Shin Sekai Yori - General Discussion

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Dark Wing

Also am I just reading too much into it or doesn't seem like Satoru is a little envious of Saki's little crush on Shun? That way he committed on how Saki always listens to Shun sounds like a bit of jealousy on Satoru's part.

I sensed this too. You may also note that every time Saki and Shun talk or interact with each other, Satoru is right there with an annoying remark. It seems clear to me he's pretty jealous.

[Dark Wing]

Yea I thought so I wonder it this will become an issue later on in the story?

[orion]

Satoru is pretty irritating so there's no wonder that Saki gravitates towards Shun.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by orion

Satoru is pretty irritating so there's no wonder that Saki gravitates towards Shun.

Well, there's that too, but I got the impression Saki has liked Shun for a long time now.

[ThereminVox]

Originally Posted by ninryu

I find it really disturbing that nobody pays any note to how their classmates suddenly vanish.

Some folks touched on this already, but actually what disturbs me is that they do notice, and they're even troubled by it, but nobody speaks up.

It hit me during that uncomfortable scene in the garden with Saki and her mother. It just made me realize that every time she's with her parents, she can't bring herself to talk to them, and they can't seem to talk to her.

We saw this at the dinner table already, but the garden was where I realized they want to talk to each other about everything. But they don't. They just dance around it. Her mother asks the leading question "How's school?" and without answering Saki asks "How was it when you were there?" Her mother gives the non-answer that she studied a lot, and again prods Saki to tell her if anything is the matter. Without meeting her gaze, Saki says "No, nothing." It's bone-chilling. Everyone is afraid all the time.

There's love, but no trust. There's friendship, but no loyalty. Everyone is her peer, but no one is her ally.

[Flower]

Okay - this is definitely one of my fave series so far this season. Just good material story wise presented very effectively imo. Yay!

[Malkuth]

From what I have watched this far, this is by far the most impressive anime running in autumn

[thundrakkon]

Originally Posted by Solace

Speaking of Psychokinesis, it's interesting that science has reverted to a rudimentary state. I find the massive regression in human civilization one of the more curious elements of the story. Imagine, somewhere in orbit, is a space station with grinning skeletons, and no one even knows they are there.

That is very curious indeed. I wonder if they decide to venture outside, if there is a whole civilization of advance technology somewhere? Maybe in outer space or underground, for the survivors who were not telekinetic. For now, we seemed to be localized in a village, and they really do not dare anyone to leave it. As far as we know, it could be a no entry forbidden territory for the rest of the world where the current setting is at. It is really hard to imagine that they wiped out billions of people without getting wiped out themselves.

[Malkuth]

Technological regression and social segregation are the natural outcomes of any systemic crisis, since the natural reaction of the masses is conservatism and religious zeal... at least they are lucky that some supernatural elements work in this anime's new world

[whitecloud]

About the technological regression and social regression...it's thanks to the incident 1000 years ago there is great wars between both human and the psychic. The psychic won but with huge cost, and most likely in fear that the human would rise to power thanks to tech they chose downplay technology, kill the smart guy to make sure the human not be able to revolt...example current day kamboja where all the smart people being killed so no smart leader that can rebel..

That leads to event 500 years in the future...the emperor delight...as you can see there is still some number of human but is being surpressed by psychic. But as they being continually thinned out and number of psychic going up of course the evil psychic need to be eliminated to prevent war within themselves. Thus lead to the current day situation where the normal human maybe already gone, or such minority is rare and curriculum is made to control psychic power to prevent such war like mind manipulation, hypnosis, power sealing, and strict rule against power misuse. Of course any low level user will be eliminated to prevent social disparity since there could be mistreatment against the low level user that would cause grudge and will create problem if they join together and fight against the mistreatment since it could cause infighting and if a lot of them could even cause war between themselves...

Anyway this is pure speculation...not a spoiler....okay...

[Kirarakim]

I am getting nervous that I am liking this series too much and I am raising my expectations too high.

But seriously after the 2nd episode I am fully engrossed in the world, characters & storyline.

One of the many things I am really impressed with is how well thought out the psychic power is. I loved how the "game" with the ball was played out.


Anyways I could possibly see how the world might have gone backwards in 1000 years if they began to rely on psychic power instead of technological advances. The technological advances might have died out completely. Not sure if this is what happened but it would be an interesting twist on man vs machine stories.


As the above poster said there could have also been a war between normal humans who relied on technology and those who had psychic power.

[Amoiro Nguyen]

Saki is an interesting MC, she's not like the average "leader guy" or the "stupid hero". Also, she has an unique personality and seems to be aware that something is not right. I'm looking forward to see her actions during the series.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

I am getting nervous that I am liking this series too much and I am raising my expectations too high.

Having just watched the first two episodes last night, I'm in the same boat as Kim. I had seen one of the preview clips and liked the art style but couldn't tell much about whether the story would be a compelling one. So far it has been.

I do wish they explained better the discontinuity between locking Saki's powers away in the ceremony then later showing she still has them. After reading some of the comment here, I guess I can see the explanation that they are locking away the self-indulgent and thus dangerous part, but that really is not obvious from the scene itself.

I've wondered how Saki's little crush on Shun will square with some of those yuri-flavored manga scans we saw earlier in this thread. Satoru is obviously jealous, but those scans suggest one of the other girls might have designs on Saki as well.

This looks like it will be my show to watch this fall. The descriptions of the noitaminA offerings at Wikipedia didn't catch my fancy, and I haven't found anything else yet this season.

