「契約不履行」 (Keiyaku Furikō)
“Breach of contract”

Well, give yourself a cookie if you figured it out…

Obviously neither Asread nor P.A. Works planned it this way, but it seems almost a shame that the two big reveals of this anime season should happen within 24 hours of each other – and of course, I get to write about both. I’m still guessing along with most of the viewers of Another – if you follow my posts on that show you know what those guesses are – and of course, while I knew what was coming here there’s still a lot more left to reveal in Mirai Nikki. Still, there’s no question that the big mystery in the minds of most of the viewers was solved this week. And yes, if you were to look back the clues about what Murumuru revealed to Yukiteru (among other clues) were definitely there.

Most of the talk this past week has been about how much everyone hates Yukiteru – nothing new there. The reasons may have changed, but the end result is the same. It’s understandable, but in my view the essential nature of Yukiteru is the essential nature of Mirai Nikki – if he weren’t a pretty normal kid, the events of the series would lose all meaning. His decisions in the last two weeks make perfect sense in the context of his decisions in the first half of the series, when everyone hated him for being a wimp and for not trusting Yuno. Now they hate him for being cold and for trusting her too much, but throughout all of it I think Yukiteru pretty much acted like a normal person in about as abnormal a situation as you could imagine. Each time he was grasping at the branch that seemed to offer the best chance at normalcy – his parents, his new friends, and finally Yuno – and each time he was betrayed. In the end the only thing left for him is not to trust anyone, but that’s a hard lesson to learn when the world is scheduled to end tomorrow.

I certainly give him credit for one thing – with the world about to end Yuki did what any self-respecting 14 year-old boy would do, and had sex while he still had the chance. I think the wisdom of the pacing decisions Hosoda and Takayama have made is really showing itself now. They screamed through the action chapters at breakneck speed, lending the story an exhilarating and breathless energy, and saved up time to really savor these last few chapters. In fact I can say that pretty much everything from the corresponding chapters was covered this week (while the sex scene was toned down, I was pleased that it was at least shown rather than just implied), and even expanded upon. With events like this week, the audience really needs time to take it all in and consider, and Yukiteru needs to be a little reflective – exactly the opposite of what’s been needed up to now. Full credit to those guys and Asread for being smart enough to figure that out.

In terms of Yuno’s situation, I still think it best if I don’t go into any detail – there’s still some interpretation to be made there, and it’s only fair to let people come to their own conclusions. What’s unequivocal is that Yuno isn’t the only one that’s been hiding something, and Murumuru’s role in all this has been revealed to be quite different than what it originally appeared to be. There’s still plenty of mystery behind her – the why, the how, and what she has planned next. It’s also very obvious that the world is in a bad way – mini black holes are opening up everywhere, swallowing houses and apartments and streets, and the world seems to be a very lonely place all of a sudden. I couldn’t help but think of a certain episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” when Dr. Crusher found the rest of the Enterprise crew – and parts of the ship itself – disappearing around her, with the remaining crew having no memory that they’d ever existed…

For all its awkward moments and relatively modest animation, I think this adaptation has been a very good effort by Asread – as a big, big fan of the manga I can honestly say it’s been better than I expected. While the visuals aren’t flashy I think the series has captured a certain look – faithful to the manga but slightly accented, and rather stylish. It makes a nice change to hear a cast that isn’t all familiar voices, too – I can’t listen to KanaHana or Kaji Yuki without knowing exactly who they are, but here I’m able to hear the manga characters speaking to me – and I think the mostly inexperienced cast (with big names coming through big-time in supporting roles) has improved steadily as the series has progressed. How you feel about the last three episodes will of course vary from viewer to viewer, but that will be to the credit (or blame) of Sakae Esuno – based on the track record and the time left, there’s every reason to think the anime will present the manga’s ending as it was intended, without the need for major changes. If you’d told me all of the above when the series started, I would have taken that very gladly.

88 Comments

      1. Well then, I can’t really reply to that because I don’t know how to spoiler tag.

        But with this episode I get to say what I wanted to say for awhile now.

        Why was everyone calling Yuno the queen of yanderes? She is the fucking god of yanderes!

