Like the synopsis said this is a psychological thriller, with murders, gore, sins and some demented killers.
However unlike most thrillers the story is extremely good, the characters are all very unique, each with deep, well developed personalities that are slowly revealed to the viewer as they watch more and more episodes of the series. Its a mechanic that makes shows very addictive to watch, just like how you want to spend more time with your date as they reveal more and more nuggets about their interesting personality.
Story 10 - Story is amazing, the first 5 to 10 minutes of the first episode was pretty typical, and it was deceiving (in a good way) because the story quickly ramped up and starts to deliver. Every time I watch an episode it delivers something new and unexpected, like a plot twist, or a revelation about the certain existing characters. And every time these plot twists had me wide eyed in pleasant surprise, thinking "Wow this is so cool!" or something like "OMG, holy S*&t! I didn't expect this!"
Art 8 - Art is decent i guess, the action sequences are well done, but pale in comparison to this season's "Guilty Crown" for action. Overall art is 8 as I compared it with last season's artistic masterpiece "Hanasaku Iroha" , which the art was so good for a weekly anime series that I believed it set a new benchmark for artistic quality in weekly anime.
Sound 8 - The music (OP and ED) are decent, they wisely avoided sound during some of the intense, dark & scary moments where they let the suspense and fear build up in the viewers.
Characters 10 - Characters are fantastic, awesome for an anime (or manga). Each and every starring character had unique personalities that are uncommon to the typical person. I am only at episode 5 of the anime and I have never seen such a demented and crazy cast. Only the main character Yukiteru-Kun seems the most normal, but even he has his fears and complexes that makes him withdrawn. The best thing about the characters is that the story only reveals small nuggets of their personality and motive every now and then as you keep watching the series. This means that the uniqueness and most likely, the demented craziness of each character drives the storyline further and further as each character's motives are revealed.
Best thing is that most of the time you don't expect the revelations made about these characters, giving you a "wow" moment and surprises you with a plot twist.
An yea, many reviewers give props to "Yuno" the other main character of "Mirai Nikki". And I agree, a pretty girl who has a hidden killer personality, stalks the lousiest loser in school like the most diligent killers in slasher movies, and hacks and slashes everyone else with a handaxe. How cool is she! She stays a mystery and keeps viewers wanting to see more and more of her real motives, personality and her backstory.
Enjoyment 9 - I would give this a 9.5 if they allowed it in the ratings system. After watching 1 episode of "Mirai Nikki" at a random anime livestream channel it drove me to find and watch all the other existing episodes and wait fervently for the release of the latest ones. Only thing is that I probably can't have a good appetite while eating and watching this anime, due to the gore :)
Overall 9 - Again I would give Overall a 9.5 rating if allowed, "Mirai Nikki" has a great plot. A psychological thriller with gore is not your typical anime. Most of the time anime makers would turn away from such bloody twisted story for the fear of censorship and lack of young viewers. However "Mirai Nikki" is a great watch for anyone above 16. Everybody can enjoy the suspense of a good thriller and be hooked to the various character developments and plot twists. I would easily rate this anime as my choice for anime of the year 2011. Basically if you are even reading this review, find a way to watch the show by any means possible, yes it is that good, enjoy "Mirai Nikki" :)
