1. Introduction/Synopsis:
Suppose you are an everyday, normal high school student with no outstanding attributes or friends. You're not particularly good at sports or at academics, though you are pretty good at throwing darts. You spend most of your time keeping a diary of random things that happen around you and talking with an imaginary friend you invented called "Deus Ex Machina", the God of Space and time and his adorable little side-kick "Murmur".
Then suddenly, one day out of nowhere, Deus gives you a diary and mentions something about a game. Entries pop up in your diary you haven't written yourself and it foretells
...
future events spanning the next 90 days. All of it comes true.
Your whole world turns upside down as you find out that your life is in danger and you have been placed in a game where there are 11 others like you with a diary that can be used to predict and even rewrite the future. You are forced to kill or die in an elimination battle to determine who will next ascend the Throne to Godhood after Deus. In the process, you gain an unnerving, relentless stalker girl who at first seems cute, but is completely insane.
You are thrown into battles with opponents several levels out of your league from child prodigy to cult leader, with no one to protect you except the stalker. And more and more is revealed along the way to unnerve you as plot thickens and conspiracies unfold to make you shake in both fear and excitement.
Congratulations, you now know what it's like to be Yukiteru "Yuki" Amano, the main character of Mirai Nikki.
1. Story: 9/10
Two things stand out most when watching Mirai Nikki - its thrilling plot and its vast array of characters with their own unique back-stories and layers of depth. What makes the plot amazing is the characters, and what makes the characters amazing is the plot.
The story itself employs the "layer" method, which peels away depths of the story and the background of the two main characters - Yuki and his stalker girlfriend Yuno as we progress through battles with each and every other unique diary user. And this method is extremely effective as we switch between finding out more about the two main characters Yuki and Yuno, battles and back-stories with the other ten diary users, Deus and Murmur, and even non-diary users that become relevant to the central story.
The mood of the story is very, very dark - it is both psychological thriller and partly horror. Not supernatural horror like ghosts and zombies, but the horror comes in the form of Gasai Yuno. And the best part about the story is ---spoiler--- that you cannot bring back those you have killed using either cheap plot devices or Deus Ex Machina (which is ironic, because that's the name of the God of Space and time). That in itself gets a lot of points.
With the dark mood and the layer method that slowly peels away at dark secrets and locked away pasts that we are scared, but excited to see, the story becomes very captivating and really draws you in. To be frank, I was pretty much addicted to the show throughout.
And the ending, My GOD the ending. If there is anything so perfect and amazing to the plot is how the series ends, when the final layer is peeled and we find out terrible things about Gasai Yuno, who is not whom she seems to be. I won't go beyond that so that I won't spoil anything, but trust me when I say you will want to watch it to the end to find out the unravel entire back-story of hers.
If I do have one gripe about the story, it's that it seems the original creator wanted Yuki and Yuno to touch base and have a standoff with every single character. That is not realistic, in my opinion, and I feel it would have been better done and more realistic if more of the other diary users could fight with each other rather than have them all face the two main characters.
It is a survival battle, after all and in reality, other characters will try to face other characters in the meantime.
2. Art 9/10:
The style of art is quite well done. I really enjoyed the dark style that comes with the setting and horror element complimented with some light-hearted, humorous events that span the series from school life to Gasai Yuno's awkwardness and hilarious stalker things she does.
And the best part was the style in the opening theme with the use of darkness and light. And Gasai Yuno's insanity was portrayed really, really well.
Excellently done. I am not a big fan of horror itself, so I couldn't find it in me to give the style of art a full score. If I particularly enjoyed horror, I would have given it a perfect 10/10!
3. Sound 8/10:
Music - the music was wonderfully done, complimenting the horror and the action scenes very well. The opening theme and the ending theme was superb in my opinion and I would personally love to hear more by people who created the music!
Voice Acting - Ugh... while I do enjoy some, if not most of the voice actors (especially Gasai Yuno, whoever voiced her is a genius), I could not quite find it in myself to give the voice a full score because of Yukiteru Yuki and his constant whining. He's not the character with the strongest of heart and he isn't the most annoying character in the history of anime, but that still does not mean I don't want to tear my hair out if I have to hear him whine one more time. Anyway, my rant on Yukiteru will continue in the Character section.
