| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tropes_shin_sekai_yori_5361.jpeg]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:[-[[{{BewareTheNiceOnes}} In which of these characters lies the power to destroy the world?]] [[spoiler: All of them.]]-] ]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | A millennium from now, in Japan, there exists a utopia. [[TheProtagonist Saki Watanabe]] lives in an idyllic village barred from the outside world. Her world is ruled by the people who possess the "gods' power" of psychic abilities. After finally obtaining her own powers, Saki enters the Zenjin Academy to train along with five other children: [[ChildhoodFriend Satoru Asahina]], [[TeamMom Maria Akizuki]], [[ShrinkingViolet Mamoru Itou]], [[TheSmartGuy Shun Aonuma]], and [[ProneToTears Reiko Amano]]. |
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| 6 | Not all is as it seems, however. In this utopian village, strange rumors about a monstrous cat that abducts children circulate, and students are said to disappear from the academy. The world and its history are much darker than they appear and humanity is on the verge of collapse. |
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| 8 | ''From the New World'' (新世界より ''Shin Sekai Yori'') is a Japanese science fiction novel by Yūsuke Kishi and released on January 23, 2008. It was adapted into a 25-episode anime television series by Creator/A1Pictures that aired from September 2012 to March 2013. The anime has been picked up for [[http://www.hulu.com/from-the-new-world streaming]] and home video release in North America by Creator/SentaiFilmworks, and is available on [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/shin-sekai-yori-from-the-new-world Crunchyroll]] as well. There is also a manga adaptation that was serialized in Kodansha's ''Bessatsu Shounen Magazine'' from May 2012 until June 2014 and is now licensed by Vertical. The manga differs considerably from both the anime and the original novel in plot and characterization. |
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| 10 | It is unknown if/when the original novel will be officially translated. Meanwhile, an English fan-translation (completed in 2016) can be found [[https://cadetnine.wordpress.com/ here]]. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ---- |
| 13 | !!The book/anime provides examples of: |
| 14 | |
| 15 | * AdultsAreUseless: Subverted. It's set up to look like the kids are on their own against uncaring/evil elders. Turns out the adults really ''are'' doing their best for them under the horrible circumstances. |
| 16 | * AfterTheEnd: Takes place in the distant future, after a long decline of humankind. |
| 17 | * AncientConspiracy: There is one with [[spoiler:[[WellIntentionedExtremist reconstructing society]] as its purpose.]] |
| 18 | * AndIMustScream: This is [[spoiler:Squealer/Yakomaru's]] punishment for his deeds, [[spoiler:until Saki decides to put him out of his misery.]] |
| 19 | * AnyoneCanDie: Not even those belonging to Group One are safe from being offed at any time. |
| 20 | ** The third story arc takes this trope to a whole new level. [[spoiler:Important characters such as Maria, Mamoru, and Tomiko all kick the bucket. And that's before getting into the complete destruction of Kamisu 66...]] |
| 21 | ** Averted for [[spoiler:Saki and Satoru]] in the novel given that [[spoiler:Saki is telling the story and mentions talking with Satoru.]] |
| 22 | * ApeShallNeverKillApe: Using Power to kill another human triggers agonizing, 100% lethal feedback, but that's only because the killer ''perceives'' their target as another human. If they don't, then it's free rein. |
| 23 | * AppealToForce: The mobile library terminal has a lot of protocols in place to control its use. It is also smart enough to know that bypassing said protocols is preferable to being psychically torn apart by Saki and friends. |
| 24 | * AnArmAndALeg: Saki, Satoru, and Niimi find a monster rat who just lost an arm. |
| 25 | * AristocratsAreEvil: And how. [[spoiler: The monster rats are the descendants of unpowered humans. How did they get that way? They couldn’t stop the powered humans from doing it to them. The reason the powered humans created the monster rats? They needed them to look less human so they could kill them without any psychic backlash]]. |
| 26 | * ArtisticLicenseBiology: The novel states that annual virginity checks are performed on female students, despite the fact that most virginity tests are inconclusive and rely entirely on the hymen for evidence, which can be torn a number of ways (and could possibly not be torn at all during sex). |
| 27 | * AxCrazy: |
| 28 | ** Ogres, apparently due to a disorder related to Power. |
| 29 | ** Koufuu Hino, one of the greatest users of Power in Kamisu 66, is easily amongst the most bloodthirsty characters in the story. He takes absolute glee in the prospect of destroying half the monster rat population in the region, and enjoys the idea of torturing them and forcing them to fight each other during [[spoiler:their attack on the town.]] |
| 30 | * BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:One of the final scenes shows Satoru embracing a pregnant Saki 10 years after the end of the war.]] |
| 31 | * BadassNormal: Despite the horrors that powered humans could bring about, [[spoiler:the reason unpowered children are executed is because they’re immune to the same safeguards that prevent powered humans from killing each other. In a sense, a unpowered human could operate as an assassin. Although they’re protected by the Death of Shame, they don’t suffer from it.]] |
| 32 | * BaitAndSwitch: The boy who becomes a karma demon in episode 2 looks a lot like Satoru... [[spoiler:but it turns out Shun is the one who becomes one.]] |
| 33 | * BeePeople: Like naked mole rats, the monster rats have a single, large queen that handles all the breeding in the nest and acts as the colony's leader. |
| 34 | * BewareTheSuperman: |
| 35 | ** In the past ages, the psychics who ruled the slave empires were generally monstrous tyrants. One emperor "sacrificed" the first hundred humans to stop applauding his ascension, essentially ForTheEvulz. |
| 36 | ** This is largely the justification for [[spoiler:the pseudo-religious social engineering in Kamisu 66. The story treats humanity as an inherently violent species, which only gets worse due to how easily Power users can use it for violence. They are considered so dangerous that, after the fall of the slave empires & raider groups, the remaining powered population decided to genetically alter themselves to make killing humans impossible.]] |
| 37 | ** Finally, it turns out that [[spoiler:the Kamisu 66 is a slave empire in its own right, and has genetically engineered nonpsychic humans into monster rats to ensure the psychic "gods'" power over them. Nonpsychic throwbacks among the "human" caste are killed, as are psychics who don't live up to the requirements of Kamisu 66's society. The Death of Shame and the Society of Love are a means of preventing fratricidal warfare ''among psychics''.]] |
| 38 | * BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Squealer is defeated, order is restored, and Saki and Satoru start a family and are trying to change things for the better. However, there is still the constant threat of ogres and karma demons, as well as the grim implications of Satoru raising impure cats. To make matters worse, many, many monster rat colonies have apparently been destroyed, with some being spared (including the Giant Hornets) only due to Saki's intervention. Furthermore, Squealer's motivations, as well as his trial, leave the audience wondering just who the villain really was. Still, Saki and Satoru are hopeful for the future.]] |
