These are the themes present in Mirai Nikki. Sometimes, crushes can evolve into love, and sometimes, love can evolve into dangerous affection.
-Story & Characters-
Yukiteru Amano (Yuki) is a typical young teenager: He goes to school every day, he goes home, does his homework, goes to bed, wakes up, rinse and repeat. Yuki doesn’t really like to mingle with other people and keeps to himself, writing down what goes on in his life in a journal on his cell phone. Yuki’s only friends are a pair of imaginary super-beings: Deus Ex Machina, the god of the universe, and a little girl named Murmur. Yuki’s simple life is suddenly flipped upside-down when Deus gives him a “Future Diary”, a bizarre power given to his cell phone, which allows him to predict future events. After coming to the realization that Deus and Murmur were, in fact, very real, he learns that he was selected by Deus to participate in a battle-royale against eleven other people who also possess Future Diaries. Deus, the god of the universe, is starting to decay, and if a winner, who will take the place of Deus as the new god, is not chosen by the end of the tournament within 90 days, Deus will die, and the world will end.
The main heroine, Yuno Gasai, is also a participant in the tournament. However, Yuno has a twisted love for Yuki, and wants to ally with him to take on the other Diary Users together. While it does seem like Yuno’s affection for Yuki is random, her reasons for her twisted behavior are justified after a huge plot twist at the end of the show. While the story of the show isn’t terribly original, the concept of Future Diaries and being able to predict future events takes a very tired battle-royale setting and makes it its own. The show also has a good dose of humor to balance out the overall serious tone of the story.
However, the harsh reality is that the story is not perfect, as the show has several plot holes and unanswered questions. For instance, we’re told that Yuki has been in contact with Deus and Murmur, who thought that they were a figment of his imagination. How did he meet them? How long have they been in association with each other? What do they talk about on a daily basis? Just how are these Diary Users selected?
There are also two very weak (and silly) arcs during the show’s first half, which really hamper the experience. That’s not to say that the first half is bad, because it’s not at all. In fact, those two arcs aside, it’s really quite engaging. However, the saving grace for the show is its amazing second half, which really cranks the story up a few notches, throwing in some unexpected twists and heart-wrenching, powerful moments. Throw in some really great character development to go along with it, and you have a very memorable second half.
The characters are what really drive the narrative forward, however. While there are maybe one or two characters that were kind of annoying *cough* Reisuke *cough*, the overall cast is quite likeable. Yuki is a strong lead, and acts as the confused, conflicted, and frightened hero. His reaction to the events around him are perfectly natural, and the fact that he has a crazy stalker that follows him around only makes his reasons all the more justified. Yuno goes to extreme lengths to keep Yuki in her sights, and hates it when he socializes with anyone that isn’t her, and even goes as far as trying to kill his friends. The rest of the cast is likeable as well. However, if you’re familiar with Black Lagoon, there is one character that is a complete rip-off of Revy: Uryuu Minine. Strong, aggressive, and stubborn, she is completely, utterly, 100%, no bones about it, Revy, making it feel like the writers had lost their creativity.
Faults aside, the story is well-told, well-paced, and interesting throughout, and once you reach the show’s second half, you will not be able to keep your eyes off of the screen.
-Visuals & Sound-
Mirai Nikki is relatively new, coming out in 2011. While its visuals aren’t really up to par with some of the other shows that have come out around that time, it’s still relatively attractive. The characters in particular are very well drawn and move with great fluidity.
The show’s audio, on the other hand, is easily its strongest aspect. The voice acting is absolutely superb, with the sole exception of Yuno, who, while not bad, sounded a lot deeper and didn’t quite fit her character, and it took a long time for it to grow on me. Aside from her, though, the voice acting was top-notch, there was no overacting, and everyone sounded, most importantly, believable. The music is of equal quality, with every song perfectly matching the situation that it accompanies. Even out of context, the individual songs themselves are just incredibly memorable, ranging from soothing acoustic guitar melodies to epic scores, and the soundtrack as a whole just as so much variety and is brimming with creativity. I highly recommend checking out the soundtrack alone, if that’s your thing.
-Conclusion-
In the end, Mirai Nikki is a flawed gem. It has plot holes and inconsistencies, yet its tale is still captivating. It’s not visually stunning, but its audio is terrific. Everything Mirai Nikki does wrong is counteracted by something it does right. While it’s not perfect, honestly, if you don’t watch it, I do truly feel that you’re missing out on something special. Would I recommend Mirai Nikki to any anime fan out there?
Absolutely.
+Interesting story
+Very likeable cast of characters
+Superb voicework, followed by an outstanding soundtrack
+Amazing second half
+Good sense of humor
-Some plot holes here and there
-Two very weak arcs during the show’s first half
-Not very original
Final score:
8/10
