Shinsekai Youri. From the New World

[Master-Debater131]

So I picked this up semi-randomly last week and wound up finishing it in a few days.  I really enjoyed it and was wondering if anyone else had ever seen it.

https://myanimelist.net/anime/13125/Shinsekai_yori

 

Its actually a few years old but has pretty decent reviews from what I have seen.

 

Plot

 

Following a sudden outbreak of psychokinesis in 0.1% of the population, a rapid transformation swept the world. The godlike ability to manipulate matter remotely turned many power wielders to violence, inciting a long period of upheaval. Finally, after a chaotic era shaped by the rise and fall of oppressive regimes, the psychic humans were able to achieve a fragile peace by isolating their society, creating a new world bound by complex rules.

 

In the town of Kamisu 66, 12-year-old Saki Watanabe has just awakened to her powers and is relieved to rejoin her friends—the mischievous Satoru Asahina, the shy Mamoru Itou, the cheerful Maria Akizuki, and Shun Aonuma, a mysterious boy whom Saki admires—at Sage Academy, a special school for psychics. However, unease looms as Saki begins to question the fate of those unable to awaken to their powers, and the children begin to get involved with secretive matters such as the rumored Tainted Cats said to abduct children.

 

Shinsekai yori tells the unique coming-of-age story of Saki and her friends as they journey to grow into their roles in the supposed utopia. Accepting these roles, however, might not come easy when faced with the dark and shocking truths of society, and the impending havoc born from the new world.

 

 

 

 

My thoughts after finishing it, with some questions about the ending/future

 

I really liked this actually.  It didnt go pretty much anywhere near where I expected when I first started it. And honestly the plot description doesnt really do it justice IMO.  I really wasnt expecting so many main characters to get killed off either.  That was a very interesting twist that I thought helped move the show along very well.

 

A few things about the ending though that I really wish they answered:

Did Saki learn to change her DNA so she could live an insanely long life?

Did she take over as the town leader?  Or is she just getting ready to take over in 100 years?

What about all the other babies taken by the Queerats?  Im assuming they were rescued, but the show never really explained that.

The whole Queerats have Human DNA thing was a bit......odd. 

 

 

 

 

 

Generally I thought the show was pretty well done.  It was very enjoyable and worth the watch.

[Top Gun]

Really awesome mostly under-the-radar show.  Anime has a pretty large amount of dystopian-future titles that explore the negative aspects of technology, but I can't think of another one that tackles genetic and social engineering like this one does.  It does a fantastic job of cultivating this slowly-growing sense of dread as more and more of the world's underpinnings are revealed.  It's been a couple of years since I've watched it, so I'm not sure of the exact answers to your questions, but I'll do some thinking and see if anything comes to mind.

[granzchesta]

Been meaning to rewatch it for quite some time. Absolutely loved it!

[Master-Debater131]

Really awesome mostly under-the-radar show.  Anime has a pretty large amount of dystopian-future titles that explore the negative aspects of technology, but I can't think of another one that tackles genetic and social engineering like this one does.  It does a fantastic job of cultivating this slowly-growing sense of dread as more and more of the world's underpinnings are revealed.  It's been a couple of years since I've watched it, so I'm not sure of the exact answers to your questions, but I'll do some thinking and see if anything comes to mind.

I was really surprised by how it went into genetic modification and social engineering.  I had no idea that it would get as deep as it was either.  It started off so small and then built overtime.

 

I think thats part of what made the show so good.  It built little by little over time.  Nothing was really just thrown at you in a haphazard way.

[Master-Debater131]

Been meaning to rewatch it for quite some time. Absolutely loved it!

I was very surprised by how good it was actually.

 

 

[mochi]

someone suggested it to me once as a good LGBT anime

 

 

then took it back later when they realized that the show implies Homosexuality is something you should "outgrow" when you decide you want children

[naraku360]

someone suggested it to me once as a good LGBT anime

 

 

then took it back later when they realized that the show implies Homosexuality is something you should "outgrow" when you decide you want children

It doesn't imply you should outgrow it.