| 39 | * BreatherEpisode: Largely averted. Although it could be said that events themselves move slowly, especially in the beginning, despite there being so much going on all the time[[note]]from the children fearing the trickster cat, learning the grim truth about the past and present, and meeting the monster rats[[/note]]--because of the constant deluge of BreakTheCutie in the midst of these events, and because of a large part of the series overall focuses on the children's perception of the world shattering (i.e., the first two arcs), there's nary a moment truly given to the audience to breathe up to that point. In comparison, it's as Saki grows older that we're treated to Breather Moments, a particularly apparent one being Saki's flashback to her childhood with Maria in episode 16. These moments are usually harshly utilized to instigate sudden MoodWhiplash, though, [[spoiler:like during the festival two episodes, and another TimeSkip, later.]] |
| 40 | * BroughtDownToNormal: Happens to [[spoiler:the five main characters]] after they question the false minoshiro. A priest named Rijin seals their Power. [[spoiler:Saki figures out how to unseal Satoru's power while they're on the run and the rest implement their method when they get home.]] |
| 41 | * ButNotTooGay: Despite everyone being bisexual, the {{Official Couple}}s [[spoiler:(Saki/Satoru, Maria/Mamoru)]] are heterosexual ones. Male same-sex relationships are also depicted more tamely than female same-sex ones. In the manga, the [[DoubleStandard male same-sex relationship of Satoru/Shun is completely excised]] whereas the [[GirlOnGirlIsHot female same-sex relationship of Saki/Maria becomes incredibly raunchy]]. |
| 42 | * CallBack: Shun asks the false minoshiro what happened to the unpowered humans from 500 years ago. The interface doesn't know the answer but the audience discovers it near the end. [[spoiler:Their genes were spliced with naked mole rat DNA, creating the monster rats.]] |
| 43 | * CanonForeigner: The manga adds some characters who did not appear in the novel, including [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Sho]] and [[ShrinkingViolet Haruka]], who appear [[spoiler:after the TimeSkip]] and join Saki's group [[spoiler:on their mission to Tokyo to find the Psychobuster weapon and defeat the monster rats]]. |
| 44 | * CassandraTruth: Played straight, chillingly, with some characters. [[spoiler: The average human is programmed since birth not to want the truth, nor believe it if they hear it. Group One is the exception, which makes them succumb to paranoia fuel]]. |
| 45 | * TheChessmaster: Saki speculates that Yakomaru anticipated his enemies' response to each of many steps of his successful attack on [[spoiler:Kamisu 66.]] |
| 46 | * {{Chibi}}: Creator/TVAsahi's character and term definition show is hosted by chibi-versions of Saki and Squealer. You can view it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RhdP0acmm-k here]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TQ_Am7Tl2RU here.]] |
| 47 | * ChildEater: The trickster cat[[spoiler:/impure cat.]] |
| 48 | * CityInABottle: Saki's town is enclosed by a barrier that is supposed to prevent demons and monsters from finding them, and children are forbidden from wandering outside the barrier without an adult. However, there is some contact between towns, as well as cooperation in dealing with renegades like [[spoiler:Mamoru.]] |
| 49 | * ConditionedToBeWeak: The story takes place in a village in the distant future where all humans have developed incredibly strong PsychicPowers, but are conditioned by the government since birth via a combination of hypnosis and brainwashing into being incurious, obedient to authority, and passive, with the protagonists [[spoiler:being exceptions due to their brainwashing having been deliberately lessened so that one of them might develop the traits required to be the successor of the village leader]]. Additionally, all humans are conditioned to associate harming another human with their powers with intense pain -- killing another human triggers such intense feedback that it is guaranteed to cause a lethal stroke, with a character experiencing extreme dizziness and pain from destroying even a ''hologram'' of a human being. |
| 50 | * ConservationOfNinjutsu: Zigzagged. Justified in some cases, less so in others. By pure circumstance, a lone human always fares better in battle than a group of humans. |
| 51 | * CrapsaccharineWorld: The setting of the story. Within the village's barrier, life is seemingly idyllic, peaceful, and filled with natural beauty. But many horrors lurk outside the barrier [[spoiler:and the underbelly of the Zenjin Academy and the village itself is... shady to say the least.]] |
| 52 | ** It's later revealed that the world as it was before the era the story takes place in was '''''[[CrapsackWorld a lot]]''''' worse to live in. |
| 53 | * CrapsackWorld: Its definitely a crapsack world depending on your view. You have the mole rats who are [[spoiler:the result of selective human breeding of the unpowered individuals]]. Every modern human is a walking nuke, who by sheer luck isn’t eugenics’d out of the gene pool as a child for any number of reasons beyond their control. |
| 54 | * CurbStompBattle: |
| 55 | ** [[spoiler:Kiroumaru and the Giant Hornets might win the battle Saki witnesses in Episode 17, but ultimately Yakomaru's armies make quick work of the Giant Hornet colony due to their "secret weapon"...]] |
| 56 | ** In Episode 21, [[spoiler:Shisei gets utterly destroyed by Yakomaru's ogre, no thanks to Shisei's subconscious Power leakage--the ogre quickly uses it to his advantage and eventually snaps his opponent in two.]] |
| 57 | * CypherLanguage: In the anime at least, the Queerats speak what looks to be some type of runes. They are actually speaking something that is vocally slurred-and-stuttered Japanese, and the text subtitles give a cypher of English. They say what can be substituted as "help", "thank you", "gods" (whereas the Queerat says "k-a-a-mi"), and "goat moth colony" in their first encounter with humans, proving they understand humans but [[spoiler:their language has intentionally been garbled so they can't be readily understood.]] |
| 58 | * DaysOfFuturePast: Not in the modern world, but before then, the Slave Dynasties were basically Heian-era Japan with AxCrazy superpowered rulers. |
| 59 | * DeathOfTheHypotenuse: First, Shun ends his relationship with Satoru, then [[spoiler:dies before he can either rekindle it or start a relationship with Saki, whom he admits he's always loved]]. Saki reciprocates Shun's feelings, but is best friends with and engaged in a relationship with Maria, who eventually picks Mamoru over Saki, though she is still deeply in love with the latter... and then [[spoiler:Maria and Mamoru die, clearing the way permanently for Satoru and Saki.]] |
| 60 | * DefiledForever: |
| 61 | ** Totally subverted in the anime and manga adaptations. Boys and girls engage in sexual behavior as stress relief from a young age and it is considered a healthy and common ocurrence, except for heterosexual relations before adulthood. See EveryoneIsBi, NoHeterosexualSexAllowed, and SexIsGood below. |
| 62 | ** Played straight in the novel (see NoHeterosexualSexAllowed below). |
| 63 | * DepartmentOfChildDisservices: In this society, if there’s something remotely “red flag”-ish about the child, the kid tends to ‘disappear’ soon after [[spoiler: (executed)]]. |
| 64 | * DerangedAnimation: |
| 65 | ** In a bit of FridgeBrilliance, [[spoiler:it's because the world as familiar to the kids is crumbling upon the revelation of its true, disturbing nature.]] |
| 66 | ** The opening sequence of episode 6 where a human boy inexplicably turns into a false minoshiro also counts. |