Sound effects - very well done, especially the gun shots, the explosions, and the clash of sword on sword.
Overall, aside from a few minor complaints on voice acting, I rather enjoyed the sounds!
4. Characters 10/10:
We're going to break this down into 4 major categories: Yuno and Yuki, Deus and Murmur, the other diary users, and the non-diary users. Warning - there WILL be LIGHT SPOILERS ahead. I will always try to keep it to a minimum, but with Mirai Nikki, it is almost unavoidable.
(1.a) Yukiteru "Amano" Yuki 6/10 - Starting out, he showed promise. He was a normal high school student, perhaps slightly selfish and a loner, but he seemed like the kind of guy who had potential to make exciting things happen. And then, he... doesn't follow through.
Now, I don't mind that he is a weak character. I don't need a character to be strong in order to like him or her. Gasai Yuno more than makes up for him (see 1.b Gasai Yuno). What I cannot stand is an overly idealistic character that whines all the time and tries to save everyone even though he neither possesses the skill nor strength to do so. He cannot accept reality and is extremely emotionally weak. To me, he is the true damsel in distress in the series who is constantly whining with Gasai Yuno being the knight in shining armor turned monster. If I have to hear him whine and say "I want to save everybody" one more time, I will either tear my hair out or the person's next to me.
But towards the end, he does turn out quite interesting in his own way, especially when he is later corrupted by Gasai Yuno and he does things that cannot be taken back, breaking gears just to find out that he cannot reverse it. And that's why I did not give him a failing score. We're going into heavy spoiler zone here, so I'll just leave it at that.
So to those who want to drop the series just because of this guy, I say - grind on. There is hope for him in the end, yet! :D
(1.b) Gasai Yuno 12/10. Yes. 12. Not 10 out of 10. 12 out of 10. That's how amazing of a character she is. I rarely grade a character above a full score, but for her, I had to make an exception.
She is Yuki's psychopathic Knight in shining armor turned Monster. She is the epitome of Yandere and characters. She did so many unspeakable things and hides them so well that it took Yuki and even Akise (the genius detective and the strongest non-diary user) a long time to find out. She stalks Yuki and tricks him so many times into loving her, then betraying his trust, but in the end, he still falls for her. Plus I love girls going after guys :D.
She also gets bonus points for being a strong female character, as I am quite fond of anime who have males and females balanced with equal status. I am a strong advocate of equal rights and opportunity after all. She takes out some of the strongest diary users like they are nothing as if she were rigged (and towards the end, you find out it makes perfect sense). She has one of the most horrible and darkest secrets that you WANT to find out about as well as a past that explains it all. She is mentally unbalanced and completely insane. And she seems to be in conspiracy with either Murmur or Deus.
She drives the plot forward towards the future and even back into the past with the backstories. Every time something is revealed about her or she does something unspeakable, you never fail to cover your mouth and gasp. She is full of surprises and never ceases to amaze you.
If there is any reason to watch Mirai Nikki, it is her. Trust me, just like you want to watch Great Teacher Onizuka just for Eichiro Onizuka, you will want to watch Mirai Nikki just for this girl.
Again 12/10. Masterpiece.
(2) Other diary users 10/10 - There are 12 in total, so excluding Yuki and Yuno, there are still 10 others. I enjoyed every single last one of them from child prodigy to cult leaders. I'm not going to go into depth on all of them as my review is already longer than I had anticipated. So I'm going to talk about the few that I particularly enjoyed.
Namely - Uryuu Minene XD! *Goes into fanboy mode* She hands down my 2nd favorite character next to Gasai Yuno. She is unpredictable as she is an international terrorist (yes, terrorist, and no I don't think she's part of the Al-Qaeda) and she uses BOMBS, takes HOSTAGES, and is not afraid to use any method no matter how unorthodox it is to survive. Plus she loses an eye early on and has to wear an eyepatch. I wanted to date at least one girl who wears an eyepatch after that XD.
