The concept of the show is really quite cool. It centers around a tournament in which contestants are given diaries that show them the future, or more accurately certain future events that adhere to each diaries specific theme. The winner gains mastery over space and time as the successor of the current god; for the losers all that awaits is death. This all comes as a shock to Yukiteru "Yuki" Amano, an asocial middle school student who becomes the first diary holder; he is reluctantly forced into the competition, equipped a diary which gives him a description of his current and future surroundings. He also gets a shock when he finds out a beautiful and seemingly perfect girl in his class, Yuna Gasai, is also a diary holder. On top of that, she turns out to be obsessed with Yuki, and her diary records his every move. As unsettling as this is to Yuki, Yuno might be his only ally and hope to survive the gruesome competition.
Mirai Nikki has to be given credit for taking this idea and running with it. The show never drags because the plot is constantly moving, more often than not at a break-neck pace. It wastes no time in bringing story arcs to their climax and moving on to the next one, satisfying everyone's impatient inner adrenaline junkie. There are twists and turns around every corner, many you just won't see coming. The show also does a good job of building tension, and anticipation for the insanity that will ensue. The fact that the show is bat-shit crazy only adds to the excitement of the ever moving plot. The tone can go from tense to comical and back again in a moment. There are a lot of things Mirai Nikki can be accused of, but being boring is not one of them.
The problem, however, is where Mirai Nikki is running to. The plot is constantly moving, but that doesn't mean its going in a good direction. In fact, the reason you won't see some plot twists coming is because they seemingly pop out of nowhere, or are so improbable you wouldn't even consider them. It seems as if the writer was so intent to throw in as many shocks and thrills in as possible, that he forgot to put together a cohesive plot. There are things that happen which are just mind-bogglingly ridiculous. Some twist will leave you confused on whether to be shocked or amused, despite the tone clearly pointing toward the former, because of how silly they are. Some twists are also so obviously intended to move the plot along that it is a bit insulting to the viewers' intelligence. There are moments which attempt to be to poignant, but fail to because they are blatantly made for plot convenience. Mirai Nikki is entertaining, but its best to view with your brain turned off.
The cast of characters is a colorful bunch. Our protagonist Yuki is one of the more mentally stable in the show, but he is also one of the dullest. He's a typical male anime lead. He's a bit wimpy, has trouble connecting with other people and fighting his own fights, though deep in he is a nice kid. We've seen this character so often, and it is all Yuki can be described as, really. The other competitors in the tournament range from being fairly rational to outlandishly insane. A police captain who is the fourth diary holder stands out as the most rational, and possibly most sympathetic, of the group; while the twelfth diary holder, a blind man who fancies himself a hero and likes super sentai, stands out as one of the craziest.
Then there is Yuno, who takes the idea that crazy is cute to a new level. Yuno's infatuation with Yuki engulfs her entire character. She is willing to eliminate any obstacle, and I do mean any at all, that gets between her and Yuki. On one hand, this makes her very entertaining to watch, since she's willing to go to any extreme to be with him, even if it is against his will. Plus, she just looks so cute when she's stalking Yuki, or contemplating murder of someone she sees as a threat. However, she's so crazy it is actually hard to connect to her on a deep level. The story has to resort to giving her an extremely tragic past in order to justify her actions, something it does for a lot of its characters, I might add. Because of this, many of the dramatic moments that surround her, and there are a lot, are forced and a bit insincere. Also, her relationship with Yuki often comes off as unhealthy rather than sweet, which makes attempts to play it off as endearing more than a little unnatural.
On the technical side, Mirai Nikki is a mixed bag. The show usually looks good, but can stray into off model character designs and choppy animation quite a bit too. Some scenes just look abysmal, clearly minimal effort was put into them and quality control is pretty much non-existent. Luckily, this only happens on occasion, and the show for the most part looks decent. Character designs look nice, though are not outside the norm for an anime series. Strangely enough the show looks best when the characters are going crazy. Likewise, backgrounds are solid, though the only really memorable one is Deus' lair. The lighting can be a problem, though, as it can look really unnatural at times. The soundtrack fairs better than the visuals. It's well composed and fits the tone well throughout the show. While it is mostly used to accentuate the looming danger in tense or creepy moments, it also does very well in the shows more emotional moments as well. It can even be uplifting on occasion.
As entertaining as Mirai Nikki is, it cannot be completely congratulated. Truth be told, the story is a disaster. It is filled with plot holes and contrivances, and lacks genuine depth. Still, I can't say I didn't have fun watching it. There is something endearing about its willingness to go to such insane lengths in order to entertain. It's just a pity that the end result doesn't match its enthusiasm.
