Shin Sekai Yori - Episode 8 Discussion / Poll

[Hiroi Sekai]

No really, where the hell am I? I shouldn't have been watching this at 5 in the morning- my brain is now pectin. When I wake up it'll all make sense to me...or something.

[Forsaken_Infinity]

Dang. Visually annoying but quite the treat content-wise even though not much really happened if you break it down in points.

I think I really like Shun now. I found his 12 year old self really untrustworthy but I can't help but admire his 14 year old rebellious and deeply troubled self.

Maria craves praises? Well, Saki sort of did too so idk.

Satoru was definitely 100 % serious about Shun. I got the feeling that Shun wasn't exactly not into it either. He probably got fed up of feeling really bad about himself, courtesy of all the things he knows and his high-end powers of PK and deduction, and yet watching Shun desperately try to be like him and admire him so much and so openly. I can definitely understand how frustrating it is to have somebody admire you to an extreme extent when you aren't exactly proud of what you are yourself. Oh and his feelings for Saki only helped accelerate that whole mental instability thing I guess.

Did that head monk/teacher guy tell Shun something really important? It looked like he stopped time and told something to only Shun to me. What was actually going on there?

Mamoru seems ready to snap too.

Honestly, Satoru seems the most stable of the crew. Probably why he got praised that hard too. I wonder how long he can stay that way.

In my opinion, this episode was brilliant but it was hard to watch. Not due to the content but due to the horrible quality. It could have been so much better

[Kanon]

The animation quality was indeed pretty bad this week. Characters looked off half the time.

I knew Satoru and Shun were going to gay it up based on the preview, but I didn't expect the whole student body to engage in homosexual relationships. Poor Mamoru, he remains all alone while everybody else is too busy screwing each other.

Shun raised all kinds of death flags in the second half of the episode. He's definitely going to get killed, though I have no idea when. As I've already said, he is too smart for his own good. The others have been living in blissful ignorance these past two years whereas he was probably looking over his shoulder every second. I got the feeling he purposely provoked the Master because he got tired of living this way. He wishes to find out what they intend to do with him already.

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

The thing is that they don't seem to think it's just sex. Saki used the term "koibito" which implies they think there's more than sex to these "relationships". But to me that doesn't seem to be the case. The way Satoru just got a new "koibito" after Shun dumped him, and how Saki played along when Maria mentioned they'd be together forever even though she obviously doesn't mean it... like I said, it seems like they're role playing or something.

Only Maria's feeling for Saki, Mamoru's feelings for Maria, and Saki and Shun's mutual feelings seem to be beyond this role play imo.

Well, this is just the feeling I got.

I think Maria and Satoru were dead serious about their relationships, particularly Satoru. He was desperate to keep Shun by his side. Shun, on the other hand, definitely saw this as little more than role playing ("can I stop being your toy already?").

Satoru got a new lover because he wanted to make Shun jealous. He didn't seem to give a damn about Rei and he was always gazing at Shun. I'm pretty sure his feelings for Shun are genuine, though at the moment he might be mistaking admiration for romantic love.

Incidentally, Rei was so stereotypically gay it was hilarious. They exaggerated quite a bit.

[Kakkou]

Originally Posted by Kanon

I think Maria and Satoru were dead serious about their relationships, particularly Satoru. He was desperate to keep Shun by his side. Shun, on the other hand, definitely saw this as little more than role playing ("can I stop being your toy already?").

After what happened towards the end, I saw their breakup scene not as Shun being fed up of role playing but an attempt to totally distance himself from the gang because he knows that he's becoming a danger to himself and everyone. Recall the story of the karma demon in ep2 and how the boy eventually turned to solitude before becoming a karma demon. It looks like that is exactly what's happening to Shun right now except he's purposely distancing himself from his friends. As it stood Satoru was pretty much the only one of the gang still close to him, so he used whatever chance he had to break up.

Originally Posted by Kanon

Incidentally, Rei was so stereotypically gay it was hilarious. They exaggerated quite a bit.

That was truly the most unexpected thing in the episode for me. Especially his voice.

[Grey]

Hoh, so something is up with Shun. Looks like he gave us some confirmation that PK can cause mutations. That thing in the egg did not look normal. Was he tired out from heavy use of PK? Or was it something else too? If he mistrusts the system and feels out of place maybe it's stressing him out. Or maybe it is the Karma Demon bit?

Then again, what is a Karma Demon? Someone who unconsciously warps the surrounding world with his PK? Due to some mental stress or something? We'll see.

Suddenly, casual homosexuality! That was hilariously unexpected. But we only see tonguing with Satoru and Shun but not Maria and Saki? I was robbed, I tell you, robbed.