| 67 | ** The NightmareSequence from episode 16 features some truly hideous hybrid monsters from the dark depths of human subconscious, animated in a most terrifying art style. |
| 68 | * DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Newcomers to the story will undoubtedly draw parallels with other franchises about super powers. The plot is pretty much the worst case scenario predicted by unpowered human extremists in any other story. |
| 69 | * DoItYourselfThemeTune: Both ending themes in the show are sung by cast members: the first, by Saki's VA Rise Taneda, and the second by Maria's VA Kana Hanazawa. |
| 70 | * DoomedHometown: [[spoiler:The combination of Yakomaru's overwhelming army and his ogre allow him to sack Kamisu 66 in Episode 20.]] |
| 71 | * {{Doorstopper}}: The original novel is about 1,000 pages in total. Because of its sheer length, it is split into more than one book (two or three volumes, depending on which edition you're looking at). The fan-translated English version still qualifies, though it's about half the size of the original at nearly 500 pages. |
| 72 | * DreamSequence: In the novel/anime, Saki has dreams of a faceless boy telling her not to try to help [[spoiler:Maria and Mamoru]] and that they need to die. In the manga, one chapter begins with Saki dreaming about Maria and Reiko when they were all younger. |
| 73 | * DyingDeclarationOfLove: Shun confesses his love to Saki right before [[spoiler:he sends her out of the blast radius of his imminent psychic meltdown]]. The manga also has a scene where [[spoiler:Sho and Haruka, two [[CanonForeigner original characters]], declare their love for each other during Haruka's last moments before she dies.]] |
| 74 | * EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Saki and Satoru end up marrying and having a family. Saki ensured that more than just the Giant Hornets were spared after the monster rats were eliminated and knows enough to try to change things for the better. However, a lot of people died in order for them to reach this point.]] |
| 75 | * EverybodyDiesEnding: In the end of the series, [[spoiler:Satoru and Saki are the only named characters to avert a brutal demise.]] |
| 76 | * EverybodysDeadDave: With the exception of [[spoiler:Satoru, Saki, and Inui,]] every remotely significant human character from Kamisu 66 has died [[spoiler:by the end of the summer festival attack. Tokyo dumps another round of this trope on the party, killing Inui, Kiromaru, and Maria's child; Saki eventually performs a MercyKill on Yakomaru. Saki and Satoru are the only named characters who survive the whole bloodbath of a story.]] |
| 77 | * EveryoneIsASuper: Deconstructed. In a world where every human has reality-warping psychic power, extreme measures have been taken to hold some semblance of civilization together. |
| 78 | * EveryoneIsBi: [[spoiler:According to the library]], sexual acts are used as stress relief and deepening of intimacy. The original example were bonobos. It's a society that depends on DistractedByTheSexy to continue existing. However, there are also very strict social rules regarding sex: heterosexual sex is all but forbidden until early adulthood. As such, homosexual relationships are the norm for children until they are adolescents. They can still have romantic feelings for members of the opposite sex, though. |
| 79 | * ExtranormalInstitute: The Zenjin Academy, where the students are taught to master their [[PsychicPower ability]], called "Power." |
| 80 | * TheExtremistWasRight: |
| 81 | ** The tyrannical nature of society is based on one question: [[spoiler:What do we do to keep another ogre or karma demon from manifesting]]? The answer is necessarily horrifying. |
| 82 | ** Yakomaru's treatment as an insane radical also obscures his perfectly valid point (backed by Kiroumaru) about the inhumane treatment of the monster rats. [[spoiler:Additionally, his claim that the monster rats are human is laughed off by the jury but eventually proven true by Saki and Satoru.]] |
| 83 | * FailsafeFailure: Death Feedback is intended to keep humans from killing each other, but all it seems to serve is to prevent humans from being able to defend themselves against ogres. |
| 84 | * FakeMemories: After a child is "disposed of," the other children's memories are modified so they don't remember the person in question ever existing, and sometimes to remember another child in his or her place. |
| 85 | * FantasticRacism: The humans hold the monster rats in extremely low regard, refusing to believe that they are of equal intelligence. [[spoiler: The moment they get more advanced weaponry, are brainwashed with propaganda involving messiahs sent from Heaven, and have an ogre on their side, they decide to {{Kill All Humans}}.]] |
| 86 | * FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:What the Ethics Committee sentences Squealer to after the monster rats' rebellion fails.]] They use their Power to make all the nerves in his body send extreme pain signals indefinitely, and force him to regenerate every time so he cannot die. The image of the throbbing, red mass in the museum that he has become drives home the horrific cruelty of his "Eternal Hell". |
| 87 | * ForegoneConclusion: From the narration of older Saki we know that she [[spoiler:and Satoru]] will survive to adulthood, but also that [[spoiler:something terrible will happen with Maria.]] |
| 88 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: |
| 89 | ** Since an older Saki is narrating the events of the story, she drops some hints about what will happen in the future, such as [[spoiler:her musing that countless people could have been saved if Maria had never been born.]] |
| 90 | ** [[spoiler:Shun]] is the one who reads the karma demon story for the class early in the series. [[spoiler:He turns into one, in the end.]] |
| 91 | ** For that matter, [[spoiler:Maria]] is the one who reads the ogre story. [[spoiler:She is directly involved in the rise of an ogre-like threat to the human population.]] |
| 92 | ** As if the above wasn't bad enough, in episode 15 [[spoiler:we learn that, after Squealer overthrew the queen, he lobotomized her and kept her solely for breeding offspring. This is incredibly terrifying, especially if you keep Tomiko's warnings and Saki's fears in mind.]] |
| 93 | ** [[spoiler:The order of arrangement in the promotional poster of the anime]] could be considered an early subtle one for those who haven't been or aren't able to read the novels. Driven home by the [[https://twitter.com/a1pictures/status/258862191988588545/photo/1 visually darker,]] day's-end-[[spoiler:(end-of-youth)]]emphasizing [[https://twitter.com/a1pictures/status/258862191988588545/photo/1 14-year-old version of the earlier promotional image]]. |
| 94 | * FriendsWithBenefits: Unlike Shun and Satoru's relationship, which is explicitly romantic, Saki's relationship with Maria appears to be closer to this. Saki is still in love with Shun while with Maria, who knows about her feelings and even [[ShipperOnDeck encourages her]], making their relationship seem more like a PseudoRomanticFriendship with a sexual component. |
| 95 | ** In the manga, it turns out that Saki and Maria see their relationship as this during [[spoiler:the False Minoshiro's revelation that the children of Kamisu 66 are conditioned to engage in homosexual relationships with each other during adolescence.]] Also, although Maria is very much in love with Saki, Saki is by her own admission somewhat [[ObliviousToLove oblivious]] to the extent of Maria's feelings, but still enjoys sleeping with her. |
| 96 | * FromNobodyToNightmare: All over the place. |
| 97 | ** Any human kid who graduates ‘grade school.’ |
| 98 | ** Any human kid who [[spoiler: becomes an ogre or karmic demon]]. |
