First Impressions / Mirai Nikki

「混線」 (Konsen)
“Crossed Lines”

There are an awful lot of revelations in this episode, some more obvious than others, but I suspect it will mostly be remembered as the one where Yuki finally “manned up”. I doubt that will satisfy the legions of haters out there, but at least the specifics of the complaints might change a little.

This was a mighty important ep, and none too soon as we’re down to 8 weeks left and there’s not a moment to spare. I think think Asread can make it without drastic changes, but it’s going to be close, and there are going to be weeks when multiple threads converge like this one. Not a lot was changed from the manga, but a lot of the manga found its way in here, starting with the revealing flashback to a year before events of the series’ present, where Yuno’s nascent crush on Yukiteru was beginning to solidify. The tone of the guys in the schoolyard – “She’s hot, but I don’t have enough lives to go there” – was the prevailing attitude amongst Yuno’s male classmates, I suspect. Yukiteru’s virtues to Yuno were simple and understandable – he was nice, and he didn’t judge her (largely because he was as much a social outcast as she, and a little oblivious to his surroundings).

I was hoping the scenes with Wakaba Moe would survive intact, and they did. There’s lots of interesting stuff here – Yuki’s interest in another girl, for starters, and she’s one that looks eerily like his mother. Here we see Yuki in one of his few “normal” adolescent moments, shyly working up the courage to confess via a letter, and we see Yuno in proto-stalker mode. It’s her misfortune that her “strict curfew” leads the teacher to send Moe instead of her to accompany Yukiteru to buy supplies for the class’ maid café for the culture festival, and even more misfortune that she can’t speak up and say why her curfew no longer matters. So she dons a bunny suit and tails Yuki through the mall, terrorizing a small boy but basically seeming to be an eerily benevolent “lite” version of the yandere queen she’ll become. But when that trip is over, we see that things have already turned deadly with Yuno – and why. Bad parents are quite the hot topic in anime lately (and certainly in Mirai Nikki), but despite what she did to them it’s impossible for me to feel much sympathy – they seem like pretty sick bastards. We now know the identity of two of the skeletons the police found at the Gasai house, but not the third.

In the present day, Yuki has taken it upon himself to go to Deus and demand that his mother be revived – something the God declares he cannot do, as he no longer has control in the space time continuum. What has been hinted at, Deus confirms – he’s dying, literally falling apart – and if no one fills his place, the world will collapse and all within it perish. Murumuru suggests to Yuki that there’s only one way his mother can be saved – for him to become God himself. As this is happening Nishijima is trying and failing to find out the identity of the third body from Yuno, and Yukiteru’s father is hiding from the police and eventually, coming to Yukiteru’s house to “make his peace” with Rea. He neither confirms nor denies Yuki’s accusation that he killed Rea (which Yuki has learned from his diary) but when Yuki tails him the next day to a pawnshop, looking for proof, it turns out that Kurou is instead buying back his telescope – the very one Yuki and Yuno was on their way to pick up to watch the stars on the day she kidnapped him. Just as Kurou bares his soul to Yuki and declares his intention to turn himself in and make amends, several men dressed as police offers accost the pair and Kurou is stabbed.

Deus and Muru haven’t been interactive participants in the story much lately, and this certainly serves as a reminder of why this game was started in the first place. But the main focus will surely be on Yukiteru, who now joins Yuno as an orphan and seems to have finally been pushed past his limit. Yuki isn’t a natural-born killer, and it doesn’t come easily to him – but as his father lies dying it appears that he’s finally decided he has nothing left to lose, and when the attackers turn their attention to him, he fights back in a way he hasn’t done before – spontaneously and with anger in his heart. Three dead attackers later, Yuno arrives on the scene to finish the fourth – and Yuki is forced to confront the hard reality that in order to bring back those he loves, it won’t be enough merely to kill off strangers and those hostile to him – he’ll have to kill Yuno too, and while she declares herself “ready to die at any time for him”, it remains to be seen if he has the stomach to finish the job.

If you’re keeping score at home, the anime has averaged almost exactly two chapters per episode as of this week, and to finish the manga they’ll have to average just under three the rest of the way. That won’t be easy but it can be done – this ep covered just about three chapters – although I suspect there are going to be quite a few things left to the viewer’s interpretation rather than implicitly spelled out. Fundamentally this story is about Yuki and Yuno, and episodes like this do a lot to flesh out their characters and shed some light on how they got to be who they are – and who they’ll become – and that makes the job of wrapping up the story easier. People will likely fixate on the fact that Yuki finally stepped up and got his hands dirty in his own defense, but more than anything I think what happened is that this was the episode where he truly realized for the first time what the stakes were – the stakes of success in the game, and of failure. But even whatever small peace that might have provided him is short-lived, as the boy who’s been systematically betrayed by everyone he’s ever depended on realized that he could only achieve his goals by killing the one person he might still be able to depend on. In short, with these two, it’s no wonder they’re as messed-up as they are.

