Shin Sekai Yori

So… apparently it's not just those with little ability that are weeded out, it's also those that are likely to misuse their powers. And something tells me those aren't the only things that'll get kids disappeared.

dvorak new world symphony, eerily modified, with FUCKING ELECTRIC GUITAR SOLO!!!!!

I'm not one to like to prejudge things, or give in too much of a definitive judgement before I've seen something in it's entirety (or at least majority), so what I'm about to say is unusual for me and therefore testament to the magnitude of the impression I got from a single episode:

From The New World appears like it's going to be something truly great; the 'appears once every few years' kind of great, or the 'joins the ranks with a select few of my favorites' great. Why? Well, it just succeeds on a lot of levels.

The animation is great, especially during the fable section (that monster was COOL! It had a liquid and gaseous quality to it, warping spastically but fluidly as it just kind of slid around very rapidly, leaking trails of pyretic ooze.).

The music is awesome, especially in the opening credits section, where a choir sings a hauntingly altered version of Dvorak's 9th "new world" symphony (I see what they did there lol), over which soars a breakneck electric guitar solo.

From a story perspective, it seems like interesting things are in store. I was amazed by how much the show told us about the setting, and how it didn't have to do it explicitly. I particularly liked she school kids talking about their mostly inscrutible to us subjects. In a society run by the 'gravity' and not mechanical technology as current humans understand it, we don't share too much context with them, so what they're doing is a bit opaque, but you can figure a little bit of it out, and that's what's so cool.

Another thing that struck me was the shot composition. The director/storyboard artist knew what they were doing in a way that most creators of visual media do not. The best example was probably in the introduction, during the part where the 'camera' is spastically going in and out of focus (maybe a little TOO spastically but I digress), there is a certain shot in which we see a school classroom, probably middle school or high school. You see the setting sun through the window, and see how there are few students in the classroom, indicating that school is over and there are just a few people left over there. Suddenly, two of the students are hit by an invisibe blast and just [expletive] disintigrate. The camera cuts before we even get to see anyone's reaction to this, emphasizing how fast things go wrong when they do. The best part about it was the subtlety of how it was shot; the shot didn't seem like it was showing that happen, it was more like it was showing that place, in which that thing happened, if you understand what I'm saying as the difference.

The bottom line is, this show has a certain nuanced showmanship about it that, whether or not it turns out to be ultimately good (though I think it probably will be), it seems to be wanting to be and deserving to be the subject of serious criticism and thought, which is rare for a story in any medium.

As for the sealing of the powers, what i think happened was after bad things started happening in modern times because this 'gravity' phenomenon started to manifest, a hasty defense mechanism was created, in which once the ability manifested in a child, it was sealed and the child educated about how to use and control it, and this ritual over time became entrenched in the culture but people forgot the reason behind it. as for the cat getting rid of children who do not have the ability, or who have it weakly, either there's some sinister eugenics type of thing going on or in the new world, the power is needed to defend against the flora and fauna of the new earth which have this ability as well.

Episode 1: Nice eerie atmosphere. I'm predicting a The Village situation. Said fiends will probably be the normal humans or something.

So... I guess we need to watch out for Maria. Wouldn't have pegged her to be a harbinger of doom.

I didn't take that statement as meaning Maria was evil. I thought it meant that, due to her troubled birth, lives were sacrificed to somehow make sure she lived.

Very good episode. It still doesn't tell us too much, but I personally like anime that don't explain everything through a block of exposition speeches in the first episode and instead shows us bit by bit. It makes me pay attention and think to figure out what's going on and plus, since anime is a visual medium I think things should be shown more than said. Obviously my two favorite series right now are this one and "K".

I didn't take it to mean that she was necessarily evil either, though I think your take on it is interesting and probably makes more sense since the whole troubled birth thing was even mentioned. I thought it might mean Maria just does or says something that has a heck of an unintended consequence.

edited 8th Oct '12 9:58:15 AM by Bur

It could just be that she is the one who screws up and lands them as fugitives.

When was it said they become fugitives? Just in case, if that happens to be a spoiler from the novel can you please point it out clearly in the future so I don't get spoiled? Thanks. If it isn't a spoiler fromt he novel, sorry about that XP

Pretty sure I read it in one of the previews, but I can't site it and could be completely wrong.

Crazy wildlife and crazy not-wildlife. I assume this is what will stop the plot in earnest

Also; does this show have an OP?

well..as far as i know this show is composed of 2 arc child and adult so the OP maybe when we move on to the adult arc which most of the story probably happening and this child arc just serve as prologue...

as we know from episode 3 currently they already know many thing they dont supposed to know, i imagine the government will not like it and will try to kill them, of course they will escape thus the the story can truly began..

edited 13th Oct '12 1:22:09 AM by whitecloud

The library was really cute. And has dirty, dirty secrets. Yum.

That interests me greatly.

I want an evil minoshiro to take home and call my own. I'd take it for long walks, and give it treats of... of... whatever, I'm sure there's something it likes, and then let it sleep on the bed. If it sleeps.

edited 13th Oct '12 9:28:07 AM by Bur

Saki was being mean to the poor libraryslug.

edited 13th Oct '12 10:53:04 AM by Arha

This is the first time I have seen crabs attack a library.

You obviously don't visit libraries very often.

In this episode, our heroes go on a canoeing trip and torture innocent animals and libraries in the woods.

edited 13th Oct '12 4:58:14 PM by Ruise

To be fair, the library was trying to brainwash them or something.

It merely paralyzed them temporarily. There was no call to start pulling antennae.

It could well have had some kind of side effects if it had kept up. Breathing is a voluntary action...

edited 13th Oct '12 5:42:42 PM by Hylarn

^ Hey wait a minute

Poor libraryslug. I guess after this trip the plot will probably start to get really underway. They'll know some secrets and they'll have been in forbidden territory.

I suspect that may be why people who've seen the libraryslugcow tend to die.

I admit that I'm still curious as how this is supposed to be Maria's fault.

Wait and see...?

Something else entirely could be Maria's fault.