Today I present you a review of the pilot episode of the fantasy/horror anime series “Mirai Nikki” (Future Diary). I don’t want to anticipate the outcome, but I have to say, I’m impressed!!!

The show follows Yukiteru Amano, a socially awkward high school student, who likes to write everything he sees and experiences into his cell phone diary rather than socialize with his classmates. He has no friends except for “Deus Ex Machina”, an imaginary god of time and space, whom he made up in his mind (Or did he?) and his servant Muru Muru who acts as the obligatory comic relief.

deus ex machina

Eventually Deus endows Yuki a peculiar cell phone diary which predicts the future (This comes in handy in classworks!!!) for the purposes of what he calls a “survival game” with the guide line “Lose your diary and you lose your future!”.
The last entry in Yuki’s future diary is a note saying he gets killed by a serial killer who has murdered several women around the area of the setting in a side plot. Unforeseenly his high school crush Yuno Gasai who appears to be madly in love with him up to the border of obsession knows about the dilemma he’s in due to her own future diary, that seems to deal exclusively with Yuki’s life, and decides to help him. Somehow Yuki manages to finish the fiend, who is also in possesion of a future diary, by piercing through his mobile phone with one of the darts Gasai interestingly brought along. As it turns out all three of them were participants in the previously mentioned survival game that proves to be a battle royal in which twelve people fight to the death for 90 days. According to Deus the survivor will acquire his throne of god.

If you lose your diary you lose your future!

Already in its very first episode Mirai Nikki shows a lot of potential. It’s full of suspense and manages to create a captivating atmosphere. Additionally, as far as I can judge it’s decently animated. Therefore it gets 4.5 out of 5 Kurisus.

In order to get attuned here’s a trailer OVA which is admittedly a bit confusing:

Anime,