Mirai Nikki

[Talon87]

Watched Episodes 13 and 14. Things got exciting ... but very, very deus ex machina-ey. Complaints first, praise second:

Spoiler: show

Complaint #1: I didn't like the implication out of thin air that MuraMura has been doing things against Deus Ex's will behind his back so as to skew the outcome of the game -- particularly since we hadn't really seen any evidence of this taking place. (The MuraMura shorts after each episode show how MuraMura carries out Deus's will, I thought, showing how she gifts each diary user their diary. Also: they're half-fictional anyway, like the one we saw of Third way back when and which had him die not once but twice.)

Complaint #2: I don't like how Yuuno just fucking snaps, inexplicably, and ruins everything she has with Yukiteru. It doesn't make any sense. Why drug him? Why chain him up? He'd finally fallen for you -- hell, not even 48 hours before, he'd just saved your life by taking out Kurusu Keigo. Why throw that all away? What was so bad with Yukiteru's original plan to go and see his father? Why did you not even give that a chance?

Complaint #3: Related. I don't like how Yukiteru, after twelve episodes of molding him into somebody who could fall in love with a yandere like Yuuno, would suddenly lose the will to live while shackled by her and would tell her to go to Hell after being rescued by his classmates. Yes, it's logical for him to be angry with her given what happened to him -- but no, it's pretty fucking stupid that this abduction even happened in the first place. The writer's pissing me off as he's clearly ...

Complaint #4: the author is clearly trying to buy more time. Typical. Down to only six Diary Users -- Yukiteru, Yuuno, Minene, and three others we haven't met yet -- the author decides to:

• create a Diary User Apprentice Program out of thin air and have Kousaka become a Diary User.
• create some other apprentices who work under this bizzaro 6-foot-tall doll of a being named Mother (who I presume is Eighth, given the signature at the end of Kousaka's text message?) and who threaten to take out Yukiteru (what!? )

It's just stupid. All of it.


Okay, now for what I liked ...

I enjoyed Detective Akise's sleuthing and the scene with Yuuno via the CCTV camera.

I enjoyed seeing the scrumptious Hino Hinata again and was glad to see that Yuuno spared her (even if that doesn't make the least bit of sense ).

This story has got so many problems with it it's a miracle that people are heralding it as one of the greatest mangas of 2011. The concept's not original, the writing is chock full of frustrating lapses in logic, it's ... I'm still enjoying it, but there's no way this is getting better than a "6 - Fair" out of 10 on my MyAnimeList list. No offense to our visitor above. ^^;

[Talon87]

I watched Episode 15 yesterday too. This episode immediately answered a lot of my questions and criticisms about Eighth and about the author seemingly extending the plot with the introduction of a whole new batch of diary users. So that's good. Other criticisms from yesterday still apply, but as for what I thought about Episode 15 itself ...

Spoiler: show

It was a pretty good episode. Not great, but not bad either.

One thing I don't like about this series, and they did it a lot in Episode 15, is when murderous people have the opportunity to kill somebody but then they don't do it and then the person they spared ends up biting them in the ass. This happened in Episodes 13 and 14, for instance, in that Yuuno could have killed Hino Hinata, should have killed her, but instead opted to gag and bind her. Why? Why even bother doing this if you're going to gas the other three children and kill them? Why bother doing this if you've set lethal traps around town (like the pick-ax that swung out of the elevator door in that one building)? It was just pointless. Well, unfortuntely, this pointless sparing of lives happened a lot in this episode.

• The two halves of Seventh threw daggers at Hino and Mao ... but then on their way out of the building they dragged the girls out with them and treated their wounds. Why? The girls wouldn't be in danger of bleeding to death if you hadn't thrown knives at them in the first place. And now, just watch, the spared girls are going to factor in to the mission in Episode 16 somehow.
• Seventh's backup, the person who rigged Kousaka's mansion to catch on fire, could have easily set the building on fire before Seventh even had to invade. Why not simply do that? Why not rig the building with a whole bunch of bombs, if you can really ninja your way in there that well, and just blow the place sky high, killing everyone inside? Why all of this rigamarole?
• And once the building was set ablaze, why not just go ahead and blow it up? Why only set it partially on fire? Why have Seventh go back inside to finish off Yukiteru and Yuuno?
• Seventh has a perfectly good opportunity to kill Yuuno once and for all once she's incapacitated but instead they wait for her to regain consciousness.
• Seventh could have killed Yukiteru immediately but instead they toy with him before the guy half of Seventh throws Yukiteru off of the balcony.
• And why throw him off of the balcony? Why not slit his throat right then and there? Why take the risk that he doesn't die from the fall and that you have to then walk down there and end up slitting his throat anyway?
• And then finally ... he didn't die! He ends up surviving the fall and is hospitalized along with Yuuno. Both look like they'll make a full recovery. WHAT THE FUCK. C'mon, this isn't even funny anymore! Why didn't Seventh finish the job? Why didn't Seventh at least check to make sure the job was finished? This is just sloppy writing.

I mean, you could answer a lot of this by saying, "Seventh aren't killers. They're nice people." But still. It just feels like the typical thing you find in Western comic books where the villain has three different chances to finish off the superhero, squanders every last one of them, explains his master plan to the superhero, and then superhero escapes from his bonds, defeats the villain, and sabotages the villain's master plan because the villain pretty much told him how to do it. That's what Mirai Nikki feels like to me sometimes. A Western superhero comic.

Now, it's not all bad though. There were things I enjoyed about this episode. For starters, I liked what they did with Yuuno. It was cool to have her ducking in and out of Yukiteru's house to fix him dinner and have him be all freaked out by this. It was also cool how he was able to forgive her again so quickly. (Well, maybe "forgive" is a strong word, but ...) She vowed that she'd never do that again to him, what she did last time. I'd like to believe her. So would Yukiteru, I'm sure. Maybe this is why the two of them work well together: they're both fucking nuts, but in their own ways.

Another thing I liked about this episode was how they destroyed Kousaka's Future Diary right off the bat. A, it explained part of the plot. B, it was fun comic relief. But C, it nipped in the bud that worry I voiced last time about the author creating a whole bunch of new Future Diary users. It's good to see that I was overreacting yesterday and that, if things continue like they seem to be at present, we're still on track to only have twelve main Future Diary users and that one of them -- presumably Seventh -- is going to be taken out of the race as soon as next episode.

