Kriti Mehrotra
Not to be confused with the popular psychological thriller manga of the same name by Sakae Esuno, Netflix’s ‘The Future Diary’ is a relationship-based reality series that is as romantic as it is different. It’s actually a reboot of a network variety show that impressed the audiences from 1998 to 2002, meaning it follows the same format of bringing together total strangers under diverse circumstances. The aim is to ascertain whether true love can really be found within quiet chaos or not, the results of which then begs the question of if this production is even real — so here’s what we know.
Is The Future Diary Real or Fake?
‘The Future Diary’ can honestly only be described as partly scripted — it openly leans into the fact that it’s carefully contrived, yet there’s also an emotional authenticity at every turn. After all, it follows strangers as they live out the romantic storyline mapped out for them in the form of journal entries that have the potential of ultimately influencing the way they view each other. These entries concerning their upcoming adventures are handed to them in a leather-bound diary step by step, indicating that their feelings do have a massive impact on how matters unfold.
The celebrity studio members of this Netflix original have also backed its equal parts manufactured and genuine concept on a few occasions by deeming the casts’ exchanges semi-fictional. In a press release back in November 2021, actress Natsuna Watanabe even went as far as to state she loves the fact that not everything always goes as planned in the series. As for dancer Taiki Sato, he emphasized the realness behind the depicted connections by remarking, “It inspires your imagination. It makes me think — I would want to have this kind of relationship [one day].”
The best example of the same is from season 1 episode 3, when Takuto Wakamatsu failed to reach Maai Nakasone on time following a mission to get snow for her. He broke down at the bus station upon noticing that she was gone, signifying that his feelings for her had drastically evolved within mere days. And it turned out that’s truly the moment he realized he’d fallen in love. “I really didn’t make it and was so worried,” Takuto said in an interview with Netflix. “…During the filming [later on], I thought of telling her that I love her but it seemed so sudden and I was quite self-conscious so I didn’t express how I felt.”
Apart from all this, the gradual progression of the ordinary cast’s interpersonal behavior also makes it perfectly evident the series is just roughly scripted. That’s because the apparent awkward silences and their nervous ticks during their first encounters grow into a noticeable level of sheer comfort as time passes, which isn’t something that can be easily faked. In other words, almost everything we see in ‘The Future Diary’ — from when and where the diary is handed to the cast members to their date activities to their final decision to go one way or the other — is as it happened to them in real life.
Read More: Where is The Future Diary Filmed?
