Shinsekai Yori (25 Episodes Single Season) 8.82 out of 10 Stars
Shinsekai Yori (From The New World) is a deeply personal memorandum that covers Saki's raw, unfiltered & spotted story in navigating through friendship, love, tragedy. Where the story is compelling, unique and beautiful in it's sense of culture & adventure - It is equally terrifying, disturbing and heartbreaking. In that beneath the utopic & pleasant offset is an underlying mystery & the horrifying evils necessary to preserve it. The sense of Karma is unmistakable as Yusuke Kishi's masterwork which took 30 years of planning is brilliant, being that for the initially pleasant & hopelessly innocent childhood Saki & her friends are able to enjoy and even what the entire foundation that the archipelago of Japan is built upon in this post modern society, was rudely founded upon the horrifying sacrifice of countless innocents and the backs of many more countless slaves, along with a millennia of meaningless slaughter. Being where Saki's entire idea life in the village consisting of romance, friendship and adventure, Saki & friend's unquestioned existence is ripped completely apart. As their innocent curiosity is the violent catalyst that unfolds the buried horrifying origins of humanity, their village, queerats and Cantus, secrets that all are forbidden from learning.
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| Yusuke Kishi [Author & Original Creator] |
Welcome to The New World ~
Plot & Narrative Aspects
It's almost quite odd thinking about Shinsekai Yori in the Sci Fi genre, though logically while there's no space ships or aliens, let alone any major advancements of technology, since the story (particularly more so in the novel) is written in depth in it's subject matter regarding the strange and irregular evolution of animals, along side all the technical jargon most readers will be a little flustered with - It technically is a Sci Fi anime so to speak, that's also spliced in with horror, mystery, drama & adventure. The reason being is that the world is set 1000 years in the future in a post modern society that has regressed significantly from the apex of industrialized human civilization. That alongside the presence of magical like powers called "Cantus" (the ability to freely manipulate the elements surrounding the user to whatever he/she is capable of imaging), in addition to the child like adventures through the beautiful outcrops and scenery of the nature surrounding the village life they lead and the unrecognizable flora and fauna seemingly pulled out of a child's imagination -" ~ One of my main reasons is that I wanted to depict plants and animals which had undergone an irregular evolution. To do that, 1,000 years honestly isn't enough time. It would take ten or a hundred thousand years for that, and I wanted to place it in that future, but if I did so, then elements of the story, such as the ruins of modern civilization, would not be around anymore. I researched many things, like the longevity of concrete, and 1,000 years was about the only point where they might all come together, so that's the time period I set it in." - Yuusuke Kishi (September 27th 2012 TV Asahi [Translated by Justin Sevakis from ANN)
It really does throw you for a loop, but in all it just shows how unique of a story it is, in that I find it somewhat wrong to categorize it as such, because it also has much more familiar aspects to a fantasy setting, with the key differences being that the author actually went out of his way to explain the pseudo science behind it all, instead of the more magical explanations of the orcs, goblins & goons variety so to speak. Being that Yusuke Kishi specifically depicts a story about how vulnerable the human species due to the common tendency & lack of checks against intraspecies aggression & creatively writing a story around this idea. Where in the novels he specifically cross-references the attack/bite inhibition that other species that stronger animals such as wolves have to prevent intraspecies aggression & violence, that weaker animals such as mice & humans lack. Where in the case of mice, if there's mass starvation, a lack of food & overpopulation, they'll actually begin to cannibalize each other as if it's the most natural thing in the world (Commonly observed aftermath of rodent infestations on farmer plantations).
"I first had the idea for it over 30 years ago when I'd just entered university. It came to me after I read the book, On Aggression, published in 1970 by Australian ethologist Roland Lorenz. In his book he wrote that because humans were weak creatures to begin with, the checks against intraspecies aggression were also very weak. I took my idea from that description, and spent the next 30 years refining into this novel." - Yuusuke Kishi (September 27th 2012 TV Asahi [Translated by Justin Sevakis from ANN)
However the story starts off on a much more simple and inconspicuous foot than that, beginning more so as a character driven story with Saki as the central actor as we traverse 3 different periods of her lifetime and the friends around her within the security of the village and Kamisu 66th district. Here we follow their dumb and silly fun, throughout their school life consisting of regular studies, cantus training and occasional adventure. That along side the groups obsession with spreading rumours and embellished scary stories that try to explain the unexplained. In school and the likes of Sage academy they're religiously taught the dangers of Karma demons and Fiends, embedded with the beliefs and mythology to fear going outside the safety of the holy barrier, where the flora and fauna within the radius surrounding the village is effectively safe. Slowly, we realize how coddled and strict the elders are with the lives of the children, where every student must learn and follow all the individual tenants that consist of the code of ethics, along side the regular Buddhist teachings they follow. Showing how the archipelago of Japan still desperately tries to cling to their Japanese culture and traditions, even 1000 years later in this post apocalyptic scenario where most of pre war industrialized civilization's knowledge & information is censored from the eyes of the public.