Even though I didn't like seeing Yukiteru in that hospital bed (see bulleted list of complaints above), I did enjoy seeing Minene show up again. She hasn't really done much recently -- not even in the hospital arc with Kurusu did she do all that much -- but here's hoping we get to see her doing more stuff in the near future and that we'll get to learn about her back story soon.

Where we stand, here's the current list of Diary Users who've been taken out of commission: 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12
Here's who we've met: 1, 2, 7, 8, 9
And here's who we've yet to meet: 11

So, we've met pretty much everybody at this point. The only one we've yet to meet is the black guy, Eleventh. Half of the Future Diary users are already dead and it looks like one more (well, two more, but they're the same user) will be joining that list in the near future. And then Eighth'll probably join them soon after. Whether it'll be Eleventh who goes before Ninth or Ninth who goes before Eleventh I don't know, but I'm guessing it'll be Eleventh and then Ninth. Because that would mean we have First and Second having a showdown against Ninth. And it'll probably be sad and stuff. And then it'll be just First and Second. And we'll have to figure out how the hell this game is going to end.

Not a big fan of either the new OP or ED. If we were to score things arbitrarily ...

Old OP: +6
New OP: -1
Old ED: +4
New ED: +2

So like, I don't feel too bummed out by the new ED because it's not too bad and it's not that far off the previous ED. But the new OP ... that's just bad. And it's rendered even worse by its visuals, visuals which shamelessly copy and paste from the first OP and in a really sloppy fashion, too. I hate it when credits do this. It's very rare and for good reason -- it never goes over well with the fans -- but it looks like the Mirai Nikki team forgot this. Well, I'm sure they've since been reminded. I can only imagine how negative the comments were on Japanese message boards.

[Talon87]

Triple post (sorry!), but ... what do you get when you combine a new OP, a new ED, Yuki, and Talon87? You get speculation. Boat loads of it. I figured we'd post this for you to read, Doppel. It's quite a lot, so I've split it into several chunks -- an introduction that gets to the meatiest bit, then the meatiest bit, and then a resolution that's just me toying with what we've lain out.

Introduction:

Spoiler: show

Yuki: Do the new OP/ED provide any clues at all? Or are they just rehashes of the old clips?
Talon87: There is new stuff, and the ED is more promising for clues, but ... it's not very helpful. (Yet?)
Talon87: The OP just shows the remaining people standing around looking depressed
Talon87: and then the camera shows the parts from the old OP where Yuuno is laughing psychotically and wrestling with her mirror opposite.
Talon87: And then it shows more depressed Diary Users.
Talon87: And then it shows more Wrestling Yuunos.
Yuki: Another possibility is that she has a split personality or something.
Talon87: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip1zVBZzuyM
Talon87: I'd watched 15 from bed ...
Talon87: ... watching the OP up close now
Talon87: I see that we get a big clue about what Eleventh is and how he plans to control shit.
Talon87: We knew he was a CEO or some such.
Talon87: But it looks like now we know he's a telecomms guy.
Talon87: Just look at all of those phones.
Talon87: He's probably found a way to have his real diary report changes to all these phones.
Talon87: So ... they can get destroyed and he's fine.
Talon87: Or who knows, maybe that's dull.
Talon87: Guess we'll see.

The Meat:

Spoiler: show

Talon87: The clothing that Yuuno is wearing at 1:23 in that video I linked you
Talon87: it flashed by too fast the first time I watched this and I didn't pay it much mind anyway
Talon87: but now that I've seen the ED, it could be a big clue
Talon87: Mirai Nikki could be a lot like Steins;Gate, it would seem.
Yuki: Yeah, I'm watching the ED now.
Talon87: Speculation time. You up for it? Or you want to go / not be spoilered?
Yuki: Let me finish the ED first.
Yuki: ...Interesting. Okay, shoot.
Talon87: Okay, so ...
Talon87: the ending shows a Yuuno who looks pretty young, is dressed in rags, and is crying a lot.
Talon87: It's hard to know whether this is our Yuuno or another Yuuno.
Talon87: And whether this is from her childhood when she was in the cage or if this is from some other time.
Talon87: But regarding the Steins;Gate thing I mentioned ...
Talon87: In the OP, we see the adult (well, teen) Yuuno wearing what looks like desert garb.
Talon87: And then the end shows Yuuno-in-rags wandering through the desert.
Talon87: It suggests a connection, and makes me wonder ...
Talon87: ... what if Yuuno already won the Diary Game?
Talon87: And then, as the Master of Time and Space,she rewound time?
Talon87: To try and find a way towards a Good End with Yukiteru and her both alive?
Talon87: What Akise's role in this would be, I have no idea.
Yuki: Hrm. Now that's a nifty idea.
Yuki: Sounds more like Madoka.
Talon87: 'Cause remember
Talon87: The show opens with Yuki dying 'cause of some medication overdose.
Talon87: Whether self-inflicted or not.
Talon87: And Yuuno is screaming over his body begging him to wake up.
Talon87: Then after that was the scene of child Yuuno (?) gettign murdered and calling out for Yuki.
Talon87: And then was the scene of a hollow Yuki on his bed, blanket-covered, ignoring his ringing phone.
Talon87: And then the show began.
Talon87: And when I pointed all this stuff out way back when, Doppel was like, "Man, they sure did reveal a lot! "
Yuki: While the outfit at 1:23 looks more elaborate than the desert garb, it does seem fanciful enough to suit a "goddess".
Talon87: So ... maybe Yuuno has already won. (Be it in another "timeline-world" or this one, be it in the past or the future.) And maybe she wins because Yukiteru dies of a medical overdose (be it suicide or not). And so then maybe she, as the new Master of Time and Space, rewinds.

