- Future Diary
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Future Diary 
Cover of Future Diary volume 1.未来日記
(Mirai Nikki)Genre Action, Horror, Psychological, Romance, Supernatural, Suspense Manga Written by Sakae Esuno Published by Kadokawa Shoten English publisher 
TokyopopDemographic Shōnen Magazine Shōnen Ace Original run January 26, 2006 – December 27, 2010 Volumes 12 TV anime Directed by Naoto Hosoda Written by Katsuhiko Takayama Studio Asread Licensed by FunimationOriginal run October 10, 2011 – ongoing Episodes 26 Future Diary (未来日記 Mirai Nikki) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Japanese manga author Sakae Esuno. The manga was first serialized in the Japanese shōnen manga magazine Shōnen Ace on January 26, 2006, and is published by Kadokawa Shoten. As of April 26, 2011, eleven tankōbon volumes have been released in Japan. The manga has been licensed by Tokyopop, and ten of the English volumes have been released, with a release for the last two now uncertain due to Tokyopop ceasing publishing in North America. A "pilot anime" DVD was released with the 11th manga volume in December 2010. A TV anime series animated by Asread began airing in Japan on October 10, 2011. Funimation has licensed the anime for distribution in North America.
Esuno has also authored two side-story manga, each one spanning five chapters: first Future Diary: Mosaic which focuses on another Diary Holder and tells unrevealed plot points of the main story; and in 2009-2010, Future Diary: Paradox (published in Young Ace), which tells the exploits of Aru Akise and Murumuru set in an alternate timeline.
Contents
Plot
Main article: List of Future Diary charactersYukiteru "Yuki" Amano is a loner who never really interacts with people and prefers writing a diary on his cell phone with his only companion being an imaginary friend named Deus Ex Machina, the God of Time and Space. However, Yuki soon learns that Deus is real when he makes Yuki participate in a battle royal with eleven other people. Within this "Diary Game", the contestants are given special diaries that can predict the future, with each diary having unique features that gives them both advantages and disadvantages. Within the next 90 days, the contestants must try to kill each other and survive until there is only one person standing, the winner becoming the new God of Time and Space. In order to survive, Yuki tries to find allies, with one of them being another diary user named Yuno Gasai, a girl who is madly in love with him. As the game continues, Yuki soon learns that not everyone can be trusted, not even Yuno, whose obsession to keep both of them alive no matter the cost terrifies him. Yet despite her faults, Yuki continues to trust Yuno since he manages to survive the game thanks to her.
Originally, Yuki had no desire to win the game and stoop as low as the other contestants who either cheat, lie, manipulate or kill in order to win. However, that all changes when late in the game, Yuki's parents are killed. Yuki suffers a breakdown over his parents death until Yuno seduces and convinces him that if he becomes the new God of Time and Space, he can bring his parents back to life. Now having a reason to win, Yuki becomes a ruthless, backstabbing, and manipulative terrorist who causes the deaths of thousands of civilians and destruction throughout the city in order to kill the other contestants. Yuki's actions shock his friends, in particular Aru Akise, who had suspicions about Yuno and her motives. By the time Yuno and Yuki becomes the last contestants, Aru and the rest of Yuki's friends chastis him on how he has become just as bad as the other contestants. Aru tries to warn Yuki that Yuno is manipulating him and that she has an ulterior motive. Refusing to accept the truth and wishing to bring his parents back, Yuki kills them until Aru manages to stop him and gives Yuki a clue over Yuno's true identity before he is killed by Yuno herself.