Top rank Kaburagi guy casually looking under Maria's skirt? Good reaction Saki. Edit: Wait, reading back in this thread, the Kaburagi, Maria & Saki bit was about their PK abilities originally? That scene is even more funny now.

[Konja7]

In this chapter were homosexual, I think they are relatively serious relationships (Satoru and Maria were really serious)

This society accepts and promotes homosexuality. I think it's to control reproduction (also, intercourse between minors is prohibited).

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Kakkou

After what happened towards the end, I saw their breakup scene not as Shun being fed up of role playing but an attempt to totally distance himself from the gang because he knows that he's becoming a danger to himself and everyone. Recall the story of the karma demon in ep2 and how the boy eventually turned to solitude before becoming a karma demon. It looks like that is exactly what's happening to Shun right now except he's purposely distancing himself from his friends. As it stood Satoru was pretty much the only one of the gang still close to him, so he used whatever chance he had to break up.

I think it's a bit of both, actually. When Saki asked him if that was the reason he broke up with Satoru, he answered "err, I guess". IMO, he wanted to distance himself from the others and he was also fed up with the role playing.

I believe what the library has told them has been weighing down on him. He can't forget this society is artificial.

Originally Posted by Grey

Top rank Kaburagi guy casually looking under Maria's skirt? Good reaction Saki. Edit: Wait, reading back in this thread, the Kaburagi, Maria & Saki bit was about their PK abilities originally? That scene is even more funny now.

I was even under the impression if he was the one who lifted Maria's skirt up. At any rate, no matter how you interpret that scene, that was very funny.

[Haru-kun]

Seriously, when did this series became a yaoi/yuri kind of story... --'

[Malkuth]

Originally Posted by Nachtwandler

Erm. There are some hetero couples in the school. You just didn't pay enough attention. And most of you should be ready for this. Relationship scheme of the romance in this story was posted on the forum.

And am I the only one who didn't see much problems with animation?

No no... I am pretty sure the animation staff liked their work too

Originally Posted by Nachtwandler

Yes it was. And in manga it was much more ecchi but who cares of shitty manga adaptation

Personal opinions aside, the manga is cutting a lot less material from the novel... of course it extends some parts that many would rather not exist IRL too

Originally Posted by Blaat

And here I was thinking you wouldn't like this episode because the characters (specifically Maria and Saki) didn't go to third base. :P

It could have worked too if they (as well as Satoru and Shun/Rei) did, but it wasn't necessary for the story and character development. They showed enough for the majority to get a clear idea about how the characters' thought process and their society, unlike previous episodes... and even that unnerved some viewers and readers, who skipped watching and reading certain parts.

Originally Posted by Konja7

In this chapter were homosexual, I think they are relatively serious relationships (Satoru and Maria were really serious)

This society accepts and promotes homosexuality. I think it's to control reproduction (also, intercourse between minors is prohibited).

I don't think their society is promoting anything except the physical expression of love, and to be more precise, it does not prohibit it, instead of promoting it.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Forsaken_Infinity

Did that head monk/teacher guy tell Shun something really important? It looked like he stopped time and told something to only Shun to me. What was actually going on there?

I think at the moment Kaburagi sensed that Shun was performing genetic-manipulation PK, which I bet it's extremity hard to master and not allowed to students. He probably also realized Shun's internal instability and how powerful he is.

No wonder Shun got quarantined not long afterwards.

[neshru]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Incidentally, Rei was so stereotypically gay it was hilarious. They exaggerated quite a bit.

I found that to be pretty annoying. It's like the anime creators were suddenly scared by the realization that they were portraying kids having open and encouraged homosexual relationships, so they decided it was better to back off and make it all less serious by adding the stereotypical gay guy.

[Nachtwandler]

Manga adaptations of LN's and VN's are bad in 99.9% of cases.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Nachtwandler

Manga adaptations of LN's and VN's are bad in 99.9% of cases.

This is not a LN or a VN though.

[Forsaken_Infinity]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

I think at the moment Kaburagi sensed that Shun was performing genetic-manipulation PK, which I bet it's extremity hard to master and not allowed to students. He probably also realized Shun's internal instability and how powerful he is.

No wonder Shun got quarantined not long afterwards.

Yeah he definitely realized that Shun was doing something forbidden and very serious. Very likely that it was indeed some PK that has to do with genetic manipulation. I also think the whole BakeNezumis might be created by upper echelon of PKers on purpose to maintain the society.

However, my question was if Kaburagi told Shun something. It also looked like he stopped time for everybody but Shun and himself to do so.

Originally Posted by Kakkou

After what happened towards the end, I saw their breakup scene not as Shun being fed up of role playing but an attempt to totally distance himself from the gang because he knows that he's becoming a danger to himself and everyone. Recall the story of the karma demon in ep2 and how the boy eventually turned to solitude before becoming a karma demon. It looks like that is exactly what's happening to Shun right now except he's purposely distancing himself from his friends. As it stood Satoru was pretty much the only one of the gang still close to him, so he used whatever chance he had to break up.