 

 

It's set in a dystopia where the children are modified. A part of the modification is that everyone uniformly starts gay and is prone to lose it with age. Something to do with the hormones coming from young homosexuality promoting a positive atmosphere, but the need to reproduce so it's made to be temporary.

 

 

That's not saying you should grow out of it. It's suggesting the control society has over their lives is bad, but not exactly a bad message to associate homosexuality with peacefulness. It simply takes place it a setting that doesn't allow for much happiness for anyone. If anything,  it's implying a negative over the fact that they're given so little agency.

[Master-Debater131]

someone suggested it to me once as a good LGBT anime

 

 

then took it back later when they realized that the show implies Homosexuality is something you should "outgrow" when you decide you want children

I dont actually think thats what happened.

 

The whole genetic modification thing was less of a "everyone starts gay" and more of a "people will fuck whoever they can to relieve stress" from what I could tell.

 

 

And as far as the outgrow it thing, i dont think thats true.

 

Spoilers for end of show as to why:

 

At the end Saki still openly loved the one girl.  This was constantly coming up throughout the series.  So its not like she "outgrew" it.  There were also multiple times where they alluded to the fact that the two girls slept together.  And a bunch of the boys were openly Homosexual as well.

 

  I think it was more of the fact that she and the guy were the only ones left alive from that group of friends when the show ended

 

 

 

The whole "dont be gay but instead make babies" i think was actually a pretty big social commentary on Japan and their views of Homosexuality, as well as the whole "everything is controlled by an unseen force of elders, and if you go against them they will kill you" idea.  Again, a pretty big commentary on Japan.

 

 

It was still a great show and well worth the watch.

[Top Gun]

I think that portion of their society was definitely modeled on the behavior of bonobo chimpanzees, which engage in widespread sexual activities among group members (both heterosexual and homosexual) as a means of forming bonds and resolving conflicts.  Encouraging same-sex activity as teens would allow for the release of pent-up hormones without the risk of teenage pregnancy, as well as helping form social bonds.  If there was any sense of "growing out" of same-sex relationships, it was in the desire that the community's members eventually form family units and have children.  Regardless, the series acknowledged that the children retained their feelings of affection as they grew older, and in any case, the whole overarching social engineering aspect of their society was definitely portrayed negatively.

[granzchesta]

someone suggested it to me once as a good LGBT anime

 

 

then took it back later when they realized that the show implies Homosexuality is something you should "outgrow" when you decide you want children

 

Funny, unless you're talking about someone else, I never took that back. That's not what it implied at all. You would know if you actually watched it instead of reading spoilers and jumping to your own conclusions.

[naraku360]

Funny, unless you're talking about someone else, I never took that back. That's not what it implied at all. You would know if you actually watched it instead of reading spoilers and jumping to your own conclusions.

I believe I took it back, actually.

 

Not because it had a negative message about homosexuality, more because mochi would treat it as such regardless.

 

It was around the time it dawned on me that mochi doesn't handle unhappy stories well.

[mochi]

I believe I took it back, actually.

 

Not because it had a negative message about homosexuality, more because mochi would treat it as such regardless.

 

It was around the time it dawned on me that mochi doesn't handle unhappy stories well.

it depends on the story

 

Evangelion has a fucked up unhappy ending but I've always liked it

 

and if I feel the story has meritt outside of it's homophobia I'll occasionally overlook anything I find homophobic

 

heck I kept watching YuYu Hakusho and Hunter X Hunter even though the only gay characters in both were evil and got killed

 

and frankly had people not told me I should love Puri Puri Prisoner "just because he's gay" I probably could've overlooked him

 

somehow the fact that people were insisting that I should like him just because I'm gay made me resent the show as a whole

 

 

my current strategy is to just flat out deny any anime characters are gay(even the ones that actually are) so I can enjoy the show in spite of how terrible the few canonically gay ones all are and not get my hopes crushed

[Master-Debater131]

Just watch this then.

 

 

Its really good , has great plot development, is far deeper than i ever imagined, and I walked away in the mindset of "Well, now what do I do with my life?"  which is always the mark of a really good series.

