Future Diary - Mirai Nikki - Episode 2

The game is very much afoot now that Yukiteru and company know all about the so-called "future diaries" and the survival game into which they have been co-opted - and with the third diary owner dead at Yukiteru's own hands (well, at his darts at least), our protagonist is of course the prime person of interest for the others involved.

Initially however, Yukkii's primary concern is whether Yuko is stalking him or not, although I'd say receiving over forty text messages in one night is pretty clear evidence of that.  Anyhow, come the next day Yukiteru is torn about what to do given the shocking revelation that he's in the midst of a life or death game - by the end of the day though, that's going to be the least of his problems.

Before he knows it, Yukkii has made the acquaintance of the ninth diary owner, Minene Uryuu, who first reveals that the serial killer who he despatched last episode was actually his form teacher before turned out to be a crazy lady with a penchant for blowing things up that would make even Michael Bay envious.  Thus, Yukiteru finds himself trapped in a school packed with motion sensing bombs and other incendiary problems - thankfully, pooling together his future diary (which exhaustively describes his surroundings) with Yuno's (which catalogues everything that happens to Yukkii in detail) keeps them safe for the most part, although even this information has its holes which Uryuu succeeds in exploiting.  Add a detective with his own Future Diary into the mix and things get really interesting - and by interesting, I mean utterly insane.

Quite frankly, Mirai Nikki has proved itself to be absolutely bonkers thanks to this episode, with all of the death and violence (not to mention an annoying wishy-washy protagonist) of a slightly toned-down Deadman Wonderland, but thankfully with a much smarter and far more interesting plot at this juncture.  This instalment delights in the twists and turns which its premise allows it, while having no qualms at delving into the realms of the ludicrous when it suits the story - this admittedly risks chaining together too many eyebrow-raising moments to the point of questioning the credibility of the series, but on this occasion is just about pulls it off on account of having so much information and action that it can throw at the viewer.  For all of those moments of stupidity, I have to confess that I'm completely hooked on Mirai Nikki right now.