Just finished watching Future Diary (otherwise known as Mirai Nikki) Episode 8 "New Model". Ah, what to saaay? Well, so far, the anime has been sticking pretty close to the manga, which I am grateful for, if it’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s when an anime totally veers away from the original. Some minor variations do occur, but not entirely noticeable, and they add to the anime, in my opinion.
In this episode, Yuki and Yuno have started school once again, and Yuki is excited about the prospect of actually making some friends. Of course, Yuno, on the other hand, is not too keen on the idea(no surprises there). Gasai Yuno, though her past be a mystery, is a pretty predictable character by now. She trusts no one but Yuki and herself. She’s devoted to him, to the point of creepy, and will kill anyone who tries to harm Yuki. Note to Yuki: Forget about any other friends, Yuno’ll kill em all. She wants Yuki all to herself of course.
But, Yuki, of course, the gullible fool of a character he is, fails to notice(or just purposely ignores)Yuno’s dislike of the whole “friend” idea. And goes right ahead to make some “friends”(we’ll discuss those quotation marks later).
We’re finally introduced to Akise Aru in this episode(heeeeeeck yeeeees! He was one of my favorite characters in the manga, I WAS WAITING FOR THIS!!!). The first glimpse of him comes when Yuki spies Akise watching him from across the road.
Anyway, Yuki starts his first day of school by sneaking into the classroom. Ah Yuki, you’re such a nervous wreck. Unfortunatley for him, the classmate sitting in front of him happens to be Kousaka , the character who just so happened to betray Yuki in the second episode. Baha. The irony.
Kousaka proceeds to bully Yuki, but Yuki is presently saved by Hinata , who befriends him along with her friend Mai. It is around this time we learn that there is yet again a serial killer on the loose, who has been slaughtering people in a rather gruesome manner, according to Hinata, the corpses have been eaten(zombies anyone?).
Yuki, Yuno, Hinata, Mai, and for some strange reason Kousaka , all go off together after school to check out the scene of the crime. We are hence witness to one of my favorite scenes of the episode, when Yuno, who has hung back to observe with displeasure Yuki and his newfound “friends” this whole time, is shown drawing the word DIE in the ground over and over again while the others play.
SCREEN SHOT MUST BE GIVEN:
Oh Yuno you crazy yandere you.
!!SPOILERS AHEAD, BEWARE ALL YE WHO HAVE YET TO WATCH THE EPISODE!!
So, after some playing around, and Hinatas touching little, “were friends” speech, she runs off ahead of the others, beckoning them to follow and explore with her. Tsk tsk. Here Hinata makes the mistake of going alone, and is hence mauled and killed by a pack of ferocious dogs controlled by someone(possibly a future diary holder?).
Of course, Yuki’s future diary makes him aware of this, and he races toward where she went, the rest of the group following. There we see Hinatas chewed off arm in all its glory:
(What the heeeeeeck is up with this laaaame cencorship. MOSAICS? REEEEALLY? I really, really cannot wait till the uncensored version is out. This censorship pisses me off).
Of course, seeing Hinata dead, with tons of savage, snarling dogs behind her, Yuki goes into his “im pitiful and whiny and am going to cry and freak out on everyone and what is going on oh my god im a freakin baby” mode. Seriously, for some reason, I find him ten times more annoying in the anime. In the manga, I didn’t mind him so much, I felt pity for him, and yes, some irritation. But in the anime. I can bear with it, but it annoys me much more than before.
Anyway. In the midst of the desperate situation arrives Akise Aru to save the day! He walks out all cool and nonchalant, and introduces himself as Yuki’s friend, also calling Yuki cute(oh dear). Okay, so they run off and barricade themselves in an observatory, but (of course) it’s made mostly out of glass and the dogs are soon to break through.
Here comes a time for Yuki to make himself useful! He knows that if he uses his future diary, he can save them all, but at the same time, if he does use it, everyone will know about his future diary, which could be a very, very bad thing, due to the future diary holder nearby… Yuno tells Yuki that they should run away and leave these people to the dogs(haha, I love you Yuno). But Yuki can’t do that, he believes these people are his friends, and Yuki(though weak) is at heart a good guy. So he blows his cover and uses his future diary.
Together they save themselves, and the dogs finally run away. Everyone is happy, and curious, of course, about Yukis fancy cell phone with the nifty tell the future feature(can I have one of those?). Until…
YEP.
Mai’s actually a bad guy(or girl, whatever). Well then. TWIIIIST. (God I love these twists, that’s one of the reasons I like Mirai Nikki so dang much).
But. We’re not done yet. Oooooh no. Guess who comes waltzing in through the door behind Mai? You got it. Hinata. She’s not actually dead, and to top it off, she’s got a future diary too.
Now Yuki’s being held hostage, another future diary holder(?) knows about his own future diary, and…
What will Yuki and Yuno do?
This anime so far has left me with very little disappointments(I’ve already talked about that cencorship dealio, gah). It’s animation is crisp and beautiful (cept for wtc CG Deus, sorry, I just can’t get used to that), the music is excellent(love that opening and ending, check it oooout:Opening&Ending), the pacing is fast but to me handled fairly well. It follows the manga. That makes me happy. End of story.
I’m looking forward to continuing to review and watch each episode. They're exciting, intriguing, and definitely not a waste of my time.
Till later, Ciao.