[naraku360]

it depends on the story

 

Evangelion has a fucked up unhappy ending but I've always liked it

 

and if I feel the story has meritt outside of it's homophobia I'll occasionally overlook anything I find homophobic

 

heck I kept watching YuYu Hakusho and Hunter X Hunter even though the only gay characters in both were evil and got killed

 

and frankly had people not told me I should love Puri Puri Prisoner "just because he's gay" I probably could've overlooked him

 

somehow the fact that people were insisting that I should like him just because I'm gay made me resent the show as a whole

 

 

my current strategy is to just flat out deny any anime characters are gay(even the ones that actually are) so I can enjoy the show in spite of how terrible the few canonically gay ones all are and not get my hopes crushed

*shrug* Of those, the only one I've watch recently was HxH.

 

To my knowledge HxH didn't have any officially gay characters. I've seen you talk about Uvogin/Shalnark, but the evidence for that is.... incredibly fishy. I'd possibly accept Killua or Leorio or even Nobunaga (being the one to get far more emotional than Shalnark) over the aforementioned, but there's effectively very, very little romance in the series at all. Uvogin seems like really reaching and Shalnark is reaching even further. And Togashi did attempt to get a shounen-ai sports series (Trouble Quartet) published but couldn't find any takers. So, I dunno, the Togashi hang up seems sketchy.

[mochi]

Just watch this then.

 

 

Its really good , has great plot development, is far deeper than i ever imagined, and I walked away in the mindset of "Well, now what do I do with my life?"  which is always the mark of a really good series.

if Toonami licenses it someday then sure

 

(I also don't usually watch anything toonami doesn't license....mostly because I just kinda hate watching anime via streams of any kind and I prefer watching it on TV)

[mochi]

*shrug* Of those, the only one I've watch recently was HxH.

 

To my knowledge HxH didn't have any officially gay characters. I've seen you talk about Uvogin/Shalnark, but the evidence for that is.... incredibly fishy. I'd possibly accept Killua or Leorio or even Nobunaga (being the one to get far more emotional than Shalnark) over the aforementioned, but there's effectively very, very little romance in the series at all. Uvogin seems like really reaching and Shalnark is reaching even further. And Togashi did attempt to get a shounen-ai sports series (Trouble Quartet) published but couldn't find any takers. So, I dunno, the Togashi hang up seems sketchy.

I didn't know this

 

that's depressing

 

 

assuming he doesn't retire or drop dead whenever he completes Hunter X Hunter I hope he tries to get it published again someday

[Master-Debater131]

if Toonami licenses it someday then sure

 

(I also don't usually watch anything toonami doesn't license....mostly because I just kinda hate watching anime via streams of any kind and I prefer watching it on TV)

Ah.

 

I wound up downloading the series because I also hate streams. 

 

I think crunchyroll has it though.

 

 

I highly doubt that Toonami will ever license it.  It just doesnt seem like something they would have.  Maybe back in teh day when they had things like Paranormal Agent on, but not today.

[Master-Debater131]

I didn't know this

 

that's depressing

 

 

assuming he doesn't retire or drop dead whenever he completes Hunter X Hunter I hope he tries to get it published again someday

lol@ assuming Hiatus X Hiatus is ever going to be finished

 

 

[mochi]

Ah.

 

I wound up downloading the series because I also hate streams. 

 

I think crunchyroll has it though.

 

 

I highly doubt that Toonami will ever license it.  It just doesnt seem like something they would have.  Maybe back in teh day when they had things like Paranormal Agent on, but not today.

you're right, it doesn't

 

they mostly just license mainstream stuff or stuff they think will attract a large college and teen aged male demographic

 

I.e stuff like this

[mochi]

lol@ assuming Hiatus X Hiatus is ever going to be finished

that too

 

also I just realized youre Master-Debater

 

I didn't even know it was possible for you t have a civil conversation

[Master-Debater131]

you're right, it doesn't

 

they mostly just license mainstream stuff or stuff they think will attract a large college and teen aged male demographic

 

I.e stuff like this

 

Yeaaaa..........Toonami these days isnt exactly a great showing of Anime.  Im glad some is on TV, but at this point ive given up on them getting any shows that require serious thinking.