Omake

56 Comments

  1. WHAT!!! No one has yet to comment??? Yes, finally one of the “arc” in the manga made its way to animation. I am a bit worried about the pacing of it as well, but I hope it pulls through.

    Bakanekokun
    Reply

    4. YES, oh God, Wakaba looks even more like Rea in the adaptation, haha. It’s fairly obvious that Yukiteru is still suffering from confidence issues in the flashback, so of course he’ll latch onto the girl who makes him feel safe and reminds him of his mother. That said, Wakaba is a bit cute, although kind of bland, though that’s to be expected of a character with her level of importance.

      Donyo
      Reply

    5. yet one thing i’m still HUH give wonder does yuki got like so “mother-son” incest on his mom?

      really even going letter give try to female look like his mom?

      are you serious bro?! yea really give i’m assume pics/fic ideas whole yuki has mom-obsession yet really part me think could it be incest?

      MR.KLAC
      Reply

  3. The good:
    -Yuno went back to her original highschool uniform, yay! Long time didn’t see it.
    -We got a bit more information about her twisted past, and there’s still the mystery of who that third corpse is. My first guess would be Yuki’s lover who rejected him, but I think they’re saving that corpse for a more important character.
    -Yuno’s rabbit outfit and those weird silences between her and Yuki. Blocking his entrance to the toilet simply standing there, staring at him. Gave me a good laugh…Come to think of it, all the good points are about Yuno..

    The bad:
    -Inconsistent characters. Yuki’s dad all of a sudden turn all goody goody? After all that? Most importantly, Yuki seemed to be totally fine with it. If my dad killed my mom…Sheesh, I’d never recover from that one, nor forgive him. Or at least not that soon.
    -No major breakdowns between Father and Son? Weird, since I saw quite the emotional potential with that. It was the perfect chance for Yuki to scream at him all the f*cked up stuff that he has been going through lately; his father killing his mother at the top of it.
    -So much for making up one’s mind. One second Yuki’s like “Kill ALL enemies!”, the next one he cannot take out Yuno and cries his heart out. The good thing of it is that I can put myself in Yuki’s shoes: it’s not his attitude to want to kill everyone, I understand that…But please, if Yuki is going to end up switching back to his usual, wimpy self in the next two minutes, save yourself the trouble of portraying him as a potential turned-to-the-dark-side-hero (there goes another Ouma Shuu!).

    The Ugly:
    -Inconsistent character (again). I understand Yuki decides to kill all who stands in his way to become God and whatnot, but I find it hard that he took out that many guards by himself. Sure, he had his cellphone to read his enemies’ moves, but in the middle of the fight? Or you saw all that in those few seconds where your dad was stabbed, you made up your mind to become God (welcome to the game boy…It’s about time), decided to kill everyone and then read all that?…I understand I may sound over-skeptic, but as I have repeatedly said in posts of previous episodes, my frustration comes from the fact the studio could have avoided all those issues with a slight change of plans during the scene. Have Yuki say something like “Let me at least see my cellphone before dying” (and in a creepy, Yuno-like tone too for added effect), and I’ll buy that; just as I’m completly fine having Yuno, a highscool girl, deflecting projectiles with her knife. Anything would be better than that rushed result.

    When I watch an anime, I always want it to surpass my expectations, and, who knows, maybe teach me a life lesson or perhaps a cool message. Even crazy shows like Mirai Nikki can do that, or at least that is my opinion. And the thing is, this show was just as awesome as I wanted it to be the first episodes. It had the characters, the plot and, above all else, the potential. But, once the crazyness of it all sunk in, budget clearly dropped the ball in later episodes, and the plot started having its odd peculiarities, all these slowly summed up and made (me) lose the excitement that was to watch Mirai Nikki.

    I’ll still watch this to the end, because I want it to be good; see if it can redeem itself by the finale. I’d love to eat my words and, once it’s over, end up saying “Mirai Nikki? Oh, that show had awesome beginning, not-so-awesome development, and awesome ending.”

    Justinnnnnn
    Reply

    3. It’s not inconsistent characterization. It’s called adrenaline. Yuki has proven time and again in this show that when he’s cornered, he’s dangerous. It’s actually a real trait that I don’t see a lot of cowards use in anime (and it’s definitely NOT what Shu uses when he goes badass, hence why I think he’s badly characterized). There’s not much more to it than that. It’s just a guy who’s so scared for his life that he fights back, but after the adrenaline wears off, he starts to lose it.

