| 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 | Tokyopop |
| Demographic | 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 | Funimation |
| Original 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 |
Yukiteru "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 has suspicions about Yuno and her motives. By the time Yuno and Yuki become the last contestants, Aru and the rest of Yuki's friends chastise 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 knows is actually from a parallel universe. In Yuno's universe, she and Yuki were the last contestants and both of them agreed to commit suicide, but Yuno faked her death in an attempt to resurrect Yuki. However, Yuno became distraught and more insane when she learned that while she can resurrect the dead, she cannot bring back their souls. With the help of Muru Muru, Deus' servant and now Yuno's after she won the Diary game, both of them travel back in time to Yuki's universe and killed the Yuno of that universe, taking 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 the 9th Diary user who he believed died in the game but was initially turned part God by Deus (who had suspicions that the Muru Muru working for him is not the one he knows but the one from the parallel world working with Yuno), knowing that he would live long enough to stop them. Their plans foiled, Yuno and Muru Muru travel back in time 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 that, in this new universe, all the terrible things that happened to everyone in the previous universes never happened, including the fact that Yuno's parents never were abusive and lead to her insanity, due to Minene tampering the past, causing many events to change its course, including the Diary Game never initiating. With Yuno's Muru Muru stopped by Yuki's Muru Muru that Yuki had freed, Yuki convinces Yuno to come to her senses and surrender as he loves her, requesting that she kill him and return to his universe to create a better world for herself. Regretting her mistakes, Yuno instead kills herself as she loves Yuki too much, ending her life and making Yuki the new God of his universe.
In the end, 10,000 years have past since Yuki became the God of Time and Space, but he refuses to rule his world as he has lost everything that he ever loved and cared; his friends, parents and Yuno. In an unexpected Deus ex machina, though, the Yuno of the new universe breaks through time and space, recognizing Yuki, and invites him to her universe. The Muru Muru of Yuki's universe reveals that she contacted her new universe counterpart and together, they both implanted the Yuno of the new universe with memories of her past universe, hence why she recognizes Yuki. Furthermore, the Deus of the new universe also invites Yuki to his universe and makes both he and Yuno his heirs. The series ends with Yuki reuniting with Yuno, his friends, parents and the Diary users in a new, happier universe.
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.
| 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 | — | — |
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 |
| Reisuke tries several times to kill Yuki and Yuno, but the two of them thwart his attempts, soon realizing he is a diary owner. Yuki starts searching for Reisuke's diary in vain, while Yuno insists killing him would be faster. While chasing Reisuke with a hammer, Yuno ends up injuring Yuki's mother instead. Yuno figures out that Reisuke has posted his diary to himself in order to hide it and has Yuki intercept the delivery, but he falls prey to a poison gas trap hidden in the envelope. Reisuke challenges Yuno to a hide-and-seek game inside the poison gas filled house, promising the antidote if she manages to capture him. Yuno evades numerous traps set by Reisuke, but eventually finds herself at his mercy. However, Yuki intervenes, injuring Reisuke with a dart and giving Yuno the resolve and opportunity to finish him off. Yuno and Yuki collapse before managing to use the antidote, but Uryu, who has been informed about the situation from Keigo, appears and saves them. Before leaving, Uryu tells Yuki not to trust Yuno. | ||
| 08 | "New Model" "Shin Kishu" (新機種) |
November 28, 2011 |
| Deus calls a meeting of the eight surviving diary holders, one of whom requests to transfer his diary's ownership. Two weeks after Reisuke's disappearance, Yuki and Yuno transfer to a new school, while a series of brutal murders has been terrorizing the area. After school, Yuki and Yuno sneak in one of the crime scenes with Yuki's classmates Hinata, Mao and Kousaka. When Hinata wanders off, Yuki's diary predicts her being attacked. Yuki rushes everyone to the scene, where they find Hinata's body before a pack of vicious dogs. A strange boy called Aru Akise appears and leads everyone to a nearby building. Aru explains that he's one of Yuki's classmates and that he has been investigating the strange events Yuki keeps finding himself involved in. Despite Yuno's mistrust in everyone, Yuki decides to reveal the existence of his diary in order to defend the group against the pack's attacks. After the dogs suddenly retreat, Mao takes Yuki's diary at knifepoint and hands it to Hinata, who is alive and well. Hinata reveals she is the holder of the Breeder Diary and that her real target is Aru, whom she reveals as another diary owner. | ||
