When that cop suddenly started to propose to Ninth, I was a bit baffled. I mean, can you possibly find an even worse timing for that? It was obvious that he had a crush on Ninth, but the sheer randomness of actually proposing was a bit too much here. And then the rest of this episode aired, and I understood. Of course: in fiction, proposing to someone in the middle of a story is the equivalent of signing your own death sentence. It’s not really a plot-hole this time, but more like a really bad twist.
The cheese is what sets Mirai Nikki apart from Guilty Crown though: Mirai Nikki knows full well that it’s supposed to be over the top, and to its credit: this was exactly that. This was very entertaining, whereas Guilty Crown on top of being full of bad twists and plotholes is also completely stupid, very badly written, poorly built up and has atrocious characters. Here though, I liked Ninth quite a bit, and I have to admit: Yukiteru’s appearance in this episode was excellent.
This really is the Winter of WTF. First we had Milky Holmes, then Aquarion Evol also took the bizarre train, followed by Danshi Koukousei, Nisemonogatari, and really: Mirai Nikki also caught it. I’d also include Guilty Crown, but that unfortunately is in a bad way.
This was what I’ve been hoping this show would be: straight-up entertainment. It’s nothing much more, and it’s a shame that the first half of this series didn’t really impress much, but with episodes like this I’m glad to have continued.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
So what exactly is your stance on Guilty Crown’s badness anyways? Is it so bad that it’s funny (like Reefer Madness, Manos: The Hands of Fate, and I remember you saying that Wolf’s Rain was this)? Or is it so bad that it’s boring (like practically every ecchi harem anime out there)?
I personally think the former, as part of the charm with Guilty Crown is that it doesn’t know it’s being bad, so I can laugh when Inori turns into Crystal Wolverine or something (who thought you could do that without proper buildup and expect to take it seriously?). But Guilty Crown isn’t something I’d re-watch anytime soon.
Problem with the cop proposing to the ninth is that its a plot point belonged in a sort of extra or side story material. Meaning because its clearly not going to be covered in the anime – most likely anyways – you’d be WTF (whereas if you managed to read the supplemental material which is at times equally WTF you’d see the two pretty much had ALOT of coincidental meetings all ending with the cop falling for the ninth in her numerous guises).
Agreed, the past several episodes have ramped up the very element that makes Mirai Nikki stand out from the competition – its sheer absurdist, over-the-top insanity.
Asread adaptation improved on the original material from the manga, and we are now in the middle of chapter 43. Only 16 left to finish off in the remaining 6 episodes.
So the pace has slowed a bit to make for a proper finale? The fact that it zoomed through the first bunch of chapters might explain some of my qualms with the show earlier on.
In any case, this was an episode that was very true to the heart of the series as psgels describes. The shounen influence can be seen strongly, but it certainly doesn’t overwhelm the series.
The moral is not to over-analyze and just have fun, I suppose. I guess I can work with that — I think we can all agree that it’s dialing up the intensity level these past few episodes.
My math says 16 chapters in 6 episodes = 2.67 manga chapters per episode. Assuming the story in the manga does not elongate/oscillate according to panel size, due to the action scenes.
Since I’ve only read the manga up to chapter 41 (I read it only after each episode, and to the end of the episode) I don’t know if zooming through 4.5 chapters in episode 20 was a good idea with respect to the remaining chapters. We’ll see.
Mirai Nikki becomes more effective, it seems, when it keeps the story at a fast pace — so the audience doesn’t start thinking, identify plot-holes that ruins the Mirai Nikki magic.
Over analysis kicks in when the plot stutters and the story fails its inner logic.
This episode IS excellent.
I hate it when Yukiteru’s being totally stupid and useless, during the first half of the anime.
My question is, why is mr. God let mr. Politican led him by nose?
Guilty Crown? Why is Arisa such a bitch? Why did she fall in love to Neo-Gai? Why did she have sex with some nameless jerk? There are too many ‘why’s.
I don’t understand the big deal everyone makes out of Arisa. Like many characters in that series, she was simply given a bit of screentime and character establishment so she could be used as another convenient plot tool. Guilty Crown loves to use uncharacteristic plot twists as substitutes for buildup and exposition.
I thought this substitution could be related to the constrained time the story has to unfold, but any other reason works equally well. Regardless, the blame should be disseminated to many elements of the production (only the score and animation are truly spared) — the plot is filled with holes and needless shock-twists, the character development is rapid and forced, character interactions are skipped, rushed, or overly volatile.
With double the number of episodes, the cheap substitutes could have been swapped out with legitimate buildup on all fronts. The exposition can take the time to fill plot-holes and explain various curious anomalies, character interactions can be both more prolonged and more frequent, and the tumultuous roller-coaster of the characters’ emotions could be tamed with the inclusion of ample foreshadowing and development.
The most obvious solution to this issue from the outset would have been to plan the story very carefully, reduce the plot’s scale, and avoid shortcuts. Perhaps the staff was simply horribly mistaken in timing — a different staff (writer, storyboard, director) might have managed to squeeze in it by cutting the RIGHT corners instead of the easy ones.
Yup, this is what I was talking all about. Yuki’s character changes into being really cool.
I am really glad that I stuck with this show. The sheer entertainment value these last few episodes made getting through the first third worth it. I hope they explain how Yuuki and Yuno were able to mask their plan from eleventh, and he sidekick. I also hope we get an adequate explanation of the Dues’ sidekicks motivates as well.
I kind of think she’s in it to not have a Dues.
Or become Deus herself. After all, in demonology, murmur is the name of a great Earl from hell who teaches philosophy. 🙂
While it is weirdly entertaining the art and animation is getting worse every episode. Still I like it.
It doesn’t make sense, but never mind, it’s still fun to watch. Definitely agree that it’s best when it’s action packed and you have no time to think.
I really like it when Yuno goes on a rampage. The black dress looks nice on her.