Shin Sekai Yori – 03

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Three episodes in and I’ve seen absolutely nothing to make me rethink my opinion that Shin Sekai Yori is the best new series of the Fall.  So far, it’s one of the best series of the year.

On balance, it would be pretty hard to find much to criticize in the first three episodes of Shin Sekai Yori, which really hasn’t put a foot wrong.  Perhaps the most remarkable element is that the episodes have seemed to fly by at incredible speed – in each of the last two weeks I was surprised at how quickly the mid-point eyecatch popped up, only to realize that the entire episode was over.  That can only be a good thing, and it’s indicative of just how wisely the show is parceling out the story – every episode is self-contained, but brimming with information that builds the larger structure of the series.  And the atmosphere is so captivating that I find myself lost in the world from the start.

The format has been consistent for the first three episodes.  We have a highly disturbing flashback scene drawn in stylized ukiyo-e which cryptically adds to the mythos to start the episode, and this time it’s an event 570 years into the future (ours, presumably).  We don’t get much explanation for these scenes – this time we see a group of assassins infiltrating a palace (or shrine), one of whom comments that “Now there is hardly anyone with PK left.”  Their leader claims “We can change the future!” and tells the others “Spare all but the Emperor of Merciful Light.”  Their leader apparently slays the Emperor, as a beam of white light explodes from the wound to his heart, and the leader joins his comrades in death with a satisfied look on his face.  Cut to 1000 years later, and the “present”.

What these scenes do in addition to hinting at the nature of the series’ reality is to frame the scenes involving the children in a different and more disturbing light.  The children are people and in many ways, their behavior is quite normal – yet we can never escape the perception that their world is very wrong, a product of a strange and terrible era following the collapse of our world that can only have led to a strange and terrible world hidden beneath the veneer of utopia we see.  It’s a credit to Shin Sekai Yori that the contrast between what seem superficially calm and serene moments and the profound foreboding they instill is so stark.

As usual, it’s Satoru spinning the big fish stories and Saki belittling him as a liar (if I did have a complaint so far, it’s her abusive behavior towards him, which feels too clichéd for this series).  Yet here’s something I’ve noticed – almost every story Satoru has told, no matter how far-fetched, has turned out to be at least materially true.  He makes a very interesting comment in reference to his strange story about “blowdogs” – if it were a lie, wouldn’t they have come up with a more believable one?  That’s a profoundly important statement about the world these kids are living in, though I doubt Satoru realizes that.  If anything, I suspect the reality is even more scary than the scary stories told to keep the children in-line.

Satoru’s story of the “Evil Minashiro” on Mount Tsukuba certainly proved true – the first part, that is.  As the kids are enjoying a canoeing trip into the mountains, their natural curiosity takes over and they decide to go past their designated safe zone and try to verify the existence of blowdogs and false minashiros (despite the legend that anyone who sees one of the latter will die). I almost wonder if these sorts of unsupervised trips might in themselves be a way to filter out the undisciplined or rebellious kids, but be that as it may, the children eventually land on an island and discover a very, very old shrine – Shun suggests 2000 years or more – and there have an encounter with the false minashiro.  This eventually leads to a plan to capture the minashiro, a sort of goat kami-like creature which seems to have the ability to hypnotize via it’s many glowing horns – an effect Saki is immune to as a result of her red sunglasses.

With the help of a couple of giant crabs the kid capture the creature – and eventually, force the truth out of it.  The false minashiro is an artificial being, a reservoir of the amassed human knowledge that was lost during the decline of our civilization  980 petabytes of it in fact (Google processes about 1/40 that much daily) including information on the terrible events that led to the fall of civilization, which its captors are apparently not forbidden to see.  Is it so far-fetched to think that anyone who saw that information would be eliminated, once the powers that be discovered the fact?  Again, Satoru’s story seems very feasible.  The other new nugget of information in the episode is that “hundreds of new species” spontaneously (or nearly) came into existence after the fall of man  – prompting the theory that these new species (like the minoshiro) came into existence as a result of “evolution accelerated by the collective unconscious of human beings”.

Do I know how all that fits together?  Hell no, not yet – and I don’t mind a bit, because I want to draw out the experience of learning about this captivating and sinister world for as long as possible.  The advantages of a story developed in the long-form novel medium are really showing themselves here.  Structurally speaking there are strong similarities to Seirei no Moribito, another novel adaptation that didn’t bother with anime convention when developing its story and characters and building its world.  As the fault lines between the kids are showing the character side of the series is really picking up steam as well, offering hints of what awaits after the first time skip.  I’m intensely curious about where things will go from here but in no hurry to find out, because I’m enjoying the journey so much.  That’s a rare achievement for any series and among the highest praise I can give.

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Guardian Enzo

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16 comments

  1. e
    elianthos
    October 13, 2012 at 4:36 pm
    Reply

    Eheh. What to say? I'm loving it.
    And going by the preview next episode is going to bring some juicy background history both for us and the kids to chew upon. Bring it on!
    —
    On the characters relationships side I'd say… smooth move with the night river trip turned impromptu date-ish Shun. Verrrry smooth.

