Review on "Mirai Nikki" (Future Diary)

First, before we dig in, let's talk about why I was attracted to this anime. It all started with its opening song "Kuusou Mesorogiwi" which was covered by Amalee in English on Youtube. I was looking for more good anime songs and I clicked on it just for funsies...

The first words of the song are these: "Consentēs Diī Iūnō Iuppiter Minerva Apollo Mars Ceres Mercurius Diāna Bacchus Volcānus Plūtō Vesta Venus" which are Olympian Gods: Juno, Jupiter, Minerva, Apollo, Mars, Ceres, Mercury, Diana, Bacchus,Vulcan, Pluto, Vesta, and Venus.

Anyone who loves mythology and the Percy Jackson/Jason Grace series by Rick Riordan as much as I do just sat straight up and said "You have captured my attention thoroughly"

Other lyrics such as "Soon we will synchronize/Escaping our demise/But if we stay strong...keep our courage...we'll find a way to exist within this SURVIVAL GAME...or spiral out of control..."

Hunger games much?

So by this point, I'm already on Hulu looking it up and the first thing I notice is the opening does the complete opposite as it should. You only get the vaguest idea that there are some battle royal and some crazy chick. But you get a few questions going through your head like "Why is there a ball bleeding and two identical girls killing each other?" Well turns out this opening does not give you a glimpse into the story but captures your attention as to why these abstract things are there and you go searching for them in the actual anime.

Pretty neat if I do say so myself.

Now for the anime itself.

You go in and follow this character called Yukiteru (later known as "First") who, due to boredom and I think a little depression, writes a diary about everything around him and talks to two "imaginary friends" who are really gods called Dues Ex Machina and Murmur

When Dues Ex Machina grants his diary the ability to tell the future, he basically says "there are 11 others that basically are going to try and kill you because the last man standing takes my place as god. "

Yukiteru is not happy. He does not want to compete especially when each other person leaves the meeting realm with a comment like "It will be a pleasure killing you, First" because Deus names the first diary holder, Yukiteru, as the most likely to win the game.

As the story progresses he makes alliances and such to save his skin but most importantly gains the ally Second, which is Yuno, who is madly in love with Yukiteru and will kill anyone to make him god...or so she says. So they go through the story and wind up killing all other diary holders and they are the last ones left on the last day on earth, crazy in love (even though Yuno is a yandere for Christ's sake) and eventually they get in a fight because Yuno actually came from another dimension where she became god and murdered the present Dimension's Yuno and family to participate in the game again to be with Yukiteru. After this, a lot of time traveling and dimension traveling happens and basically, Yukiteru kills Yuno to become god and save the world and protect the third dimension from ever having to go through the game. However, he is incredibly depressed for all eternity because Yuno is dead. However, in the OVA (which in my opinion should have been in the series from the start) Yuno from the third dimension gains the memories of the first dimension Yuno and gains her powers back and returns to Yukiteru, making it a happy ending (though the amount of story I didn't cover is astronomical).

How would I rate this? 8/10. Why? The transition into the real action of the story almost made me never finish it-and that's a big deal. After a while, in the middle, you're like "He is going to kill them all. He is going to win...this is so boring" but after like 5 episodes you get into Yuno's true identity and you get interested again. The story is wonderful-even though Yukiteru gets with Yuno...a mass murderer, obsessed yandere that tortured him for a good while before they got together. Literally - but it had a few flaws in delivery.

Would I recommend it? Yes. To little kids under the age of 14? NO. This is an anime quite on the gory and just terrible side. But it's good!

I hope you enjoyed this review and see you next time!