Resolution:

Spoiler: show

Talon87: It begs the question, then, of to what extent the ED is literal and to what extent it's metaphorical.
Talon87: If you take it as a metaphor, it might be easier.
Talon87: She's "wandering through the desert" in search of her bright future.
Talon87: She's wandering through "an apocalyptic wasteland where everyone's dead" because she's seen it so many times.
Talon87: She's "drowning in the ocean" as she struggles to overcome fate.
Talon87: And then the plant at the end grows out of the seed, symbolizing rebirth, a new beginning ... a new attempt to save Yukkii.
Talon87: If this is the case, then either 5pb or else the Mirai Nikki author really ripped off the other party. lol
Talon87: Not that the idea of going back in time to save a loved one is novel. (See: the bad H.G. Wells' Time Traveler movie from the late '90s or early '00s.)
Talon87: But the timing is too close for me to overlook this, if we're on the right track. lol
Yuki: Not to mention Madoka did the same thing.
Yuki: Looks like she's wearing the actual desert garb at 0:03 in the OP.
Talon87: But in Mirai Nikki's defense, Madoka was made-for-TV and wasn't on the author's radar until Winter 2011.
Talon87: But do you see how that OP was disappointing? lol
Talon87: not nearly as informative as OP 1 was, and shameless rehashing of old footage
Talon87: it's unfortunate, 'cause the song's not that bad
Talon87: I feel like the song's gonna get shafted because people shaft it along with the video.
Talon87: also, I think it was a poor decision to waste so much time on defeated diary users.
Yuki: The second ED song is kinda nice too.
Talon87: would have preferred more artistic footage of the remaining six.
Talon87: remember how I've complained that Yuuno is too good at killing?
Talon87: that she has retardedly good accuracy?
Talon87: I'm still not sure I'd buy it :P, but it'd be at least easier to swallow if we found out that this is because she's relived this battle 20+ times and has gotten very, very good at what she does.
Talon87: maybe the Yuuno she kills ... is the real Yuuno. Is her. And just (as in this universe) that doesn't write her out of existence.
Talon87: Maybe every time she goes back in time, she just kills her family and her past self (because it'd raise too many questions if people saw her around town?)
Talon87: (kinda heartless and psycho still O_o)
Talon87: Nah, now I think I'm reading into it too much.
Talon87: Because this wouldn't explain Yuuno's psychotic behaviors.
Talon87: She does things that no Homura or what's-his-face (Steins) would do.

So what do you think, Doppel? Are we on to something? We speculated on so much that it's not very likely for us to have gotten anything 100% correct. There's too much that was stated for that. But of the things we did bring up, I wonder if we might not have hit the jackpot.

[Doppleganger]

5pb. rips off stuff all the time, I've been saying that for a while now, it shouldn't be surprising.

Your theory is bold and doesn't contradict anything said in the anime. I'm impressed that you've come up with such a creative idea, watching Steins;Gate following Muv-Luv Alternative and (to a lesser extent) Madoka had a similar effect - I was able to apply ideas from a more complicated show to fit a simpler one and hit on some major points.

The irony is, I recently saw Durarara!! which also seems to share an idea of sorts with MN. The situation is far from a parallel, but there's a similarity to be sure.

What points you've hit on, I shall not say. But to poke holes in your theory -

1. If Yuuno really went back in time, logically she would have all the powers of being the God of Space-Time, so why wouldn't she do something Yuuno-ish (completely lacking restraint) to make Yuki hers? Why go through the Diary Game charade again, if her future is so pre-determined?
2. Why would Yuuno have to kill herself if we have a Steins;Gate situation, of her transferring back in time to her old body? That might explain why she doesn't have powers (only the memories would come back?) but if she did retain her powers, wouldn't Deus have done something if there was a competing God of Space-Time?
3. How do you know the person who calls herself Gasai Yuuno is actually Gasai Yuuno? We haven't seen a person yet in the story (her parents, siblings) who can verify her identity, and that's particularly suspicious.

Another perspective to consider would be the intro scene of Ever17, where we had alternative perspectives of Takeshi and Kid. What if what you see isn't what you think you're seeing?

[lilboocorsola]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

The irony is, I recently saw Durarara!! which also seems to share an idea of sorts with MN. The situation is far from a parallel, but there's a similarity to be sure.

Would you happen to be referring to...

Spoiler: show

The stalker girl who pretends to be Celty? Her death is implied to viewers, but it later turns out she's alive.

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

3. How do you know the person who calls herself Gasai Yuuno is actually Gasai Yuuno? We haven't seen a person yet in the story (her parents, siblings) who can verify her identity, and that's particularly suspicious.

I already asked this exact question. XD Had speculated Yuuno is not who she claims she is within the first few episodes.

Edit- Bouncing off Talon's previous speculation Akise could be Yuuno's and Yukiteru's son, just going to throw a random crazy idea out there...

Spoiler: show

Akise is MN's Archer.

Hey, he has the white hair.[/half-joking]

[Talon87]

Well, Yuki has hit on that in the past already that Yuuno may not really be who she says she is. So that theory's still on the table too. We didn't copy and paste this from Skype, but earlier in the evening ...

Spoiler: show

We discussed the possibility that Yuuno had a twin sister, or at least a sibling, who was the real Gasai Yuuno and who our Yuuno murdered, along with the parents, before the main events of the show took place.

So it's not like even tonight we weren't entertaining answers to Criticism #3 of yours.

Regarding Criticism #2, you're taking me too literally, unfairly so , in my comparison to Steins;Gate. When I said "this is just like Steins;Gate," I didn't mean that you have the exact same mechanisms and physics and crap. All I meant was:

Spoiler: show

You have somebody who keeps going back in time trying to prevent an inevitable death.

That's all I meant by that comparison. So ... that pretty much deflates the first half of Criticism #2.

Now, as for the second half of Criticism #2, about whether Deus would allow a competing god of space-time to be there with him ... I dunno. What if Deus is a construct of Yuuno's and not Yukkii's? (Seems odd, but who the hell knows.) Or what if he lacks the Reality Marble you mentioned in a previous post whereas Yuuno, a superior god, has it? (Again, seems kinda questionable. How does one become a bigger god than the very god gifting you your god powers in the first place?) But who knows, who knows. For now, this second half of Criticism #2 is a valid criticism indeed.

As for Criticism #1 ... no idea. Which brings us back ...

