Top 12 Diaries in "Future Diary"

Jeremy enjoys gaming when not helping manage the college he graduated from.

Future Diary Summary

In this ominous anime, 12 future-predicting "Future Diaries" are used by participants of a deadly survival game, where the winner supposedly obtains the power of a god. Most diaries take the form of cell phones, but some adopt other aesthetics. Diary owners must protect their diary at all costs, as they cease to exist if their diary is destroyed.

Today, we'll take a quick look at each of the diaries, review their strengths and weaknesses, and rank their overall power. Don't worry about ruining the series for yourself, as no major spoilers are ahead.

12. The Yukiteru Diary

Form: Blue cell phone
User: Yuno Gasai

First up, a Future Diary that will only provide information about the future of Yukiteru Amano. So, if you're not him (and considering he's fictional, you probably aren't), this diary wouldn't be of much help to you. Yuno was wise to ally with Yuki; if she hadn't, she'd be receiving information about distant surroundings that would be of little value to her.

11. The Criminal Investigation Diary

Form: Purple cell phone
User: Keigo Kurusu

Next, a Future Diary that gives information about criminals. Many of the participants in the survival game tend to break the law, which adds power to this device; however, it's almost useless against law-abiding participants. Interestingly, this diary can predict illegal activities within 90 days, so it does at least have an added benefit of scoping out the past/future.

10. The Hyper Vision Diary

Form: Coloring book
User: Reisuke Houjou

At first glance, our next entry may seem like the worst diary. It's less compact than the cell phones, and it can only give three entries a day - one for morning, afternoon, and evening. However, it provides very accurate entries, and allows additional time to plan your attacks. The entries also come with pictures, offering extra information. If used well, this diary is much more dangerous than it seems.

9. The Breeder Diary

Form: Brown cell phone
User: Karyuudo Tsukishima

Ninth place goes to the formidable Breeder Diary. It allows you to control multiple sets of dogs, and read the futures of them and anyone you send them to attack. This unit has amazing offensive potential, but it doesn't talk about its owner's future, giving them a weakness. Additionally, the more dogs being controlled, the longer it takes to keep track of each of their movements and futures. Finally, anyone - diary owner or not - who sees the groups of dogs acting oddly may become suspicious and investigate.

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8. The Escape Diary

Form: Cell phone
User: Minene Uryu

Perhaps the most defensive Future Diary, this yellow-orange cell phone provides detailed entries for how to avoid danger. It can display whether any escape routes are available, and if so, how to reach them, how long you need to stay in them, etc. If given this diary in a survival game, it would be wise to let the others eliminate each other while using this unit's powers to stay out of trouble.

7. The Murder Diary

Form: Cellphone
User: Takao Hiyama

In contrast to our last entry, the Murder Diary focuses on offense. It gives many details for how to best kill your next victim. The phone will tell where to find them, how to corner them, etc. It can also keep track of multiple targets at once. Body armor or a bulletproof vest would help ensure that this diary's owner lives long enough to make use of its fearsome powers.

6. The Clairvoyance Diary

Form: Scroll
User: Tsubaki Kasugano

Next, the largest Future Diary—the Clairvoyance Diary. This scroll allows you to predict the future and read the surroundings of multiple allies at once. Employ bodyguards when using it, and you'll have multiple readings to help you plan the optimal strategies. A powerful effect; to compensate, the diary is large and unwieldy, prone to destruction. Also, it'll take time to read through the multiple entries.

5. The Random Diary

Form: Blue cell phone
User: Yukiteru Amano

Also known as the Radar or Indiscriminate Diary. A useful device that provides a plethora of information about its owner's surroundings, making it more versatile than most diaries. Its weaknesses are that it doesn't give information about its owner themselves, and it won't display much information in enclosed spaces.

4. The Exchange Diaries

Form: Two cellphones
Users: Ai Mikami and Marco Ikusaba

Next, the unique Exchange Diaries. These twin cell phones, each of which belongs to a different individual, constantly provide information about the other's owner. As long as the two owners stay together and cooperate, they can help each other plan for the future. These diaries require trust to effectively function, but having a partner in the survival game makes things far easier. Plus, the risk of betrayal is low; your partner needs you as much as you need them. Also, it's stated if you two made it to the end, you would both become a god; there'd be no need to kill one another.

3. The Justice Diary

Form: Recording device
User: Yomotsu Hirasaka

Our next entry is unique in that you have to listen to the information it provides, which might take a little more time than simply reading the information. However, it's got some definite advantages. It's been shown to trump the Escape Diary, foiling seemingly foolproof escape routes. Even more amazing, this device allows a small degree of hypnotic powers, enabling control over the weak-minded and allowing its user to cause hallucinations in others.

2. The Blog Diary

Form: White laptop
User: Kamado Ueshita

Also called the Server Diary. A bit larger and harder to conceal than the other devices, this portable computer doesn't predict one's future; rather, it enables the creation of any number of "apprentice diary" owners. These owners aren't part of the survival game, but they receive their own unique diaries with unique abilities (in the form of cell phones). Thus, as long as the Blog Diary's owner knows some trustworthy allies, they could potentially create an army of apprentice diary owners to help them win the contest.

1. The Watcher

Form: You guessed it, a cell phone
User: John Bacchus

The ultimate Diary, hands-down. What can The Watcher do? It allows its user to read and record the entries of all other diaries; any information the other owners possess, you have. Truly a fearsome device in the survival game.

Your Vote

Hopefully you've enjoyed exploring these mystical creations. If you're looking for a dark anime with blends action, romance, and horror, I'd highly recommend Future Diary—just keep this one away from the kids.

For now, as we eagerly await more horrifically tantalizing anime, vote for which diary you'd choose and I'll see you at our next anime countdown!

This content reflects the personal opinions of the author. It is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and should not be substituted for impartial fact or advice in legal, political, or personal matters.

© 2016 Jeremy Gill