Eventually, Yuki learns that the Yuno he known is actually an "impostor" as this "Yuno" is actually from a parallel universe who won the Diary Game. In that universe, Yuno and Yuki were the last contestants and Yuki committed suicide so that Yuno will be the new God and resurrect him. But Yuno became distraught and more insane when she learns that while she can resurrect the dead, she cannot bring back their souls. With the help of Muru Muru, Deus' assistant and now Yuno's after she won the Diary game, both of them travel back in time to Yuki's universe and manipulated it where she killed the Yuno of Yuki's universe and took her place so she could play the game again and find a way to bring back "her" Yuki. As Yuno is about to kill him, Yuki is saved by Minene Uryu, one of his allies and another Diary user who he believed died in the game but was saved by Deus, who had suspicions that the Muru Muru in his universe is not the one he knows but the one from the parallel universe working with Yuno, and gave Minene some of his powers before his death. Their plans foiled, Yuno and Muru Muru travel to another universe to start over again but are followed by Yuki and Minene who are trying to stop them. Finally, Yuno and Muru Muru are stopped when the former learns in this new universe, all the terrible things that happen to everyone in the previous universes never happen including one where her parents were never abusive and lead to her insanity. With Yuno's Muru Muru stopped by Yuki's universe's Muru Muru and the help of the new universe's Diary users, Yuki convinces Yuno to come to her senses and surrender as he loves her. Realizing her mistakes, Yuno instead kills herself, believing this is the best for him and making Yuki the new God of his universe.
In the end, despite becoming the new God of Time and Space, Yuki refuses to rule his universe as he has lost everything that he ever loved and cared; his friends, parents and Yuno. But in an unexpected Deus ex machina, the Yuno of the new universe arrives and invites Yuki to her universe as Yuki's Muru Muru had given Yuno and the others of the new universe their other universes memories which convinced that universe's Deus not to hold the Diary game and instead make Yuki and Yuno his new heirs. The series ends with Yuki reuniting with Yuno, his friends, parents and the Diary users in a new, happier universe.
Media
Manga
The series was serialized Shōnen Ace magazine from January 26, 2006 to December 27, 2010 and was compiled into fourteen volumes published by Kadokawa Shoten including two side-story mangas, Future Diary: Mosaic and Future Diary: Paradox. The manga was originally licensed in English by Tokyopop for North America but only ten volumes were released before Tokyopop cease publishing operations on May 31, 2011.
Volumes list
No. Japanese English Release date ISBN Release date ISBN 1 July 26, 2006 ISBN 978-4-04-713839-1 May 12, 2009 ISBN 978-1-4278-1557-6 2 October 26, 2006 ISBN 978-4-04-713872-8 June 9, 2009 ISBN 978-1-4278-1558-3 3 March 26, 2007 ISBN 978-4-04-713912-1 September 9, 2009 ISBN 978-1-4278-1559-0 4 October 26, 2007 ISBN 978-4-04-713954-1 December 1, 2009 ISBN 978-1-4278-1560-6 5 February 26, 2008 ISBN 978-4-04-715026-3 March 2, 2010 ISBN 978-1-4278-1561-3 6 June 26, 2008 ISBN 978-4-04-715072-0 June 1, 2010 ISBN 978-1-4278-1630-6 7 November 26, 2008 ISBN 978-4-04-715130-7 August 31, 2010 ISBN 978-1-4278-1751-8 Mosaic November 26, 2008 ISBN 978-4-04-715129-1 — — 8 May 26, 2009 ISBN 978-4-04-715248-9 November 2, 2010 ISBN 978-1-4278-1761-7 9 November 26, 2009 ISBN 978-4-04-715323-3 December 28, 2010 ISBN 978-1-4278-0520-1 10 March 26, 2010 ISBN 978-4-04-715400-1 April 12, 2011 ISBN 978-1-4278-0521-8 Paradox March 26, 2010 ISBN 978-4-04-715412-4 — — 11 September 9, 2010 (limited edition)
December 25, 2010 (regular edition)ISBN 978-4-04-900801-2 (limited edition)
ISBN 978-4-04-715580-0 (regular edition)— — 12 April 26, 2011 ISBN 978-4-04-715679-1 — — Anime
A special anime DVD containing a "pilot anime" was bundled with the limited edition of the eleventh volume of the manga. Originally it was going to be released on September 9, 2010, but was postponed and released on December 9, 2010.[1] An anime television adaptation by Asread and directed by Naoto Hosoda began airing from October 10, 2011.[2] Character designs are done by Eiji Hirayama and Ruriko Watanabe. The opening theme song is "Kuso Mesorogiwi" by Yousei Teikoku and the ending theme song is "Blood-teller" by Faylan. Funimation licensed the series for North American distribution as part of the Funico brand, a joint venture between Funimation, and Niconico.
