Shinsekai yori is one of several series that seems to just glide under the radar of the majority of the anime viewing community without really being noticed (or noticed, but for the wrong reasons).
The show is set a thousand years in the future. Human civilization has been destroyed several times and people now live in small isolated villages surrounded by barriers to keep out mutants and worse that roam the wilds beyond. Humans have also developed the power to manipulate their environments with ease and materialize any object they would need with a thought, rendering technology obsolete.
The story centers around a group of friends growing up in one of these villages who accidentally learn the truth of their origins and follows them as they uncover even more sinister truths about the world they live in.
The story itself is quite good, though there are some parts that feel like they were just thrown in for the sake of adding a little more action, the show never assumes that the viewer is an idiot. Any complex points of the show are given just enough description that the viewer can figure the rest out on their own as the story progresses.
The art style varies throughout the show with some of the mutants appearing more comical than terrifying. Whether this was an artistic decision or a budget-driven one, I doubt anyone will ever know. The animation is equally inconsistent with some scenes having very fluid animation while others are not.
The characters are what make this show. The core group are quite fleshed out and you can't help but become more and more attached to them as time goes by. Their relationships with each other are handled very well and fit with the universe they live in. Some of the main cast are openly gay and rather than exploiting that as an avenue for low-brow comedy, the writers portray these characters as normal people engaging in normal relationships. I found this to be a refreshing change from the blushing, flamboyant queens. Naturally, this made some viewers uncomfortable.
Overall, I really enjoyed this show and recommend it to anyone who is looking for something a little different and can handle the occasional punch in the guts that this show delivers. Great story, great characters, lightly seasoned with action and suspense.
