Shin Sekai Yori (From the New World)

PROS:

- The beginning mystery to this show starts with a lot of promise. The disappearance of the sixth member of the group (whose name I can't remember at the moment...sorry) leaves a lot of questions and is done in such a subtle way it comes off as especially sinister.

- When this anime shines it really shines, from the animation to key plot points when it's riding the crest of a wave you just want to watch more. So the highs are really high.

- The way they explain how their powers work and the idea behind their greatest weakness (the Death of Shame) is clever and limits their powers as near Gods in a believable way.

- The scenes involving the invasion of the town and ruined Tokyo are heart pounding and full of tension. As it climbs to it's peak your excitement follows suit.

- This show has awesome production values and when the animation hits full tilt you'll love every minute of it.

- Most character arcs feel poignant and very sad especially the relationship between Mamoru and Maria. You feel so invested in these two when their story reaches it's climax but...

CONS:

- When this anime hits its lows it can feel very tedious, as the high points arc so too do the low points crash. The show is very much built on the three act structure with three very prominent story lines for each. The problem comes from the fact that the build ups feel uneven with the death of Shun being a prime example. One episode it's all love and flowers between him and Satoru the next, he's becoming a Karmic Demon (something you'll need to watch the show to find out about). It's an arc that suffers greatly from a lack of build up and in my opinion deserved much more time to grow than it was allotted. In fact...

- Shun as a whole was a disappointment. He was my favorite character when the show started. The only person who showed initiative and kept calm under dire circumstances. Then they kill him off a third of the way through the show (insert rant here). That one is for personal reasons obviously.

- The Ratmen, dear God the Ratmen. Ok a little back story. The Ratmen are shown as the manual laborers of the town. They take care of all the building and the cleaning up etc. As the series progresses the kids befriend a particular little jerk by the name of Squera. He is essentially the leader of one of a number of colonies for these little guys and our protagonists inadvertently put him on a path to glory. This eventually leads to him trying to take down his would be oppressors in the village. While his plan is borderline ingenious the storyline is very predictable by the second time you see this guy. This sideplot will either make or break the show for you in my eyes. To me the idea of the righteous revealed as the true villains is a tired concept that has never truly clicked for me. It comes off as a bit preachy at times and you might end up yelling at the screen trying to get the protagonists to think rationally. A hallmark of horror movies, it just doesn't work for me here.

- This show is depressing. Not in a good way either. You desperately want things to turn out all right but things keep getting dug deeper and deeper. Finally the show reveals what exactly happened to Mamoru and Maria. Just punch me directly in the feels. It felt almost spiteful, like it wanted you to be sad. The problem is there is no warm ending to the story. This show just pokes you and prods you and makes sure you're in as dark and uncomfortable a place as you can be. Then when it makes the last two main characters destroy would could be their last bit of humanity to survive I just ended up feeling hollow. I had to settle just like Saki and Satoru did in the end. Sure a heartwarming ending isn't always best but dear God. I was incredibly unsatisfied in the ending.