On the surface it seems somewhat odd, as early on Saki's friends converse about rumours floating around about disappearing students and the urban school legends of Tainted Cats. As early on we see how irregular the memories of the students are, and how closely there minds are being manipulated. The spur of curiosity and the childish obsessions over Satoru's tall tales and rumours are what start it all (It's all Satoru's fault when you think about it 😯), as later on in the third episode Group 1 (Saki's Group) sets out for summer camp, free from the supervision of the elders as they're tasked with a writing assignment of their choosing related to the likes of their summer camp adventures. However they're once again enticed by Satoru's smooth talk and tall tales around the campfire about the likes of exploding "Blow Dogs" and "The False Evil Minoshiro", enough so that they disobey their teachers to venture beyond their assigned locations in search of the more exotic topics for their assignments, and in the end they don't like what they find.- As a side note, in the anime you really need to get to the third episode's summer camp events for the story to get rolling, though if you're patient you'll be richly rewarded. However since the sequence is particularly different in the beginning of the novels, you'll find yourself much more intrigued early on with events having to do with Saki's last days in Harmony School (Which was mostly cut in the anime).
As this is first first red flag of many that truly unsettles the members of Group 1, showing them that there's much more to the academy and their life in the villages than meets the eye. It's really this beautiful tragedy of their short but meaningful experiences during their pleasant childhood that's bitterly cut ever so short, with their lives suddenly being washed over by this giant wave of secrets they aren't supposed to know, to which they'd never be the same innocent kids again. It's a compelling story in how Saki & her friends small bubble of their personal existence regarding their small world problems & relationship dynamics consisting of jealousy & romance, is completely disrupted by the external forces at work and the foreboding machinations that come home to roost. As we slowly begin to learn more about the grave price that needs to be payed for having the god like powers called cantus, and how destructive and cruel it is in warping the flora & fauna around them. With the story's endgame being how the queerats relate to all of this and the blood stained history of the past, as there's gravely lingering price that soon will be paid in full.
For learning this, in turn also comes with price of bearing those cruel secrets, something that none of Group 1's members could steel their hearts for. Which unfortunately for them, such mental instability is something they can't afford, with how thoroughly their lives are under the thumb of the board of education. In that the threat comes from within, which the board dictates every aspect of the student's livelihoods, well being and development.
As each secret of the larger mystery and overarching narrative is unveiled, comes with disturbing repercussions, where they learn more and more about the humanoid like queerat species and Squealer's (whose a messenger for the robber-fly colony) suspicious behaviour, in how it all relates to the village and the origins of humanity and their use of cantus. Where at large the story is also about Saki's relationships and the "Shikata Ga Nai" (仕方がない - It Can't Be Helped) attitude/way of life she's forced to lead, no matter how much she suffers, cries, or how many friends she looses one at a time. Until the fear of being left all alone becomes a disturbing reality that she still refuses to avert her eyes to in an effort to never let them be forgotten, no matter how much the Board interferes and manipulates her memories. How It All Ends -
It's a story details how even after the world ends and the sky comes crashing down, tomorrow we'll still have to linger on and how Saki is able to deal with tragedy and loss after the fact, despite not necessarily being a strong person, but a fragile and sensitive one who chooses to persevere. Where it's Saki's personal journey to find closure and come to terms with her subliminal feelings of regret and loss she's only half aware of. Where the final stage exposes the worst of humanities crimes & their most base of instincts, as even Saki is left feeling where she doesn't know what's right anymore. As the entire story is Saki's personal memorandum that she writes from the age of 36, with a hope for the future that they'd learn from the mistakes of the past and make a better world for the children of generations to come.In the end, it's a beautifully delivered story across both mediums, where it's poetically written and solved meticulously around it's details and mechanics. As I find that it's a very patient and slow story in it's progression, being somewhat familiar in it's atmosphere and setting relative to the likes of anime such as Mushishi or Princess Mononoke. Since I find that it has same sense of wonder and open beauty, while strictly following a conservative sense of delivery to keep it's relatively higher fantasy & natural conflict elements in check. In that it's a very autobiographical and life encompassing story that skims through the span of 30 some years of Saki's life, that's so balanced between it's character and setting driven aspects, as the range of emotion in Shinsekai Yori has such immense depth.