Spoiler: show

Akise Aru, and my original speculations on the previous page. Those speculations are actually what led to tonight's. If Akise is the winner of a Future Diary game and has come back in time, maybe that would explain some things, who knows. As I mentioned once before, he looks an awful lot like a hybrid of Yukiteru and Yuuno. So maybe he's their kid, and where he comes from the Future Diary game took place with him instead of with his parents. Or something. And maybe for some reason it's behooved him to come back in time, I don't know. The thing is ...

... this theory has one gaping flaw: and that's his relative lack of concern for either Yukiteru or Yuuno. Emphasis on the word "relative" since obviously he possesses an absolute level of concern -- he is not a heartless monster -- but neither does he afford either of the two people we're alleging to be his parents as much concern as you would expect him to were he really their time-traveling son from the future. Surely he'd be a little more anxious about rescuing Dad in episodes 13 and 14. Surely he'd be a little more sympathetic towards Yuuno. So on and so forth. So ... yeah.

I guess what we really need is more information. But the new OP and ED have given us a few new toys to play with. I'm sure they'll seem all the more meaty as time goes on.

EDIT: Ninja'd by Yuki! XD

[Talon87]

Guess I never posted about Episode 16? It wasn't a particularly good episode anyway , so ...

Moving right along to Episode 17. This one was my favorite episode of the series to date, by far. Instant mega-fan of Seventh.

Spoiler: show

Really disappointed that characters like them don't get to win the Diary Game. My only hope at this point is a fairy tale "Happily Ever After" where Yukiteru will use his god powers to bring everyone good back to life, including Seventh.

The opening scene was awww at first when Ai was abandoned. Then it was d'awwwwww when Ai was in love with Marco and was tailing him everywhere. Then it was NEUUUUUU when the jealous bitches had those guys rape her. And then it was FUCK YEAH when Marco slaughtered the rapists. Killing isn't good, but if someone rapes your girl, all bets are off. (GO MARCO!) Was a really tragic scene on the rooftop to see both of them feeling suicidal but neither of them being able to bear the thought of the other person dying. So the two of them lived on for one another. Just ... MARCO AND AI FOR BEST MIRAI NIKKI COUPLE, AM I RIGHT? (Not like there are that many couples to choose from , but still.)

Confused as to why Yukiteru's father would have murdered his ex-wife in broad daylight out in the open rather than just trying to run away from her. I realize why he didn't want to get interrogated by the police, but still. The guy just made the jump from "low-life douchebag" to "the worst guy ever" when he did that. Seemed like very abrupt character development. I feel like the writer felt Yukiteru's mother's death was a necessary impetus for Yukiteru's development. With his father a traitor and his mother dead, Yuki is all alone in the world now save for Yuuno. He really has no one else to turn to.

So now we're down to just 1st, 2nd, 8th, 9th, and 11th, huh?

Can't like Yuuno any more. Sorry, Chaotic. Not after what she did to Ai. Ai > Yuuno any day.

[Doppleganger]

Yes, you are right. The Seventh were a great couple and their love was always a lot more legitimate than Yuuno x Yuki, although the latter paring is a lot more complicated than anyone would have believed.

And Yuki's being forced across the Moral Event Horizon with Rhea's murder. The significance of it is way more severe than one would believe.

After the next episode:

Spoiler: show

In spite of the degree of trauma, Yuki is so desperate he's willing to forgive his pathetic father and accept him even though he killed Rhea. In fact it's already too late, but beings of night still dream of returning to the light of day. Too bad fate takes that away from him too.

[lilboocorsola]

Ai and Marco: The first Mirai Nikki chararacters I kinda actually like!

On that note, is it telling of something that I wanted to punch Minene really badly during 16? X( Stop trying to come off as cute and helpful, I don't forgive you at all for blowing up a bunch of innocents just to win your silly little game.

Spoiler: show

At least Seventh didn't directly kill anybody without good reason. They were pretty overboard, as per course for characters in this show, but they didn't get random bystanders needlessly involved. (Well, until the tower came crashing down at the end. Then I started to wonder how many poor citizens would be crushed. Forget if Seventh orchestrated the self-destruction or not. They were certainly prepared to escape and save only themselves.) Yukiteru's dad stuck his own nose into the Diary business, and he's proven himself to be complete trash at this point, so I don't feel too bad for him.

Edit- I forgot to say:

Spoiler: show

ARGH PLEASE NO MORE THROAT ATTACKS.

[Talon87]

Episode 18:
Didn't care for the first half. It felt like a made-for-TV filler. If it's actually from the manga, then that's pretty disappointing.

I liked the second half okay. It started off very poorly but then got better, better, better, and finally ended on a really intriguing note leaving me very hungry for the whole plate of cookies, Episodes 19-24. My biggest complaint with the second half, though, was its pacing: it felt very rushed and events seemed to occur in-universe in ridiculous quick succession. Given this, I am only that much more disappointed that they wasted the first ten minutes of the episode on a stupid flashback scene.

Spoiler: show

The one thing I liked about the flashback scene was how it ended. We got to see a side of Yuuno's home that we hadn't gotten to see before -- all of those grade reports posted to the walls of her house -- and we finally got to learn a few things for certain, things that up until now we'd only been speculating about:

• Yuuno definitely killed her parents. The method may have been just by leaving them to die inside the cage. She appears to have gotten them into the cage in the first place by drugging them with sleeping pills.
• There was no one else inside the cage with her parents at the time of their death, nor was there any evidence of a bloody fight inside the room. This indicates that Yuuno's parents did not die at the same time as the mysterious third person.
• Yuuno, and not a hypothetical twin sister or some such, we now know with certainty to have been the one who was kept locked up inside the cage.
• Yuuno's motive for killing her parents was that she had suffered enough abuse under them and wanted to give them a taste of their own medicine. She indicates that she may not have actually intended to kill them -- that she only wanted to torture them into mending their ways but that, before she knew it, they were already dead.
• In addition to locking their daughter up in a cage for bad behavior, Yuuno's parents were pretty verbally abusive.

So it was nice to learn these things for certain and to be able to put them behind us. The answers weren't really surprising to any of us but until this flashback our speculations were still subject to being proven wrong. In any event, that was the only merit I saw to this flashback. The whole bunny costume mall chase scene was just retarded.