[naraku360]

I didn't know this

 

that's depressing

 

 

assuming he doesn't retire or drop dead whenever he completes Hunter X Hunter I hope he tries to get it published again someday

There's not a whole lot known about it beyond an author's note in a random YYH volume with some character designs. All he really says was that it was supposed to be a shonen sports series with a gay main cast, and that it got rejected.

 

Other than that, there's virtually no info.

[mochi]

There's not a whole lot known about it beyond an author's note in a random YYH volume with some character designs. All he really says was that it was supposed to be a shonen sports series with a gay main cast, and that it got rejected.

 

Other than that, there's virtually no info.

so basically he was almost the creator of Yuri on Ice

 

apparently he was a decade ahead of his time

[EyeOfPain]

if Toonami licenses it someday then sure

 

(I also don't usually watch anything toonami doesn't license....mostly because I just kinda hate watching anime via streams of any kind and I prefer watching it on TV)

It's on CR, and they've got apps that let you watch on TV through consoles or other devices, so I'm not sure what you mean by that.

 

http://www.crunchyroll.com/shin-sekai-yori-from-the-new-world

[scope]

One of my favorite anime series' but I don't think most of your questions are meant to be answered.

[Master-Debater131]

One of my favorite anime series' but I don't think most of your questions are meant to be answered.

Noooo

 

 

I want the answers lol

[Ric]

I've been meaning to give this show a watch, heard it was good and sounds interesting enough.

[scope]

Noooo

 

 

I want the answers lol

 

LOL well I will try to give my opinion on your questions

 

 

Did Saki learn to change her DNA so she could live an insanely long life?

Did she take over as the town leader?  Or is she just getting ready to take over in 100 years?

What about all the other babies taken by the Queerats?  Im assuming they were rescued, but the show never really explained that.

The whole Queerats have Human DNA thing was a bit......odd. 

 

 

 

Now my answers that are purely speculation

 

I belive Saki would learn to change her DNA since she had the right telewhatevers to do it and her presence would be beneficial to the town.

She must have become the leader at some point since Saki is very capable of thinking for herself and making rational decisions even in an environment that attempts to stunt that type of behavior.

They wouldn't be able to wait 100 years though because Satoru's grandmother (the previous leader, can't remember her name...) passed.

But, I like to think Saki would make a lot of changes to the board and how things were run in the town. (or at least attempt to)

I assume the babies were okay but at least they likely wouldn't turn into fiends or whatever because Squealer was very shrewd and manipulative and I doubt the Fly Colony would have been able to do what they did without him, or even have the idea for it.

I like to think the Queerats were kind of a symbolic cautionary twist about racism and if nothing else it further emphasises the danger of the psychic powers, not just physically but mentally as well.

 

 

[Master-Debater131]

LOL well I will try to give my opinion on your questions

 

 

Did Saki learn to change her DNA so she could live an insanely long life?

Did she take over as the town leader?  Or is she just getting ready to take over in 100 years?

What about all the other babies taken by the Queerats?  Im assuming they were rescued, but the show never really explained that.

The whole Queerats have Human DNA thing was a bit......odd. 

 

 

 

Now my answers that are purely speculation

 

I belive Saki would learn to change her DNA since she had the right telewhatevers to do it and her presence would be beneficial to the town.

She must have become the leader at some point since Saki is very capable of thinking for herself and making rational decisions even in an environment that attempts to stunt that type of behavior.

They wouldn't be able to wait 100 years though because Satoru's grandmother (the previous leader, can't remember her name...) passed.

But, I like to think Saki would make a lot of changes to the board and how things were run in the town. (or at least attempt to)

I assume the babies were okay but at least they likely wouldn't turn into fiends or whatever because Squealer was very shrewd and manipulative and I doubt the Fly Colony would have been able to do what they did without him, or even have the idea for it.

I like to think the Queerats were kind of a symbolic cautionary twist about racism and if nothing else it further emphasises the danger of the psychic powers, not just physically but mentally as well.

 

 

I actually was thinking very similar things to you.  The only real difference for me was:

 

I thought the Queerats were more of a warning about potential genetic modification to create better/worse Humans and the potential dangers that could create for society.  But I think that is pretty close to what you had said as well.

 

 

[Stardust Whispers]

I really enjoyed it. The OST was amazing as well.