-What you think of this review by itself
- Is it an improvement over the last review, is it the same or is it worse?
You see to me, anime was Dragonball Z, Speed Racer, Yu Gi Oh! etc. A bunch of anime for kids that adults could also enjoy. I mean before a few years ago I was pretty ignorant when it came to anime, I grew older and the biggest mystery to me in life was why I actually worshipped Pokemon.It was childish and as I was well into puberty I thought that maybe there has to be something better Japanese animation has to offer. Don't get me wrong, I like Dragon Ball Z but it didn't get to watch anime. It has its flaws like being really repetitive and having a group characters with constiaption, but I like the mindless fun. That's not to say I can't like other genres of this type of animation.
I still watch shonen anime like Naruto and Bleach, but Future Diary is something special.I saw the subbed version of this show. The show is a combination of action adventure, psychological thriller has bits of comedy, and can be seen as a tragedy for a lot of the characers. The show has amazing character development, a story so engaging it will keep you glued to your television screen, incredible voice acting and much more. I will try to go through what makes this show so incredible one by one and what, if an any, can be improved.
STORY AND SETTING(Contains Minor Spoilers):
The story kicks off with a girl being brutally murdered and a girl trying to revive a boy. This should tell you that this show will have a lot af violence and killing. The story then takes us to present day Japan where a boy named Yukiteru (our protaganist) is shown to be a solitary person. He keeps to himself and has almost no friends. He rather spends his time typing everything he sees into his diary. His only friend is the imaginary god of space and time Deus Ex Machina who he talks to in his bedroom. One day Yukki sees his diary entris are already written down and everything that happens is written down in his cellphone.Yukki suspects Deus has something to do with this and it turns out Deus is not that imaginary. Deus forces Yuki to take part in a 12 man battle royale fight to the death. The diary of each participant now has the abilty to predict the future each with it's own benifits and weaknesses. The diary must be used by particiapants to kill each other with the winner being Deus' successor as god of space and time. You already have to be itching to see this if you have not already.I thought that it would be a lot like Death Note because of the concept te be a able to predict a future death but this show takes an old idea and makes it its own and Future Diary can even give Death Note a run for it's money. The writing for this series is razor sharp and the show never loses any steam during the 26 episode run. I have to admit that the show only really pulled me in with the second episode . The modern setting makes it accessible and watchable for a lot of people since a bunch of viewers don't like space westerns, period pieces or post apoctolyptic shows. The show is full of twist and surprises. There is also a romantic subplot which a guy like me, who does not really care for romance enjoyed. Some people think that the ending was abrupt but I thought it was perfect. If you have a problem with it, read the manga or google the ending.
STORY AND SETTING; 10/10
ART:
The art of this show is incredible. Each character has their own look with different facial expressions and details, their own outfits which really looks like something you can buy from any store. The backgrounds and landscapes are clear, whether it is water or grass. The houses,cars and buildings look amazing,some would say this is just really bright live action objects. Just one example of how beautiful this show is is to look at the sunset. Jim Carrey could not have said it better : B-E-A-UTIFUL. There is some CGI in here which can turn off some viewers, but it actually grew on me. It is just one character and one environment so you don't have to worry if it's not your cup of Pepsi. One more thing, the cellphones, the diaries, it really looks like the animators put real effort into designs and layout. One of the best art out there.
ART 10/10
SOUND:
Another highlight if this show is the hypnotic sound. No voice is out of place, villian,good guy, fat lady, fat guy all whose voices fit like "like a glove"-Jim Carrey. The sound apart from the story to me is the make or break factor for an anime series. The voice actors convey incredible emotion with just a voice and they obtain what they set out to achieve. If the character should be rooted for, hated, likeable or felt sorry for,this is exactly what happens. Yukki can come off as annoying and whiney but it's all part of the way he matures throughout the series. The instrumentals played throughout the series makes you want to cry if something sad is playing when someone is dying or when something heroic plays you actually get goosebumps. My eyes were watering of excitement when something really badass happened. How good must the music be to make you feel like that. Really Motherloving good! The opening and ending theme songs of Future Diary are are catchy, upbeat, and just plain first-rate. The shows contains two opening songs and two ending songs with my personal favourites being the first ending theme and second opening theme both having a fast tempo and are really feel good songs. The first ending theme sounds like Japanese pop and the second opening is more of rock n roll but both are very good. The other two are not bad either.The first opening sounds like classical mixed with pop and the second ending theme falls more under soft rock. Incredible voice acting, songs that fit the tone of the show perfectly,this really is possibly the show's greatest asset.
SOUND 10/10
CHARACTER:
I can't give this part a perfect score because there are like two contestants that you dont get to know as well as the other players and this agitated me because every other contestant gets their chance to shine. However every other character has great character development with distinct personalities and qualities, there are even characters that are not part of the game that you begin to care for and learn to love. The main character Yukiteru, matures a lot through this show as I stated above. He is a unique main character, because he has his flaws. He doubts himself, and doesn't want to be god at the beginning of the story. He is not a fighter but bit by bit comes to terms with his situation and knows that he is a participant for a reason. Yuno who is a smoking hot red head teen girl who has strong feelings for Yukiteru, is my favourite character on the show. She would do anything to protect Yukki, and is the most mysterious person in the game. Her actions ,her lack of mercy for other players , her abilities, she really is a stand out character here.She plays major parts in the twists that occur,in the biginning, middle, end and everything inbetween of the series. Yuno is the the character that makes the story even more thrilling and epic than it already is. There are so many more characters but I'm really scared that if I summarise them it would take away the suspense and mind games that makes up this show.The other 10 contestants first appear as silhouttes when Deus first calls them together to explain the game so you don't know they are.Silouhettes + Mysterious characters=Guy biting nails. I'll just say there are killer and non-killers, lovers,terrorists,cops who all have their own reasons for wanting to be god. So with the exception of about two characters, everyone has a backstory. The non-contestant characters all three dimensional and are all believable. Friends or foes, all people that grab your attention. There is also a lot of moral abiguity because alliances can be formed and then be broken just like that. The acting of the characters, their facial expresions, everything is really good.
CHARACTER 9/10
ENJOYMENT:
This was as I said my gateway anime. After I saw this I wanted to learn more about Japan. I want to do Judo,I want to learn Japanese,I want to create a cartoon show similar to anime, and I know who Steve Blum and Akira Kurosawa is. This is that good. Violence,suspense,twists,subtle humour, I love this show and after this I'm going to watch Great Teacher Onizuka and Full Metal Alchemist all thanks to this gem, this piece of art. I'm not overselling this series,it really is incredible and even though I'm a casual fan and have only seen a handful of anime, I recommend this to a person who is a fan of any genre of anime or even if you are not an anime fan and just want to watch a a spectacular tv show.And please don't forget to comment.
ENJOYMENT 10/10
OVERALL 10/10
