Midseason Melancholy and Crazy One (Yuno Gasai)
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So I guess I haven’t been posting that much lately. I’ll say this right off the bat: My bad (Thanks for missing me and the comment C.C.) :(. Part of it has been due to work and a larger part has had to do with episodes of stuff lately. Dance in the Vampire Bund has gotten better, but it still doesn’t have that magical “umph” that makes me sit down and crack out a thousand words. Durarara!! has been ok, but mostly I feel like it’s getting steadily worse (or predictable). They really haven’t kept it new or mysterious enough to really spark my curiosity and imagination. Baka to Test’s formula is being reiterated: Meaning the jokes aren’t new anymore. I guess this is the midseason melancholy; where our fandom to certain shows or studios is tested. Unfortunately Yin is nowhere to be seen (unless you count the OVAs) so my fandom is not strong enough. (I loved the gigantic Evangelion references in Baka to Test this week though [not enough to make me post]).
Hence I tried going back to series I really loved. I was going to do a bunch of blogs about Franken Fran, but the manga does its own work… there’s nothing to explain. Thus the only thing I could say about it can be summed up here in a few words: Franken Fran is so off the wall; go read it!
After a few weeks of not blogging though I realize I need to do something to get the ball rolling again. So I decided to not pile as much on my plate. I’m taking a step back from plot, setting, and theme for a second; I want to talk about characters. Not just any characters either; I want to talk about the characters that are just plain nuts.
Of course the above is an over simplification. To fall into this category of memorable crazy characters they also have to be somewhat understandable. The story had to lead me along and really put me in the mindset. I want to be uncomfortable as I identify with them and better yet, I want some really memorable scenes that just make me go WOW.
I’ve got a tentative list of about 4 characters right now (not saying there aren’t more; these are just the ones that jumped to the top of the list) and I guess I would like to get started with a contestant from a manga that swaggered its way onto my screen awhile ago.
The Manga: Mirai Nikki (a.k.a. Future Diary)
The Character: Yuno Gasai (For anyone who’s read this manga this should have been obvious I think)
Yuno Gasai made me more excited than I care to admit. Not only was I giggling sweet nothings to my computer screen at all hours of the night but I also was whispering “She’s so crazy” under my breath at least twice a chapter. The manga itself is pretty interesting and would have been a fairly compelling read on its own, but Yuno Gasai made Mirai Nikki into one of the most memorable mangas I can recall (and it’s not quite over yet). I don’t want to spoil the plot for you, but I will talk about scenes involving Yuno which will be slightly spoilerish with relation to her character. I’ll try to steer clear of the plot besides that though.
I’ll start by giving major credit to the mangaka where it’s due. Sakae Esuno did such a masterful job with Yuno. One moment you’ll be reading along happily staring at the butterflies flitting across the plot and the next moment Yuno is standing behind you with a knife writing “DIE” in the sand with her shoe. Sakae portrays her so well and always dances a very well calculated line between her being an understandable damsel in need of saving (from herself) and an all out psychopath who should be institutionalized for the good of mankind. For most of the manga she’s a major wild card, which is a good feeling. Although she’s obviously “hyper-obsessive” about the protagonist, Yukiteru, she goes about it with a logic that would only make sense to her. In many ways that’s the very definition of crazy: Having a logic that doesn’t match up with the world. She’s the outlier and a darn interesting one at that.
Sakae created the dual nature by playing to our compassion (what a bastard). It’s hard to not empathize with a character who’s sad (unless we want them to grow up and stop whining all the time), but with Yuno I actually felt genuine sympathy. When she goes home to a run-down and broken house after stalking and isolating Yukiteru all day; when she looks at the door with dead people behind it; when she is more than willing to die for the one she loves Yukiteru with no value for her own life. Part of that is her crazy, but at the same time it’s incredibly depressing and you can’t help but want to help her… That is until you see her tromping around in her underwear with a chained up Yukiteru as she’s drowning his friends with concrete in the next room because she can’t stand for there to be other people in his life. In the end Yuno is a character fueled by loneliness and the magnitude of all the things she’s done. The only way for her to survive the insanity was to brainwash herself into loving Yukiteru so hard that she went completely batshit. She can’t stand the thought of being without him and that in turn drives her to do the most unspeakable things with little to no regard. She’s lost her moral compass (or should I say it was squashed out of her a long time ago). Thus when I’m presented with her I feel like I want the other characters to save her, but she’s so crazy I also want them to run as far away as possible because she is sooooo crazy.