| 09 | "Blocked Call" "Chakushin Kyohi" (着信拒否) |
December 5, 2011 |
| In a flashback, Hinata receives the Breeder Diary from her dog breeder father, who wants her to eliminate Aru. When Hinata demands Aru's diary, he challenges her to guess which hand he's hiding a coin in, with his diary as the forfeit. Despite using Yuki's diary, Hinata loses and has to release Yuki. Yuno, however, realizes that Aru is not a Future Diary owner, relying on bluff and observation instead. Unfazed, Aru proposes one more round of his game, with Yuki's diary on the line. By intending to tell Yuki that he lost, no matter what the outcome, Aru manages to neutralize Yuki's diary, since its predictions are based on Yuki's perception. With the game thus reduced to a 50/50 gamble, Aru manages to guess correctly. Mao attempts to destroy Yuki's diary, but Yuno injures her. Yuki, Yuno, Aru and Kousaka leave the park, while Hinata uses her diary to send the dog pack after them. Yuki decides to return to Hinata and try to reason with her and save Mao's life, but Yuno reaches her first and threatens to kill her, as well as anyone who attempts to come between her and Yuki. To pacify Yuno, Yuki is forced to declare her his girlfriend. Hinata's father communicates with everyone via radio, explaining that he mistook Aru for a diary owner and warning Yuki about Keigo before being killed by him. | ||
| 10 | "Family Plan" "Kazoku Puran" (家族プラン) |
December 12, 2011 |
| While making bombs for Keigo, Uryu remembers the time she was captured by a detective called Nishijima while confronting the the Third. Although they develop a rapport as they evade and defeat the killer, Uryu ends up knocking Nishijima out to escape. Aru sets up Yuki and Yuno on a date to a bridal fair, where they meet Keigo's wife, while he investigates Yuno's house. When Yuki and Yuno return, they find Aru at the door of the room with the corpses. However, the wall has been demolished and the corpses buried in a deep hole in Yuno's garden. Even though this is Yuno's doing, she has no recollection of the event, nor of Yuki visiting her house before. Aru theorises that Yuno's mental balance is so fragile that she modified her own memories as a defense mechanism. Meanwhile, Keigo frames Yuki and Yuno as suspects for his murder of Hinata's father. | ||
| 11 | "Service Termination" "Sābisu Shūryō" (サービス終了) |
December 19, 2011 |
| In a flashback, Keigo forms an alliance with Uryu, promising to stop pursuing her and asking her to take care of his terminally ill son if he is eliminated from the Survival Game. Yuki and Yuno get arrested and brought to Keigo. In the interrogation room, Keigo forces Yuki to play Russian Roulette with his service revolver. Alerted to Keigo's treachery by her diary, Yuno knocks out the detectives guarding her and steals their guns. Just before Yuki gets shot, Yuno breaks into the room, injures Keigo and leaves with Yuki. Panicking, Yuki shoots at one of the policemen pursuing them. Since both Yuki and Yuno have now committed a crime, they can be detected by Keigo's Investigation diary, which was his plan all along. Trapped at the police station's roof, Yuki and Yuno jump off, but a truck's tarp breaks their fall. The next day, Yuki and Yuno are hiding from the police when they notice Keigo's wife visiting a hospital. When they follow her, they get ambushed by Uryu, who blows part of the floor up. After Yuki accidentally causes more of the floor to collapse, Uryu allies with Yuki in order to have Yuno pull them both to safety, incurring Keigo's wrath in the process. With their deaths foretold in all three diaries, Uryu takes Yuki and Yuno to the room where Keigo's son and wife are. | ||
| 12 | "Reception Outside Range" "Jushin Kengai" (受信圏外) |
December 26, 2011 |
| While the police surrounds the hospital, Uryu takes Keigo's wife and son hostage and tries to bargain with him. However, Keigo is convinced the only way to save his family is to win the survival game and refuses to negotiate. Yuki gets captured by the police, but as Keigo takes hold of him, Yuno appears, holding a grenade. Even when Keigo agrees to let Yuki go, Yuno decides to detonate the grenade, reasoning she'd rather die taking out Keigo than not be with Yuki. The grenade turns out to be a flash bang, knocking everyone out. Meanwhile, Uryu tries to escape the hospital, only to run into Nishijima. She tells him about the deal she and Keigo made and how he framed Yuki and Yuno, and they both rush back to the hospital. Yuki regains consciousness and tries to shoot at Keigo, but he uses Yuno as a shield. Despite his diary predicting he will kill Yuno if he shoots, Yuki refuses to give up, proclaiming his love for her. The future somehow changes and Yuki gets a clean shot at Keigo. Uryu arrives with Nishijima, who places Keigo under arrest. Since he's no longer a detective, his Investigation diary stops predicting the future. After learning his family has been rescued, Keigo asks Uryu to take care of his son, apologises to Yuki and breaks his own diary, removing himself from existence. Yuki and Yuno are exonerated thanks to files Keigo left behind, while Uryu escapes yet again. A few days later, Aru sends Yuki a text message warning him about Yuno, but she intercepts and deletes it. | ||
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.
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]