Shinsekai yori Episode 25 Discussion

Terrestrious said:
Well just about 50 pages (or maybe this post will make it 50 pages) so is there really any point in my commenting? It's not entirely likely that I'll be able to add anything new to the discussion at this point. But I've left comments for every other anime I've completed thus far for March Madness, not much point in stopping now.

I'm just going to be blunt here, Shinsekai yori has the best world-building I have ever seen. I mean, when you dedicate two & a half full episodes to world-building, you better be pretty damn good at it. If you told me that my favorite episodes of a series would involve someone spouting exposition for twenty minutes, I would've called you crazy but here I am. Outside of the fact that the concepts of Power can have some very interesting implications & that the world's history is generally intriguing, the world-building in here is so good because it never just world-building for it's own sake, it always ties well into the narrative. The episode where Shun basically spends the episode talking about what a Karmic Demon contains a lot of world-building but it's also heavily rooted within the core emotional conflict at the time. Not only that, our protagonists aren't silent, Saki (or the rest of Group 1 in the case of the False Minoshiro) reacts & interacts with whoever's imparting the lessons, like Tomiko or Shun. It's expertly executed & by far, the best part of the show.

The series story as a whole is pretty damn solid however it struggles in other areas, particularly with the characters. Don't get me wrong, the cast is likeable, aside from Mamoru but unless you're Saki or Squealar, maybe Kiromaru & Satoru, you're not giving a whole lot of depth. Satoru & Saki are giving a lot of screen time but their relationship development is rather weak & it's not surprising that the comments in these thread have brought up numerous scenes between the two that was axed (someone even said in favor of more Maria/Saki stuff). Shun & Maria, as much as I do like both of them, ultimately feel a little more like plot devices, emotional baggage for Saki more than fully fleshed-out independent characters of their own. & this is fine, it's Saki story & most of the characters are likable (again, aside from Mamoru) & they all serve their purpose fine but it is a bit of a disappointment.

I can't decide my favorite character but it was likely Saki, Kiromarou or Squealer. Kiromarou in the last batch of episodes was an interesting moment & one that showcases the strength of the series subtlety. The first episode they decide to go to Tokyo, with a use of a well-place smirk or two, the manage to plant the seeds that Kiromaru might be a traitor and they do this a whole episode before the possibility is ever addressed by the characters. & they do a really good job of placing doubt, so much so that I legitimately felt bad for doubting him, especially in this episode where he sacrificed himself to defeat the Messiah.

Visually, the show was a mixed bag. It's faults were pretty obvious here but as were it's highs. They were rarer than the hiccups but when this show wanted to be, it was gorgeous. The sequence on the boat swimming on the stars, breathtaking. A few episodes back when Saki looked at the desert landscape while a ton of bats flew out, beautiful. I don't know if these moments make up for it but they certainly soften the blow. Luckily, the sound department is great. The voice acting is spot-on, like you'd expect & the score can be pretty remarkable. I'm still bitter that they got rid of Wareta Ringo for the boring bland track that replaced it but outside of that, it's really good stuff in show. The Traditional Song of Shadows part 1-3 being the highlight for me. Which does bring up the point that the series tended to reuse a lot of it's pieces but this helps create a uniformity within the show, especially since it timeskips a lot (& the first one is really jarring).

As for the finale episode, it was great. One thing I loved about it was that they didn't portray Squealer as a villain here. If anything, we're meant to side with him more than the Ethics Committee, at least in terms of his punishment. & I like the way they did it, when Tomiko said she was going to make him experience the most painful death imaginable a few episodes ago, I thought it was awesome & even agreed. No doubt about it, Squealer did some despicable things, poor Maria & Mamoru but were his reasons unjustifiable. Well, that's really your call but I can say this much, I was disgusted when he was laughed off while asserting the his people were human. Not because it was later proved that that use to be the case because he clearly wasn't speaking biologically. It's a chilling & powerful sequence, one of the best moments the show had to offer. & thank god, Saki put him out of his misery. 8/10.