I’ll be the first to admit I was kind of overwhelmed during the first 10 or so episodes of Shinsekai Yori. You’re dropped into this vast and beautiful world, in a matter-of-fact fashion, where humans have powers called “psychokinesis” in which they can control tangible objects and light fires at will. In was in no way outlandish for an anime environment. But, the reason for humans having this power was initially unclear. Was there a nuclear accident? Was it discovered through scientific research? Or perhaps these powers had always existed within humans, just waiting to be tapped of their potential? I knew at this point, there was a lot to get my head around in the show, and it would take an open mind and excessive creativity to keep watching. Giant cats lurking in the shadows, ready to eradicate children who don’t live up to their potential, memory-altering events, exploding dogs and naked mole rats who exhibit human-like characteristics just scratch the surface of this anime’s peculiar elements.
The only things I have an issue with in this series are these “false-minoshrios”. Magically, right after you seem to learn about them, the main group of kids you follow in the story come across one while on a class field trip. Conveniently enough, these minoshiros are walking libraries that contain literally every piece of information on the history of mankind, and divulge answers to any question asked by the children. This struck me in an odd way, I call it the “convenience effect” you see in some animes. The kids wind up in a precarious scenario and may have dug a tad too deep into things they shouldn’t know. The episode right after they return home from the field trip is two years in the future, where hormone-crazed teen girls are sexually involved with girls, boys with boys… it was all a bit too sudden I felt. I understand these episodes were necessary to plot development, but they were not as well put together as they could’ve been.
After about 8-10 episodes, Shinsekai Yori kicks it into high gear with a nonstop thrill ride of action, betrayal, loss and emotion. You uncover more information about the memory altering, a tactic used so well throughout this world, and mankind becomes threatened yet again due to some unforeseen circumstances. Unlike the beginning of the series, the latter 2/3 is brilliantly paced. No dialogue is wasted between characters, and each interaction is purposeful in nature. I understood the fear the humans had for their tight-knit world and how fragile it really was. The fact that humans were “programmed” not to be able to kill or they would suffer from “death feedback” was a very original concept I appreciated quite a lot. The queerats, though initially seeming to be nothing other than a being that existed in this land, proved to be quite cunning and devious in nature. I had my own theories about their origination, and was pleased to see everything with them come full circle at the end of the anime.
The way the story was told was also quite interesting. The protagonist, Saki Watanabe served more as a vessel for the viewers to uncover the story of this new world. Sometimes I feel like I’m just following that specific character’s place in the setting, but with this anime it felt more overarching. I also enjoyed the human’s interaction with the queerats. The queerats understood their relative insignificance in the pecking order, and I originally thought they were used almost as an experiment for the humans to survey. They worshipped the humans as “gods”, but still made attempts at furthering their technology which became apparent as the series went on. It was a clever relationship that was remarkably described through the series.
To be honest, I actually felt like the characters were one of the weaker areas of the show. The main character Saki, is a strong willed girl who obtains her powers relatively late in her childhood and loves the companionship of her school group. The narration elements of the anime are sometimes made with an adult version of her voice, evident that the story is being told in past tense as more of a recollection. She’s not necessarily a weak character, and maybe I was a little distracted by the complexity of the world around her, but something felt off for me. The other major character Saturo, served as a loyal backbone and aide to Saki when the going got tough. He put on a stone veil but deep down was torn up about the world he lived in and the many questions he had. He was a good addition to the series and balanced out Saki decently enough.
The other supporting characters, most notably in Saki and Saturo’s school group, were relatively ordinary. I never really grew attached to any of them, and could’ve been substituted with alternate personalities with little or no notice. The characters were not what kept me watching the anime as binge-like as I did, so I wasn’t necessarily upset that they were sort of bland.
I really loved the artwork in Shinsekai Yori. As previously noted, the unique take on the post-apocalyptic environment made me look at the genre in a new light. The land was colorful and beating with life, an interesting contrast to the outlook the humans had on life. The character models were also well constructed, although sometimes looked sloppy during action scenes. I also valued the level of detail that was involved drawing the various creatures of this world. The cats were all differently designed, and the queerats had subtle humanoid characteristics.
I was surprised to see that the anime’s opening was not always present. I kind of got used to it not being there, though it wasn’t bad. The ending theme was quite good and left me with a sense of fulfillment at the end of each episode. The music present during the show was nothing noteworthy, but it did add to the overall vibe quite well. Voice acting was average, for some reason I really liked Mamoru and Saturo’s voice actors though. They were very distinctive in nature.
All in all, Shinsekai Yori is a beautiful rendition of shows we are used to seeing in a different light. It’s a rare opportunity to see a series stick its head out for originality, and this anime earns full honors for it. It is not without its flaws… but it is definitely a must see for any anime fan!