Here’s why you should care :).
It’s pretty darn easy for most people to write themselves into a story; it’s also not that hard to write a stock character with no depth. Making a character understandable is as easy as finding common devices used in other stories, in other words not that hard. What it’s not easy to do, and what Sakae did extraordinarily well, is create an understandable character who is so alien, yet only a slight evolution of ourselves. I see a little of Yuno in myself sometimes and that both terrifies and fascinates me. Yuno herself terrifies me but not in a way that doesn’t make me giddy. She’s perhaps the most brilliant part of the manga and so much more than her Yandere label. You should give it a read, I guarantee you some mixed feelings.
Some Memorable Scenes
This part is more spoilerific than anything I’ve said so far: So for the many of you who haven’t read it I don’t recommend reading the next part, just scroll down to the comments where I will be happy to receive them!
First and foremost the scene I mentioned above. Where she’s in her underwear helping Yukiteru go to the bathroom (because she locked him up) while she’s drowning his friends in concrete in the next room. It was just so downright creepy I got shivers.
Second would have to be when Yukiteru and her are visiting the cult future diary holder and she decides that hacking everyone up with an axe is the right way to get Yukiteru out safe. Her logic is amazing but the clear lack of morals was just downright scary as my mind never even went there.
Writing “DIE” in the sand with her foot as Yukiteru is finally making friends.
Walking into her house and talking to her dead parents in the creepy bunny outfit she used to stalk (and break up the date of) Yukiteru all day. Downright amazing and yet so very sad!
There are so many more worthy of mention. Like I said, Yuno is one of the most memorable characters ever.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!
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12 Comments
As far as the series has progressed, Mirai Nikki gave birth to some prominent characters that made an impact to me such as Uryuu Minene and Akise Aru but as for Gasai Yuno, she’d be the first one to imprint a lasting impression of epicness in my soul. Quite a well thought-out character indeed. However, after reading the spin-off Mirai Nikki: Paradox and finding out more about her there, I became doubtful of her intentions. It may be me but after reading the part where Akise found out the truth, it seems that everything she has been doing isn’t because of her yandere love for Yukiteru. I can’t exactly pinpoint what it is but something’s amiss; a scheme that reeks because of Murumuru’s agenda and the question whether Yuno did agree to become God. If she did, wouldn’t it contradict the Godhood that she’s offering to Yukiteru?
I’ve read Paradox too and I agree with you. I didn’t include it here because that would have been to spoilerific for a post like this. On the other hand I will say this.
I have no doubt that future diary was fairly well thought out, but I really do think the impression we get of Yuno from the get go (yandere and all) is correct. People forced to write stuff like this where they have to come up with plot twist after plot twist will sometimes change things that weren’t there to begin with. In this case paradox was a spin off that I don’t believe was there for the original Yuno character. Her incredibly crazy love for Yukiteru is genuine. For one thing I’ve read enough scenes where she brainwashed herself into remembering something differently that I have a very hard time believing otherwise. Whatever she’s feeling must be so, why she feels that way is up for debate. There are a lot of theories about Yuno though since Sakae has left her so mysterious. Unfortunately there’s no real way to know for sure but Murumuru is incredibly suspicious. She’s not just a side character hanging around god. She’s the true mastermind (Dues ex Machina is dying and she goes on). By the way Dues ex Machina is just an awesome name for a character.
Everything you do say is correct. The godhood that’s been offered to Yukiteru is most certainly a contradiction thus we should doubt her overall. As for a play by play though I can’t help but think that she’s acting according to a crazy character. Whether or not she’ll snap out of it and into a role much less crazy is yet to be seen. Then again it’s possible that she agreed to become god before she even met Yukiteru.
I’m not sure when she killed her parents but if it was before the meeting with Yukiteru then it’s possible she genuinely did fall in love despite Murumuru’s best efforts. Then again murumuru knows way to much. The plot’s unpredictable which makes it a lot of fun to wait for.
P.S. I dig Uryuu Minene’s character too. She’s pretty flippin sweet but not crazy enough to find her way into these posts.
Didn’t enjoy it. Ruined my day.