No. Title Original airdate 01 "Sign Up"
"Sain Appu" (サインアップ)October 10, 2011[3] Yukiteru "Yuki" Amano is a loner who spends his time writing in his cell phone diary, playing darts and talking to an imaginary friend, Deus Ex Machina. However, one morning, he finds his diary entry for the day has been filled in already. Stranger yet, the events portrayed in the diary start coming true. Deus, who reveals he is an actual God, warns Yukiteru that if he loses his diary, he will die. As Yukiteru starts using the diary to his advantage, he is approached by a stalker named Yuno Gasai who also possesses a Future Diary cell phone that foretold his death at the hands of a serial killer, another Future Diary owner. Helping him evade the killer, Yuno enables Yukiteru to throw a dart at the killer's phone, which causes him to vanish into a vortex. Afterwards, Deus explains the rules of the survival game to Yukiteru and the other diary owners, in which they must try to kill each other in order to win the right to succeed him. 02 "Terms of the Contract"
"Keiyaku Jōken" (契約条件)October 17, 2011[3][4] Minene Uryu, a terrorist and Future Diary owner, holds Yuki's school hostage, having rigged its corridors with motion sensor bombs. By combining Yuki's diary's ability to record everything happening around him and Yuno's diary's ability to record everything happening to Yuki himself, the two manage to evade danger, until Uryu threatens to detonate all the bombs unless Yuki is handed over to her. Yuki is captured by his classmates, angering Yuno who runs down the corridors, causing several classrooms to explode on purpose. Yuki and Uryu are soon confronted by Keigo Kurusu, a police officer with a Future Diary cell phone that is able to predict crimes. Keigo, Uryu's true target, reveals he is not interested in the Diary game and just wants to stop criminals. Working together, Yuno, Keigo and Yuki's classmates distract Uryu, allowing Yuki to throw a dart at her Future Diary cell phone. However, Uryu dodges it, injuring her left eye and escaping using her diary's ability. In the aftermath, Keigo forms an alliance with Yuki and Yuno to stop the other diary owners. 03 "Early Predicament"
"Shoki Furyō" (初期不良)October 24, 2011 Keigo sends Yuki and Yuno to an amusement park to act as bait for Uryu. When Yuki asks Yuno why she keeps following him around, she reminds him of the day they met, one year ago. Yuki was depressed over his parents' divorce and, to cheer him up, Yuno offered to marry him in the future. Yuki agreed, thinking it was a joke. Although Yuki realises Yuno's still hiding something from him, she refuses to divulge anything more. That night, Yuno invites Yuki to stop by her house. While searching for the bathroom, he opens the door to a room containing many decomposed corpses, an act which changes the future of every Future Diary owner drastically. Terrified, Yuki runs home, only to find Yuno right outside his door. Meanwhile, Uryu finds evading the police difficult, despite her diary's ability to secure escape routes. Exhausted and cornered, she is approached by a mysterious man, who offers to save her and takes her to a hut in the woods. There, he reveals himself as a Future Diary owner, drugging her and torturing her to get information on other diary owners. 04 "Handwritten Input"
"Tegaki Nyūryoku" (手書き入力)October 31, 2011 Yuki is unable to tell anyone about the corpses he saw in Yuno's house, fearing she will find out through her diary. The next day, Keigo, Yuki and Yuno visit the Sacred Eye cult, where Uryu is being held prisoner. The cult's leader, Tsubaki Kasugano, is the holder of the Clairvoyance Diary, a scroll which tells the future as seen by her followers and has foretold her death by the end of the day. Since Yuki has already evaded death twice, Tsubaki asks that he stay with her for the night in exchange for handing over Uryu which he accepts, much to Yuno's resentment. At night, Tsubaki's followers fall under the mind control of Yomotsu Hirasaka, the diary holder who captured Uryu and close in on Yuki, Yuno and Tsubaki. Yuno starts hacking at the followers with an axe and poses an ultimatum to Yuki: join her or die. 05 "Voice Memo"
