Anime Name:
Shinsekai Yori

Rating:
7.5/10

Genre:
Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Supernatural

Plot:
A millennium from now, a sudden outbreak of psychokinesis overtook about 0.1% of the population. A small number in reality, but a power that set the world apart as the ability to now manipulate matter for these individuals, turned many to violence. In doing so, the world was set along a path of destruction with the rise and fall of authorities until finally a lasting, fragile peace was found in isolation.

The story follows a girl by the name of Saki Watanabe, a 12 year old who has just awakened her psychokinetic abilities and joins her already awakened friends at Sage-Academy.

The Review:
Shinsekai Yori was a rather different anime then the usual slice-of-life, comedy or action anime I tend to pick up. Labeled with the horror tag (which I tend to avoid) and tagged with it’s description, I decided to give it a shot despite the fact I usually can’t handle such things. Admittedly, the first few (more like two or three) episodes were very confusing with all the information being thrown at you with very few answers to alleviate some of it. It also felt a little boring combined with it’s rather dull art-style, (though it did kind give it this creepy vibe), but despite that it was easy to feel as if there was some deeper meaning to all of it. You get the sense there’s some kind of darkness in this society and you feel uneasy. It tries to distract you with a seemingly slice of life gig as you’re watching these kids go to their magic school to learn how to control their abilities and then it hits you. After hearing these rumors of cat monsters abducting children and adults simply laughing this rumor off, one of the students from that very class has disappeared. It all goes downhill from there, for the characters anyway, (uphill in my interest at that point) and the story really starts to progress as the truth begins to surface for these kids.

This show takes it’s time to reveal the truths behind past incidents, but does in a way that keeps you interested and wanting to know. By this, I mean it continues to present more questions to its audience, all while keeping you engaged. To avoid any spoilers, I’ll leave this section at that.

My Thoughts:
Shinsekai Yori is an anime that has stuck with me because I thoroughly enjoyed it despite it’s appearance and first couple of episodes. I came to love the characters and even the art style for what it was. While it was true the animation could get wonky, the art style did help to give it that creepy, something dark-is-going-on-behind-the-scenes-vibe. I ended up liking it and the characters, even though there were naturally points I was horrified and my heart sank. There was a little bit of comedy and some bits of romance, but it was the story that kept me coming back. After everything that went on, the end was pretty satisfying as well.

Pro’s:
I really liked the story here and the music. I also grew to love the art style they went with.

Cons:
The animation was choppy at times and there were a few unanswered questions along with a couple of plotholes.