| 99 | ** Any human kid who becomes an adult. [[spoiler: Kids don’t actually get the ‘right to live’ until the age of 17. Before then, they can be executed for just spooking an adult]]. |
| 100 | ** The monster rats [[spoiler: ARE constantly hunting for an advantage over powered humans. The ones who succeed, become a significant threat to all humanity]]. |
| 101 | * FromTheLatinIntroDucere: In episode 25 Saki and Satoru are discussing the monster rats' origin, erroneously interpreting a similarity between [[spoiler:naked mole rats' scientific name (''heterocephalus glaber'') and human beings' scientific name (''homo sapiens''). Although Greek element "hetero" (meaning ''different'' or ''other'') in ''heterocephalus'' is the opposite of Greek element "homos" (meaning ''same''), this element is not the one used in "''homo'' sapiens", which comes from Latin element "homo" (meaning ''human'').]] |
| 102 | ** YMMV on this one because it could be believable that the scientists who originally created that name may have intended it as a sort of joke, recognizing the similarity though they knew it to be a false cognate. |
| 103 | * GayRomanticPhase: The entire series. While the town seeming encourages and approves of same-sex relationships as children/teens, there's an unspoken expectation of ending up in a heterosexual relationship by adulthood. |
| 104 | * GenderFlip: [[spoiler:Maria's and Mamoru's child]] is a boy in the original novels. The anime adaptation, however, turns the character in question into a girl, as revealed in the series finale. |
| 105 | * GenreBlind: The human leadership don't seem to realize that [[spoiler:the monster rats being led by Squealer are someday going to revolt against them, given how they've ousted their queens and are quickly developing into an advanced, democratized, industrial society]]. Only Saki, Satoru, and Tomiko seem to have an inkling of what might happen. |
| 106 | * GenreDeconstruction: A horrific examination of the concept of superpowers. Everyone with the Power is a [[PersonOfMassDestruction walking nuclear weapon]], [[EveryoneIsASuper every human being in their society has the Power]], and the series thoroughly explores the [[ShootTheDog absolutely terrifying measures]] that humanity has had to take to survive this development. |
| 107 | * GlassCannon: Every human being in the series has the destructive potential of a nuke, if not more, thanks to their psychic power, but can be killed by a single bullet as easily as any normal person. |
| 108 | * GoryDiscretionShot: |
| 109 | ** The audience don't see [[spoiler:the monk Rijin gibbed by the blowdog]]. [[BreakTheCutie The kids aren't so lucky]]. |
| 110 | ** The audience is also spared the undoubtedly gruesome image of [[spoiler:the doctor's head being blown off by K after the man injects the little demon with enough poison to kill him.]] |
| 111 | * GrandInquisitorScene: Saki's talks with Tomiko, who explains why the world is the way it is, are these. |
| 112 | * GreyAndGrayMorality: [[spoiler:Yakomaru's rebellion. On one hand, it is clear that the humans view the monster rats as barely sapient lifeforms who cannot possibly compare to them, presenting themselves as gods to the monster rats. They are also completely willing to exterminate entire colonies that are perceived as hostile (or in any way a threat), many of which have thousands[[note]]Collectively, Yakomaru's colony and its allies have a population in the hundreds of thousands. This was to be destroyed.[[/note]] of individuals, as little more than pests. On the other hand, it's clear that Yakomaru has been planning this for years, and his motivations are questionable at best. He is also outright genocidal towards humanity, and he has no problem sending his men to die in more than one SuicideAttack. He also slaughters other colonies that do not ally with him.]] |
| 113 | * GrotesqueCute: Monster rats are ugly, small, anthropoid creatures that worship humans with Power as gods. |
| 114 | * HeroicRROD: When Satoru has completely overstrained his power fighting the Earth Spider Clan, and finally contains a pair of Balloon Dog explosions, he collapses in exhaustion. Given that he's just spent two episodes [[OneManArmy fighting a war single-handedly]], it's understandable. |
| 115 | * HeroicSacrifice: |
| 116 | ** A doctor 245 years in the past [[spoiler:gave an ogre a fatal drug injection]], knowing he'd die for it. |
| 117 | ** Niimi is sent to sound the emergency broadcast telling people [[spoiler:to evacuate the towns because an ogre is attacking]]. He stays in the town hall to keep the broadcast going rather than escape, himself. |
| 118 | ** [[spoiler:Saki's parents burn all of the books containing classified information]] so that Yakomaru can't use it, despite knowing Yakomaru's forces will find them because of the smoke. |
| 119 | ** [[spoiler:Kiroumaru lets himself be killed by the ogre in order to trigger the ogre's Death Feedback.]] |
| 120 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: |
| 121 | ** The Board of Education orders [[spoiler:Mamoru's death for rather flimsy reasons, which causes him to run away with Maria. This leads to Maria giving birth to a child. After presumably killing them both, Squealer then raises that child to be a weapon against humanity, making a revolt possible. This rebellion gets Hiromi (the head of the Board of Education) killed.]] |
| 122 | ** As kids, Saki and Satoru save the Robber Fly colony from extinction while trying to get back to their friends. Two years later [[spoiler:two of these friends, Maria and Mamoru, run away and take shelter with the growing Robber Fly colony... who kill both of them and use their child to all but flatten Saki and Satoru's entire society.]] |
| 123 | * HotterAndSexier: |
| 124 | ** The manga adaptation, which is only loosely based on the novel, has much more fanservice-y clothing designs for the girls and a number of gratuitious ecchi scenes between Saki and Maria (with Reiko joining in as well in the first chapter and in a dream sequence), as well as one between Saki and CanonForeigner Haruka. [[DoubleStandard It also completely erases the canon homosexual relationship between Satoru and Shun]]. |
| 125 | ** Inverted when you consider the anime is TamerAndChaster than the original novel, which depicted sex scenes fairly graphically. In the novel there's mention of oral sex between two boys and Saki mentions that at the age of 12 she already had experience sexually pleasuring another girl (in a scene where she's trying to figure out how to pleasure Satoru, no less). That being said, it's not done for the sake of fanservice, and is described in an almost clinical manner. |
| 126 | * HumansAreBastards: A major theme of the story. Humans are presented as an extremely violent species, often using oppression and cruelty to get their way, or for no reason at all. They're even worse with Power, if only due to how easy Power makes everything. As such, Kamisu 66 is centered around controlling their violent impulses, as human nature alone can destroy the world again. |
| 127 | ** In the novel it's very heavily implied that the two creatures mankind is most afraid of, ogres and karma demons, are the result of a kind of genetic/evolutionary backlash against suppressing violent instincts - the emergence of ogres and karma demons turns out to be tied to traumatic events their parents experienced, by the way of unconscious, minor power leakage that influences genetics. |
| 128 | * HumansArePsychicInTheFuture: One thousand years from the present, everyone develops reality-warping power when they reach adolescence. |
| 129 | * {{Hypocrite}}: |
| 130 | ** Monster rats [[spoiler:take the baby monster rats of defeated colonies to be slaves after they defeat rival colonies in battle. Not only do they not stop doing this, they then start raising human children as their ogre units. Yet preaching that they deserve equality.]] |