        KoroshiyaKi
    1. K real thing now. Shit messed up with the first one… Hope this edit is enough to allow it to pass.

      “Can anyone give a small outline of all the clues we saw from the start that this was a second world?”

      K now that I know how to use spoiler tags lets begin.

      Show Spoiler ▼

      Of course I could be forgetting a few things since I’m trying to do this from memory.

      KoroshiyaKi
      1. I was pick up on any of that as a non reader of the manga. I’ve started to read some of the chapters after watching ep22 and there was a lot of clues Asread purposely left out that I would have pick up on. I like the surprise but as soon as there was two diaries wheels started to turn on the possibly. I’ve only read to the last chapters for episode 22 as I want to enjoy how this will unfold.

        Ani_BEE
  1. Well, this was a drastic turn for the better. Seriously, good stuff!

    -The time travel revelation was awesome. The moment Yuki mentioned what Akise’s message read I went “DAAAAAAAAAAAAMN” out loud. Couple that with Insane Yuno’s return and looks, and you got yourself an awesome scene.

    -I really liked this episode’s pace too. Much like you said Enzo, this was a nice break from those fast, action episodes. (Though I found it confusing why the couple decided to wait till the 28th? Why shouldn’t Yukki kill Yuno right there? Yuno’s happy ending or what?)

    -Again, like Enzo said, I liked the sex scene wasn’t implied, and also that they didn’t dwell too much upon it and moved on.

    As always though, some rant points:
    -Murumuru’s intro scene got me in a bad mood. This was pathetic. I expected her to transform into some twisted, evil being now that her true motives have been revealed, or least to let the cinematography portray her dark, evil side to this adorable chibi.

    -Am I the only one who hates excesively high-pitched voices? When Yuno broke down and called Yuki stupid and cold for not making a move yet, her cries were the worst this series has made me endure.

    …No more hating this week, yay!

    Again, the time-travel revelation was pure win. I’d like to see, even if briefly, how Yuno really fell in love with Yukki back in the first world, where maybe Yukki had to be more macho and a better leader because of altered events (much like Madoka Magica).

    Best look Yuki has had in the entire series. Even when he went all cold and decided to kill everyone, he was still Wimpy Shhhhyuu Yukki.

    Now that time travel-endings have been made possible, I predict Yukki will kill this Yuno, go back in time where everyone was alive, and do some martyr stuff or talk a way out of this mess to keep everyone alive and happy. Make it interesting, DEEN :] !!

    1. That’s also why Yuno has two diaries. Nice.

      I’m guessing her first Diary wasn’t Yukki-related, since they gave it to her before she became so obsessed with Yukki (though I think this had already been implied by Akise).

      I want some first world stories, DEEN…

      1. Lets break it down then, her first diary (the diary she got in the first world) is the diary that controls her life. That is the diary she has been using from the start and the diary that refers to Yukiteru as Yuki (because of her closeness to him her writing style in the diary changed). The diary she received in the second world is the second world Yuno’s diary which still refers to Yuki as Amano. But she was always Yuki’s stalker in both worlds because he was her emotional support after killing her parents (just that the second worlds Yuno reached a ‘bad end’ so that first world Yuno could play the game again).

        KoroshiyaKi
      2. Mmm, but I don’t know if all that has been written in stone. It could well be the othr way around: her first world’s diary is the one that refers Yukiteru as Amano (correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think a Diary’s writing/abilities may change after their creation). This diary could well have other kind of preditions than her Love Diary.
        Speaking of which, this’d mean her Love Diary was handed to her in the second world; a diary that now reflects her obsession with Yukki.

        The only real thing that is 100% true:
        Love Diary–> Calls Yukiteru Yukki. Predicts Yukki’s actions.
        Unknown Diary–> Calls Yukiteru Amano. We don’t really know what it predicts.

        But you read the manga, so I’m guessing your theories are right…Unless you’re going for a mindfuck (which I refuse to believe 😛 !).

      3. Hum well it could be that way as well considering she won the first game then the life attachment condition could have been made void, by herself or Deus. It would fit better as well but the point being she has two diaries that tell the future.

        Well I could be going for one, you never know. Btw, did Akise mange to outsmart anyone besides Deus?

