Or To the New World. When you imagine how life moves and how we evolve, it's difficult to imagine the idea of chaos and entropy without experiencing it for oneself. Physics is order, biological structure is order, and humanity is based off of the idea of order. And at that point, we don't really experience/know we are experiencing chaos and entropy in our everyday lives.
Nonetheless, we live. And that's what I found most interesting about Shinsekai Yori. It wasn't about a bad guy and for the greater good and all.
It was about living.
Animation: 8/10
I'm starting off with the animation because this is what primarily shocked and awed me. My favourite part of all of this was the fact that many episodes of the anime differed in art. Many people are bothered by this, but the idea was that different staff were used for different episodes. And because different staff was used, it allowed for a different point of view of art design and character design. It provided so much more depth than any other. The only issue I had with this was that it felt a little rushed. The different styles brought amazing depth, yes, but at the same time, the episodes seemed a little choppy in animation. Despite all this, however, Shinsekai Yori is aggressively presented and experimented with new things constantly.
Sound:10/10
There really isn't much to say about the sound except that the soundtrack is friggin' awesome. It really fits the somber mood, and uplifts when it really needs to. But mostly, it hits the low notes of the anime especially well. I could fall asleep to this, but that would be a stretch because I would be scared cold imagining what's happening with their village and with the Demons.
Characters: 10/10
The characters popped out of the screen. There isn't much else to say but the fact that they were phenomenal. Character development was on point and each character played their own role in the story. And because they popped out so much, the emotional connection with the characters when one left or another died or another is confronted with a major issue was so extreme, I almost felt myself shaking after every episode.
Story: 10/10
In short, people die. People die a lot. In fact, Shinsekai Yori shows us how cruel the world can be. This anime is one of the most adventurous animes I have ever seen. And not adventurous as in there are adventures. People die. I commend To the New World so much for having the courage of killing off main characters and having some sort of reality. The whole anime focuses on the main female lead, Watanabe Saki. These deaths in her life not only feel like real deaths, but you can feel Saki. You can feel the isolation and you can feel the weight on her shoulders. And while progression is slow at first, near every event made me feel anxious for Saki. Every death and every moment made me want to tuck my face into my knees for Saki. There were points where the story just made me want to stop watching it because it is so well portrayed and so well tuned to impacting the viewer.
Overall: 10/10
Shinsekai Yori is nothing short of a masterpiece. It's not your fun anime. It's different. It's so different, the art, the characters, the incredible storytelling is almost flawless. Very few animes I've seen made me connect with the characters and the story they were telling this much. It's not often that we get an anime like this and it is truly underrated. Definitely on my must watch list. View discretion advised, however. There is blood. There is death. There is some pretty twisted stuff.
