Future Diary - Mirai Nikki - Episode 18

To kick off episode eighteen of Mirai Nikki, we step backwards a year to a simpler time, where Yukiteru had no concerns about death or danger and Yuno Gasai... well, she was still batshit crazy.

More specifically, this little aside brings us to the formative stages of Yuno's obsession with Yukiteru, as she does everything in her power to stop him delivering a love letter to the apple of his eye at that time, class representative Moe Wakaba.  Unfortunately, things don't go particularly well for Yuno as Yukkii and Wakaba are selected to go and buy materials for the forthcoming culture festival, leaving Gasai with no choice but to follow them in a terrifying pink rabbit suit to try and prevent any kind of confession from taking place.  Yes, I did say rabbit suit - don't expect to take this flashback entirely seriously, although it does take a decidedly dark turn as we get a glimpse of the circumstances that caused Yuno to murder her own parents.... but just who does that third body in her house belong to?

It's back to the present for the remainder of the episode, as a distraught Yukkii finds his pleas to Deus ex Machina to save his mum fall on death ears, before his diary informs him of the culprit of her murder - not a moment too soon, as his father returns home at that very moment.  Desperate to find evidence to prove his guilt, Yukiteru follows his dad around, only to find that he's seemingly changed his tune and is truly repentant for what he's done.  This latest reconciliation is soon cut short however, and before we know it it's back to murder and bloodshed aplenty, this time eventually coming from a surprising direction.  It's game on in the battle to become the new god of time, verily.

For all of its stupid plot points, watching Mirai Nikki is still an utterly entertaining and occasionally thrilling experience, with this particular episode demonstrating what the series can do in a variety of ways - its flashback segment was downright hilarious before visiting some decidedly dark territory, while Yukkii's decision to finally fight back and fight for the goal in this crazy game left me unsure whether to cheer him on, be disturbed by his effortless turn to the dark side or something else entirely.  So I just stuck with cheering.  When you're faced with two of the most messed up kids in the history of anime, what else can you do?