the series less a Mindless Horror flick and more of an on your feet, Fist Clenching thrill ride that will keep you guessing all the way until the end. One thing I will say about Mirai Nikki that slightly hampers the show is that there are plot holes that deep observers of the show will notice since it does get a bit convoluted near the final episodes. However, the whole concept of time and alteration is always a hard subject to tackle without creating any plot holes or loops, but here they do a pretty good job.
9/10
Art:
The Art of Mirai Nikki is immaculate (If you're into gore, and over the top violence). I felt as if every scene fit the tone it was trying to present. It was Dark and Gritty at it's more serious moments and had its funny character animations and lighter art styles at its comedic times. Another great thing I liked about the art was that they held no bars back. It wasn't shy to show its gratuitous fan service or hold back on the violence and for that I have to give it props. It gives the viewers what they came to see and to show no restriction just further shows how dedicated this anime really is.
10/10
Sound:
Once again, the sound of Mirai Nikki summed up is: Fitting. The opening themes conveyed the fast pace that took place during it's ridiculous action scenes with it's symphonic rock and the ending themes really capture the desperation and struggle the characters face with it's slow rock. Aside from that, the background music is there really to help build tension or add to the overall atmosphere. I found myself hardly ever noticing the background themes though since I was too engrossed in the dialogue which is a bit of a shame.
9/10
Character:
As I see it, the characters are really the main factor that makes or breaks many people and I can understand why. The Male Protagonist can be a bit of baby at first; breaking away from the Stoic hero cliche, and the Female lead is a total Psycho path Yandere who will literally make your jaw drop on several occasions. These two are not the most common people that many viewers are accustomed to seeing but really I wouldn't say that it's the characters themselves that can totally ruin or make you love the show, it's really your opinion. You see, I would say that when looking at the characters it's all relevant on why they act the way they are. Each character has a reason for acting the way they are instead of simply acting a certain way to advance the plot. Some characters may change at a twist that may actually purposefully cause distaste in the viewers and to be able to put that much detail and to be able to play with the watchers emotions is definitely a huge plus to the show.
10/10
Overall/Enjoyment:
Mirai Nikki knows full and well what it is and excels at it. It doesn't try to appeal to everyone and instead goes beyond what it originally intends: A bloody good time. Everything feels important and relevant thanks to its attention to detail and is also wildly entertaining. It was the type of show where I can just sit back after a hard day and watch people fight to the death, get brutally back stabbed (Literally and metaphorically) and keep my eyes constantly glued to the screen. So with the future constantly changing, what are you waiting for?
-DEAD END-
9/10