"I hope that they take great care in depicting the “karma” that every man possesses, something I wanted to depict most in my novel. And how they try to overcome those hardships and fetters. ~ " - Yuusuke Kishi (September 27th 2012 TV Asahi [Translated by Justin Sevakis from ANN)
The Novel & Anime Series | The Differences
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| Shinsekai Yori | Yusuke Kishi |
The Problem Here -
And therein lies my problem with the series, being that in an effort to shorten the story to fit the span of 25 episodes (8 1/2 hours approx.), I can't really blame them for the changes they made. As initially the novel very early on establishes to the reader that this is Saki's personal memorandum from the future, as she tells the story of her past while acknowledging the person reading it in the process. This approach of course takes more time than allotted, and although they didn't necessarily scrap the entire approach they certainly made it quite a bit more confusing for a first time viewer. As having flashbacks of a modern society derived from the segments skipped when Group 1 interrogates the "The Tsukuba branch of the National Assembly Library" (Long name I know - I know what I said will seem confusing, but when you watch you'll understand why I worded it like that) and transitioning to the present day 1000 years in the future, where it looks far more like the era from the past instead of.. well 1000 years in the future, was an incredibly jarring transition. Especially since the story is set in villages that are in the relative wilderness, where there are (At least initially) no sign of ruins and architecture from the past age to indicate that we're living in a post modern society, where instead we're greeted with pleasant sheen of traditional Japanese style buildings, architecture and infrastructure.
It took me till the 3rd episode to really make sense of it all, whereas the novel clearly establishes such details of the setting and who's perspective it's being told from right from the very beginning. And while I'm a fan of the more conservative continuity style, where the first priority is selling the illusion and maximizing transference through "show don't tell" sensibilities, the novel itself is a beautiful and simple medium that's used particularly well by Yusuke Kishi, even if the original opening chapters are perhaps not as romantically sold to the viewer, it's far more functional as a result in establishing such important information. In that the novel was quite a bit more coherent since it took much more time in explaining ongoing events and situations, whereas the series was almost entirely diegetic with it's information delivery, and trimmed any amount of exposition that wasn't absolutely necessary. Though I will say it was done cleverly enough that a first time viewer really won't notice as much, in that it makes the story quite a bit more instantaneous & up tempo on the other hand.
However I dislike how they decided to rearrange the order of a couple events instead of keeping it entirely chronological for the sake of the shock factor when omitting such details, when in reality since these events are delivered through foreshadowed flashbacks, it feels as if these experiences are being taken away from us, as we're no longer privy to the able to interpret such events in real time for ourselves. Especially in the beginning of the series where asides from some flashbacks, they pretty much cut all of the time spent by group 1 at harmony school before they entered sage academy. |
| Masashi Sogo [Series Composer & Screen Writer] |
In that it really feels like at times we've gone back in time & the operating premise feels somewhat like a gimmick. However that's not really to say that it was bothersome at all, though it's kind of odd that we're trying to be convinced this is a personal memorandum, when a lot the times you don't seem to notice the personal interpretation, presence or character of whose supposedly recalling the story. As Yusuke Kishi ditches alot of the narrative aspects regarding his delivery, and in exchange opts for more show don't tell methods to in turn maintain a long term sense of tension & spontaneity throughout the course of the story. Really the story was enjoyable non the less, and I'd even argue that while awkward, if Kishi hadn't done it this way it perhaps would have been a detriment to the story.
How It Translates To Film -
This all relates because the novels felt far more like a personal memorandum being that we were Far more privy Saki's individual thoughts and soliloquy, that regardless off how much you try allude to such thoughts in a film with good cinematography techniques such as staging, framing and lighting, the subject matter of her thoughts are far too complicated for it to ever be apparent in the film medium, without having to resort to narration aurally. Being that where even the novel felt a little awkward in terms of how you expected it to be delivered regarding a narrative or a 1st person POV, the series however is even more confusing, as it pretty much guts that entire aspect of the story.And while A-1's staff on this series does occasionally cue an older voice of Saki, for the longest time we're never given any clarification of who's voice that actually is, until you couldn't help but notice the similarity in the third movement of the story between Saki's voice and the narrator. Much less the fact that this was a memorandum all along, being that the voice is only sparingly used particularly for things such as opening and ending episode's to give the viewer some food for thought. As it also effects Saki's character in addition to the cinematography and how the series is shot, since what she overtly says/does and what she thinks are quite different, as the way the series is shot and composed is much more from a neutral perspective rather than it being explicitly from Saki's point of view like in the novels.
As Saki felt less like a passive character, and someone who was a bit more sassier, girly and knowingly selfish in the written versions. We really got a feel to knowing how observant and witty she could be, whereas a lot of those details are lost in translation. Thankfully however, Yusuke's writing is able to translate quite well into the visual, since he's very good at balancing how he delivers the said information of ongoing events and personal thoughts, as it ended up being quite a saving grace for the staff since they didn't have to cut too much being that the actual story is relatively intact, since the novels were fairly event driven and visually delivered a fair amount of the time."I read the original on the premise assuming the director, but the depiction is polite anyway. Even if there is no illustration, the image swells steadily. In that sense it seems to be able to enjoy making pictures and I thought that I could make something that was spectacular. Of course there are story other than that, the part of the theme is not a bit odd. The first impression was that if you made this with animation, it looks like you could do something." - Masashi Ishihama (Coverage by Masami Shun Miya TV Asahi)
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Article Contents
- Plot & Narrative Aspects [The Novel & The Anime]
- Character Analysis
- Production Aspects [Cinematography | Animation | Art Direction]
- Voice Actor Choreography
- Sound Direction & Original Soundtrack
- Addendum
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