The episode then cuts back to the present for its second half. At first, I didn't like it. There were a lot of weird things which we were bombarded with all at once ...

First of all, why did Yuki have all of those pictures of his mom on top of the bull's eye mark of so many dart boards? What the hell? Understandably, perhaps Yuki has gone crazy since he had pinned all his hopes on his parents reuniting and the three of them going stargazing as a family, but even so: why would he want to throw darts at her? Wouldn't he want to have his dad's picture on all of those dart boards? (Granted, he didn't yet know that his dad was the murderer.) Still, it made no sense for him to put his mother's picture up on all of those dart boards. Some explanation would have been nice.

Second of all, the scene begins at 8:45pm on July 9. Episode 16 (when Yuki was the in hospital) begins at 3:02pm on July 6, three days earlier. One calendar day passes in that episode, meaning that the events at the tower -- indicated with the nebulous "Present Day" at the start of last week's episode -- took place on July 7. Thus, Yuki's mother was killed on July 7 and our episode picks up two days after her death. Yet a few moments later, we discover that Yuki, in the short span of only two days and living all on his own, has already erected a traditional mourning shrine for his mother inside of the house. What the hell. Ordinarily you'd think he'd be too depressed to do something like that. That he would refuse to accept her death. Even if he accepted it immediately, you'd think that something like that would have required some outside assistance. Maybe I don't know since I didn't grow up in Japan, but do they really erect those things within 48 hours of the deceased's death?

Third, I didn't really care for how the episode tried to do such a speedy "Yuki's dad's not such a bad guy after all" personality reversal on us. No, he's a bad guy. Nice guys don't stab their innocent ex-wives in broad daylight just because it would inconvenience them to be taken to the police for an interrogation. Nice guys don't attempt to kill their son (whether he knew that that was what would happen or not) in an effort to erase their debts, nor do they abandon their son to die in a crumbling tower. It was just really, really weird to see Yuki be so willing and able to forgive his dad for murdering his mom. His dad was all, "When I get out of prison, let's become a family again. ^-^" And Yuki was like, "Mm-hmm. ^-^ *sniff*" It was pretty revolting. Very weak writing. This is why I don't understand how people can possibly say that Mirai Nikki is one of the greatest animes ever. Makes me almost 100% certain that the number of animes the people who say these things have seen can be counted on fingers and toes alone. But whatever. Different people take issue with different things.

Where the episode really starts to get good is after Yuki's dad is stabbed. Bit by bit, the show has been priming Yukiteru to transform into Yuuno, and now it seems we're finally nearing that moment of transformation as Yukiteru seemingly snaps. He pulls the knife out of his dad's body and guts the guy who was about to stab him. Then he goes Rambo on their asses and manages to kill all of them except for one gunman whom Yuuno takes out for him. The two lovers reunite and ...

... and then we get what is perhaps Mirai Nikki's first really touching love scene between Yuki and Yuuno. All of the others had felt very fake, but this one was pretty good. You could tell that Yuki was scared and that he didn't want to kill Yuuno but that he'd made up his mind to win the Diary Game no matter what. And you could also see Yuuno's love for Yuki as she kissed him into submission and reaffirmed to him that she will do whatever it takes, even if that means dying for him, to make sure that he survives this ordeal. REALLY wanted to see more here, but of course this would be where the episode wraps up for the week, wouldn't it?

Looking forward to the final stretch of episodes. But Mirai Nikki reminds me with this episode just how poorly-written it is. If I criticize Kinoko Nasu for being a man who can come up with good ideas but flubs the execution, Mirai Nikki's author is several times worse.

[Doppleganger]

Originally Posted by Talon87

Third, I didn't really care for how the episode tried to do such a speedy "Yuki's dad's not such a bad guy after all" personality reversal on us. No, he's a bad guy. Nice guys don't stab their innocent ex-wives in broad daylight just because it would inconvenience them to be taken to the police for an interrogation. Nice guys don't attempt to kill their son (whether he knew that that was what would happen or not) in an effort to erase their debts, nor do they abandon their son to die in a crumbling tower. It was just really, really weird to see Yuki be so willing and able to forgive his dad for murdering his mom. His dad was all, "When I get out of prison, let's become a family again. ^-^" And Yuki was like, "Mm-hmm. ^-^ *sniff*" It was pretty revolting. Very weak writing. This is why I don't understand how people can possibly say that Mirai Nikki is one of the greatest animes ever. Makes me almost 100% certain that the number of animes the people who say these things have seen can be counted on fingers and toes alone. But whatever. Different people take issue with different things.

HA HA HA!

I've been waiting to get to this scene for a while. It's so depraved and pathetic the burbles tumble out like a slot machine jackpot.

Allegedly, MN takes cues from Evangelion and we're seeing it right here with Yuki and his grossly exaggerated social anxiety stress. The kid was a loner and outcast from day one, but we have no reason to think he couldn't get out of that if not for the Diary Game...but he's clearly established himself as a different species of nuts, perhaps almond to Yuuno's pistachio. For no good reason!

Originally Posted by Talon87

... and then we get what is perhaps Mirai Nikki's first really touching love scene between Yuki and Yuuno. All of the others had felt very fake, but this one was pretty good. You could tell that Yuki was scared and that he didn't want to kill Yuuno but that he'd made up his mind to win the Diary Game no matter what. And you could also see Yuuno's love for Yuki as she kissed him into submission and reaffirmed to him that she will do whatever it takes, even if that means dying for him, to make sure that he survives this ordeal. REALLY wanted to see more here, but of course this would be where the episode wraps up for the week, wouldn't it?

The author usually doesn't miss opportunities like that. But prepare for more frustration. The script is full of it.

[Talon87]

Just watched the first six minutes of Episode 19. Had to pause to come in here and report that it looks like Hunter x Hunter wasn't the only show that decided to floor the accelerator this week. I almost thought, twice, that I might have missed an episode somehow, so suddenly did Episode 19 seemingly start in medias res with the town hall meeting and then go on to reveal ...

