Wolfe reporting!
First post of the year, huh? Well, happy new year to everyone! ^_^
I'm reordering my categories today. The original organization was rather haphazard, I do admit. I'm also trying out a new rating system based on a dream I had.
So, when wandering the internet, I seemed to always find a pink-haired psychopath poking her nose at me. Eventually, I realized that she was Yuno from Mirai Nikki, so I set out to watch the show. I tend to like psychopaths, after all.
The anime was 26 episodes long (each episode being the standard length). Wikipedia labels the genre as: action, psychological, romance, supernatural, survival horror, suspense. I'd say that's a decent sum-up all the multiple elements present.
Concept: So, there are some people in Japan who like to keep diaries/journals. Some of them are about themselves, some of them are about their environments, some of them are about events, some of them are about other people... you get the point. And from there we move into the...
Plot: So, main character's daydreamed deity turns out to not be a daydream. This deity (Deus Ex Machina, if I recall correctly) is getting old, so he wanted to appoint someone to be his successor. But, as twisted/bored deities usually end up doing, he decides that the way he's going to choose his successor is by whomever wins a game. Not just any game, a survival game fight-to-the-death game, with real people and real death.
So, 12 people suddenly have their cell phones updated, and they now have a Future Diary. They can see what will happen a little ahead in the future, and then they can do actions which change the future. They have to trigger another Diary Holder's "Dead End", and then prevent them from escaping it somehow. A Diary Holder will have to be the last one alive in order to win, and they have to do so within 90 days (because after 90 days Deus Ex Machina won't be able to hold reality together).
So, they have to take advantage of the unique abilities of their Future Diary and prey upon the weaknesses of an opponents Future Diary in order to kill them. You can also kill them by destroying their Future Diary.
Throw in a serious stalker, a blind girl, another deity, a detective, evil dogs, knives and other various sharp objects, lots of explosions, and some budding romance, and you now have the gist of the first arc or two of Mirai Nikki.
There are a few questions that sit in the back of your head, unanswered and not entirely forgotten, as you watch the anime. Later on, things happen and stuff changes. Sometimes you'll reach an answer you've been looking for only to come up with more questions. I'm not trying to say that there's a lot of philosophy or deep thought in this anime (it's nothing like Ergo Proxy), it's just that a lot of dots don't fully connect until you've finished each and every episode.
Later on, questions get answered in ways which I didn't expect, adding a whole new feel to everything.
Lots of arc twists, and I loved that.
Characters:
This is where things get tough. I HATED THESE CHARACTERS. That's just my personal view. The main character (Yuki) is 99% pathetic for 92% of the show, and while he does evolve throughout the show, it's a horrendously slow progression. Maybe 4/5ths of the way through, he's at the 32% pathetic point, but he's still pathetic. I didn't like him at all; he was weak in all aspects. I have mixed feelings about Yuno. Don't get me wrong, I get where she's coming from, her background and all of that. She's not just a psychopath, but also a sociopath. I just didn't like her occasional inconsistencies; other than that, she was well-thought-up.
The relationships were completely unreal in Mirai Nikki. Bad guys would suddenly be like, "I'm okay working alongside you now, even though I was violently trying to kill you an episode ago." (this happens way too often). That pretty much sums up my feelings.
Music: Link to Mirai Nikki OST. Or this. The playlist on those links has some songs that I definitely don't remember from the anime, but the linked songs are good. The music was very, very well-done in this anime. In fact, I probably would've disliked this anime without the music quality. It's very important for knowing when things are cheerful... or when they've turned not-so-cheerful.
Introduction Sequence: Okay, the first opening sequence is one of my favourite anime openings of all time. The second one is definitely good, but it doesn't land like the first one does. Watch them. Link to OP1, Link to OP2.
Animation Style: Oh, the animation style was good.
Some examples:
Believability: [Warning. Core system is not detected. Please inset a reality program to proceed.]
THIS ANIME BROKE A LOT OF RULES. I don't even know what rules it had. But when it comes to believability, 98% of the time, I was shaking my head in disbelief. You see, I like an anime where they stick to the general rules of reality. I can believe that I'm actually a part of things, or something along those lines. When you abuse my expectancy for reality, I feel much more distant from the anime.
A glowing example happens in the first episode or two. Something happens, and bombs are set in every nook and cranny of a HUGE building... in a few hours? You can't do that! Even if you spent a week, it's still an accomplishment that you managed to do all of this wiring and setting of various bombs in various places in a public facility and having nobody notice?!