        KoroshiyaKi
      4. DEEN isn’t animating this (thank God). It’s Asread.

        And they dragged it out because of Yuno’s Happy End, yes, but also because Yukiteru didn’t want to kill her after learning from his friends that everyone he killed couldn’t be brought back to life. At the time when he first heard it, he was hoping they were lying, but he’d been given time to think about it here and then decided they were telling him the truth. (Like Kousaka pointed out, Yukiteru just believed what was convenient rather than facing the truth.) Yukiteru even said it himself, that he wouldn’t become God if it meant that he had to kill Yuno. Also, listen to Yuno’s words after Yukiteru tells her. “It’s going to be like this again…” And then she attacks him afterwards; she’s pleading for him to kill her because she wants him to be the one to live, but if he won’t do it, then she’ll kill him instead, like before.

        Also, Yuno’s reason for loving him has always been the same in every timeline: the scene where they’re writing down their future goals, giving her something to live for. He’s no different at either point, although his participation in the survival game has made him more a bit more cold and callous, so if you want a more “macho” Yukiteru, well, he’s right there haha.

        Donyo
      5. A manga reader is asking…There must be a trick here!

        Jokes aside, umm, I guess he did? He outsmarted Kousaka several times, I guess…

        No, seriously this time!
        -Hinata’s Father (?)
        -Yuki’s friends.
        -Yuno (In his final moments)

      6. Donyo, interesting remarks you made about Yuno and “It’s going to be like this again…”; had forgotten that moment amidst all the interesting developments!

        Well, I guess there’s still some explaining to do about Yuno’s motives and past. And as regards to her killer love for Yukiteru (ba dum tss), I’d like to believe there’s something more that happened in the first world other than that afternoon in the classroom. Even if mentally unstable by then, you’d think someone would need a little bit more to make you that insane for somebody else.

        –>Plothole detected? If this is the second time Yuno is living this game…Why didn’t she predict and kill all Diary Owners earlier?

      7. –>Plothole detected? If this is the second time Yuno is living this game…Why didn’t she predict and kill all Diary Owners earlier?

        She was pretending to be “this world’s” Yuno, and she doesn’t want Yukiteru to know that she is from another timeline; to that extent, she repressed some of her memories. And she also has the disadvantage of her phone only predicting what happens to Yukiteru, no one else, so she couldn’t look like she knew too much. She probably knew all about Tsubaki’s plans (hence why she didn’t ever trust her), Fifth’s plots (she was always very careful and thwarted many of his early assassination attempts before the poisonous gas), Hinata trapping Yukiteru (hated Hinata and the rest from the beginning), Fourth’s upcoming betrayal (she started looking around for some weapons), etc. But once again, it’s not in her diary’s power to predict such things, and she was already trying to repress her memories from before.

        And MuruMuru also showed Yukiteru that things did not always play out exactly like they did in the first world; there were some differences to them, even though the players were all the same. Considering it was only Yuno’s first repeat, she did well with what she had.

        Donyo
    2. About the two diaries, The Amano-kun Diary is the 2nd world Yuno’s diary because she didn’t get to know him that well. In this episode when she writes on the wall with blood she says “help me Amano-kun.” It still predicted all of Yukiteru’s actions just like the love diary.

      KIRandom
    1. I did the same thing, but I stopped right before this episode/chapter.

      I originally followed the manga as soon as translations came out. The first OVA was announced right when the translations of the manga were only around that chapter. I figured a full anime will come out sooner or later, so I decided to stop reading the manga and wait.

      Yes, I waited about 2 years for that reveal just so I can see it in animated form.

      Tre
      1. Yeah, I stopped at that point too originally. Then I said hell with it, I’m gonna read until there’s 5 chapters left! And it actually gave me a pretty good twist that I really hope is explained well in the remaining 3? 2 Episodes?

        Da5id
      1. The way I see it Yuki’s down spiral from normalcy (besides the fact that this game took place at all) all began with the 4ths betrayal, then his parents deaths, then 9ths death, then his friends deaths, and finally Yuno’s betrayal.

        Show Spoiler ▼

        KoroshiyaKi
      2. This thread is getting dangerous, so I’m going to cut it off here.

