Future Diary - Mirai Nikki - Episode 12

Which is worse - shooting a man in the stomach, or eating the doughnuts meant for a comatose child in front of his distraught mother?  Such is the kind of moral conundrum that Mirai Nikki brings to us.

Then again, doughnut eating etiquette is hardly at the forefront of Yuni, Yukkii and Uryuu's minds as they find themselves surrounded in a hospital as Kurusu does everything in his power to hunt them down.  Even holding his wife and child hostage at gun-point does nothing to sway Kurusu from his goal of becoming god, as he sends forces swarming in to take down these so-called "terrorists".

So it goes that this week's episode largely becomes one of stand-offs - first between Kurusu as he grabs Yukiteru as hostage in the midst of a gun battle with a grenade-wielding Yuno, before the tables are turned and it's Yukkii who is left in a decidedly difficult situation while Kurusu holds Yuno at knife-point.  There can only be one victor eventually however, and with Uryuu also holding some tricks up her sleeve, Kurusu finds himself decidedly outnumbered and ultimately defeated.  Thus, a semblance of normality returns for our leading couple as the police investigation against them is dropped and they have one less diary owner to worry about - of course, it seems unlikely that such peaceful times will remain for very long.

While Mirai Nikki has occasionally astounded with its ability to deliver twists, turns, action and insanity, this episode rates more as simply "good" rather than anything quite so spectacular.  Perhaps it says more about how batshit crazy the series has been thus far rather than this instalment in particular, but everything felt strangely predictable and par for the course here - there were still some great moments of tension, but nothing that made you laugh with glee or exclaim loudly at what you'd just seen.  Still, this was a solid ending to the current story arc so I don't really have any cause for complaint, and we can surely rest easy in the knowledge that more insane things will be happening in this series again very soon indeed.