Mirai Nikki Episode 7

Dial Tone – 留守応答

.Synopsis.

As expected, this kid is out for blood. Rei is a little sick, which makes everything that happens a little more disturbing.

Right of the bat Rei is up to no good. Poisoning tomatoes and shoving electrical wires into bathtubs is just the start of this little terror’s game. Both plots fail, but the young killer is not deterred- on the contrary, he seems much more eager to play. Yuki and Yuno know the little snot is up to no good, but with Yuki’s mom around things are a little complicated.

Meanwhile, Uuryu is trying to figure out why the 4th is leaking very important diary information to her, as she has not decided to ally with the main protagonists.

What was that about Yuki’s mom making things complicated? I was just kidding. As Yuno chase Rei around the house with two hammers, she misses, smashing Yuki’s mom in the head. Yuki is pretty upset that his mom has been knocked out pretty hard. Yuno is upset that Yuki is upset. Something inside Yuno snaps (or manifests…). Searching the deep corners of her mind, Yuno realizes what Rei is up to. Yuno and Yuki realize that Rei has mailed a package to himself, as it must be his future diary. Yuki rips open the package only have some incredibly poisonous shoot out and infect the entire house.

Yuno is trying to help Yukki who is becoming very ill while locked in the bathroom. Rei announces that he will give Yuno the antidote if she can come out and win a game of hide and seek- which is rather dangerous due to the deadly gas floating around the house. After a long chase, she finally finds Rei, standing at the top of the steps. As she makes her way up the steps she notices water suddenly pouring down the steps. Rei takes a lamp that is plugged in, and smashes the bulb into the water, sending a powerful current through the water, electrocuting Yuno.
Rei has won… or so he thinks. Yuki busts out of the bathroom, and runs up the stairs. He pulls Yuno towards him, kissing her full-on on the lips. That was all the strength he had left, as he then passes out and flops down the stairs. That’s all he needed to do though, as this little kiss energizes Yuno enough to run up the stairs, knife in hand, ready to end this game.

In the end, Yuno stabs Rei in the chest. Rei with his final words mutters that Yuno is going to have to fight Yuki at some point. Rei dies, and Yuno passes out.

Yuki regains a little consciousness, as he sees a familiar figure walking away. Uryuu warns him that Yuno is the biggest threat to him, and she will be the reason he dies. There ends the episode.

.Impressions.

I have to say the scariest parts of Mirai Nikki have to be the several scenes were we see the insanity in a characters eyes. Rei and Yuno get a lot of those shots in this episode. That aside, this episode of Mirai Nikki was really intense- which seems to be a pretty nice constant with this show. While some things are not quite believable ( That’s one really freaking smart 7 year old…), the episode has a really good flow to it.

Somehow the show doesn’t become any less disturbing the more you watch it. You may think “Oh well it can’t get any more disturbing than sexual abuse, arm chopping off, bomb swallowing, and murdering tons of children at a school.” But then a sadistic, revenge driven child tries to (and at one point succeeds) electrocute people and makes an entire house a war zone. Oh, and this same child is stabbed to death with a knife. Having watched “Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni”, I have seen much worse than what Mirai Nikki has dealt out. With that said, Mirai Nikki has much more “brains” to go with the excessive amounts of violence.

One one real dig with this episode is the almost 30 second flashback we have of Rei’s past. It felt random, and while it did’t feel out of place, it got no explanation and it wasn’t brought up again. It might play a role in the future, but I dunno- it really just seemed an odd attempt to make you feel a little empathetic for him.

With that said- it still felt a little sick watching this kid sit there, dying, with a knife in his chest… urf.