        Spoiler tags are easy – it says how right below the comment window. Just use the appropriate tags at the beginning and end of the spoiler. Please use them – some of your comments up above are dancing pretty close to the edge.

      3. Actually you should just delete everything from my the first comment and the resulting responses stringed. It wasn’t very important and you got my point already. This coulda been carried out over mIRC much more… efficiently.

        KoroshiyaKi
      4. I think you and GE are talking about separate things: you mentioned that Yukiteru fell from normalcy due to events that occurred due to these people, but GE suggested that Yukiteru actually clung to these people as a means of trying to cling to a normal life, which is why I’d too give you 4th, who is a police officer and authority figure that Yukiteru thought he could trust, but not 9th, who is a terrorist bomber and grumpy ally of Yukiteru’s at best.

        Donyo
  2. I wish Studio Asread animated more of Yuki and Yuno’s intimate scene. I know it wasn’t the focus of the episode, but I wanted to see if I could savor all the little emotions on Yuno’s face when she and Yuki were doing their lovemaking-before-destruction-of-the-world a.k.a Happy End.

    And then Yuki had to mention Akise (who got over his head last episode), and then Yuno started going “Blood for the Blood God, Skulls for the Skull Throne!!!” again with her hatchet. Nice job breaking it, Yuki. You had to say the wrong things during the “pillow talk” scene.

    I wonder why MuruMuru took Yuki on a trip down the archives of the 1st world? Since she said it was her job to keep the Survival Game interesting, did she plan on making Yuki kill Yuno once she was done telling him the truth? I thought MuruMuru was in cahoots with Yuno?

    Nice episode, all in all.

    @Justinnnnnn: Studio DEEN has nothing to do with Mirai Nikki. It’s Studio Asread that’s animating this show.

    The_Magus_Killer
      1. I read the manga part of the previous episode, so I already knew the whole “she’s from a different world” thing. But even I was surprised with this turn of events.

        Gotta love the fact that even when they revealed this much, you still know nothing.

        JHN
  3. well, look at the true meaning of killing anyone who stands between yuno and yuki – ANYONE…
    oh, and kudos to Murmur for being so damn good at pretending to be comic relief for the most of the series!
    though, if anyone had been genre savvy, being properly paranoid would mean suspecting her from the very start for the very reason of being comic relief

    ewok40k
    1. It’s actually a lot easier to suspect her of having ulterior motives in the manga; she seems a bit menacing in her little chats with Deus, because it’s implied that she’s always one step ahead whenever she starts discussing the players and their likelihood of winning, and she’s not involved in as many crazy antics as she is in the anime, though many of those omake chapters were originally from the manga anyway.

      Donyo
  4. Now, that’s what I call a major plot twist. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any crazier, this happens.

    But, how worse can it get now that Yuki knows the truth? Now that he’s on his own, who can help him now? Hint: Show Spoiler ▼

    Terrorhunt
  5. K real thing now.

    “Can anyone give a small outline of all the clues we saw from the start that this was a second world?”

    K now that I know how to use spoiler tags lets begin.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Of course I could be forgetting a few things since I’m trying to do this from memory.

    KoroshiyaKi
  6. why after seeing this yea indeed only one person i know might have said it all ONORE DECADE & YUNO this is all their fault yea indeed narutaki said it.

    after deus reduce to small piece murmur now take it over goes empress murmur!!!
    few days yuki indeed realize his friends we’re telling the truth & yuno is a lie.
    talk to yuno oh it’s a barrel bath yuno.
    few days of random thing of dinner, home, school, etc that yuki finally got something to do.
    after a date yuki & yuno has finally “DO IT” then ask for truth & mention mom dad part.
    cue axe but false alarm then some ok then akise’s message oh axe is back again!!!
    RUN YUKI RUN for your life oh see ya on the fall push.
    yuki all ok seeing himself & yuno can’t touch.
    it’s all murmur’s version mirai nikki christmas past looking all past event & the TRUTH.
    yea the TRUTH is yuno is from another world (cue ONORE DECADE)!!!
    oh see truth more why 1st yuno did it from fake suicide to bring yuki back but no.
    & them want yuki back then ta-da enter 2nd world.
    1st yuno meet 2nd yuno meep 2nd yuno got axe’d.
    yuki seeing WHAT kind of TRUTH realize that yuno he knew from dream wanting is hurt & down.
    then 2nd world yuno still bleeding in pain hear yuki’s voice write one message “help me”.
    yuki going all YUNO!!! on it indeed ONORE 1st yuno got some explain to do.

    alright after like channeling like Narutaki about it few eps to go ONORE indeed what next?

