Future Diary 6

Sakae Esuno – Tokyopop – 2010 – 11+ volumes

I like leaving this series for a long time, then coming back. It’s always a slap in the face just how intense and creepy it really is.

I remember very distinctly that the last volume had a happy ending for Yukiteru and Yuno. But knowing Yuno, I knew that wasn’t going anyplace pleasant. Chaining Yukiteru up on the top floor of an abandoned hotel with a couple of skulls and wandering around killing people in her underwear sounds about right. I’m well aware just how psychotic she is, but it always amazes me when she crosses yet another line. It also helps that she is extraordinarily useful to Yukiteru and others in this “contest,” and that she is 100% devoted to Yukiteru no matter what, which makes her seem slightly less crazy. The way she phrases it, it always sounds pretty sweet and innocent. But, you know… captive love is never true.

Yukiteru making an enemy out of Yuno is not a good idea, since she knows where he is and what he’s doing at all times thanks to the power of her diary. He can’t run, and he can’t hide. The way she innocently sticks her head in a couple times here, plus the fact everyone, including Yukiteru, is scared stiff, is just amazing. What a wonderful character. This is definitely one of the most genuinely scary manga I’ve read, and she’s a big part of the reason why.

We are introduced to a couple more diary owners at this point. 8th’s diary is a little unfair, but this is neutralized by 8th herself, who is far from unfair or terrifying. She’s… a bit of a caricature. I can’t wait until she takes an active part in the story. We also get to see 7th at the very end of the volume, but I’m not sure what 7th’s power is yet.

The first half of the book concerns Yukiteru’s friends getting worried about him and attempting a rescue from Yuno. The second half involves said friends trying to protect themselves from 8th’s agents, who are after the whole lot. Another big part of the plot here is that “trainee diary” owners enter the picture. They have diary powers too, but aren’t really part of the contest and pose a real threat from both sides. Unfortunately, neither 7th nor 8th creates the truly terrifying situations of some of the other diary owners, so most of the terror in this volume comes from Yuno. Since she’s mopped the floor with even the ugliest of the old diary owners, she’s plenty enough to keep things interesting.

Not being a frequent user or lover of the cellphone, I think it’s interesting that all the “diaries” in this story are cellphone-based, and that cellphones are so ubiquitous that this isn’t even worth mentioning. The downside to technology, that cellphones break easy, is one of the achilles’ heels of the users, but other than that, it seems they are invincible in their power to predict the future via their specialized diary. But another technological blind spot, that cellphones need to get reception to work, is covered in this volume as well. Unfortunately, not much is made of it, and apparently it’s not a problem for everybody. Still, it’s interesting that it came up.

I’ve got two more volumes of this, and I’m pretty excited to see how the story unfolds. Though, I suspect, at this late stage of the game, diary owners won’t be dropping like flies anymore in order to lengthen the series.

Also, I’m willing to bet that the series will come down to Yukiteru killing Yuno in order to win the contest. They will be the last two standing and she will be crazy. It will be like a mercy killing for Yukiteru.