      As for why Yuki forgave his father…he was going to turn himself in, he bought back the telescope, and Yuki is just that nice. And is it really that hard to see that his father realized what he became after stabbing someone he loved?

      Flawfinder
      Reply

      1. I see your points Flawfinder, and I find your opinion perfectly agreeable.

        That said, I find it very hard to relate such events with such actions were they taken to real life. Mirai Nikki is all about human drama, or at least that’s how I see it: amidst all the murders and murderers, the people involved in it have gone through so much, and it is in their interaction with each others’ relationship where I find Mirai Nikki most interesting.

        Indeed, Yuki has been cornered time and time again and showed unexpected behaviour. But while some are flat-out awesome, others have me saying in the back of my head “Yeah, that’s cool, but it’s too bad that’s impossible in real life” that ruins the awesome factor the scene could have had on me.

        Example: it’s one thing to see Yuki give an evil glance to Yuno and say “Go to hell” in a badass manner, or to go rescue Yuno before she gets raped by an evil cult without any real plan in mind, but it’s another thing to make up one’s mind in literally less than a minute and take down two-three guards (grown-ups and possible hired hitters too) by himself, even with the power of prediction.

        Justinnnnnn
        Reply

      2. I wasn’t bothered either by Yuki’s decision, or the way he managed to kill the three assassins. In the first place, his own life was under threat, so it was self-defense. Also remember the context – he’d just met with Deus, and realized that his only chance to bring back his Mom (and now his Dad) was to become God. He has something to fight for now. As for the attackers, they presumably expected Yuki to go down without a fight, because that’s what they were told would happen. He had the element of surprise.

        It’s indeed a flaw of Yuki that’s he’s too forgiving. He’s not Yuno or Minene – he’s basically a nice guy who’d rather not hurt anybody, given the choice, and all this ruthless survivalism doesn’t come naturally to him. His father was the only family he had left, and his contrition seemed genuine. He probably shouldn’t have forgiven him as easily as he did – he probably shouldn’t have forgiven Yuno so many times after what she’s done. But that’s Yuki.

        Guardian Enzo
        Reply

      4. This Episode only gave Yukki a REASON to win, and he was only surviving by Yuno and luck up till now not wanting to participate. Man Yukki’s father got some serious balls running to his Ex-wife’s home that he killed and paying HIS ‘respects’ with a straight face which was in fact on the run from the guys that end up killing him (apple doesn’t fall far from the tree in the pathetic department eh Yukki?).

        why is up till now that yukki’s reaction was so muted i mean his mother that he lives with most his life (when she’s home if at all) got killed and he was putting pictures of her on his freaking wall you would have sworn that there would have been a more violent encounter when his ‘father’ appeared and the father in question was pretty damn calm about the death of the woman that he supposed to still have feelings for. Being nice doesn’t always mean “good” he is just passive and you ever heard of the saying “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing” and this is Yukki in a nutshell

        Well Yukki will toughen up, but is he really going to make decisions not caused from being pushed by other peoples (or god) actions?

        Dear GOD Yuno’s mom is a Tiger Mom!! (Google search if you don’t know)

        FantomOmega
        Reply

    1. Yeah, but the ending of the flashback chapter lead directly to the continuation of Yukiteru’s story, both here and in the manga, so I don’t have a problem with it.

      Oh, and I noticed that the chapter that they adapted last week was appropriately named “The Worst Day”. It seems like Mirai Nikki, and the anime especially with those added scenes, loves to twist and just destroy Marco’s reassuring words about how if “today” is the worst day ever, then “tomorrow” will definitely be better. I mean, just look what happened to Yukiteru; I could almost laugh at how cruel it is.

      Donyo
      Reply

  6. Let’s put a tag on this… And these are fairly big spoilers, so open at your own risk. ~GE
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Terrorhunt
    Reply

  7. Well Enzo, moment of truth, time to see how they will handle this. I personally thought they would have sped things up in the middle area rather than now but whatever. They have barely enough time to go forward and still remain semi coherent, one more 2 chapter episode and they are going to be having serious trouble.

    KoroshiyaKi
    Reply

  9. Pretty awesome episode, but one thing strikes me as odd: why isnt Yuno arrested/in jail? Bodies are found in her backyard….wouldn’t normally one be arrested/in custody instead of being allowed to walk away??

    kao
    Reply

    1. After all the bombings and killings, I’m still amazed at how Yuno and Yuki are free to roam about like nothing ever happened. I’m even more amazed how the city seems to be pretty relaxed after all the activity that’s gone on.

      inferno10
      Reply

      1. Actually, I didn’t read the manga and to be honest, I don’t even remember exactly what I wrote for my guesses. But yes, those were legit guesses, and I think I have a good idea the direction of the story is heading now if it was deleted. Only part I’m not sure is that why all 3 of my guesses were deleted, so one of them must be true, which I have no clue which is the right now. But this week’s episode (19) kinda confirms my guess.