Spoiler: show

... a totally-reborn Yukiteru. DUDE'S FOUND SOME BALLS! And l-m-f-a-o at how he handles Yuuno like he's her pimp daddy and she's his ho -- and how she acts like she's so happy to be his ho! It's like Marco's and Ai's spirits found their ways into Yuki's and Yuuno's respective bodies. lol

Looking forward to watching the rest. Just ... surprised at how quickly the plot seems to be moving along now. (Hooray for the series wrapping up! ^^; Final stretch, woo!)

Oh, and one more thing: regarding Eleventh's physical appearance ...

Spoiler: show

From ED1 and OP2, I totally had assumed the dude was black. Am I alone in this? Totally thought it was going to be revealed that he was a black telecomm CEO. Never in a million years expected him to either be ethnic Japanese or to be a small town mayor. Oh well! I'll roll with it.

EDIT: Just finished the episode. It was good. Full of surprises though, some silly (like the final one ), some not so silly. Discussion follows.

Spoiler: show

If last week's episode didn't convince you, then this week's surely will: Yukiteru has taken the plunge and is one step closer to being what is basically a male Gasai Yuuno. He's become a very good liar and an even worse remorseless murderer. I mean, wow: I could see him being like "I don't want to kill Eighth but I have to ", but he wasn't even teary-eyed about. Just stoic. He warned that girl to leave and I knew it was because he was afraid she'd get killed in enemy crossfire or in a trap he and Yuuno has sprung, but ... never in a million years did I think the "trap" would be something as simple as Yuuno macheteing all of the children while Eleventh jammed their cell phones. What the fuck. ^^; Yuuno, I can see doing something so cruel, but Yukiteru? He's totally gone rogue.

I was frustrated that they failed to kill Eighth though. The fact that she's still alive means that Eleventh basically will use her to create a super-alliance between him and her. Even if she knows he's a rotten bastard, she can't easily escape him or overpower him: he's the goddamn mayor, he has the police on his side and everything. This suggests, unfortunately, that Ninth may be the first one of our final five to go. Then Eighth, then Second or Eleventh (probably Eleventh), and finally either Second (if Yuki succeeds) or else First (if history repeats itself, as I've been speculating, and Yuuno once again wins the Diary Game).

Looks like one of our mysteries has been conclusively revealed: the identity of the third corpse. Or has it?

Spoiler: show

At the end of the episode, they reveal that its DNA matches Yuuno's. They conclude, then, that it must be the real Gasai Yuuno. And that this Gasai Yuuno is an imposter. While that's possible, I don't see why they've failed to consider the possibility that she had a twin. Maybe they did consider it and there's simply no evidence of the orphanage having had twin girls, but whatever: until our Yuuno's identity is 100% confirmed one way or the other, I'm not going to assume that she isn't also a real Gasai Yuuno. (E.g. for all we know the dead one could be from our timeline and this one could be a God of Time and Space from another timeline where Gasai Yuuno won the Diary Game.) But in any event, they've confirmed that the corpse's DNA matches that of the girl at the orphanage whose name was Gasai Yuuno.

EDIT 2: Oh yeah, this was the silly thing I was referring to. What I found silly was that someone'd have had a disgusting piece of oxidized earwax umbilical cord on hand ~15 years after the person was born. I've never heard of such an absurd thing in all my life. Man, that thing looked nasty. >_<

[nerubi]

Just asking, how many episode shall Mirai Nikki reach in the end?

[Talon87]

Episode 20:
Awwww. This was a good episode that I think those three emoticons perfectly sum up.

Spoiler: show

It was the Ninth episode. And I enjoyed every second of it up until ...

Spoiler: show

... she lost her hand. >_< What is with this series and permanent, severe bodily injuries!? Especially if it's going to just "LOL! " undo all of them in the end when Yuki becomes God and rewrites the world?

It was really cute when Nishijima proposed to Minene. I was laughing (and relating! XD) so hardcore at the exchange:

Nishijima: Marry me!
Minene: *to self* What is marriage again? You wear a white dress ... you cut a cake ... and you make babies.
*Nishijima tries to put the ring on her finger; Minene snaps out of it and pulls her hand away*
Don't just try to put a ring on me!
Nishijima: You don't mind, do you?
Minene: A-Are you telling me to have sex with you and get knocked up!?
Nishijima: Please bear my child.
Minene: * times a million*

It's so true. I love Nishijima's plain language. When you ask someone to marry you, you really are saying to them, "Yes, I want to have sex with you; and yes, I want you to get pregnant by me and to bear my children." I don't see why that's so awkward when "Please marry me!" (and not saying in words what that signifies) is not. Society is so weird sometimes.

Anyway, at the end of the episode when Yukiteru shows up, I was like, "Damn. He has really fallen into darkness, hasn't he?" He has no qualms anymore about doing what he has to do to win this fight. He's no longer naive enough to believe that he can survive this war to become God and have others be alive with him. He realizes, finally, that trying to win this fight means being willing to kill everyone else who is also trying to win. And he's game now.

Even though I'm glad Minene's still alive, it would have almost been better if she had died alongside Nishijima. Now she's just going to needlessly suffer. No idea who's going to kill her, but for now, we still have all five of our Future Diary finalists alive and well.

Eleventh's plan seems really stupid to me. If he was just collecting data from others' cell phone usage, then that'd be one thing. But if he's actively turning others' phones into Apprentice Future Diaries, isn't he the least bit worried that one of those apprentice diaries might have a really good power? Granted, none of the ones they've revealed yet have, but who's to say? Who's to say that Akise Aru doesn't now have an amazing diary of his own? I dunno, it just seems very dangerous. Also, why would you want to have to sift out all of that civilian noise? Wouldn't it be better to just have your The Watcher getting feedback from the four other remaining Future Diary users?

Six more episodes to go, says the Internet, but you'd think we only have three or four remaining given what all's been happening recently. Hard to imagine they're going to milk this for another six weeks, but whatever. ^_^;

[lilboocorsola]

Ugh. This episode annoyed me to no end. So rushed, so much illogicality (in the realm of reality anyway, for MN of course it's to be expected from these characters, but seriously WTF @ Nishijima's abrupt actions), so much asspull. I've been keeping mum since I've been relatively enjoying the over-the-topness and don't wish to deter the experience by pointing out the obvious faults, but this just takes the cake.