That was my take on it as well. But I also think Shun was getting fed up. Not quite of "being a toy" as he put it (or as Kanon seems to think), but of constant and deep admiration from Satoru when he wasn't particularly happy with himself (what with being heralded as the next head for a fucked up society by most of his generation while at the same time having the deductive reasoning to deduce very well that he is under constant surveillance and that most of his society is all sorts of messed up). It is really really tough to have to listen to people telling you how good they are all the time and if the one person who's closest to you doesn't realize how much of a mess you're, it gets even more aggravating. I felt very melancholic when I heard him reply "no you don't understand" and I agree that Satoru is too naive to get what is happening with Shun. So is Saki for that matter. I can sympathize with Shun very well. It really is the worst thing in the world to have people who are "close" to you have an entirely different version of you than what you know yourself to be. And it gets seriously annoying if they try and keep clinging onto you with those naive notions.

He definitely likes Satoru though. Just that he doesn't want the gang in danger for one and for another, he is too much of a mess to enjoy extreme admiration and a close relationship where his partner is constantly trying too hard to please him and/or emulate him.

[ookamigirl]

So they're back in school.
Saki's still hopeless when it comes to controlling her powers.
Shun & Satoru BL part was unexpected to say the least.
Saki & Maria yuri part was surprising too.
Guess no one is in a normal relationship.
Things took an even weirder turn when Shun dumped Satori.
Shisei's little surprise visit was interesting.
So their punishment for things that happened 2 years ago is just pending.

[Kaioshin Sama]

I think the issue with the visuals this week was that there were actually a lot of frames of movement like they were going for a bigger budget episode yet they ended up being poorly drawn frames that made movement look unnatural at times.

As for the episode, I think it served to illustrate how far apart they'd actually grown since their time in the woods and at the same time how complicated and less innocent their lives have become. As for the relationships, every seems to pine after everyone in this weird web of free love. Saki's into Maria as some kind of support thing but really wants Satoru, Maria seems genuinely interested in Saki while Mamoru pines after her and Satoru is into Shun who seems to not have any particular preference. This show could be a shippers paradise......frankly I'm astounded nobody has used "that term" yet in this thread, but maybe that's a good thing.

[Forsaken_Infinity]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

I think the issue with the visuals this week was that there were actually a lot of frames of movement like they were going for a bigger budget episode yet they ended up being poorly drawn frames that made movement look unnatural at times.

As for the episode, I think it served to illustrate how far apart they'd actually grown since their time in the woods and at the same time how complicated and less innocent their lives have become. As for the relationships, every seems to pine after everyone in this weird web of free love. Saki's into Maria as some kind of support thing but really wants Satoru, Maria seems genuinely interested in Saki while Mamoru pines after her and Satoru is into Shun who seems to not have any particular preference. This show could be a shippers paradise......frankly I'm astounded nobody has used "that term" yet in this thread, but maybe that's a good thing.

Pretty sure Saki is into Shun, and not Satoru, for now.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

Saki's into Maria as some kind of support thing but really wants Satoru

I think you mean Shun, right? She didn't show any interest in Satoru in this episode. Furthermore, she was going to confess her love for Shun at the end.

[Byakou]

Wow well things have gone weird. Looks like Shun is getting killed..

[Utsuro no Hako]

Originally Posted by Kanon

I think Maria and Satoru were dead serious about their relationships, particularly Satoru. He was desperate to keep Shun by his side. Shun, on the other hand, definitely saw this as little more than role playing ("can I stop being your toy already?").

Satoru got a new lover because he wanted to make Shun jealous. He didn't seem to give a damn about Rei and he was always gazing at Shun. I'm pretty sure his feelings for Shun are genuine, though at the moment he might be mistaking admiration for romantic love.

I didn't find his treatment of Rei and Shun to be that different -- I could definitely see why Shun felt he was a toy. It's just that Shun was the better toy while Rei's just something Satoru picked up because, hey, he's gotta have someplace to put it until he can get back with Shun or find somebody else.

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

I think you mean Shun, right? She didn't show any interest in Satoru in this episode. Furthermore, she was going to confess her love for Shun at the end.

Come on, everyone wants Satoru. Even I want him, and i don't swing that way.

Originally Posted by Haru-kun

Seriously, when did this series became a yaoi/yuri kind of story... --'

It's not. It's a sci-fi epic where the characters happen to be bisexual. There've been plenty of anime where the main character has a hetero-love interest but the show isn't seen through the lens of hetero-romance, so why should the gay stuff be treated differently?