| 131 | ** On the opposite side, [[spoiler:the humans act outraged that monster rats killed their friends and family, yet they have absolutely no qualm to eradicate entire monster rat colonies at the slightest hints of threat, and freely execute monster rats for trivial "insults".]] |
| 132 | * ImaginationBasedSuperpower: Power can be used to effect whatever result the user visualizes. |
| 133 | * InherentInTheSystem: HumansAreTheRealMonsters, with the [[PhysicalGod power of gods]]. Much of the horror of the series comes from the fact that the CrapsaccharineWorld revealed to the children really is the best that its rulers can come up with. |
| 134 | * InNameOnly: The manga is an independent adaptation of the novel, and it's less an adaptation than an "inspired by" with [[HotterAndSexier added gratuituous fanservice and sex scenes for the female characters]] (but [[DoubleStandard completely ignoring all the male homosexuality and the m/m sex scene in the original story]], a completely different story (it mostly does its own thing and only touches on key plot points from the novel), entirely different characterization (most characters are unrecognizable), and even original characters. [[FanonDiscontinuity A lot of fans pretend it doesn't exist.]] |
| 135 | * InterruptedDeclarationOfLove: Saki tries to confess her love to Shun, but he interrupts her with a goodbye and walks away. [[spoiler:He's about to go off to die alone, and hearing a confession from the girl he loves would make that a lot harder.]] |
| 136 | * InTheFutureHumansWillBeOneRace: In the novel, it's mentioned that a small number of Japanese now have red hair. [[spoiler:Saki immediately recognizes Maria's child because of this.]] |
| 137 | * JustInTime: Tomiko arrives just in time to save Saki from [[spoiler:being sentenced to death by the Education Committee.]] |
| 138 | * KidsAreCruel: Downplayed. Children with Power are responsible for many of the atrocities that occurred when Power first appeared, and even Group One can be callous towards others, such as threatening to rip the false minoshiro or almost leaving a drowning monster rat. |
| 139 | * KilledOffForReal: At the end of the story, [[spoiler:Shun, his pet dog Subaru, Rijin, Maria, Mamoru, Hino, Hiromi, Fujita, Reiko, Shisei, Niimi, Saki's parents, Kiroumaru, Squealer/Yakomaru, Tomiko, Inui, and Maria and Mamoru's nameless child]] are all dead. |
| 140 | * KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade: |
| 141 | ** Downplayed in the case of Saki's group. They "only" have their Power sealed. [[spoiler:Possibly thanks to Tomiko's intervention.]] |
| 142 | ** Subverted: It's heavily implied that the Education Committee would have killed Saki for revealing how much she knows during [[spoiler:her interrogation]], if not for [[spoiler:Tomiko's intervention.]] |
| 143 | * LimitedWardrobe: Spectacularly averted, with a whole wardrobe of beautifully detailed outfits for each character in the anime. |
| 144 | * {{Lobotomy}}: The monster rats perform a botched lobotomy on the Robber Fly queen, and presumably the queens of the colonies that allied with the Robber Flies. Squealer claims they did it because the queen was suffering from mental illness, as well as because they felt their rights as sentient beings weren't being respected, but in practice it's mainly to organize a coup. This procedure changes the monster rat queens from occasionally [[OffingTheOffspring violent]], tyrannical despots to mindless baby-factories which are treated as livestock. Regardless of rationale, Saki and Satoru are reasonably freaked-out by this revelation, especially since the queen is the monster rats' own mother. |
| 145 | * LoveConfession: The class duty pairing ceremony, due to the administration's emphasis on boy-girl pairs, is considered an implicit confession of whom everyone likes. |
| 146 | * LoveDodecahedron: Mamoru has a crush on Maria, who likes Saki, who loves Shun but dates Maria; meanwhile, Shun reciprocates Saki's love but is going out with Satoru, who also loves Shun. [[spoiler: Collapses when Shun dies in the second arc; Maria and Mamoru run off into the wilderness whereas Satoru and Saki end up marrying by the end of the series.]] Plus, Saki remarks in the novel that despite her longstanding crush on Shun, her strong bond with Satoru makes him the person that she is most comfortable to be with. And when she sees Shun and Satoru together, she isn't sure of whom she is actually jealous of. |
| 147 | * TheMasquerade: Most people are brainwashed from childhood to believe the world works a certain way, but a select few know the truth. |
| 148 | * MercyKill: [[spoiler:Saki to Squealer in the last episode, to end his horrific AndIMustScream punishment.]] |
| 149 | * MindOverMatter: Everyone can use Power starting from adolescence. |
| 150 | * MirroringFactions: The current society is not so different from [[spoiler:the previous slave empires. The current society mutated humans without Power into monster rats so they can easily control them without suffering from Death Feedback.]] |
| 151 | * MoleMen: The monster rats are literal naked mole-rat people who initially live in underground communities. The Robber Fly colony eventually begin building some structures above ground, and is revealed that the species [[spoiler:are the descendants of humans who didn't have psychic powers. They were forcibly mutated by the psychics to have naked mole-rat DNA.]] |
| 152 | * MoreThanMindControl: The people of Kamisu 66 [[spoiler:are subtly brainwashed since childhood by the Board of Education and the Ethics Committee to ensure the stability of their society and prevent lethal breakouts of uncontrolled psychic power. The average member of the society would be paralyzed with fear by the very idea of crossing the Sacred Barrier without permission, for example.]] |
| 153 | * MrExposition: The false minoshiro's purpose is to tell the main characters (and the audience, by extension) the backstory of the setting they live in. |
| 154 | * MundaneUtility: People mostly use their Power abilities for extremely simple tasks, such as picking weeds or writing on a blackboard. Pretty simple stuff for a Power that has the potential to destroy continents. |
| 155 | * MurderIsTheBestSolution: Pretty much the way everyone solves every problem. Kid getting depressed? Murder them. Gods got you down? Murder lots of them. Discovered there’s nothing stopping you from murder? Murder everyone. Possibility of guilt? Murder them just to be sure. People not clapping enough? Murder them publicly. Plebs not cooperating? Murder. Territory dispute? File the proper paperwork... to be allowed to murder the other party. Coming up across a tragic villain you can’t murder? Find a loophole to murder them. Sad you can’t murder someone in your own society? Create people you can murder. |
| 156 | * NightmareFace: |
| 157 | ** [[spoiler:Shun]] in Episode 8. |
| 158 | ** [[http://angryanimebitches.com/2013/01/shin-sekai-yori-episode-14-flakes-of-snow/shinsekaiyori-episode14-24/ K.]] |
| 159 | * NightmareSequence: Saki sees a nightmare in episode 16, featuring a disturbing sequence of bizzare monstrosities and a boy with pointy ears [[spoiler:who tells her to let Maria die.]] |
| 160 | * NoHeterosexualSexAllowed: It appears that although heterosexual crushes are perfectly commonplace, teenagers are expected not to act on them, and teens who don't take a same-sex partner are seen as strange. Only after a ceremonial pairing for schoolwork are they allowed to pursue a heterosexual relationship, and most of the homosexual ones are apparently quickly dropped. |