And that's just a tiny example, really. There are tons upon tons of gravity-defying, blood-loss-defying, time-spent-defying, and other reality-check-failing instances.
Combat: The combat was actually pretty dang good! I mean, if you forget for a moment about the believability gaps, it's all very well done. There were a few things done (with darts?! Really?!) that, again, breach the reality sector, but most deaths are actually deserved (that is, if they actually die). But believability takes a huge chunk out of the combat, for me.
Power Balance: Hey, another section the anime actually did alright in. Yeah, everyone has their edges, and there's nobody truly OP (with the possible exception of Yuno. But we see her losing fights, so I'm okay with that).
Darkness and Bloodiness: There's a lot of death and blood. There's killing of friends and being killed by friends. There's people bleeding ridiculous amounts and surviving. Basically, there's a lot of darkness and bloodiness, and I loved that.
Philosophy: The philosophy was nice, actually. It was the classic "Do the ends justify the means?" course, with a twist. Keep in mind, the winner of the game would become the next deity/god, so they'd have the ability to right any wrongs they caused on their way to that position. This concept runs into a gigantic flip-flop towards the very end, and I won't spoil it, but it's good.
[The Objective Opinion category is under construction and will hopefully be present in my next post. I need to consult with my fellow Brothers.]
Pros and Cons: Pros: Darkness & Bloodiness, Power Balance, Plot, Introduction Sequence, Music. Cons: Believability, Characters.
Resolution:
Wallpapers: [keep in mind that there're also a few throughout this same post, too -- there's tons of great ones still out there, too] {Oh, and ignore those links trailing off the screen. I don't know what they're doing here, so just don't acknowledge them.}
AMV's:
Nightmare (1 curse word)
Phenomenon (Thousand Foot Krutch)
The Dark (The Birthday Massacre)
Woodpecker's already shown all of these, I believe, in one of his AMV runs. He has a freaking bunch of other Mirai Nikki AMV's, too, so check out his review. You know what they say about Yuno... "More Yuno is never a bad thing!"
For your Japanese, 未来日記 is made up of two parts: 未来 (future) and 日記 (diary/journal). Pretty simple. Heard from Iorek that people keeping a diary on their phone isn't uncommon in Japan, which would make the premise a bit less strange.
Next time: So, I was realizing the other day that I never did a Death Note review. That's because I never finished it, so at some point, I'll be sure to finish it off. My next review will hopefully be Shiki, and then The Devil is a Part-Timer some time after that.
Wolfe out!
First post of the year, huh? Well, happy new year to everyone! ^_^
I'm reordering my categories today. The original organization was rather haphazard, I do admit. I'm also trying out a new rating system based on a dream I had.
 |
| Don't try to tell me you don't recognize her. Source. |
The anime was 26 episodes long (each episode being the standard length). Wikipedia labels the genre as: action, psychological, romance, supernatural, survival horror, suspense. I'd say that's a decent sum-up all the multiple elements present.
Concept: So, there are some people in Japan who like to keep diaries/journals. Some of them are about themselves, some of them are about their environments, some of them are about events, some of them are about other people... you get the point. And from there we move into the...
 |
| Deus Ex Machina. Source. |
Plot: So, main character's daydreamed deity turns out to not be a daydream. This deity (Deus Ex Machina, if I recall correctly) is getting old, so he wanted to appoint someone to be his successor. But, as twisted/bored deities usually end up doing, he decides that the way he's going to choose his successor is by whomever wins a game. Not just any game, a survival game fight-to-the-death game, with real people and real death.
 |
| Oh cool, I die in 20 minutes! Source. |
So, they have to take advantage of the unique abilities of their Future Diary and prey upon the weaknesses of an opponents Future Diary in order to kill them. You can also kill them by destroying their Future Diary.
 |
| More Yuno is never a bad thing. Source. |
 |
| Hey you. Yeah you, with the scarf. You're pathetic. Source. |
Later on, questions get answered in ways which I didn't expect, adding a whole new feel to everything.
