I don't care about characters anymore. Here is one character dies, a marriage proposal for a love that comes out of nowhere... Uruyu Minene is a terrorist who killed children at school but suddenly seems to care about children. Nope. It isn't working. And Yukki seems more badass? Well good for him, but late for the story.
I debated between giving this 2 or 3 stars, and would lean more toward 2.5. There were a couple of things I really liked about it, but many more things I really didn't like about it.
High schooler Yukiteru Amano is a socially awkward loner who considers himself a bystander. He'd rather mind his own business instead of getting involved with other people, writing every mundane activity of his life in a cellphone diary. Secretly tormented by his solitude, he invents an imagery friend called Deus Ex Machina who claims to be the Lord of Time & Space. Taking pity on the lonesome Yuki, Deus grants his diary the ability to record future events. After learning that 11 other people with unique future diaries show up around Japan, Yuki learns that Deus is not a product of his imagination, and he has been selected to take part in a death game that involves fighting to become the next ruler of causality by outsmarting each other with their new prophetic devices. Luckily for Yuki, one of the death game's participants is his fellow classmate Yuno Gasai, the prettiest girl in his school who happens to love him so much that she would put her life on the line to protect him.
Speaking of Yuno, she's where most of the fun comes from. She's a severely unstable, possessive sociopath that will happily slaughter anyone and anything that get in the way of her selfish romantic fantasies. She's famous for inventing the infamous yandere trope (psycho/killer/stalker love interest) While she can technically be seen as the villain of the series and it's hard to fully sympathize with her because of how violent, impulsive and controlling she is, all of the other characters are so unlikable and bland that I often found myself rooting for her to just rip everyone else in the story to shreds.
Yuki is the main character, but he's such a whiny and idiotic pushover that I couldn't connect with the unhealthy relationship brewing between him and Yuno. I understand it's supposed to be a psychological thriller, but the story seemed to romanticize their relationship rather than portraying it for what it really was: predatory, abusive and horribly toxic. I would've rather had Yuno as the main protagonist and explore her tragic and demented backstory through much more intriguing characters to bounce off of rather than through a relationship with one of the lamest dudes in manga history.
The plot jumps around way too fast. None of the competitors have interesting personalities or motives so I didn't really feel any stakes or tension in the action. The only side character I somewhat liked is (funnily enough) another batshit crazy girl who plays the role of a cosplaying terrorist named Uryuu Minene. The dialogue could get really bad as the characters never reacted to death, betrayal or horrifying situations realistically. There's a point where a character discovers three dead bodies in his girlfriend's house, runs away in fear, then casually remains her partner for the rest of the series like nothing ever happened. There are many more scenes exactly like this where characters don't react and process things in remotely realistic or believable ways.
Some of the twists in the later parts of the series involving time and causality were admittedly cool, but they're introduced in a rushed and convoluted way which makes it feel messy overall. The action was good, there were a few emotional moments and the absolute chaotic nature of Yuno and Uryuu were exciting to watch unfold, but everything else about the characters, story and conflict of the narrative fall apart at the seams.
I can't say I'm exactly surprised by the whole marraige proposal thing. I try to keep a very open mind when reading manga because the plot lines are always really strange. But seriously, that was way out of left field. Then I was just sad about the outcome. It's the first time I've been sincerely upset by something that's happen in this series. I'm not upset in a way that would make me hate this volume or the series. It was still really great.
This volume deals mainly with Ninth, and I have to say I enjoyed that. There's a lot more to Ninth than terrorism. The things she does seem to be rooted in her past and it takes a proposal from Nishijima to get her to take a good look at what she's doing. I rather like Ninth. She was an awesome villain in the beginning, but she's turned out to be a good character in general.
When Yuki and Yuno show up, it's almost like they've done a complete 180 degree turn. Sure, Yuki was getting more involved in the last volume, but now he seems to be taking charge. There are no tears and whining about how he's weak. He's suddenly determined and kind of bad ass. I like it. Of course, Yuno is running around, scantily clad, complying with his every request. Her total insanity aside, they make a good team.
I ordered the tenth volume the other day. I'm eager to see what happens next.
Si bien me gustó que se le diera más protagonismo a Minene en este tomo, me pareció que como muchas otras cosas en este manga, el amor de Nishijima sale de ningún lado. Me pareció medio una forma barata de generar empatía por un personaje que no tuvo gran trascendencia desde que apareció.
Continuando con la serie de eventos y cosas que no tienen ningún fundamento, Yukiteru ahora es una especie de héroe de acción super determinado. La única explicación que le encuentro es que pasar tanto tiempo con Yuno hizo que se volviera loco como ella.
Igual a pesar de todos sus defectos, el manga sigue siendo entretenido.
Minene has become my favourite character in this show even though when she first appeared in the beginning, I thought she was just just a bomb-crazy cuckoo.
