During the season Shinsekai Yori came out, I wasn't really enticed by its story the first time I saw it with all the other flashy animes coming together such as Jojo's Bizarre Adventure and Zetsuen no Tempest -- so in the end, I overlooked Shinsekai Yori.. Oh man was I stupid.
Story: 10
There are a lot of new words that were flashed in Shinsekai Yori and missing out the meaning of these things -- you'll probably get lost in the story line. The level of the anime's climax starts real slow and by 3/4 of the anime the anime starts to evolve into a much serious anime. That 1/4 of the anime, which is nearly at the end, -- it may be small -- but that small portion did escalate my rating for the anime and I'm telling you, my starting rating for the anime wasn't that all too good. The story of the anime was the main attraction of the anime. It may start to confuse you at first (like I experienced) but if you are patient and would like to see the end of it -- the anime starts to create an excitement that is a hundred times more as to what the first episode gave. Oh and the cliff hangers of Shinsekai Yori was the best kind of cliff hangers I've ever watched. From a village who seeks for perfection to something that is actually just a distraction of the truth. Saki with her group of friends are then determined to know more of the truth. Sounds really normal but then the execution of the story is flawless.
There's always something unique about those stories you could relate or you could see as something real. Stories like Shinsekai Yori would always feel special or more connected. Shinsekai Yori is unique in terms of the generic anime story lines and that's probably what made me love about the anime.
Art: 7
The art is the most talked about in Shinsekai Yori I would guess. The first time I saw episode 1 of Shinsekai Yori it was pure stunning and beautiful that I was even thinking this was beautiful to be edited. Episode 1's art was amazing that it wasn't the story of the anime that kept me want to watch the next episode but it was the art. The first episodes were damn beautiful. I was so enticed by the art -- I was even thinking this could be much better than Guilty Crown's animation.. Then, episode 5 came out.
I did stop watching Shinsekai Yori because of the animation. I couldn't help it. I didn't like it one bit. I always remembered episode 5 -- "the start of the weird animation". I couldn't help myself continue watching Shinsekai Yori because it was difficult with all the weird angles, the horrible focus, the unmatched emotions to the character's' dialogues and the proportions were awkward. It took me months till I started to watch Shinsekai Yori again and once I started to continue watching it -- the art wasn't much likely to bother anymore. Yes, the art was weird but I did see the importance of the story and how the story pushed this anime to the top without the help of any other element but the plot in itself.
Sound: 9
I guess the low cut budget of the anime made also low use of sounds and little flashy OSTs but the sound effects and the music were dead on amazing, epic and very grand -- it gives me goosebumps. Little music was perfect for this anime. I can't help but feel that the serious music was making this anime such of high class. The dubbing though was flawless most especially squealer's and the queerats'.
Character: 9
Not much of any character development but if you're a Shinsekai Yori fan like me -- you'll feel so attached to each of the characters. I know I did. When the anime ended, I was so lost. I wanted the characters all to myself. I felt like something was missing in me. The characters had all different personalities -- strong ones, calm ones and even paranoid ones so the characters were pretty much helping to ease the complicated story.
Enjoyment: 10
"Very complex." That was what I thought. I wasn't enjoying the first episodes to be honest because there were so much information that were coming and not much anything to do with the present episodes. I was really struggling to get the hype of the anime and the urge to finish it. But later on, when the episodes were nearing to its episode 20s, the story gets more flashy and those unwanted information I got during the first episodes suddenly turned into something useful and I was able to enjoy the whole series that easily. I don't even know why I enjoyed the anime so much when I was nearly confused with its first episodes but as I go on the climax of the anime made this anime really exciting and stunning.
Over-all: 10
With all the flaws, I still say the story made such great influence in the anime that those animation flaws didn't matter anymore. It was creative in every other way. Shinsekai Yori gives more than what a usual anime can present.
My only tip for you for this anime is to watch it all throughout the end and just keep on understanding the situation from the first episode till the last. It's amazing how you'll get by with it.
