Peps' Anime Wrap-up: Shinsekai Yori

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In my latest anime wrap-up post covering Sakurasou no Pet no Kanojo, I mentioned that I was actually supposed to be writing about Shinsekai Yori.  The title was the latest series that I finally finished and could finally cross off my catch-up list.

It was just simply too hard to write about back then, especially since I just watched and wrote about Psycho-Pass a few days prior.  I don't know what possessed me to watch two anime titles with decidedly dark themes back-to-back, so I decided to look for a lighter material to write about.

I've a lot of titles to catch up on and I don't intend to write about every one of them, but I did tell myself to make the effort on those I would consider to be must-watch picks.  And Shinsekai Yori, as dark and depressing as it turned out to be, is one that falls under that category.  So, here we are.

A thousand years in the future, the Japanese people live in a decidedly different world than we know today.  They reside in tranquil towns and they no longer have possession of much technology.  The biggest difference and what shaped their new world is that the humans are in possession of power of psychokinesis.  In every town, there are strict rules in place on how the next generation is to be trained in using their powers.  Six children - Saki, Shun, Satoru, Maria, Mamoru and Reiko - who hail from the Kamisu's 66th district are part of Group 1 in their school.  As the years pass and their education progress, they realize that their world is not as peaceful as they think it to be.

Shinsekai Yori or From the New World is an excellent series, which is a comment that I made when I started watching a couple of years ago and one that I stand by when I actually got around to finishing it.  It's just not that easy to watch.  I think the only reason I survived a full marathon of the second half of the series is because watching Psycho-Pass prior to it has desensitized me a bit.

From the onset of the series, I knew it wasn't going to be a light viewing.  While the character designs wouldn't have clued you in to the themes of the series, the rest of the animated production are very clear indications that things aren't going to always go well for its characters.  There's something about their play of shadows and the music that they use that always gave me a sense of foreboding every time I watched an episode.  Despite the utopia that the villagers try to convey, there's an undercurrent of tension and you always feel that there's a form of violence that lurks in the dark.

And you're not alone in feeling dread, as Saki, the series's narrator, unfurls a story that is filled with more horrors than wonders.  Even as a child, Saki has an innate suspicion about the utopian existence of their village, a suspicion that is mirrored by her group mate Shun.  Saki and her group mates learn very early on that their fears are nothing of the childhood sort as they realize that certain mythologies hold a measure of truth in their world.  Some of these mythologies pertain to real life monsters that could be blamed for the disappearance of their peers or would mislead them with information, steeped in both truth and lies.

But in truth, what brings the most drama and the most horror are the actions of the humans themselves.  A lot can happen in a thousand years and as the series progress, you gain an idea on why the humans turned to strict rules and unorthodox means of enforcing them in order to maintain the peace they attempt to protect with a high level of ferocity.  Your viewing experience of Shinsekai Yori can be quite the roller-coaster ride when it comes to alternately criticizing and empathizing with their behavior or decisions.  Yes, you understand why certain measures must be taken, but you also wonder at their effectiveness or the moral reasoning behind them.

Shinsekai Yori isn't something that you can share with kids.  The mature elements of the series include rather disturbing non-human designs, discussions of how they condition the human psyche to turn to sex in times of stress, and acts of violence that you know would leave every single character in the series traumatized for life.  And you need to have a level of viewing maturity to see beyond these less than appealing elements.

As much as Shinsekai Yori is a portrayal of a world that's gone all wrong, the anime series does well in communicating all the best parts of the Kishi Yusuke novel that it is adapted from.  Saki is an excellent narrator and it is through her realizations that we find a measure of hope in that crazy, crazy world she lives in.  You just have to persevere in watching her go through a lot of hardships.

So far, I've avoided major plot points or story lines that you might encounter when watching the series.  It's not because some might be difficult to explain, but more so because I want you to find out what happens to Saki and her group mates over the course of several years for yourself.  It's been a while since I've watched an anime title that gave viewers a series of different story lines that would ultimately be one cohesive lesson about human nature.

In truth, the most that I've struggled with in writing this post is giving you enough reasons to watch Shinsekai Yori, considering how I've gone on and on about elements that would normally deter regular viewers from watching.  I can't even guarantee that you will get a satisfying payoff as a viewer, because this is one of those series where appreciation is definitely going to be subjective.

But if you do take the time to watch it, then I wish you gain the same satisfaction I did.

I normally end my reviews on must-watch titles with a certain line, and I can't say that the words are completely appropriate in this case.  But, nonetheless...

Happy viewing!!

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