        And since I just got smeared a bad name by the reply from sawthat, I’d like to say my guess came from watching Steins;Gate where there were two Okarin.

        thenewhorde
        Reply

  12. Man Im so glad I can start watching the anime agine. I spoiled myself when episode 1 came out and read the manga all the way up till this point. So I have been waiting about 2 months for the anime to catch up to where I stoped reading.

    infinite
    Reply

  13. The first part where Yuno was hounding Yuki was very funny. The vending machine portion was a winner. I have major problems taking the entire “i die, the world dies” routine by Deus and Muru at face value. If so, the world would have start cracking in minor ways and yet nothing happens.

    Yuki learnt an important lesson this episode. Stupidity leads to pain, so try not to be stupid because you’ll pay one way or the other.

    Zaku Fan
    Reply

    1. Maybe not “stupidity”, rather naivete. Yukiteru is well-aware of how dangerous Yuno is, how disgusting his father’s actions were, etc. But he still wants to believe there is good in everyone, so he trusts them and forgives them. Not a good trait to have in this show, admittedly. But the death of his parents led to a loss of his innocence as well, so he’s gained the resolve to win in this game through any means.

      …Unless you’re talking about his father’s stupidity in handling money, in which case, yes, I agree that is a lesson that Yukiteru can take from all this.

      Donyo
      Reply

  14. Finally, Yuki is making somethings happen! I just hope Yuno isn’t as crazy as we all think. It is hard to tell, she jumps from being “okay” to “ABSOLUTLY INSANE!” Now whenever I see her I cringe…not knowing if she is going to do something that will make me fear kitchen knives even more!

    Missingnomer
    Reply

  17. I guess we arrived at the same moment certain young Jedi has lost his mother… All hail newborn Darth Yuki! And Murmur plays certain nice aging senator here… I am sure there will be more to that cute little devil yet!
    On the Yuno front I am having my own questions… questions needing answers, hopefully with DNA analaysis provided by Nishijima.
    And 11th starts his moves – with mercenaries, no less – which suggests he is someone quite wealthy and/or influential…

    ewok40k
    Reply

  19. hnnnnnng

    Yuno seems pretty different in the past. Calling Yuki on a last name basis and trying to prevent Yuki from delivering that letter (the Yuno we all know would have just killed Wakaba). My guess is that something related to the 3rd corpse may have tipped her off and made her completely obsessive over Yuki. Have no idea what that 3rd corpse is. I have a few wild guesses that, in this story, may actually be plausible:

    (spoiler tagged just in case)
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Moeronic
    Reply

    2. I’m going to add to your guess
      Show Spoiler ▼

      darkkodiak
      Reply

  20. oh boy indeed now yuki really now slowly to embrace the hate & driven to dark side.

    yea more know why yuki got why keep more on his mama really even going letter a female that look like your mama very so want to “do it” with your mama even a lookalike?!

    yea looking more what next?

    MR.KLAC
    Reply

  22. I’m not sure if Yuno’s opinion about her parents is the most trustworthy. From what we saw the only time her father was in the flashback was when she put them in the cage. Yet her mother shows up as the one looking down at Yuno when Yuno is in the cage and is even the one who insults Yuno after Yuno put them there. So I’m not entirely sure her father was abusing her.

    TheVoid
    Reply

    1. It is from her point of view, and there are some flaws with her reasoning and thought process, but rest assured that these flashbacks are pretty much how it happened.

      The rest is spoilered because Yuno’s family situation becomes a bit clearer later on.

      Show Spoiler ▼

      Donyo
      Reply

  23. I just found out something (maybe I’m late, but this has to be said) after listening to Faylan’s “Dead End” after so many times: the lyrics are actually in full ENGLISH. Faylan just twists the pronunciation to make it sound like Engrish.

    “The girl with the sharp thorn in her flesh
    I met you at your story
    Behind the hatred there lies a murderous love

    Do you kill your friends, if you can fulfill your wish?
    Can you die for someone?
    They are synonymous words

    Life is a game, it is survival. That’s right! How do you start?
    Time and space, it is a crossroad through a gate! Where do you go?

    You seek eternal breath
    Why do you need to live?
    We don’t know when this world came into being
    We are the time leaper

    Nothing’s gonna change with you in the world
    Everything will be decided by the rules
    Oh, we are traveling the past and the future through love

    Break out!
    Let’s dial back all the pains and we will be born again
    I wanna see the stars with you
    Over the miracle
    It’s not a Dead End”

    The_Magus_Killer
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *