From the New World. At first, I had no clue how the title related to the anime. I asked myself questions such as "are these people not from this world?" during the first episode, looking for clues. Let me tell you now, this is how you are supposed to watch this anime: by asking questions to yourself. It's not the kind of anime to "look at". Thinking is our ability to make this anime into the masterpiece it is.
I like how the story moves from place to place and from time to time, giving a bit of motion. Although the beginning is what some would call "slow", I feel like that it a subjective necessity. The middle and end of Shinsekai Yori are so impactful and eventful, that the beginning does feel slow. But the beginning brings so much. In addition to the contrast, it reveals very important information on the history, facts and opinions of the world. I say opinions because, as mentioned earlier, we have to think in order to make it good. Listen to the voice of the narrator. Does it sound like some one we know? They say that the victors write history, so history is mainly just an opinion with many small facts.
The themes that continue throughout the show make sense and fit with the atmosphere. Shinsekai Yori has a very tense atmosphere, and this makes for a very on-the-edge-of-your-seat experience. I always felt that something bad was going to happen to some character, and not many anime can give me this feeling, since all the main characters have their "special abilities" of immortality and always winning at the end, given to them by the author. The mature themes of death, active expression of homosexuality (all kinds of sexuality are mature) and others contribute to this dark atmosphere.
Death plays a major role as being the solution to "problems". Anything that the adults and elders of the community fear will be "solved". The homosexuality actually has a serious role that does not involve light fanservice. Mentioned in the earlier episodes, the information that the humans we are looking at are genetically modified to be a bit more like the "Bonobos" (sexual monkeys) and have some new DNA to solve other problems. Bonobos embrace each other sexually whenever they start to feel stress or anxiety, and they disregard gender/sex. The big question is why, during the teenage stage, the characters start to be more homosexual? There are a few reasons. 1) They are still in school, and they still have to focus on learning. 2) If heterosexual behavior were approved, then it is possible that many more children will appear with teenage parents. Then, the naive teenagers may possibly do careless things such as leave it alone and let the Queerats take their child, who may do some crazy things like start a rebellion. 3) The producers want to emphasize this point, that these humans are very different from us, and the change in a few pieces of DNA (so that we're more like the Bonobos) will bring a new norm that will seem crazy to us. In my opinion, I think if the real people of today had a DNA change so that they would behave more like Bonobos, the authority will need a solution to stop the public sex and the intense population boom. Imagine every person who feels stress having sex with each other. I feel like the norm will definitely shift, if not to guided homosexuality, then to another solution at least.
I love the fact that Shinsekai Yori has no OP and a great ED. The former allows us to jump straight into the action without interruption. The latter provides us with time to think about what just happened in to episode we watched (reflection is very important, as we get to analysis ourselves and all the possible answers we have). The ED has this great quality (being a person who enjoys great music) of silence in the right places. At the beginning of the ED, after each guitar lick, there is a whole beat (a QUARTER REST) of silence, which makes it absolutely amazing. At every point in time, music can either offer us sound or silence, and both are equally important.
