Shin Sekai Yori (From the New World)

I know that this anime was based on a Japanese light novel, but it strongly resembles the book "Watchstar" by Pamela Sargent (http://amzn.to/SRUqZG) except from a Japanese cultural point of view.



It will be VERY interesting to see how closely the anime mirrors the story/themes from the book.

One of the things that I really appreciate in the Japanese Manga and Anime markets is the readiness of authors to address the questions of power and how humans react to obtaining it.

Principally I have seen many shows that want to approach the question of power in combination with a lack of maturity or restrictions by using children (in the Japanese sense of under 20) as the gestalts for that topic. This approach is interesting and allows a certain degree of exploration into the extremes that such a condition can inspire, very infrequently do they question adults in these situations, as the implication is meant that to be an adult is to be mature and understand your responsibility.

Culturally this assumption makes sense, but in the case of 新世界より we instead see a world that has been transformed and controlled by those who obtained power and exploited their control over others.

While children are still the vehicles for exploring the main topic here, the tables are reversed and we see children who have not yet been indoctrinated come to question that power and the control the adults attempt to imply is absolute and normal.

The art and the palette is clean but muted, intentionally designed to compliment the mood of the anime and it works well. The only downside to the story is the question of whether they will be able to satisfactorily explore this particular character of humanity in the face of power in so few episodes.

This series has the makings to become a masterpiece, IMHO. Look elsewhere if you are looking for ninjas, mecha, or other action genres. Otherwise, watch it!

Thematically it presents a thoughtful science fiction scenario, presented as a mystery with tragic overtones. A pastoral, seemingly utopian society is gradually revealed as something more complex, and perhaps sinister, by the use of direct story action, flashbacks to earlier times, and occasional third-party explanations. The latter might be irritating, but they have been rolled into the plot line in a reasonably consistent way.

What makes the series outstanding is its beauty. Elegant drawing, skillful composition, selective use of details, and an unsaturated color palette evoke Japanese woodblocks. The backgrounds, in particular, would be worth hanging on ones walls. The soundtrack is also beautiful, with sources ranging from Japanese instrumental passages to natural sounds to Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”.

The animation is superior. Motions are not at all jerky. There is no cutting between still images in lieu of actual animation. Of course the animation is still selective — even big-budget feature films usually cannot afford to animate everything — but when figures are talking, their entire bodies are animated, not just their mouths (as can, alas, happen even in currently produced animations of good repute). Even more, a whole group of figures is usually undergoing animation at once. The director does use still frame interludes, which are often quite stunning, but they serve to pace and punctuate the presentation of the story rather than just cut corners.

It’s too soon to judge the merits of the plot or of the character development, although it is already clear that the characters do have character. I await eagerly the remaining 22 episodes.

I am very impressed, thus far. A very interesting story plot, set in a world, not unlike our own, thousand years in the future. It centers around 5 young protagonists’ discovery of their dystopian, telekinesis-based society origins, of their ancestors’ misuse of power and the karmic result, as well as their part to play in humanity’s future.
My only dislike is an aesthetic one. I do not care much for how they are rendering the character’s eyes and the costume design is a bit busy.
Otherwise I am very pleased with this anime. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes hardcore, morality driven sci-fi.
I hold very high standards to the programs I watch: this seems to be living up to them. I look forward to seeing more.