    CAPTAIN MAR-KLAC-VELOUS
    1. I’m sorry, but I can barely even make this out. Who is Narutaki? What is ONORE DECADE even supposed to be? What are you referring to? Is this comment serious or meant to be funny?

      Donyo
  7. Where did that axe come from anyways?
    Having sex while carrying an axe is a really weird thing.
    Then again, the ones doing it were really weird to begin with…

    And this episode kind of changed my view for this part.
    Depending on how the next episode plays out, it might change my view on this, especially the last parts. We’ll see though.

    *goes to reread the manga version of the sex*

    belatkuro
  8. Why was Yukii so upset first-world-Yuno (FWY) killed second-world-Yuno (SWY)? Is it because she promised to be his wife? So did FWY. SWY was bound to go bananas eventually just like the original Yuno that became God, why was she so precious to Yukii?

    Another thing – If you kill the diary owner, shouldn’t the diary stop functioning? Last episode Yuno took SWY’s diary into battle against Akise in order to trick him and getting his guard down. Shouldn’t SWY’s diary end once she is butchered, or is there no such law?

    lucci
    1. The first time around Yuno wasn’t a murder but learned through the game how to be. Yes she starved to death her parents but they taught her how to be crualy and given Yuno’s abbusive situation with wealth/influential people are guardians she was probably scared shitless about letting them out.

      This current Yuno is broken because the happy ending she was hoping for will never come and was driven mad to try an reclaim it my any means possible.

      Technically yes second Yuno diary in theory should have disappeared but Yuno is a god now and she is also still alive so there is a physical Yuno to replace her the second on both body and soul. You can still die without destroying there a future diary. As 8th and 7th died from blood loose instead of the diary being destroyed. So long as their is someone that matches the user I think they would stay in play.

      Ani_BEE
  9. Well, to me, there seems to be a big loop hole or plot hole depending on your perspective;
    Show Spoiler ▼

    I’ll give it a pass because imo Yuki and Yuno are not smart enough to make that argument. On another note, gosh Yuki, last day before the end of the world and you don’t go butt wild during the sex lol. Should have repaid all those rough times Yuno gave him with some rough loving haha. I however do look forward to how things will play out now.

    darkkodiak
    1. Nice catch! Didn’t think about it. Maybe that’s why Show Spoiler ▼

      lucci
  10. this is kinda bullshit that we’re suppose to give ourselves a cookie if we figured it out when I threw out that theory over a month ago saying the corpse is the real Gasai Yuno and got deleted by Enzo and flamed by some asshole after me saying I read the manga and wanted to pretend to be smart and had to hear people say shit about me.

    thenewhorde
  11. Yuno´s diary (1rst world diary)is the same of the second yuno (of the second world), since she was using the same diary when she killed second world YUNO and the second world YUNO already had received her Yukiteru diary. So it means that both diaries had the same power, though, it also means that the 1rst world Yuno could use it, since she was in soul and body YUNO. The change was that the Second World Yuno refered to the Second world Yuki as YUKKI (instead of her first Amano). Her diary is pretty weak, but she made it great even though. Even if she had memory of what happened with the other diary holders trying to kill them alone was pretty dangerous since they could predict her movements but she could not predict them (unless she was with Yuki). The only one who outsmarted Yuno was in fact 5th, whom seem to have been killed more easily in the first world (i think because 9th died more quickly in the first world) -but that is for manga readers-. Id like to see at least a plot of the events in the first world.