Thank you, Kousaka, for clearly pointing out what's been making me grind my teeth whenever Ninth shows up on screen: She's a goddam terrorist who massacred your friends and classmates in cold blood. There's your moment of brilliance.

Spoiler: show

...Which he retracted it later by agreeing to cooperate with her anyway, though the situation called for desperate measures so I'm not too hung up over that. Still creepy how cheerful he was about it though. MN's outspoken Kouichi, ladies and gentleman.

Not to say people don't deserve second chances, but never once has she shown a lick of remorse or interest in changing her ways. At least Yukiteru plans to revive everyone he kills once he becomes God. We still haven't heard what Minene's intentions are. Perhaps she now has a similar goal in mind, but we can't know for sure. Until I see hard proof she's on her way to become a better person, I'm not going to forgive her for past acts just because she acts cute and has a contrived sob story. It's Sakura all over again, only much worse.

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by YUKI.N

Not to say people don't deserve second chances, but never once has she shown a lick of remorse or interest in changing her ways. At least Yukiteru plans to revive everyone he kills once he becomes God. We still haven't heard what Minene's intentions are. Perhaps she now has a similar goal in mind, but we can't know for sure. Until I see hard proof she's on her way to become a better person, I'm not going to forgive her for past acts just because she acts cute and has a contrived sob story. It's Sakura all over again, only much worse.

I'm sorry, who? Sakura's not exactly the rarest name in the land. Which Sakura are you referring to?

Minene is "the villain you can't help but to love." Except apparently you can. And you hate her very, very much. I'm wondering if you're going to have your own personal [this one series] moment here in a few episodes when they finally reveal Minene's backstory to us and we discover what I think they've done a fairly strong job of hinting at since Day One. And you go "Awwwwwwww ... well, okay then. I still don't like that she killed innocent people! But I guess she felt she had to in order to win the game and become God."

Spoiler: show

It's been strongly hinted at that Minene heralds from a war-torn region à la Bosnia in the mid-1990s and that, at a young age, she became a war orphan. She had a rough childhood and she discovered that the only one you can really trust is yourself. And she didn't like that, even if it's true.

I think Minene's motivation to become God is clear: she wants to recreate the world such that it becomes a place where there is no more war, there are no more war orphans, no child ever again has to experience what she went through. Just like Yuki (we hope!) who has been killing innocents left and right recently in order to evade capture and succeed in his mission to become a God who will then resurrect them and give them all perfectly happy lives, so too do I think Minene intends to bring back all of the good and to leave dead all of the wicked. She will, as God, be judge, jury, and executioner.

You see it with the chipmunks (a nod to Tsugumi? ) that Minene cares about living creatures. She doesn't have brazen disregard for life. If she did, she wouldn't care about pet animals. If they were only for her personal amusement, then when she no longer needed them she'd flush them down the toilet or leave them behind in her abandoned shed. Instead, she takes the pains to go to some forest-bordered grassy area and tries to set them free there.

I can't completely rationalize why she killed all those innocent children in Yukiteru's school, since even if she intends to bring them back you would think that she'd have reservations about ending people's lives before being absolutely certain she is going to win this, but still. I think she's ever been the tragic villain that we're meant to root for just as much as we're meant to get upset when she does terrible things.

I really, really wish you'd watch [this one series]. And none of that DailyMotion or Veoh crap: I'm talking finding the series and getting it. Would really be interested to see what you think of [this one character].

[lilboocorsola]

Originally Posted by Talon87

I'm sorry, who? Sakura's not exactly the rarest name in the land. Which Sakura are you referring to?

FSN Sakura. See my thoughts on HF's Normal End.

Originally Posted by Talon87

Minene is "the villain you can't help but to love." Except apparently you can. And you hate her very, very much. I'm wondering if you're going to have your own personal [this one series] moment here in a few episodes when they finally reveal Minene's backstory to us and we discover what I think they've done a fairly strong job of hinting at since Day One. And you go "Awwwwwwww ... well, okay then. I still don't like that she killed innocent people! But I guess she felt she had to in order to win the game and become God."

Perhaps. Your theory on her reasons to become God would redeem her, but so far I haven't seen strong enough suggestions that she really wants to save people who were in a similar situation. All that's come across to me is: "My childhood sucked. Screw humanity." Again, it's the fact that she seemed to have so little regard for human lives to begin with that makes me doubt her, and like you said you can't fully rationalize that immorality (unless you've witnessed a complete breakdown as in Yukiteru's case).

Personally, I'm a big fan of heel face turn characters, but I don't appreciate being strung along. Face one way or the other, don't keep switching back and forth. Rather, don't try to fool me by suddenly facing right while your toes are still pointing the other way. Until a person performs a complete about face, I'm inclined to remain sternly disapproving, if not suspicious.

[Doppleganger]

Minene doesn't care about collateral damage. She's not a cold hearted murderer or a sadistic butcher, but if people get in her way or goals, too bad.

Talon's pretty much nailed her motivations. She especially hates authority and figures of authority, hence the irony in Nishijima trying to court her. Keigo and John Balks are therefore her mortal enemies in the Diary Game.

I wouldn't elevate her to Sakura status, though. She's had a less than ideal child-hood but she handles her adult life with a lot more maturity than Sakura did.

[lilboocorsola]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

Minene doesn't care about collateral damage. She's not a cold hearted murderer or a sadistic butcher, but if people get in her way or goals, too bad.

Which makes it even more odd that her goal is so selfish and singular. Kill children in order to save children... Makes a whole lot of sense.

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

I wouldn't elevate her to Sakura status, though. She's had a less than ideal child-hood but she handles her adult life with a lot more maturity than Sakura did.

Precisely why I hold her to such a higher standard. If she can display maturity and rational thought in other aspects of her life, she should learn to recognize the depravity and hyprocrisy of her so-called "terrorism".

[Talon87]

Episode 21:

Not a bad episode, but ... while it should have been a great episode, I was let down by several things. ^_^; So I'll just say it was good and leave it at that.

Spoiler: show

Was a little disappointed that Ninth's backstory was not more thoroughly explored. We already knew that she was a war orphan, so simply restating that while offering nothing new was disappointing. And I'm not convinced that what little we saw will swing Lil' Blue over to the Minene Fan Club either.

