The Future Diary (Review)
Future Diary is Battle Royale Meets Precognition.
I have to admit that Future Diary is one of the first anime in a long time that blew my mind. It’s from the studio that brought us Shuffle! which was more than enough to give me a bit of pause, but I’m glad I decided to dive into this 26 episode series because I quickly devoured it. Future Diary has a little bit of everything, but at its core, it’s a dark and disturbing series. It’s quickly become one of my go-to recommendations for anyone who makes the mistake of saying they’re an anime fan around me.
Future Diary is basically about a battle to become God. Seriously, 12 humans are given the opportunity to battle to the death in order to replace the God of the series, Deus Ex. At the center of this battle royale is the most unlikely character of all, Yuki (Josh Grelle). He’s about as pathetic as they come, so what makes him worthy of being the star of this bloody series? Well, he keeps a diary on his cell phone that just so happens to include entries from the future, hence the title of the series. The thing is that everyone in this competition has a device that tells the future in one way or another, but none of them have the full picture of what is to come. Needless to say, things get pretty interesting pretty quickly.
The backbone of Future Diary is its diverse cast of characters. Don’t get me wrong, it’s made up of a bunch of white people, but all of the characters quickly become memorable. In other words, you start to care about them all pretty quickly and that makes it pretty complicated as they off each other one by one. Perhaps the most memorable of the series is Yuno Gasai (Brina Palencia), a pink haired girl with a serious crush on Yuki. While their relationship starts off cute, it gets really twisted as it’s revealed that she’s actually a demented stalker. One who would give her life to protect Yuki, and she’s got the skills to keep him safe from even the most dangerous killers that come for him.
What makes the series so interesting are the devices that the characters use to tell the future. While they all have their own future diaries, each one is a direct reflection of their character. For example, while Yuki’s offers his perspective of the events to unfold, Yuno’s tells her perspective of everything that happens to him. Together they’re able to put together a better idea of what’s to come so they can prepare for it. Don’t worry, time isn’t fixed in this series so the future is constantly in flux. All of the diaries though have interesting twists though, another character, Minene Uryū (Emily Neves) is a terrorist that has a diary that will always plot out the best course for her to escape any dangerous situation. I won’t spoil any of the other diaries for you, but it’s safe to say that things get interesting.
On that note, there is a lot of subtle themes about time, the future, and even time travel. Like Erased, the actions in the series are always changing the future. The characters though only have a narrow view of what the future will be for them (in various formats). Future Diary is a series that sees the trees from the forest. It’s an anime about how broad the concept of time is and how our perspectives shape reality around us. Not only that but the ending of the series is absolutely eye-opening. Like I said earlier, it really did blow my mind in the best possible way.
Future Diary is an action-packed series with plenty of comedy and even a love story at the center of it. All of these genres though are twisted in delightful ways. After all, how easy is it to have a romance with a girl who is a completely obsessed stalker? You’re just going to have to watch it to find out. Even with all these elements, it never loses sight of just how dark the base concept. Humans are fighting to the death by manipulating the future in order to become God. That alone is a lot to take in, which is why Future Diary never gets too heavy handed with its philosophy. It never tries to talk down to the audience or tries to impress them with their vast knowledge like series such as Psycho-Pass or Ghost in the Shell. Both of those are great series, but Future Diary is much easier to digest than the two of them.
To be honest, I don’t think Future Diary is a series that should be “binge-watched.” It’s easy to digest but has enough depth to encourage you to take your time with it. I have a three-episode rule when it comes to anime that prevents me from giving up on a series until after three-episodes. I’m willing to bet that if you give this series the three-episode opportunity it deserves, you’ll quickly find yourself hooked on it.
