This will be my review for 'Shinsekai Yori' (SSY for short). I want to start by making a few statements to give you an idea of where I am coming from. First, I finished this anime within 24 hours of this review. I was told that this show was unlike any other and that the ending is outstanding. Lastly, I hate this anime with a deep passion, but I think this is an incredible anime without a doubt. Now I will try to convey my feelings towards this show and why I don't think it deserves the right to be called anything near a "masterpiece".
...
This review will include minor spoilers.
Prelude - 10 (Outstanding)
The setting SSY takes place in is Japan 1000 years from the time that we live in, so roughly assuming it takes place in 3000AD, but it doesn't look like what most people would expect. Small villages, no technology, a lot of greenery, and the people live off the land. There is only one twist, the people of that time are able to use a type of telekinesis they refer to as 'Cantus', which they learn to begin to master at a very young age. Those who can not keep up with the teaching of school, or break the "Code of Ethics" they disappear from school. They learn while young that the world outside away from the villages is a very dangerous and when the 5 protagonists venture out too far from the village everything goes downhill from there. "What are humans?" "What are fiends" "What are Karma Demons" "What happen to the kids who leave the school." "Why can't I remember?" All questions that the 5 young protagonists start to ask themselves.
Art - 10 (Outstanding)
SSY does an incredible job when it comes to the animation, the way each character is drawn is remarkable and beautifully done as they tend to stick to natural hair colors. The scenery is great, the rivers and trees all give off the proper atmosphere of how they live in their small villages and how every day life is handled. SSY has done an incredible job, I'll say it again, with the art. I look forward to new series with the same art style.
Sound - 10 (Outstanding)
Just as the art SSY did a fantastic job with the sound, the opening music played at the beginning of each episode was a soothing start to any episode, it never failed my expectations when it came to this. I am truly impressed by the sound.
Characters - 7 (Good)
Now, this is a very tough subject for me. The lead Saki is a fantastic but not perfect character, she's just an average girl that wants to know the truth. She gets scared easily, but always is able to snap out of it and keep moving forward. Shun is a great "older brother" type character that seems to take care of the group in general, Satoru is your general goofball that grows up into an incredible man who is willing to protect his friends with his life. Maria as the supporting character to mainly Saki and the 'weak link' of the group Mamoru who is typically the only one who thinks rationally about the consequences of their actions. It's a great cast but as the story progresses the importance of some of these characters seem to fade to the sidelines near the end. Which deeply saddens me.
Development of the Plot - 6 (Fair)
I had problems with the development of the story. They occasionally, from time to time, repeated facts that were stated before. Now, this is sometimes due to the circumstances of the protagonists as to sometimes they lose their memories, but these 'reminders' take a bit too long. Not to mention the actions of one of the protagonists and what he/she has gone through doesn't even matter in the long run. In the end he/she is only used to give us a physical example of knowledge we already had, once again that doesn't matter in the overall plot. Now, I am not saying that the overall and final plot of SSY was horrible or even bad. I am talking about the development, I watched this series in roughly 4 days and often found myself saying "I know this already" as the show wasted 12 minutes to flashback to an example.
Story - 7 (Good)
Now, majority of what we learned the previous 17 episodes was simply information to understand this world. The final plot takes bits and pieces of the information we have learned and creates a great finale that I myself didn't expect from this show. It gives you the most unexpected finale that will make you watch the last 8 episodes without moving.
This was a great way to end the anime, but was it the best way?
Lets talk about this below.
Enjoyment - 6 (Fair)
I have a wide range of genres when it comes to anime. I might give a show like Yuru Yuri a 9 and give Ergo Proxy a 9 (Hypothetically) but does that mean they were equal in terms of quality? In their genre yes! Probably so. I try to ask myself a question while watching a series "What is the author trying to show me?" Does he want to make me laugh, does he want me to understand how valuable family is, does he want me to ponder the way I've lived my life? What did he want to tell me by showing me these 25 episodes of this anime? And I had a very had time figuring it out while watching SSY, and I came to a conclusion. One that made sense considering the development of the plot and the resolution, and what I think the author was trying to say is "Survive, no matter how tough life gets Survive there is an end to your suffering" With the way the plot develops the trauma the protagonists go through and all the hardships, even though the story seems to repeat information, "Survive" remains a realistic reason to the entire story. "Saki, Shun, Satoru, Maria, Mamoru, YOU. Survive, there is an end to your suffering."
Overall - 8 (Very Good)
I believe personally, that this show is far from being a masterpiece like the other reviews, but I will not hesitate to recommend this series to every single person that shares any type of interest in Anime. Regardless of the score you give it, although I can't personally being rated lower than a 6, I am sure that everyone could say "I don't regret watching SSY." "SSY was a great anime." "I'd rewatch this series."
Thanks for taking the time to read this review. "Survive"
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Mar 18, 2015
Shinsekai yori
(Anime)
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This will be my review for 'Shinsekai Yori' (SSY for short). I want to start by making a few statements to give you an idea of where I am coming from. First, I finished this anime within 24 hours of this review. I was told that this show was unlike any other and that the ending is outstanding. Lastly, I hate this anime with a deep passion, but I think this is an incredible anime without a doubt. Now I will try to convey my feelings towards this show and why I don't think it deserves the right to be called anything near a "masterpiece".
...
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