Was disappointed in how they resolved Ninth's defeat. First, there's no way that Yukiteru could have written those words and then scrabbled away quickly enough from where he stashed his cell phone without making noise and/or getting up and exposing himself to Ninth. Crawling so slowly as to be inaudible would have rendered him prone to her attack once she found the cell phone. Second, I disliked that they had her freezing up when trying to kill him, ostensibly because "she saw herself in him." Oh please. She's had no problem killing people before. Is she really so soft now, when it really counts, that she'd get herself killed sooner than kill another? that she'd trust Yukiteru to fix the world rather than trusting only herself? I would have preferred it if she had been defeated in some other manner. Third, the bit with the bomb was sillily convenient ... and yet ended up not mattering. >_< *sigh*

I liked how Yuuno was able to get into the vault no problems and get Eleventh. The look of childlike wonder on her face was so cute. >.<

I don't understand why Akise is keeping Eighth alive if he plans on handing her over to First anyway. The only thing I can logic out is, he doesn't want to lose his own (limited) Future Diary powers until he's certain that Second is dead -- because Second is the person he trusts least in this game. Still, kinda weird.

It isn't really clear yet what MuruMuru's agenda is. Would like to know that.

Surprised that we still have as many as three episodes left. I feel like everything could be wrapped up in just one more episode, two at the most, so I guess that means it's going to be a long, painful march from here on out. ^^;

[lilboocorsola]

Originally Posted by Talon87

Episode 21:

Spoiler: show

Was disappointed in how they resolved Ninth's defeat. First, there's no way that Yukiteru could have written those words and then scrabbled away quickly enough from where he stashed his cell phone without making noise and/or getting up and exposing himself to Ninth. Crawling so slowly as to be inaudible would have rendered him prone to her attack once she found the cell phone. Second, I disliked that they had her freezing up when trying to kill him, ostensibly because "she saw herself in him." Oh please. She's had no problem killing people before. Is she really so soft now, when it really counts, that she'd get herself killed sooner than kill another? that she'd trust Yukiteru to fix the world rather than trusting only herself? I would have preferred it if she had been defeated in some other manner.

Spoiler: show

The fact she froze when she saw the phone was more damning. She should've just shot it (even more so if she was going to chicken out when facing a live person). Yukiteru was still gambling his life when he left his cell behind like that, I'm not sure the risk was any less. In foresight, is it even worth trying to gain a surprise advantage using that method? He was banking on a such a small window of opportunity, what if he missed or she didn't hesitate for that long?

[Talon87]

I had had the exact same thought! "SHOOT THE DAMN THING!" But I dismissed the thought quickly because, in-universe, the gun is knocked out of her hands pretty quickly. Yes, you can argue the second's hesitation is what cost her, but for all we know that was just playing up drama in the anime whereas, if the events were unfolding in real time, she literally saw the phone and in that same instant had the gun knocked out of her hand.

But yeah. Same exact frustration. Stupid Yukiteru. Between Yuuno and Deus, it seems like he's practically being given this game.

[big bad birtha]

I've been watching this, but my enthusiasm isn't exactly high, since, well, the logic isn't exactly strong in this title. To think I was super excited when the show started. That said, something I noticed in 21:

Spoiler: show

Why did Miene suddenly regain her eye before dieing? Didn't she, like, lose it, or was that just a huge hallucination (sarcasm)?

[Doppleganger]

That is a question, now isn't it?

[Talon87]

Watched Episode 22. Man, this show is getting weird! Discussion follows.

Spoiler: show

Well, it looks like the theory about Akise Aru being Yukkii and Yuuno's lovechild was wrong. ^^; Unless Deus is lying to us? Deus claims to have created Akise Aru as a construct out of thin air. What I don't understand, though, is why Akise has such strong feelings towards Yuki. It's almost as if Akise is a shell created by Deus but he contains a bit of Yuuno inside him, reflected in physical features like his eyes and behavioral features like his love of Yukiteru. But I don't see why Deus would do such a thing, so ... I dunno. I guess I'll hold off on any crazy Akise Aru speculation for now. Next week surely will shed some light on the situation with him.

Seeing Yukiteru kill all those people even after he had been told that you can't bring back the dead was ... pretty wow in a negative way. I really don't care for Yukiteru at all anymore -- he's regressed into becoming the whiny bitch he was for most of the series but he's also, like Kousaka said, one supreme fucktard. Fuck 'im. Sure, he feels like the only one he can trust is Yuuno, but that doesn't mean you need to fire on unarmed people with zero cell phones or weapons in their hands.

I have my suspicions about whether or not you can really bring back the dead. I feel like we were lied to in this episode when we were told that it isn't possible. The reason being, if you can't bring back the dead, then there's no possibility for a time loop with the Future Diary Game. At the very least, a time loop has to be possible. Perhaps that's what Deus meant: perhaps all he was saying was, "Moving forward in time, you can't bring back those who have died; but sure, if you want to rewind time, you can bring back the dead." The conventional argument against trying to cheat Death this way would be that causality implies that everything is just going to happen the exact same way again. But perhaps Deus is banking on Yukiteru being able to change the future. Certainly, that's what Akise Aru seemed to be banking on. Which gives us a strong implication that these characters are familiar with an alternate future and that it's one they're hoping this particular iteration of Yukiteru will not allow to come to pass.

Seeing Yuuno's true colors was very shocking. I've never suspected that she was stringing Yukiteru along to this extent. The opening scene to Episode 01 -- one we still have yet to see transpire in the anime since! -- with her crying over Yuki's dead body made it seem like it was improbable for her to want him dead. So now ... we have to start thinking with portals. And what I'm thinking is, perhaps people's bodies and souls have been switched? So like ...

- Akise Aru's body contained the real Gasai Yuuno's soul
- Gasai Yuuno's body contains some other person's soul

If this is the case, then perhaps the scene we saw at the start of Episode 01 was of "the real Gasai Yuuno" crying over the loss of Yukiteru. She then became God ... which means she became Deus? ... which means that some new soul inhabited her body when they rewound the clock? I dunno. This is probably all way wrong. We'll just have to wait for next week's episode.