Lots of arc twists, and I loved that.
 |
| More Yuno. More sociopath. Source. |
This is where things get tough. I HATED THESE CHARACTERS. That's just my personal view. The main character (Yuki) is 99% pathetic for 92% of the show, and while he does evolve throughout the show, it's a horrendously slow progression. Maybe 4/5ths of the way through, he's at the 32% pathetic point, but he's still pathetic. I didn't like him at all; he was weak in all aspects. I have mixed feelings about Yuno. Don't get me wrong, I get where she's coming from, her background and all of that. She's not just a psychopath, but also a sociopath. I just didn't like her occasional inconsistencies; other than that, she was well-thought-up.
 |
| More Yuno. Source. |
Music: Link to Mirai Nikki OST. Or this. The playlist on those links has some songs that I definitely don't remember from the anime, but the linked songs are good. The music was very, very well-done in this anime. In fact, I probably would've disliked this anime without the music quality. It's very important for knowing when things are cheerful... or when they've turned not-so-cheerful.
Introduction Sequence: Okay, the first opening sequence is one of my favourite anime openings of all time. The second one is definitely good, but it doesn't land like the first one does. Watch them. Link to OP1, Link to OP2.
Animation Style: Oh, the animation style was good.
Some examples:
 |
| Hey, he's not afraid of something for once. Source. |
 |
| Pink-haired psychopath. Source. |
 |
| Bad news. Source. |
Believability: [Warning. Core system is not detected. Please inset a reality program to proceed.]
THIS ANIME BROKE A LOT OF RULES. I don't even know what rules it had. But when it comes to believability, 98% of the time, I was shaking my head in disbelief. You see, I like an anime where they stick to the general rules of reality. I can believe that I'm actually a part of things, or something along those lines. When you abuse my expectancy for reality, I feel much more distant from the anime.
 |
| Do proportions even matter?! Source. |
And that's just a tiny example, really. There are tons upon tons of gravity-defying, blood-loss-defying, time-spent-defying, and other reality-check-failing instances.
Combat: The combat was actually pretty dang good! I mean, if you forget for a moment about the believability gaps, it's all very well done. There were a few things done (with darts?! Really?!) that, again, breach the reality sector, but most deaths are actually deserved (that is, if they actually die). But believability takes a huge chunk out of the combat, for me.
Power Balance: Hey, another section the anime actually did alright in. Yeah, everyone has their edges, and there's nobody truly OP (with the possible exception of Yuno. But we see her losing fights, so I'm okay with that).
 |
| More Yuno! Source. |
Philosophy: The philosophy was nice, actually. It was the classic "Do the ends justify the means?" course, with a twist. Keep in mind, the winner of the game would become the next deity/god, so they'd have the ability to right any wrongs they caused on their way to that position. This concept runs into a gigantic flip-flop towards the very end, and I won't spoil it, but it's good.
[The Objective Opinion category is under construction and will hopefully be present in my next post. I need to consult with my fellow Brothers.]
Pros and Cons: Pros: Darkness & Bloodiness, Power Balance, Plot, Introduction Sequence, Music. Cons: Believability, Characters.
Resolution:
- Great plot (+3)
- Terrible characters (-3)
- Great music (+2)
- Great introduction sequence (+2)
- Animation style was good (+1)
- Horrid believability (-2)
- Mixed feelings on combat [suffers due to believability] (+0)
- Balance of power was good (+1)
- Good dark (+1)
- Good bloody (+1)
= 6.
Wallpapers: [keep in mind that there're also a few throughout this same post, too -- there's tons of great ones still out there, too] {Oh, and ignore those links trailing off the screen. I don't know what they're doing here, so just don't acknowledge them.}
 |
| More Yuno. Source. |
 |
| Yuki & Yuno. Source. |
 |
| More Yuno! Source. |
 |
| It's different and I like that. Source. |
 |
| It's dark and I like that. Source. |
AMV's:
Nightmare (1 curse word)
Phenomenon (Thousand Foot Krutch)
The Dark (The Birthday Massacre)
Woodpecker's already shown all of these, I believe, in one of his AMV runs. He has a freaking bunch of other Mirai Nikki AMV's, too, so check out his review. You know what they say about Yuno... "More Yuno is never a bad thing!"
For your Japanese, 未来日記 is made up of two parts: 未来 (future) and 日記 (diary/journal). Pretty simple. Heard from Iorek that people keeping a diary on their phone isn't uncommon in Japan, which would make the premise a bit less strange.
Next time: So, I was realizing the other day that I never did a Death Note review. That's because I never finished it, so at some point, I'll be sure to finish it off. My next review will hopefully be Shiki, and then The Devil is a Part-Timer some time after that.
Wolfe out!
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