Yukiteru and Yuno are still on the run, their whereabouts unknown to everyone but themselves. In their absence, Eleventh, the mayor of Sakurami, takes the opportunity to form an alliance of sorts with Eighth and use her diary to give every single resident of Sakurami city their very own future diary! After having learned of Eleventh's plan, Ninth, escape con Minene Uryu, has taken the responsibility of putting a stop to them-- on her own! But she will need an extra pair of hands in the assault against Eleventh, especially since he has a mysterious diary that seems to see everything that they can see... But when a DEAD END appears on Minene's future diary, how will she escape her fate with the mayor countering her every escape move, and with no other future diary holders left on her side...?
So there really wasn't much of Yukiteru, Yuno, nor Aru Akise in this one. It feels strange. It was mostly just about Minene Uryu and Nishijima. (And Deus' impending demise and MuruMuru's own agenda slowly reaching the surface...) Those two were so adorable too... I totally ship it! Ah, also, as far as the future diary holders had known up to this point, only /other/ future diary holders can change a DEAD END, or anything in the diary for that matter. So that makes Nishijima's actions all the more peculiar, suspicious, and possibly sweet. Was it the power of love that changed it? Or something else? He was acting awfully strange the entire time, yet he did everything for Minene... Everything. So it wasn't a ruse, was it? Perhaps the words that she had said helped him make a revelation. You know, when she told him to decide which side he was /really/ on, considering he was playing both sides. Ahh, but what was that "vision" in Deus' chambers? He actually did stab Minene clear through, that smirk proved that he did, and then changed the laws of time to make it seem as though it had never happened. And who is on Minene's side anyway? Deus or MuruMuru? Or was she only a pawn in the game from the very beginning of it? How sad. Ahh, and we can't forget that in this volume we find out who the /true/ creator of the future diary is! One of the very diary holders! I must say that it is going to take some real talent on the part of the remaining diary holders to defeat the creator of them. Someone like Yuno and Yukiteru when they put their heads together, perhaps? They seem to be a pretty strong team at this point. If anything breaks that, they'll be done for. However... There is still the mystery of who Yuno Gasai really is. Obviously, what we last heard of it won't be the last. Especially since Aru Akise has been unreachable through this entire volume, and Yuno and Yukiteru were hardly in this one at all. Some major shit is about to go down in volume ten, I just know it. Then again, it does in every volume, doesn't it? Haha. Oh, and I couldn't stop laughing at the extra in the back of the book where it showed Third receiving his future diary. God, he was paranoid. I never knew he was already a serial killer before the game started though. I mean, I had my suspicions because of hints and clues that were dropped, but I thought he also could have been an example of what weak or corrupt people would do with that kind of power once given to them, proving that the other eleven diary holders are strong people... Hmm, but he was just a pretty insignificant character. I mean, he is always the first to die!
Appropriately for Volume Nine, the main focus shifts to Diary Holder #9, the mad bomber (and part-time pediatric nurse) Minene Uryu. She must struggle against the Eleventh Diary Holder, the mayor of Sakurami, who seemingly has complete knowledge of the future. Bizarrely, the only person Eleventh can't seem to predict is the police officer Nishijima, who seems to have taken a rather personal...interest in Minene.
Just about everyone in this series is a little crazy, and the bloodshed level is still climbing--there may not be a happy ending for anyone at this rate. Some readers may find the comic relief lesbian character annoying but as with every other minor character, I would not recommend getting too emotionally attached.
Este sin duda es uno de mis tomos favoritos -si, solo porque tiene mas protagonismo Minene, awww como amo a esa mujer-. Aparte de que podemos conocer un poco de su pasado y como llego siendo una terrorista, y su muy extraña "relación" con Nishijima. (Creanme, aunque ya lo haya visto en el anime, también fue sorpresa cuando se le declaro a Minene D:) Y a pesar de que es genial.... También te llena de impotencia como termina, y que dan ganas de gritar por la cruda realidad. A pesar de todo lo triste, es el mejor tomo hasta ahora :'(
En gros, un manga à l'aspect psychologique si développé (si tordu aussi!) qu'on se demande qui est l'auteur dans la "vraie" vie, un battle royale qui mélange action, suspens et addictivité, une histoire d'amour qui sort des sentiers battus. Bref, un manga qui aurait mérité un point de plus si je n'avais pas été un peu perplexe devant les 2 derniers tomes, mais que je recommande tout de même pour son côté "décalé". Je ne l'oublierais pas de sitôt !
Daaaang! Yukiteru is such a baddass now! I love it!! And my love for Yuno is slowly coming back because of it. Haha! I guess Yuno and I have a love/hate relationship.
Well, there is only one volume left available to read here in the US. I really can't wait to see how this series ends. Here's hoping I can find a decent scanlation online to read volumes 11 and 12!
Me ha gustado que en este tomo se le haya dado tanta importancia a la novena, que es mi favorita con mucha diferencia, estoy deseando leerme el siguiente tomo porque el juego se está poniendo más que interesante.
Really good story line and a great concept. Another one that's a lot better than the hunger games. Good characters. Lots of horror, romance and plot twists. Some violence.