| 161 | ** In the novel Saki explains that intimate homosexual relationships are encouraged in adolescents, with only platonic relationships being approved for those of the opposite sex until a certain age. Heterosexual sexual intercourse between adolescents, if discovered, would warrant expulsion of the individuals. It makes sense when you consider their society is one that promotes using sex as a form of stress relief even among children and also is highly regulatory of said children; it wouldn't be prudent for 12-year-old kids to already be having kids of their own. |
| 162 | ** Actually, to be really specific, contact between people of different sex is still permitted. The only thing that's truly forbidden is penetrative intercourse between a boy and a girl. |
| 163 | ** In the novel, schools are stated to go so far as to perform ''annual virginity checks'' on female students. If failed, the girl "disappears." The double standard exists presumably because there's no way to check male students. |
| 164 | * NonHeteronormativeSociety: The story takes place years and years in the future. Japan has been reduced to a fraction of its population and what is left has psychic powers. In this society, people are encouraged into having plenty of sex to keep their stress levels low, and in order to improve everyone's chances, teenagers are encouraged into trying same-sex relationship, whereas relationships between people of the opposite sex are forbidden until later in life, prompting an entire society of bisexuals. There are though people who are exclusively attracted to one gender or one person in the setting. |
| 165 | * NumberOfTheBeast: Kamisu '''66'''. Becomes increasingly appropriate as the various horrible things they do to monster rats and [[spoiler:their own children]] are brought to light. [[FireAndBrimstoneHell Not to mention]] their PlayingWithFire abilities. |
| 166 | * OffingTheOffspring: The adults don't want to, but there's no other way to stop the kids from potentially turning into {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s. |
| 167 | * OutlivingOnesOffSpring: Saki's mother worries Saki will [[spoiler:be ordered to be killed by the Education Committee]] until Saki's Power finally manifests. [[spoiler:She lost one child already.]] |
| 168 | * PassingTheTorch: After receiving serious injuries [[spoiler:from the monster rat attack, Tomiko realizes that she's not going to last long against Yakomaru, let alone his ogre. Because of this, she gives her position to Saki in Episode 20.]] |
| 169 | * PathOfInspiration: The Buddhism that teaches the characters their mantras and control of their powers [[spoiler:actually includes hypnosis and mantras that are used to seal people's powers where necessary.]] |
| 170 | * PerfectPacifistPeople: Subverted. The humans initially appear this way, but they are only like this due to extensive [[spoiler:genetic and social conditioning. They cannot attack somebody without their own Power attacking their own bodies, for example]]. This pacifism also does not apply at all to the monster rats, whom the humans regard as mere animals that can be exterminated in the hundreds of thousands. |
| 171 | * PersonOfMassDestruction: ''Every human being in the world!'' An elaborate system of control is in place to keep people from destroying the society by accident or on a whim. Renegades who fail to follow the social norms are treated with the same degree of seriousness as armed nuclear weapons, and for good reason. |
| 172 | * PhysicalGod: Humanity is able to wield unlimited power, and humans are treated as gods by lesser creatures (specifically, the monster rats). |
| 173 | * PowerIncontinence[=/=]SuperpowerMeltdown: [[spoiler:Karma demons are the sufferers of a mental disorder that makes them unable to properly control their power and begin to subconsciously warp everything around them, with devastating effects. Their abilities grow even stronger over time and cause even more damage. Shun develops the condition and accidentally kills his parents, destroys his village, twists the landscape, and eventually secludes himself in an alternate world to record what happened to him. Eventually he dies due to an especially powerful power outburst.]] |
| 174 | * PowerLimiter: [[spoiler:The human genome has been modified to include barriers on attacking and killing other humans.]] The society is so devoid of aggression that the kids are completely baffled at any mention or display of it. |
| 175 | * ProperlyParanoid: |
| 176 | ** The reason why the committee gets rid of [[spoiler:some children is to avoid them becoming karma demons or ogres, as has happened before. Indeed, Yakomaru's war against humans is only possible thanks to Mamoru and Maria defying the committee.]] |
| 177 | ** Zigzagged at the end of the summer camp arc. [[spoiler:Satoru realizes that General Kiroumaru might receive orders from the Ethics Committee to disappear him and Saki, prompting him to make a break for it in the middle of the night. He's right... except that Kiroumaru has no intention of following their orders, and helps them return to civilization.]] |
| 178 | * PullTheThread: [[spoiler:When giving someone as smart as Saki FakeMemories]], it's a good idea to make sure that [[spoiler:the new memories]] are airtight. Otherwise, her subconscious will give her a hint, and she'll start digging until everything unravels completely. |
| 179 | * RageAgainstTheHeavens: Arguably the BigBad has this motivation against humanity. |
| 180 | * RatMen: The monster rats are rat-faced humanoids, [[spoiler:implied to have been genetically altered or subconsciously evolved from normal humans using the reality-warping powers common in the setting.]] |
| 181 | * RealityWarper: "Power" can do just about anything. [[spoiler:In the hands of a karma demon, it ''does'' do just about anything; transforming bodies into crystals, mutating people and creatures, and transmuting poisons into harmless chemicals are some of the tamer manifestations of PowerIncontinence.]] |
| 182 | * RedHerring: Given what happens to Shun and the fact he [[spoiler:read the story about the karma demon]], one would assume that Maria, [[spoiler:being the one to read about the ogre, would eventually turn into one. She is revealed to be dead in Episode 18.]] |
| 183 | ** She did, however, [[spoiler:give birth to a son (a daughter in the anime) who would become an ogre. Saki was right: if Maria hadn't been born, she wouldn't have been the mother of the near-apocalypse.]] |
| 184 | * ReedRichardsIsUseless: Partially justified with the extensive pacifism enforced by society. At the beginning of the story, we see the power users doing things like building mirrors and floating with their powers. By the time the fighting picks up, none of them use their powers for anything other than killing mooks. There are a bunch of points where camouflage would help, but nobody ever gives it serious consideration. |
| 185 | * RememberTheNewGuy: In the anime. After [[spoiler:Shun dies]], Ryou from Group 2 is introduced as a member of Group 1 as though he had always been part of their circle of friends. Downplayed in the original novel, where Ryou is at least mentioned as a member of Group 2 before this happens. |
| 186 | * ReplacementGoldfish: |
| 187 | ** Ryou is [[RememberTheNewGuy suddenly a member]] of Group 1 and Saki's (and Satoru's former) LoveInterest an episode after [[spoiler:Shun dies,]] ''literally'' replacing [[spoiler:Shun]] in everyone's mind. [[spoiler:Except not really. Shun has been erased, with Ryou retconned into his former position, but neither Saki nor Satoru are actually interested in Ryou like they were with Shun.]] |
| 188 | ** In the novel, when Saki and Satoru end up making love after [[spoiler:failing to retrieve Maria and Mamoru after they ran away from the village]], Saki makes the realization that Satoru is probably thinking of [[spoiler:Shun]] while doing it, and muses that she's thinking the same, as well. |
