At first, it appears that Shinsekai Yori has a fantasy feel to it with all the magic and rituals and whatnots presented to the audience as a normal and widely accepted occurrence in this given society. All seems well when we are introduced to a cast of friends with most focus on Watanabe Saki, our main protagonist yet I use this sparingly. She was the last to gain access to her 呪力(magical powers or “Cantus”) and accepted in Sage Academy yet instead of rejoicing, fear was among those close to her, particularly her parents. As it goes on, however, the story soon delves into the mysteries that surround their strikingly utopian society and a dystopia is soon realised. Set a century into the future from present day, it is brought to light that a “great catastrophe” occurred during the ancient times (our time/present day) that led to the fall of man. However, through natural selection, among other things, we have our resurrected society where humans are the supreme beings and blessed with the power of the gods: Cantus.
Central to Shinsekai Yori is the idea of human ethics. What is human and what ethical. Two fundamental cornerstones of a successful society that enables us to work together to achieve so much yet at the same time separates us since there is no true answer to both of these, only merely a collect list of items that fits the bill by a majority consensus. There was never a clear “plot” per say in Shinsekai Yori, just a group of kids discovering the ugly side of the world they live in. Yet it soon becomes evidently clear that problems are not just with the humans alone. They coexist with a species of highly intelligent animals called Queerats. Yet the Queerats are subjected by the humans since they lack the power of Cantus. Now don’t get me wrong, Cantus plays a crucial role within the animation and those who have seen Shinsekai Yori would probably call me out for downplaying its importance.
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Of course we have all heard that with great power involves great responsibility. It is because of the power of Cantus that the society of Shinsekai Yori is only a fraction of the Golden Age of the ancient times. Fear of misuse of the power and the failure of retaliation, all stemming from man’s attempts at playing god and their eventual fall.
Yet the truly captivating idiosyncrasy of Shinsekai Yori, for me personally, was the presentation of the Queerats and their struggles to keep their heads afloat amidst humans. Bring in Squealer, a highly intelligent Queerat of the Robber Fly colony that can speak the human’s language fluently. It becomes evident that everything Squealer does has an ulterior motive behind it and soon he leads a revolution amongst his kin and introduces democracy and equality, eventually gaining the courage to pursue the liberation of his kind. Having taken several college history courses, it brings to my mind not the first or the last revolution in history but still significant French Revolutions of the 18th century. Here, the Queerats strive for equality and portray “human” traits versus what was introduced to us as humans portraying at times animalistic behaviors. Going any further would result in spoilers but keep this concept in mind as it relates back to the big questions that were presented earlier.
That isn’t to say that the entire show was without its faults as it becomes apparent that the show can become quite predictable along the way. Yet the anime does drop subtle yet eloquent hints that would foreshadow the coming doom that would aid the viewer into thinking in the right direction. Also something that irked me was the lack of answer to some of my questions. A few characters were left in the dark as the story progressed and their backstory never fully completed. It is understandable, however, that these characters were to aid in the plot and mystery surrounding Saki and her friends. It also helps the mystery overall as the viewer is left to piece together what the animation left unanswered. Also a little jarring was the transition from mystery to Tomb Raider treasure hunting near the end. A small point but a point nonetheless.
Produced by A-1 Pictures, Shinsekai Yori is usually well animated and the backdrop is extremely detailed and pleasing to look at, subjective as this is. Character animations differ from the norm as the characters are more unusually slightly slender than the norm but then again, what would be considered to be the norm. It is worth mentioning, however, that near the end animation does get a little choppy as I began to notice that facial features didn’t always match up with head movements. As I am no animator, I’m in no position to judge whether it was done correctly or not but it just didn’t sit well with me.
Sound for the most part was extremely well executed and most BGMs were intricately woven into certain sections of the show that evoked certain emotions. It is a downer though that the most memorable piece “Kage no Denshouka Daiichibu” was severely overplayed and eventually became repetitive. On the plus side, the mystic of the piece was enjoyable and truly did fit in with the entirety of the show. Not many other pieces stood out well enough for they were mostly overshadowed by the one piece. Also interesting to note was the fact that there was virtually no opening except for one in the entirety of the show and the one was used to emphasize the situation at hand. The endings weren’t bad either as I would actually listen to them rather than skip them entirely.
Characters were well done in the sense that they did their job at presenting the many facets of the human psyche. Never devoid of emotions, nearly all characters portrayed quite well emotions that would cause controversy today, especially sexuality in any regard. Brought to life by the characters is the question of what make a human “human” and what is right. Both sides are argued and the audience makes the decision. Enthralling was the fact that the kids did not remain as children. They grew up, something that many animes today deny the viewer and actually expect us to accept that teenagers can solve world problems. Fallacious claim yet still rings true to a certain extent.
As stated before, Shinsekai Yori was a rather dark anomaly, diverting from the usual genres of animation. It left a great impact on me personally as a philosophy student by showing me how insignificant I am in the grand scheme of things.
“私達は人間だ。” (We are human.) - Squealer
Who was right? You decide.
Be gentle please as this is my first review. Criticism and feedback would help greatly for any future (if any) reviews. Thanks.
