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As promised my next anime review will be on Shin Sekai Yori or, From the New World.
I am in absolute awe of this novel-turned anime and am currently scrabbling to find out when an English translation of the text would be available. For now I’ll have to make do with just having this gem of an anime. Unlike in my KnK review, I will not be fangirling over the clarity and sophistication of the animation – though SSY is beautiful in its own way. While the anime comes second in visual astuteness, it makes up for it through its unique and compelling storyline. Days after I finished the anime I feel like I am walking through a haze, wistfully daydreaming about giant mole rats and telekinetic teenagers while humming the anime’s addictive main theme.
Story:
10/10
Books are the best. In an era dominated by otome romances and standardized supernatural stories – I am looking at you, Diabolik Lovers – you can tell when a story was written with the purpose of being thought provoking. Wedged between reels of mindless shonens and sickly shojos, SSY reminds you that anime can have a plot; that the medium has more to offer than gravity-defying breasts and ridiculous action sequences.
Set 1000 years into the future, the show follows six children, Saki, Satoru, Maria, Mamoru, Shun, and Reiko, who have been raised in one of the tranquil yet antiquated prefectures that resemble rural Japan today. Despite a millennium between modern day and Yusuke Kishi’s future utopia, it appears civilization has digressed back to a pre-industrial state. Their world is now a rural one; engulfed by trees and rivers with only a couple of hundred families (if that!) located in any one village. It’s a setting that would make the Romantics swoon. The big change? All the humans we see today have mad superpowers. Everyone has varying degrees of telekinesis, which is carefully controlled and monitored by the benevolent town’s ethics and security councils.
Despite the idyllic setting there is something amiss. As children, Saki and her friends hear rumors of terrifying cats that steal you away in the night, and while no one has ever confirmed these findings, it doesn’t change the fact that every so often children and adults go missing. As they grow, they encounter more and more discrepancies until one faithful day they encounter an item that allows them to realize the true nature of their world, and the long, bloody history that shadows it.
What unfolds is an incredibly intricate plot that thickens like good gravy. What begins as a tale about the adventures of some psychic children soon develops an adjacent story concerning creatures called, Monster Rats: colonies of Mole Rat humanoids that live beyond the towns in sprawling hoards that are fond of feudal disputes, but live to serve their overpowered neighbors; their ‘psychic’ masters. As the rats rage war against each other around them, the children return to school to resume their training, equipped with the terrible knowledge that their society is founded on secretive and deceptive principles, of which the Monster Rats play a crucial role in.
That’s all I am going to talk about in terms of the overarching plot for now. It’s too deep to try and write about in a review, and part of the fun of this particular anime is that the story leaves you guessing; there are so many aspects at work that you never know what’s going to happen next. What I will say is that my thumbs up goes to the characters and plot creation. The characters are loveable and believable, and their interpersonal chemistry makes what happens in the plot so much more tragic and compelling. Throughout it all there is never any clear distinction of who is in the wrong, and as the children stumble through their adolescence, it becomes obvious that they are living in a world of strife and cannot trust anyone outside their circle. Even the plight of the lowly Monster Rats is compelling. As they wage war on each other, and bicker over territory and expanding their colonies, their bestial natures resonate with that of primitive humans; and as the children develop, so do their embryonic ways and existence. They evolve, much to the horror of their ‘benign’ masters.
Go watch it so I can rave about the show with someone! The first six episodes are bizarre, but it only gets better from there. The last episode left me quite teary for characters I did not think I would come to care for so deeply.
Animation:
7/10
At times it’s a 9, at others, 7. A-1 Pictures weren't very consistent with the level of detail they displayed in their animation. Overall it was delicious, and Masashi Ishihama did well employing a few beautifully drawn scenes that leave an impression in your mind. It may not be a KnK with animation, but on the whole SSY mastered its limited budget and produced an artful show speckled with memorable shots and scenes.
Music:
8/10
The main theme is addictive. Kage No Denshouka Daiichibu, the main theme, has been stuck in my head for 3 weeks now. There is a lot of repetition in the show, but I think that really adds to the growing tension and ambiance of the anime: the melodic and someone sad New World Symphony by Antonin Dvorak that plays at the end of each school day becomes sinister; the tantalizing Kage No Denshouka Daiichibu intensifies as the anime develops and the sacrifices of the characters become intrinsic to it. It’s nice music. Not on par with Cowboy Bebop, but definitely pleasing to the ear.
Dislikes:
At times the random decrease in animation quality is irritating. (Nitpicking here).
… Yep! That’s it! Go treat yourself by watching this amazing show.
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