    Seikhan
  12. Also, the whole Yuki talking to Yuno in the vision is bullshit. In the begining of the series they played it as such and the same (with the same lines), its just a simultaneus “casuality”, though very good in fact. Also, as a philosophical clue, the creator of the manga should have readed to Nietzsche, since all the series is just a “circulus vitiosus deus”, with Yuno wishing to repeat it all over again. Though such, i hated that they picked Bacchus to be a facist (John Balks 11th) cause Bacchus is the representation of Dionisus, AKA Nietzsche (German), and in his Book Ecce Homo he stated he despreciated Germans, since they were vulgar, and that his wish wasnt to make humanity better. Anyways nonethenless good anime… could give more clues about the symbolical and methaphisycal sh*t going on but ill keep it down =D

    Seikhan
  13. i recently watched eps 1-21 in a row, and after i saw 22 i gave up and read the manga. And was still very disappointed in the plot. For me, her batshit crazy yandere personality quietly excuses any of the mystery around her, so all of Akise’s focus on her in ep 22 was kinda odd. And more importantly, why does Yukiteru like her at all? Is he a masochist?

    At least the artwork in the anime is better than that in the manga…

    valdor
  14. Sorry for posting so many comments.

    Since Yuno made it to the end of the game and became god in the first game, she’s still god now, right? Just travelling back in time doesn’t de-god her, since time and space is under her control. So why doesn’t she just travel back to a time before Mur-Mur decides to troll everyone, and, w/ the power of a god, get rid of her and Deus once and for all? The world collapsing wouldn’t be a problem, since Yuno would already be the next god. Even if she failed (because MurMur somehow outwit her or something), she could have gotten rid of other Mirai Nikki holders too, like Eleventh, so that the game would have had different rules (aka no killing), and romantic competitors like Hinata and Akise, before the design of the game.

    petitorenji
    1. The obvious/easy/logical answer is that Yuno forfeited her prize as God of Space-Time once she traveled back in time because there cannot be two at the same time. Highlander kind of thing: “there can only be one!”

      Otherwise, it’s a gigantic plot hole, the God of all plotholes.

      I’m sure they’re gonna “explain” this away soon.

      1. 1) If Yuno forfeited her prize, she is stupid and therefore out-of-character. The Yuno(s) we know would do anything to live side-by-side Yukiteru.

        2) Yuno doesn’t forfeit her prize, she just doesn’t have the ability to change “fate”. But that wouldn’t make sense as fate is solely dependent on time-space, and as the god of time-space, Yuno should have no problem bending/twisting and destroying/redesigning it

        3) Yuno tried the above and was stopped by MurMur/Deus. But she should have won anyway because A) Deus was already weak to begin with, and b) MurMur, as annoyingly powerful as she is, is only a servant and so shouldn’t have as many powers as the new, young, yandere god. Like Homura from Mahou Shoujo Madoka, Yuno could stop and reverse time to her advantage in battle.

        4) Deus and Murumuru placed another invisible rule that anyone who won and became god would lose that power if he/she goes back in time. That would be a very cheap plot device. But even then Yuno should be able to rewrite it (while staying in place) so that could go back without losing her powers. And that would be potentially dangerous to Deus and MurMur, because each winner could go back in time to before the game starts, and each new winner could become god. We would have an endless increase in the number of gods.

        If I missed any other possibilities, please let me know.

        petitorenji
  15. “His decisions in the last two weeks make perfect sense in the context of his decisions in the first half of the series, when everyone hated him for being a wimp and for not trusting Yuno. Now they hate him for being cold and for trusting her too much,”

    My dislike of Yuki is based on his indecision. If he wanted to win then he needs to take steps to win. If he doesn’t want to kill, he needs to take steps to ensure that. Trusting Yuno is always going to be pretty stupid. As i mentioned back in ep 4, “just make sure she’s in front of you at all times and don’t call her insane.”

    Zaku Fan
  16. Lol, Yuno killed the first First 1st and the second Second 2nd.

    Well, I finally watched the actual episode, and it made me question stuff I should have when I read the chapter:

    Even if the 1st Yuno lied to him numerous times and made him kill his friends, Yukki only talked to the 2nd Yuno once. 1st Yuno was the one he spent all that time with. Why would he be mourning the death of a girl who looks like Yuno but he never really did anything with? I’m fine with being mad at Yuno for the other stuff, it just seems odd he’d care about the other Yuno dying. They both would have turned out the same way eventually.

    Da5id

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