Wow, that’s pretty harsh! If I didn’t know you as a user of sarcasm I might be bummed out for weeks.
I don’t really dig yandere, but Yuno sounds interesting enough for me to overlook that. As probably evident from my obsession with Eva, I am perfectly fine with – I like, even – disturbing/insanity/violence as long as it makes an interesting statement and we can truly relate to/see ourselves in the portrayed situation.
That said though with all the ‘to-reads’ I have and the incredibly slow rate I’m consuming manga, I doubt I’d be getting to this one anytime soon, interesting as it sounds.
Ahh, I understand :). You like slice of life a bit more anyways from what I’ve come to read on your blog and Mirai Nikki is anything but. It’s just a crazy plot twisted adventure. Read Franken-Fran first, that’s more slice of life and has some incredible stuff to say. Still you might have a ways to go before your backlog is cleared.
Dance in the Vampire Bund seems like a good show but the lolicon is starting to bother me a little. Maybe if the queen looked like a mature queen and not a princess I would like it better.
Having started reading this series out of interest only 2 days ago, loving it, then proceeding to hardcore marathon it right to the latest chapter, I can’t help but feel almost empty as I wait for the next part of the story to come out.
Now that that’s out of the way, I have to say that it really is just a brilliant story. It’s refreshing to read something different from all the moe-comedy and cutesy stuff around at the moment. Yes the series is as dark as a black hole, but the way the characters deal with everything is just great.
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a certain terrorist change their attitude quite dramatically throughout the series, and the series of twist and turns throughout the plot left me reeling half the time wondering what was going to happen next.
And Gasai Yuno. Ah Yuno, what more needs to be said?
Anyway, it may be obvious but I am in love with this series, it has just the right amount of crazy, psychotic weirdness, deep twisting plot and amazingly engaging characters that can fill the holes left by Evangelion, Dtb and even Death Note.
Curiously, while explaining to a friend the general idea behind the series, I was told that it sounds similar to Eden of the East, what does everyone else think? Also, I’ve been debating about whether or not Future Diary would be good as an anime… how about it?
I just realized I suck for not having read Mirai Nikki yet. :razz:
Thanks for the introductory chara post! I’ll go off and properly digest the series now! Psychotic individuals are always a big pull for me! :)
@Cece
Not to be the word police, but generally lolicon refers to the people who are really into lolis in perhaps a more than intellectual way. Loli would probably be more the correct term to use for the dancing princess. The adaptation has been bothering me a lot too. They kind of killed Mina’s character and have added a lot of stuff that wasn’t necessarily there before. They wanted to have her as a loli for probably pure fetish reasons, but the explanation is being born a pure vampire she matures at a much slower rate. This actually comes up and is a very important plot point for a coming arc where her inability to have a child is pretty key. If they don’t cut that out you’ll see in not to long.
@Dabookman
If the anime community doesn’t share the amazingly different stories out there what are we good for? I actually picked this up form someone elses suggestion and so the great chain is pulled. Still I’m glad you appreciate it because I really enjoyed this series too.
Hmm, I guess the cell phone thing kind of gets it in the Eden of the East spectrum. I mean both are competitions where the cell phones are key, but the tone of both is completely different in my mind. The stakes are also much more fantastical and extreme in Mirai Nikki and I’m the sort of person who appreciates that (as opposed to the possibly somewhat more realistic setting of Eden of the East).
I wouldn’t ask me about anime adaptations right now. Most of the ones I’m watching right now have sucked so much I would hate to see Yuno turned into a misunderstood saveable heroine. Ugh, just the thought of her making friends and creating a girls band is about to send me to my death! So I wouldn’t like to see this made into an anime in other words. UNLESS an anime studio really gets the original and can bring some pretty awesome stuff like good music and voice actors for the series. I’d be willing to watch a good adaptation.
@Keiri
Sounds like this has been a recurring problem :). I hope it has that right combination of terrifying and loli to truly freak you out and keep you watching with a sick curiosity. This is no Higurashi (It’s way better). There are definitely big pulls for this series… Even some Yayoi (I spelled that wrong I think) elements present (though that wasn’t a pull for me).
Good luck on your future diary expedition. Don’t get too addicted though.
Ok, so I read I crapload of Mirai Nikki just now and now I really like it. Batshit crazy chick FTW.
:)