| 189 | * TheReveal: |
| 190 | ** The false minoshiro reveals what happened in the thousand years between the present and the story's setting. |
| 191 | ** Shun reveals the nature of karma demons to Saki, and thus the audience. |
| 192 | ** Tomiko Asahina reveals more of what's under The Masquerade. |
| 193 | ** Satoru reveals at the end that [[spoiler:monster rats are descended from normal humans who were spliced with naked mole rat DNA.]] |
| 194 | * RevengeThroughCorruption: Squealer's scheme is to [[spoiler:raise a human child to believe it's a monster rat, allowing it to kill other humans]]. |
| 195 | * TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: During the TimeSkip the monster rats start getting ideas about democratic process instead of the tyranny of the queens, and proto-nation states that extend beyond the limits of individual nests. [[spoiler:They seek to accomplish this by lobotomizing the queens, effectively reducing them into mindless birthing machines, and violently persecuting the nests that refuse to go along.]] |
| 196 | * RidiculouslyCuteCritter: [[spoiler:[[http://0-gate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/tainted-cat.png The impure cat kittens Satoru is raising in the final episode]]. Especially ironic and HilariousInHindsight, given that the monsters were once sent to hunt Saki and Mamoru.]] |
| 197 | * RopeBridge: In the story of the man who gathered herbs in the forbidden ground, he ends up cutting it so that the [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slender Man]]-like monster chasing him fall to the ravine --[[TakingYouWithMe along with him]] -- and preventing it from destroying his village. [[spoiler:Foreshadowing, definitely.]] |
| 198 | %%* SacrificialLamb: Reiko. |
| 199 | * SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:Shun]] is seen having a major case of this in Episode 8, foreshadowing [[spoiler:his transformation into a karma demon.]] |
| 200 | * SceneryPorn: |
| 201 | ** The idyllic landscape of Kamisu Town 66. |
| 202 | ** Episode 16 showcases this with the snowladen landscape contrasting vivid blue (and later pink) skies throughout [[spoiler:just outside the barrier.]] |
| 203 | * SchizoTech: The monster rats use stone-tipped arrows... and machines that store and release poison gas. [[spoiler:they're basically big clay pots stuffed with sulphur, plastic, or other things that make a stink when you burn them, set on top of a hill with the opening pointing towards the enemy.]] |
| 204 | * ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Unintentionally. The reason that Saki and friends aren't cat food after their first unauthorized adventure is because [[spoiler:Tomiko vetoes the order to have them killed.]] |
| 205 | * SealedEvilInACan: The basement of the school is '''not''' a storage area. [[spoiler:It is actually the kennel for the impure cats.]] |
| 206 | * SelfFulfillingProphecy: If the Education Committee hadn't [[spoiler:decided to eliminate Mamoru, he wouldn't have run for it and ''become'' a threat to Kamisu 66.]] |
| 207 | * SelfReferentialHumor: In part I chapter 2 of the novel, Saki remembers that in her primary school days, her friend Satoru used to make scary stories to make his friends freak out: "At this time, I admired Satoru for his oratory skills. If there were ever a job for making scary stories, he would be the first to be picked for it. Though of course, I can’t think of [[{{RealLife}} any society]] that would have [[{{SelfDeprecation}} such a dumb job]]." |
| 208 | * SexIsGood: Intimate physical contact relieves stress, stemming the power-madness, and tendency toward such behavior is encouraged and has become part of everyday life. Modeled after bonobos. |
| 209 | * ShoutOut: To ''Literature/AnimalFarm'': This is not the first time [[spoiler:a character called "Squealer" has been involved in a plan to install a new world order.]] |
| 210 | * ShrineMaiden: The uniform of the main characters has this motif. For all purposes, they ''are'' Shrine Maiden and Kannushi, power of the gods and all. |
| 211 | * SlasherSmile: |
| 212 | ** [[spoiler: Shun]] has one in Episode 8. |
| 213 | ** [[TheSociopath K, too,]] has one in Episode 12. |
| 214 | * SmugSuper: {{Defied}} in the most disturbing way. [[spoiler:The moment a child with Power shows even the slightest hint of smugness, he or she is dealt with. Permanently. One example is when a student cheats at a telekinetic game by pushing the ball when players are only allowed to push clay wedges around its base - violating safety regulations.]] |
| 215 | * SoundtrackDissonance: The opening of the first episode is [[spoilersuperpowered kids [[YourHeadAsplode exploding heads]] to [[Music/AntoninDvorak The New World Symphony]]'s [[SoundtrackDissonance Second Movement]].]] |
| 216 | * SpaceAmish[=/=]EnforcedTechnologyLevels: Though not in space, the people of Kamisu 66 follow a simple lifestyle and although they have plenty of understanding of modern technology, including the ability to generate electricity with waterwheels, they actively avoid the use of technological contraptions in favour of their innate psychic powers. Flashbacks imply that they used to be more lenient with technology but changed their minds about it for some reason. |
| 217 | * SpoilerOpening: |
| 218 | ** The ending animation foreshadows [[spoiler:Shun's death.]] |
| 219 | ** What's more, Mamoru and Maria are seen wearing masks in the ending, [[spoiler:just like the one Shun wears before he kills himself.]] |
| 220 | * SuicidalPacifism: Kamisu 66 is a debatably extreme, and partially oppressive version of this. It has layers upon layers of preventative measures designed to prevent an individual from becoming violent. They do nothing about an individual who both becomes violent, and bypass all their internal safeguards. When that happens, all the other humans still have the safeguards in place so they can’t defend themselves. In pretty much all instances, this results in a massacre of innocent people. |
| 221 | * SuicideAttack: Yakomaru sends his soldiers to use this tactic when [[spoiler:his army attacks Kamisu 66.]] |
| 222 | * SuicideByCop: A monster rat lunges at Saki and Satoru so that they'll kill him in self-defense. He has valuable information he doesn't want them to torture out of him, and he doesn't have a weapon to kill himself with. |
| 223 | * TakeOverTheWorld: [[spoiler:Yakomaru's]] ultimate goal, as revealed in episode 21, is nothing less than [[spoiler:to turn all human infants he captures into ogres, and use them to wipe out all humans from the face of the Earth.]] |
| 224 | * TechnicalPacifist: Humans cannot kill humans, due to both conditioning and genetics. [[spoiler:This does not stop them from using trained and engineered [[AttackAnimal Attack Animals]] to murder their children.]] |
| 225 | * ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: There isn’t really an instance where someone manages to bypass all the pacifism safeguards and not go on a bloody, indiscriminate rampage. |
| 226 | * ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight: |
| 227 | ** Trickster cats are allegedly mythical monsters that steal away children who don't develop their Power. It is an urban legend among children, and their existence is usually denied by the adults. However, there are numerous hints that there is some truth to the stories. [[spoiler:Indeed, Saki's mother knows them to actually exist, calling them impure cats.]] |
| 228 | ** It's one of the methods [[spoiler:the scientists use to prevent those with Power from destroying society.]] |
| 229 | * TimeSkip: The story follows Saki and the others through three timeskips. |
