top of page
  • 7mononoke

Future Diary: A Critical Analysis Part 3 (Episodes 5, 6, and 7)

Hey everyone! Since these episodes were easier to deal with in terms of amount of content to cover, I decided to go for three at once. I'll do this whenever possible. Let's get started!

 

Episode 5: Voicemail


In the first half of the episode, I could find no major inconsistencies or mistakes. I thought everything was well done: fast-paced and exciting, with plenty of violence and action. I love the music, as well as many of the shots and the animation. This episode, however, is also painful to watch, as it depicts the unspeakable sexual abuse that Tsubaki suffered. I think it makes sense that she would want to become God and destroy the world, given what the world did to her.


There really isn't a lot to discuss here. The episode did a good job showing Yukiteru's thoughts about Yuno and his decision to save her after all. The final confrontation between him and Tsubaki was pretty cool. It's nice on the rare occasions when Yukiteru manages to be brave and impressive.


The outcome of Yukiteru choosing Yuno over Tsubaki caused a significant change in the future, where Yuno's diary predicts harmony with Yukki and their eventual "happy end." However, we didn't see as dramatic a change as in the last episode when Yukiteru opened the sealed room. That's because, even though he chose to save Yuno this time, he still doesn't fully trust her. There are bound to be more problems between them as the survival game pans out.


 

Episode 6: Vibrate Mode


For episode 6, I don't have much to say. There were no mistakes or serious issues that stuck out at me. But personally, I found much of this episode boring and/or irritating. Yukiteru must deal with Yuno and now his mother as they become an odd sort of tag-team whose purpose is to make him feel uncomfortable. It's supposed to be humorous, and sometimes it did make me smile just a little. But think about it seriously for a second.


Yukiteru is being stalked by a psychopath and terrorized by a deadly survival game. He should be able to rely on his mother a little for emotional support, but instead, she gets along better with the stalker than with him. She isn't remotely open to listening to his problems or making him feel comfortable; she doesn't seem to notice anything different about her own son. But audiences are supposed to think the bulk of this episode is funny. I believe this "humor" is too forced and out of place. That's one reason why I was irritated.


As for Reisuke and his introduction, that was fine. The child is supposed to be weird and off-putting in a way, and the show did a good job with this. One other thing worth noting is that Yuno already knows Rei will be an enemy. She is able to act kindhearted toward him early on, despite also being wary of danger like the scissor incident. Apparently, not even Yuno is crazy enough to start trying to kill a small child right away with no explanation or provocation. As usual, though, she's still plenty crazy. She brought the tools to kill Yukiteru's mother and take apart the corpse if it had been necessary. Now let's look at the next episode, where Rei put his diary to the test and tries to kill Yuno and Yukiteru.


Note: I do really like Yukiteru's mother, despite her being oblivious about her son's mental health. At least she's sex-positive, which is pretty rare in traditional Japanese society.


 

Episode 7: Answering Machine


This episode was fast-paced and exciting. I loved the music. The general over-the-top feel of Mirai Nikki was very present, what with Reisuke being a complete psychopath and also a child genius. I was also interested to see that Yukiteru saved Yuno on two different occasions: once from electrocution in the bathtub, and once when he gave her his breath toward the end. But regardless of how impressed I was with Yukiteru taking action, the part I just mentioned made absolutely no sense. Yukiteru had already been poisoned. Why would his breath be good for Yuno? She would be inhaling air that was went through Yukiteru's poison-infected lungs.


Basically all the stuff with breath and breathing in this episode was bullshit. Not only would Yukki's breath have poisoned Yuno, but it didn't matter anyway. Because she breathed while she was killing Reisuke and saying, "I simply love Yukki." There's also basically no way Yuno could have held her breath while being shocked with a strong electric current. So that was one huge issue with this episode: the details about the poison gas and breathing made no sense. Also, it's not really believable to me that Reisuke set up a poison-gas-dispensing mechanism inside an envelope without anyone noticing it. Finally, how the heck did this small kid get any of the poison he used in this episode? It's simply not believable.


I also have an issue with the way Minene/Ninth appeared and saved Yukiteru and Yuno. She gave them both the antidote and dragged their bodies outside. Why? Earlier in the series, Minene was a heartless psychopath. She would have no qualms with killing two teenagers who were her enemies. The only solution I can think of is that Minene did this because Kurusu/Fourth ordered her to do it. Ninth and Fourth have a secret alliance, and Fourth alerted Ninth to the news that Fifth was attacking First and Second. So as part of their alliance, Minene saved the teenagers. It's still hard to believe she wouldn't at least try to kill Yuno while she had an easy chance. Still, I can't think of a solution besides this one.



 

Takeaways From Episodes 5, 6, and 7


The table below shows my notes about these 3 episodes of the anime. Compared to the last time, there were fewer criticisms, but those that are there seem more serious, at least to me. Episode 7 in particular had a lot of stuff that didn't make sense.


Table: Observations

Criticisms

Positives

Weird, forced humor in episode 6

Amusing and original mom character

Inconsistencies/ Things that make no sense with the poison gas in episode 7

Yukiteru being a participant and saving Yuno

Generally over-the-top in all episodes

Great music

No explanation for Ninth saving Yuno and Yukki


Thanks for reading. I hope you'll join me next time for more critical analysis of Mirai Nikki!



bottom of page