"Boisu Memo" (ボイスメモ)November 7, 2011 Yomotsu appears before the fleeing Yuki, Yuno and Tsubaki with four hypnotised cult members dressed like him. Yomotsu explains that his Righteous Diary led him to infiltrate the Sacred Eye cult and that he intends to blow himself and Tsubaki up. Having learned from Keigo that Yomotsu is blind, Yuno manages to tell him apart from the others and kill him. Tsubaki then captures Yuki and Yuno, revealing her plan was to kill them, Keigo and Yomotsu all along. Due to her traumatic past as a ritual rape victim, Tsubaki wishes to attain Deus' power in order to remake the world. Yuno manages to kill her captors, cut off Tsubaki's hand and hand Yuki her diary before collapsing from exhaustion. Using both diaries, Yuki manages to avoid detection, until Tsubaki tries to lure him out by announcing that her followers will rape and kill Yuno. Realising Yuno's devotion to him, Yuki gathers his courage and manages to reach Yuno on time, but Tsubaki gloats that as long as he's in sight of her followers, his actions will be predicted in her diary. Yuki throws a small ball he found earlier up in the air, causing all of Tsubaki's followers to look at it and rendering her diary useless. Yuki then throws a dart at Tsubaki's diary, and since she is missing a hand, she is unable to deflect the shot. With her diary pierced, Tsubaki vanishes and Yuki and Yuno escape. Meanwhile, Uryu, who was released by Yomotsu, gets captured by Keigo, but he eventually lets her go in return for her contact information. 06 "Vibrate Mode"
"Manā Mōdo" (マナーモード)November 14, 2011 Knowing from her diary that Yuki's mother is coming home from abroad, Yuno breaks into Yuki's house with the intention of introducing herself to Yuki's mother. Despite Yuki's efforts, his mother and Yuno meet and take a liking to each other. That night, Yuno reveals to Yuki that her diary predicts they will "come together" on a certain date and tells him she will do anything to make sure that future comes to pass. The next day, Yuki's mother brings home Reisuke Houjou, a young boy whose parents were killed at the Sacred Eye incident. Despite his young age and precocious demeanor, Reisuke is a Future Diary owner, plotting Yuno's death. 07 "Away Message"
"Rusu Ōtō" (留守応答)November 21, 2011 Video game
Kadokawa Shoten produced a visual novel based on the manga titled Future Diary: The 13th Diary Owner (未来日記 -13人目の日記所有者- Mirai Nikki: 13-nin-me no Nikki Shoyūsha) for the PlayStation Portable, was released on January 28, 2010 in Japan.
Reception
During mid-November 2008, the seventh volume of the Future Diary manga ranked as the twenty-first best selling manga in Japan.[5] The volume remained in the top 30 during the following week, though it dropped to twenty-fifth place.[6]
References
- ^ "Future Diary, Sora no Otoshimono Anime DVDs Listed". Anime News Network. March 23, 2010. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-03-23/future-diary-sora-no-otoshimono-anime-dvds-listed. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
- ^ "Future Diary/Mirai Nikki TV Anime Confirmed for Fall". Anime News Network. April 21, 2011. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-04-21/future-diary-tv-anime-confirmed-for-fall. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
- ^ a b "未来日記" (in Japanese). Web Newtype. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/627JxM4dD. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
- ^ "未来日記" (in Japanese). Web Newtype. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/627JxM4dD. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
- ^ "Japanese Comic Ranking, November 18–25". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-11-26/japanese-comic-ranking-november-18-25. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
- ^ "Japanese Comic Ranking, November 26-December 2". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-12-11/japanese-comic-ranking-november-26-december-2. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
External links
- Anime official website (Japanese)
- Future Diary (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
Categories:- Manga series
- Anime series
- 2011 Japanese television series debuts
- Horror anime and manga
- Anime of 2011
- Manga of 2006
- Shōnen manga
- Supernatural anime and manga
- Tokyopop titles
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