After her would be Reisuke Houjou, the 4 year old child prodigy who has the knowledge of an elite university student and he is so cute that you cannot help but neglect thinking of him as someone dangerous. And then wake up and find yourself in a setting similar to the games that John Kramer from "Saw" has planned. The child sets you to be trapped in a twisted "game" where he makes the rules and you have to play by those rules. He has fun along the way, not killing you immediately but instead toying with you along the way to get maximum enjoyment to the point where even the invincible Gasai Yuno is almost killed by him. This is the first time we meet a character who is as twisted and insane as Yuno herself.
And the other 8 are nearly just as good! They each have their own backstory from twisted to tragic. Each of them are geniuses in their own rights and have their own unique ways of fighting from commanding humans/beasts to setting traps and even dueling you in straightforward combat.
Not all of the diary-users and their back-stories are strong, but they are strong enough overall to make me give them an overall 10/10. They are a wonderful cast and very few of them will leave you bored (*cough* though I can't stand that masked superhero*cough* He annoys me almost as much as Yuki).
(3). Deus and Murmur 9/10 - I can't say much without spoiling much, but let's just say they make quite an interesting pair. they are exactly the polar opposites of each other. He is huge, she is tiny. He is cold and calculated, she is cute and bubbly. He is sane and thinks with reason, she... doesn't. XD
And they play each other for fools, as they each have their own way of trying to figure out the intentions of the other.
(4) Non-diary users 8/10 - Most of them are a bit meh for me. Nishijima (a police officer who is in love with Uryuu Minene) and Kosaka (who used to bully Yuki and then turned his friend) are slightly enjoyable in their own way, but also very annoying. So is the girl Hinata Hino who ---spoiler--- commands the army of hounds for her grandfather who turns out to be the true diary user.
So why give it such a high 8 out of 10? One word - ARU AKISE XD! *Goes into fanboy mode*
He is my 3rd favorite character and hands down my favorite male character in the series. First, he is a genius detective and is extremely hilarious. ---spoiler---He fools you into thinking he is a diary user and even I suspected and groaned when I thought he was, but was shocked to find that he is not. ---spoiler--- He merely has genius deductive skills to the point that you think he could predict the future.
He is amongst the first to figure out the truth behind Yuno and Murmur (no, I won't tell you what it is in the review, so either you watch it for yourself or google it, though I highly recommend you watch it for yourself). He is the strongest of the non-diary user with both wits and brawn and nearly matches Yuno in hand-to-hand combat. If Yuno is the most unpredictable character, then Akise is the best character at deduction and prediction.
PLUS ---SPOILER--- He shares a kiss scene with Yuki at some point, which will probably appease all the Yaoi fans out there.
Again, the characters make the plot work, and trust me when I say you do want to watch the series for the character, which I feel is the one element Mirai Nikki did best.
5. Enjoyment 10/10
Finally, enjoyment? It sends me on an emotional coaster and a huge mindfuck through the entire series. It is one of the pinnacles of psychological thrillers alongside the big names of Death Note, Code Geass, and Monster, etc.
Is never failed to keep me captivated, even if I felt it started slow at first. It escalated really fast and ALL the characters get their own time and backstories.
Overall Conclusion
This is one of my all-time favorite series. It is one of the reasons I am glad to have joined MAL, with special thanks to AviJii who introduced this to me in the first place. :D
It made me laugh, it made me gasp, it made me cry, it kept me captivated through. This is one of those series that I highly recommend to anyone who wants to watch an anime that will blown your mind away.
Highly recommended to anyone who wants a good story with SOLID characters, including an insane stalker with an unstable mind XD.
9/10 Excellent
Remember, this review is personal and based on my personal experience of it, and it will be unfair to expect everyone to agree.
So I ask you, the readers of my review: What about you? What did you think? Feel free to agree or disagree and point out what you thought you liked or disliked about Mirai Nikki! :D
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Feb 26, 2014
Mirai Nikki (TV)
(Anime)
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1. Introduction/Synopsis:
Suppose you are an everyday, normal high school student with no outstanding attributes or friends. You're not particularly good at sports or at academics, though you are pretty good at throwing darts. You spend most of your time keeping a diary of random things that happen around you and talking with an imaginary friend you invented called "Deus Ex Machina", the God of Space and time and his adorable little side-kick "Murmur". Then suddenly, one day out of nowhere, Deus gives you a diary and mentions something about a game. Entries pop up in your diary you haven't written yourself and it foretells ... |
