The Future Diary (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray) Unboxing

The Future Diary (Mirai Nikki) is a 2011 television anime series based on Sakae Esuno’s manga of the same name. It was adapted into an anime by studio Asread with director Naoto Hosoda, writer Katsuhiko Takayama and publisher Kadokawa Pictures. The series first broadcast in Japan on October 2011 as part of the Autumn season.

Background:

“Yukiteru Amano is a high school student who keeps himself to himself, and makes up for his lonely everyday existence by writing a diary on his mobile phone and conversing with his imaginary friend, the so-called “God of Time and Space” known as Deus Ex Machina.

But what if this imaginary friend was real? This unlikely turn of events becomes a reality for Yuki when the tables are turned and Deus Ex Machina selects him as a participant in a “battle royale” with eleven other individuals. Every competitor in this deadly game is provided with a “Future Diary”, each of which gives its owner a unique view of the world and, more importantly, a specific viewpoint into events that have yet to transpire.

Can Yuki prevail in the face of this insane game and its menagerie of unhinged foes? The answer is not even something that his Future Diary can answer…”

Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, July 2021.

The Future Diary was released roughly a decade ago and it’s part of the death game genre which you don’t get that much often nowadays. The series was mainly notable for introducing many newcomers to the idea of a Yandere character with Yuno. Yuno was cosplayed so many times in anime conventions and honestly the show itself was definitely investing to watch but in current times might have aged in terms of story logic and characters. Eventually it did get an OVA in 2013 called Redial which acts as a conclusion to the anime.

The Future Diary was also unfortunate as it had a rough time getting the ideal treatment for home video distribution. The show simulcasted in the UK through Anime on Demand and was picked up by KAZE for home video. KAZE are not very good and they released the series in two parts with pretty barebones discs (though saying that they do a pretty decent job with the packaging) in October 2015 & July 2016, followed by a complete set in July 2017.

The timing wasn’t great as they had left it so late to the point where Funimation released a complete set in August 2015 and with the Redial OVA in November 2017. That being said, Funimation did have similar problems, as they had to release it on DVD first due to reverse importation before eventually being allowed a Blu-ray. Though Funimation re-released the series a few years later that came with the Redial OVA.

With KAZE no longer distributing anime in the UK, many of their titles started to go out of print and so Anime Limited was able to rescue the series and give it a pretty solid treatment. And they got the Redial OVA as well.

Collector’s Edition Contents:

The collector’s edition package for The Future Diary is presented with a rigid box housing two Amaray cases containing the Blu-ray discs as well as a 28-page booklet full of artwork and illustrations. These Amaray cases are similar to the ones used for the three disc releases like Demon Slayer and Gundam 0083 but without the third slot. Personally I do think this is perhaps of the weaker Anime Limited sets in recent years but it does offer more than Funimation’s did which was their basic box with regular part sets.

The artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The collector’s edition Blu-ray has 1000 units printed for an SRP of £59.99. There’s no standard edition at its release, but one will eventually occur over time.

I pre-ordered the series via Anime Limited’s store during its early bird week for £34.99 plus the 10% store discount from Screen Anime (which is now replaced by the (Un)Limited membership).

Physical Contents:

• Rigid Box with digipack packaging and clean artwork
• Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
• 28-page Booklet

On-Disc Contents:

Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 26th July 2021

This release for The Future Diary contains all 26 episodes and the Redial OVA on four Blu-ray discs. The encoding and authoring were handled by Funimation.

The audio options available include Japanese with English subtitles and the Funimation English dub. The subtitles are locked during playback, and the discs are region restricted to B only for Blu-ray players.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages	English, Japanese
Audio	English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0
Video	1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio
Region	B
Subtitles	English
Locked Subtitles	Yes
Discs	3 BD-50s, 1 BD-25

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:

Disc 1:

• English Audio Commentary for Episode 5

Disc 2:

• English Audio Commentary for Episodes 13 & 20

Disc 3:

• Omake #5 Yomotsu Hirasaka (Yoshihisa Kawahara Version)
• Omake #10 Minene Uryuu, Masumi Nishijima (Clear Dialogue Version)
• English Audio Commentary for Episode 23
• TV Spots
• Promotional Videos
• Textless Opening “Kuusou Mesorgii / Fantasy Mythology”
• Textless Opening “Dead END”
• Textless Closing “Blood Teller”
• Textless Closing “filament”
• U.S. Trailer
• Funimation Trailers

Disc 4:

• OVA: The Future Diary: Redial – Data Migration
• Textless Opening “Kyouki Chinden”
• Textless Closing “HAPPY END”

Unboxing Photos:

Final Notes:

The Future Diary is available to order through multiple retailers across the United Kingdom. You can order the collector’s edition Blu-ray on Amazon UK.

(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)