Mirai Nikki Future Diary Part 1 Review (Anime)
Mirai Nikki Future Diary is a name I’ve heard thrown about loads over the past few years but never was sure if I’d enjoy it but, now that I’m watching it, I’m having a blast!
Mirai Nikki revolves around Yukitero Amano, a 15 year old student who does his best to fade into the background, who writes his daily actions into his mobile phone as a diary whilst conversing with his imaginary friends. However, when one of his imaginary friends who takes the form of a God manages to change Amano’s real life, he’s forced to team up with the beautiful but crazy Yuno Gasai in a fight for survival. With 12 combatants now possessing ‘future diaries’, which are mobile phones that update you on what will take place in the future, they fight together to survive and gain the powers of a God. The future diaries come with unique abilities to help each contestant to survive and if your future diary is destroyed, you’ll be eliminated.
It’s hard to be a big anime fan and not be aware of this series, especially Yuno who’s one of the most notable yandere characters around, and for good reason – it’s gripping, with a great cast of characters, twists and the pacing is perfect. Yuno will do anything for Yuki, including kill those who are trying to kill him, although it’s nice to see Yuki grow stronger as a character as he starts off as a shy, anti-social kid. Yuno herself is exciting to watch and she kept me on my toes every episode. All 12 of the contestants have interesting qualities and whilst some are far more likeable than others, I enjoyed seeing their interactions and I really did become fond of some of them, making it upsetting knowing that not everybody is going to survive. Some are greedy for the power of a God, whilst others just want to stop the ‘game’ or have personal reasons to compete even against their wishes.
I’m happy to see that the animation for the most part is consistent and sharp, with a couple of small facial inconsistencies that didn’t take me out of the experience. The studio, Asread, are one that I’m not familiar with but seem to specialise in comedy and action, although their work on this is likely what earned them the chance to work on the Corpse Party OVA’s. It’s colourful and vivid, and doesn’t skimp on the violence though I’m pleased to see that it’s mostly blood rather than visceral gore – I wouldn’t advise this if you’re squeamish of blood! Unsurprisingly, there’s plenty of action with some moments that made me grimace but nothing too graphic, which admittedly was one of the worries that originally put me off when considering whether or not I should watch it. Mirai Nikki is suspenseful and clever, and the directing definitely helps to aid the excellent writing.
The character design is top-notch, making every character stand out in their own unique way and it’s nice to see characters changing their outfits every now and again including the school students. The environments are also varied and have received a lot of care and attention making every episode feel fresh. There’s some nudity in the form of nipples which doesn’t bother me although it’s used for fan-service – at least there’s a minimal amount of it which I appreciated.
Manga UK has included both English and Japanese voice options and, as is to be expected by me, I opted for the English Dub and was not disappointed. Brina Palencia does an absolutely fantastic job at breathing life into Yuno, capturing both her sweet and insane sides, and Josh Grelle does great in voicing Yuki too. There’re a few notable names here including Colleen Clinkenbeard, Emily Neves, Caitlin Glass, Todd Haberkorn and J Michael Tatum, so you can expect the English Dub to impress. The OST keeps up by being pretty catchy, OP and ED included of course, and aids with the more tense and action-orientated scenes. There are a few heartwarming moments too which the OST nicely accompanies.
I was unsure as to whether I’d enjoy Mirai Nikki but gladly found myself loving it – I want part two right now! Don’t let Kaze’s awful box art with the ‘#You’reAllGonnaDie!’ tagline which seems to be a cringeworthy attempt to start a Twitter trend or something similar, as these words aren’t uttered and hashtags aren’t present in the show. I can easily see why this show has such a huge, passionate following and I’m happy to be part of it, and I’m eager to review part two once it releases later this year. The only extras are clean openings and endings, but the quality of the show makes it worth picking up and it looks beautiful on Blu-ray. Mirai Nikki Future Diary keeps me guessing and I look forward to seeing what Yuki’s diary has in store for the future.
- Super Mario Odyssey Celebrates its One Year Anniversary - October 28, 2018
- Dragon Ball Z KAI Final Chapters Review (Anime) - October 28, 2018
- Resident Evil 2 Remake Gets a Steelbook Edition in Europe - October 24, 2018
