some thoughts about mirai nikki (contains spoilers :o :o :o)
Well first I want to say that I really enjoy Mirai Nikki, despite it being full of a lot of cliches and plot holes and panaceas and what not. It’s been a solid 9/10 in my book so far, but after watching the last few episodes (most recent was 19), it’s more of an 8/10 for me, maybe even a 7/10.
I think the concept is super interesting and creative, blending time travel elements with a Battle Royale-esque theme. The time travel and future telling is a bit simplistic (I’d say that Steins;Gate did a much better job of handling it, even though there were some flaws, but it did it in a way different context than Mirai Nikki so I suppose it’s not really fair to compare the two).
It’s pretty obvious that Yukki is a Shinji-type character. To put it bluntly, both are whiny little bitches. They’re even the same age. What’s sort of ironic about Yukki’s situation is that he cries about not having friends, not wanting to be alone, etc etc, yet the whole time, he has someone who wants to offer him all of that, but he rejects her. Another thing that really bothers me about his character is how trustful he is. He puts his trust in so many people, yet all of them betray him. I guess this ultimately does pay off when he finally does make friends (CONGRATULATIONS) around episode nine, but they’re all with people who have betrayed him/tried to kill him. Now that I think about it, every person that Yukki has gotten close with has either tried to/has betrayed him, or will try to betray him, except for his mom. It’s things like that that make me lower my rating on this show, it really kills the show’s realism factor. And I understand that it is sci-fi, but part of sci-fi is that while it is fictional (or even very fictional), it has to draw you in and make it seem believable.
Now Yuno. I like Yuno’s character a lot. Maybe it’s just because I haven’t seen a lot of anime with yandere archetypes, but I like her. Through the whole show, I constantly find myself rooting for her, taking her side, despite her being completely and totally insane. I thought that the discovery of bodies in her house was really sort of a good way to mix your feels on her. I don’t know, it’s just her capacity to be cute and maintain human emotions that keeps me on her side, even though she obviously displays many nonhuman or emotionless traits. Like the scene where Yukki and Yuno are hiding in the tiny little building after they go into hiding, and she has to go pee. She gets super embarrassed, and tells Yukki not to listen or smell. You’d think that some psycho stalker girl who has killed countless numbers of people throughout the series wouldn’t mind taking a piss in someplace other than a bathroom. But again, that’s also a problem I have with her character, just like I have with Yukki. It’s really hard to buy into.
I still really love the series, and I look forward to the new episodes more than I look forward to Nisemonogatari’s, and I also just remembered that I still haven’t seen the new Ano Natsu de Matteru. But if you haven’t seen Mirai Nikki, you should check it out. For fans of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Steins;Gate, Elfen Lied, Higurashi, or even Angel Beats.
