I started watching Shinsekai Yori when it started airing in 2012 but stopped at episode 13 because I lost interest in it because I thought "what a slow anime...". I started it again from episode 1 in 2017 and finished it in a week. Now I think it was too fast and slow at the same time. The pacing of the story was a little bit slow for my taste, but the rate we received information about everything was too fast/not enough time has spent on it. Most of the time we got information about the current world and the last 1000 years in big (too big for me) fragments, which was good because we could somewhat empathize with the shock of the characters but it caused information loss for me and there were some parts I had to rewatch because of this and I'm not a big fan of rewatching dry information bits.
Despite the pacing, the story was really good and it had quite a few plot twists. We got segments of the main characters life's with years in-between so we could concentrate on the more important bits. With the summary of the in-between years the story remained intact, did not got segmented. It was a very elegant way to tell it.
As for the animation and art... I didn't like it that much. It was unique and likeable but sloppy more than once. I know that making an animation is hard work and I can accept some hiccups but there were a little bit too much for me. Also there were some parts in the animation that were completely unnecessary in my opinion or I just didn't get what they wanted to express with them. Although I have to praise it's fluidity. The scenes felt natural most of the time. Another great part was the effects. They were nice and subtle sometimes, really over the top in others and could strengthen the feel of each scene.
Sound-wise I really enjoyed the entirety of the show. I liked the reoccurring songs, the sounds (or the lack) of animals, the dramatic music, the voice of (most) characters and the ED as well. It suited the show well. One of the few things I disliked was Mamoru's voice for some reason but overall they did a great job.
And here comes what I disliked the most. Characters, character development and character relations. Most of the main characters had a certain depth, some more-some less, but I just simply can't say I like any of them or I hate most of them. They are too ordinary despite being special in that society. And there's not really any development in their personality. It's not that they are the same in the beginning and the end of the show, it do feel like their personality age, but all along I feel like their perspective is too narrow despite everything they live through. As for their relationships with each other... I just couldn't understand why they felt that way toward each other most of the time.
The supporting characters in the other hand were perfect in my opinion. They had the necessary depth in personality and goals that was required and I could decide easily whether I like them or not.
I would especially like to praise Squealer's character. He was a really well established character.
It is a good anime, but I think it could have been better. The message it wanted to convey was conveyed but if you learned history you can learn the same if you think about it. Most humans are arrogant, egocentric, somewhat racist and short sighted creatures. Most of them want happiness for themselves even if it means the agony of others. But if the need arise they can change, temporarily at least, to solve the problems these attributes create. It happened multiple times in our known history. Personally I hate mankind for these attributes but I can love each individual because of the potential he/she have to change it and the things around him/her.
As a final word... If you interested in this anime because of it's premise or because of a review then watch it. It can change your perspective and thoughts of the current world and the past. It can change you so you start thinking and not accept everything without a second thought. Thank you for reading this review!