| 230 | * TitledAfterTheSong: The anime shares its English name with Dvořák's Symphony No. 9. This could be passed off as coincidence if not for the frequent use of the "Goin' Home" theme from the symphony's 2nd Movement ("Largo") throughout the show. |
| 231 | * TitleOnlyOpening: A rare anime example of this. Even so, quite a few of the opening title cards are creative and set the right tone for their respective episodes. |
| 232 | * TomatoInTheMirror: Saki realizes that the reason [[spoiler:Yakomaru's ogre doesn't experience attack inhibition or death feedback like other humans is that s/he doesn't know that s/he is a human. His/her attack inhibition and death feedback function against monster rats instead, since s/he was raised by them.]] |
| 233 | * TomatoSurprise: In the final episode, [[spoiler:Saki and Satoru learn that the monster rats are actually descended from humans who were forcefully mutated.]] |
| 234 | * TownWithADarkSecret: Except it doesn't stop with the town, going all the way to humanity itself. |
| 235 | * TwitchyEye: In the anime [[spoiler:everyone in the group, Ryou included, develops this after Shun's death. Whenever they bring up topics relating to their recently falsified memories, their right eyes begin to twitch]]. (In the novel, only Saki mentions experiencing it). |
| 236 | * UncannyValley: |
| 237 | ** Satoru thinks that the monster rats are becoming too human for comfort in Episode 15. |
| 238 | ** During the climactic attack, [[spoiler:the monster rats use mutants shaped like humans to increase the chaos. According to Saki, they look human from a distance, but are eerie and off-putting up close.]] |
| 239 | * UnlimitedWardrobe: One of the very interesting things about ''From the New World'' is that the characters' clothing change frequently, unlike most anime. Their hairstyles also change after timeskips. |
| 240 | * UnPerson: Society seems to be structured so that people who "disappear" are forgotten and never spoken of. More specifically, people who disappear [[spoiler:under the rules of the Ethics Committee get erased from the memories of people around them, including Reiko, Saki's older sister and Shun.]] |
| 241 | * UnreliableNarrator: In the novel, Saki warns the reader early on that she could be one of these; although she tries to tell her story as truthfully as she can, she admits that some facts may still be distorted as a result of her own unconscious self-justification, and also because the memory-altering she experienced throughout her life means she can't be sure if what she remembers is accurate or not (she brings up that she and Satoru, as well as other people she knew from the time, have conflicting memories on certain events). |
| 242 | * TheUnreveal: |
| 243 | ** In the anime this is where the mutants used by Earth Spider colony [[spoiler:and later Yakomaru's forces]] come from. In the last episode, there are some taxidermied specimens on display in the museum [[spoiler:commemorating the monster rat-human war]], but the viewers are never shown any information about them. |
| 244 | ** In the novel it's explained that they're created by the queen applying modifications to her offspring while they are inside her body. (The queen of the Earth Spider colony was a mutant, herself). At the end Saki theorizes that this [[spoiler:may be evidence for them having low-level Power.]] |
| 245 | * UsedToBeMoreSocial: Shun distances himself from his closest friends and even moves out of his hometown because [[spoiler:he's turning into a karma demon.]] |
| 246 | * VillainOfAnotherStory: The protagonists and their ancestors. The universe’s history is essentially the aftermath of the worst fears expressed by unpowered humans in virtually every other franchise about super powers coming true. All the mechanisms in place to keep society stable are only meant for clearly human characters. Everything else is essentially under constant threat of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s destroying everything. |
| 247 | * WeirdnessCensor: Saki and her class don't seem to be too concerned that several students have gone missing and never returned. [[spoiler:It turns out that the adults are intentionally altering the children's memories of students who have been removed in order to phase them out of any past recollections and to quell any ensuing panic that may occur if one's classmates disappeared.]] |
| 248 | * WellIntentionedExtremist: The Ethics & Education Committees, which will use any means necessary to prevent the creation of ogres and karma demons, even if it means [[spoiler:covertly "removing" any child who shows even the slightest hint of instability.]] |
| 249 | * WhamEpisode: [[WhamEpisode/FromTheNewWorld With so many game-changing twists, this series earned its own page]]. |
| 250 | * WhamLine: |
| 251 | ** After telling her mother about seeing a trickster cat, Saki overhears her parents. She catches her mother saying, [[spoiler:"I don't want to lose any more children!"]] |
| 252 | ** This exchange between Tomiko and Saki in Episode 14: |
| 253 | --->'''Tomiko Asahina:''' What age do I look like to you?\ |
| 254 | '''Saki Watanabe:''' (''beat'') About 67.\ |
| 255 | '''Tomiko Asahina:''' That's an amusing guess. [[spoiler:You got the last two digits right. I'm 267 years old.]] |
| 256 | ** As if Episode 18 isn't whammy enough, Maria appears. After more or less recapping her reasons for [[spoiler:leaving Kamisu 66]], she drops this bomb: |
| 257 | --->'''Maria Akizuki:''' I loved Saki. [[spoiler:But I couldn't leave Mamoru and I could no longer live in that town anyway. And, well, we can't have kids since we're both girls.]] |
| 258 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never learn what happens to those two women who stay behind in the hospital when [[spoiler:an ogre is pursuing Saki and Satoru's DwindlingParty]]. Saki and Satoru plan to send someone from the town to fetch them, but things have gotten a ''little'' out of hand by the time they get back, so the issue never really comes up. |
| 259 | ** After Saki and Satoru give [[spoiler:the ogre]] the slip, they notice [[spoiler:the ogre going in another direction, which, with Saki visualizing the hospital entrance and making a half-second face of realization, implies that the ogre went back to kill them.]] |
| 260 | * WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Kamisu 66 only gives full human rights to indviduals who are over 17 years old, [[spoiler:whereas children under it can be disposed of for any reason.]] The ogres and karma demons are perceived as inhuman monsters in spite of their very human origins. The monster rats are classified as animals in spite of their human-level intelligence and the Robber Fly colony's industrialized society because they don't have any psychic powers. [[spoiler:Also, the monster rats are secretly descended from non-psychic humans with naked mole rat DNA spliced in.]] |
| 261 | * WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Considering how quickly Saki and Satoru begin hallucinating after being trapped in the dark (it happens again to Saki later), people in this society are more prone to both visual and auditory hallucination. And, oh yeah, don't forget about people would suddenly become ogres if they weren't [[spoiler:killed before they can snap, or in the case of the victims' loved ones, robbed of their memories of the victim.]] |
| 262 | * YouDidEverythingYouCould: Satoru says this to Saki after [[spoiler:Maria and Mamoru's defection becomes clear.]] |
| 263 | * ZigzagPaperTassel: These are ubiquitous, indicating sacred or forbidden places/items. |
| 264 | ** They're part of the social engineering, meant to make people localize their subconscious fears and power leakage away from any inhabited area. |
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