This show features a world that is simultaneously utopian and dystopian. A world in which telekinetic powers are considered the norm is maintained by standards that can be downright brutal. There is a great deal of humans being treated poorly by other humans for the purpose of protecting society as a whole, and this does eventually lead to the deaths of pivotal characters. Even when the show seems to shift focus into more familiar good guy vs bad guy fare, when all is said and done you can fully understand where the antagonists are coming from, and are once again reminded that the human society depicted has a ton of moral grayness to it. Despite all of this, the show ends on the note that if we as people truly strive for it, we can make things better for everyone. The show does an excellent job of showing the struggle of the characters in this society without ever seeming like too much of a downer or like its being emotionally manipulative. All the while the show slowly reveals the mysteries of its world,being careful to not give you too much information at once and leaving you constantly wanting to keep going to learn more. If the story has one shortcoming, its that it does seem to go kind of slowly every now and then. A specific example of this is when several of the main characters were out on a snowy mountain looking for some of their friends. A little more time than I would have liked was spent on showing shots of them searching with nothing really changing. I also think that the beginning is somewhat slow, which can make it a bit difficult to really get into the show.
I do feel there is one last story element some people may appreciate knowing before watching. Sexuality between characters is explored and doesn't stick solely to the standard heterosexual couples. The human race in this story has been genetically modified to use sexual contact as a way of coping with great stress, even among people of the same sex and even if the people involved are quite young for it. This isn't a detail that is forced down your throat mind you, it is used quite sparingly and is never once used as an excuse to show explicit content. I was fine with it, and I figure that most other people would be as well so long as they approach with an open mind. However, I do think it justifies a warning as I'm sure that there are some people who might not be able to be as accepting of this plot point.
Not to be outdone by the story, the presentation is also very well done. Some of the visuals in the show are simply stunning; the show occasionally left me feeling like I was watching an expertly crafted painting in motion. When the art wants to impress, it succeeds with flying colors. The soundtrack is quite a somber one over all, which fits quite well with the story being portrayed. This story may have originally been from a novel, but it's quite clear that a great deal of thought was put into translating the story into a visual and auditory experience.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of characters, and not all of them get as much attention as I feel they could have. This is most likely due to the fact that the story had to juggle between developing characters and developing the world itself. Plenty of time is given to the main character Saki as well as some of the antagonists. On the other hand, we don't know about the lives of Saki's closest friends prior to their meeting at school. I don't want to make it seem like the characters are bad though, they all have their own personalities and they stick to those personalities well. I would have like a little bit more detail, but what we got worked well regardless.
Ultimately, I would enthusiastically recommend this show (provided my warning didn't scare you away). I would especially recommend this to anyone of the mind that the media has trouble coming up with anything new, as this story was extremely novel in my opinion. It has shortcomings here and there, but they are so small in comparison to all of the things that From the New World does right.