[HosannaExcelsis]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I do wish they explained better the discontinuity between locking Saki's powers away in the ceremony then later showing she still has them. After reading some of the comment here, I guess I can see the explanation that they are locking away the self-indulgent and thus dangerous part, but that really is not obvious from the scene itself.

You misunderstood that sequence. Look at these screenshots:

Spoiler for Images:

As you can see, the point of the ceremony was to seal away Saki's Cantus, her powers, temporarily and then turn around and give them back to her. I interpret it as a way for the authority figures in the community to demonstrate their control over her - she may have powerful psychic abilities, but the elders are ultimately able to determine whether she keeps them or not. It's a way of suppressing any thoughts of dissent and rebellion.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Just watched the first two episodes of this and yep, confirmed as best of the season so far. Been frakken ages since I enjoyed a fantasy series that wasn't some J-RPG knockoff or named Spice and Wolf.

[Kaioshin Sama]

I wonder what that foreshadowing about Maria at the end of the episode could entail. Hard picturing that character causing that many deaths and how it would end up happening since despite being a psychic she's still a kid. I would have to assume there's a twist and it's an indirect cause and effect that leads to tragedy. Really though this anime has been all about the foreshadowing and things not being what they seem so far and has done a great job of hooking me along to want to find out more about it's universe the way a good sci-fi anime should. It kind of reminds me of the early episodes of No. 6 at the moment, but hopefully if they were to leave the city the plot actually picks up and doesn't just start to meander like that one did.

I'm glad this one has 25 episodes because somehow I think it's going to need all of it to tell whatever story it wants to tell.

[Trajan]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I do wish they explained better the discontinuity between locking Saki's powers away in the ceremony then later showing she still has them. After reading some of the comment here, I guess I can see the explanation that they are locking away the self-indulgent and thus dangerous part, but that really is not obvious from the scene itself.

Originally Posted by HosannaExcelsis

You misunderstood that sequence. Look at these screenshots:

Spoiler for Images:

As you can see, the point of the ceremony was to seal away Saki's Cantus, her powers, temporarily and then turn around and give them back to her. I interpret it as a way for the authority figures in the community to demonstrate their control over her - she may have powerful psychic abilities, but the elders are ultimately able to determine whether she keeps them or not. It's a way of suppressing any thoughts of dissent and rebellion.

I had a different take on that scene. I don't think the elders actually did anything to Saki's Cantus; they merely made her believe that her initial, "uncontrollable" Cantus was destroyed and replaced by a "pure" Cantus. I view this scene as one of the several lies the elders tell the children in order to ensure they control their Cantus (karma demon, warping of time and space).

The ceremony served two purposes. First, it was a test to see if Saki could control her Cantus. She passed this when she animated the paper doll. Second, it was to instill in her a belief that the wild, uncontrollable Cantus (which she awoke to in her room) had been destroyed and replaced with a Cantus which could be managed. (I think the boy who cheated (forget his name) shows that the "impure" Cantus still remains, even after its supposed cleansing.) In essence, Saki moved from the uncontrollable desires of childhood to an adulthood defined by self-control.

Control is clearly important in this society, both internally and with respect to one's place in the community. This is not surprising, since the two "flashbacks" we have seen so far show unrestrained uses of Cantus that result in mass death, and it's not hard to imagine the problems a society would have if a child's wish that his parents were dead could be immediately realized.

The two "fables" we have seen so far represent these individual and social aspects of control. In the first, the boy violates the boundary-line of the village, and by going outside of the community (i.e., what is acceptable), ruin is threatened on the village. In the second, the boy allows his Cantus to control him, and thus becomes a "karma demon." (Interestingly, things are only set right when the rule-breaker recognizes the error of his ways and sacrifices himself for the good of the community).

I'm excited to see where this show goes from here. Shun and Saki are, so far, well-realized and complex characters destined to rebel. Shun is a natural leader who undoubtedly will challenge authority, but obliquely at first. Saki has moral beliefs that more closely resembles our own than any other character, and even though she's not the leader in the group, she is willing to act on her beliefs, even if society forbids it.

[Malkuth]

Basically I also understood what Trajan just described. The ruling class is trying to terrorize its subject out of fear that they will abuse their power and crumble what little order they have achieved since the events of the opening sequence years ago.

[zero-wizard]

What happened outside of japan??
Are there any information in the novel.

[Lenneth4]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Having just watched the first two episodes last night, I'm in the same boat as Kim. I had seen one of the preview clips and liked the art style but couldn't tell much about whether the story would be a compelling one. So far it has been.

I do wish they explained better the discontinuity between locking Saki's powers away in the ceremony then later showing she still has them. After reading some of the comment here, I guess I can see the explanation that they are locking away the self-indulgent and thus dangerous part, but that really is not obvious from the scene itself.

I've wondered how Saki's little crush on Shun will square with some of those yuri-flavored manga scans we saw earlier in this thread. Satoru is obviously jealous, but those scans suggest one of the other girls might have designs on Saki as well.

This looks like it will be my show to watch this fall. The descriptions of the noitaminA offerings at Wikipedia didn't catch my fancy, and I haven't found anything else yet this season.

Same boat as you , in fact kinda

I just hope some great twist about the world where they live (i enjoyed the village so what )

My favorite character is the red girl (red haired?) , she seems great , if some heroes dies , hope she will not be picked for the death sentence

Anyway , shinsekai yori, psycho pass, robotics notes, initial d and i think that's it.