  2. A
    Anonymous
    October 13, 2012 at 7:47 pm
    Reply

    Lol are we sure Shun's real name isn't Keith Stone? Maybe in a past life =P

  3. R
    Richard
    October 13, 2012 at 5:48 pm
    Reply

    Now I'm pretty sure that the boundary rope is protecting what's beyond it (outside world) from what's inside it (villagers).

    Excellent title.

  4. S
    Seishun Otoko
    October 13, 2012 at 6:15 pm
    Reply

    I love it, Shinsekai Yori is taking great strides towards becoming a great series and there was definitely no shortage of surprise developments in this episode. I like how the story is making excellent use of the fantasy world that it takes place in and it certainly does remind me of Moribito which is an epic tale to say the least (I love your fanfic by the way =D). So far it has provided a good balance between seriousness and lightheartedness, but it looks like the darker side of the main plot will finally be brought to the forefront next week and I can't wait to see what's in store!

  5. admin
    October 13, 2012 at 11:34 pm
    Reply

    Wow, a shout-out for Beloved! Haven't had one of those for a while, thanks.

  6. C
    Cybersteel
    October 13, 2012 at 6:39 pm
    Reply

    Looking in respect to our own world, does it not seem that our world, our reality itself feels "wrong"?

  7. A
    Anonymous
    October 13, 2012 at 8:22 pm
    Reply

    Interesting episode,did you already decide which animes you'll keep on blogging Enzo?

  8. admin
    October 13, 2012 at 11:35 pm
    Reply

    No, still just trying to remotely catch up. LB, R;N, SSY and TnK are probably the only dead-locks so far.

  9. A
    Anonymous
    October 14, 2012 at 1:43 pm
    Reply

    Don't forget about Tempest. I know you're busy and I'm not asking you to blog it, I'm just informing you it's gonna be cool in terms of plot twist. You'll enjoy it. I know this as a reader of the manga and a fan of your blog. 😉

  10. L
    Litho
    October 13, 2012 at 8:40 pm
    Reply

    Just finished watching. Still early days (especially for a two-cour), but so far it's been pretty good. Not going to wax too much beyond that cos I'm afraid I'll jinx it.

  11. A
    Anonymous
    October 13, 2012 at 10:38 pm
    Reply

    I thought the episode was pretty scary. After all the discussion of different creatures and the kids going into the wilderness it gave a very creepy and potentialy dangerous atmosphere. Good episode!

  12. J
    Justinnnnnn
    October 13, 2012 at 11:03 pm
    Reply

    Whoa, now this is a show I can dig. I'm really liking it this far – absolutely 0 anime clichés found here. The kids are likeable, they have their own personalities and the writers don't bother shoving those in front of our faces, as they do with the explanations – it's all up to the audience, and what they're willing to pay attention to the most. The children are children; some are noisy, some others are more quiet folks, but they all have their fair share of screen-time.

    I'm craving for some history though, but I can wait. The preview here definetly made up for it. I'm also digging the different intros this show has, and the variety of colors and animation that they provide with. I also found the scene with Shun lighting up the sky on the river beautiful and creative. All of a sudden I thought I was watching a romance – and Shun does makes a move.

    Great stuff!

  13. B
    Beckett
    October 14, 2012 at 4:38 am
    Reply

    Good episode although I felt it plodded just a bit early on. The end was awesome though, I can't wait to learn more about what's really going on in this world.

    Trying not to get my hopes up too much though lest they be shattered upon the walls of bad writing at a later date. Certainly something that's been known to happen more than a few times in anime.

  14. S
    Stöt
    October 14, 2012 at 1:26 pm
    Reply

    Everything is a surprise here I guess, this anime really keeps you guessing and on your feet, but something that stood out for me was Saki's determination and will to harm that false Minashiro. "please stop your destructive actions", I would've stopped for sure. Why Saki would play hard ball there is something that interests me. Also, after the first encounter she seemed very eager to catch it when the others suggested to abandon the quest.

    I guess she redefined her character a little bit for me there, not that it was illogical (as if humans and characters are totally logical anyway).But if compared to the situation with the froglike people, I wonder what the difference was accordingto Saki.

    Also, great episode, great anime. The outside world is definitely being protected from these children. It's so exciting, I want to know more!

  15. A
    Anonymous
    October 15, 2012 at 10:22 pm
    Reply

    Watashi wa Bunny

    Hi I'm new to your blog and I have to say that 1. I love reading your posts 2. Shin sekai yori is the best anime this year for sure and I'm loving the direction of where its going! I agree with you that you just feel so lost in this world and feel like your apart of the gang (the mute kid who never gets a cameo). I really want to read the novel but its not translated sadly and the anime just leaves you wanting more, which i think is the key to something being good. I only has praise to say about this show so far and i hope it stays that way. til next time 😉

  16. admin
    October 15, 2012 at 11:25 pm
    Reply

    Yokoso, Usagi-san. Thanks for commenting.

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