Shin Sekai Yori - Episode 15 Discussion / Poll

[ThereminVox]

(╬ ಠ益ಠ) Squeeeealer...

Saki is showing signs of serious wear.

I'm not sure how to take the line in the preview where Maria says that she'd wanted Saki to come with them. Did she think Saki could help them survive? Or that Saki wouldn't be safe in the village? Or was she simply disappointed that Saki apparently chose Satoru over her, even if Saki was just worried about him? Because every one of those motivations have some potentially unsettling implications.

[Guardian Enzo]

In a funny way this episode reminded me of Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita – specifically of “The Faries’ Earth”. While the tonal approach was obviously very different, I don’t think the implied symbolism necessarily was. In both instances we’re talking about a post-industrial world where humanity has declined to a shadow of what it was, and another species of mysterious origin and nature has filled part of their old niche. And in both instances we’re seeing that “other” progress through cultural evolution at blinding speed (not as blinding in SSY, of course, but with the added wrinkle of accelerated physiological evolution as well). There’s the added wrinkle that in both instances, the young humans interacting with the other species are revered as Gods – but in a manner that isn’t as straightforward as it might initially appear.

There’s not much to feel good about in this world, but that’s what makes the fact that the kids we know are such sympathetic and believable figures so painful. Satoru has proved himself a reliable, practically clever and kind boy, and Saki asked no part of the great weight that’s been placed on her shoulders – yet this is the terrible world that they’re forced to inhabit. And Maria and Mamoru are either trying to survive alone in the harsh wilds are have already become tools of the queerats, a harsh fate either way, and they have no option to return home even if that were a good thing. Poor Shun has already paid the ultimate price – yet as an audience we’re forced to accept the possibility that what was done to him was the only possible course of action. Shin Sekai Yori is a harsh story both to its characters and to its audience – asking both to confront truths that it would be much less painful to ignore.

[Awrya]

Squealer is hinted to be the last boss, his units need major upgrades, wielding bamboo spears doesn't seem very frightening compared to Cantus.

The story feels very slow in the last few episodes.
I wonder if the novel is the same or A-1 is just bad at pacing.

[vansonbee]

What a good show. Did not even expect a side character lackey like Squealer to have potential to be a final villain. I wonder what the leader of the Hornet will stand on. He was straight forward and honest.

[Cosmic Eagle]

I see your skill in talking like a normal person have improved with your importance Squealer...

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

I see your skill in talking like a normal person have improved with your importance Squealer...

Apparently it really improves with rank... perhaps it's the time spent in human company? Back in the first bakenezumi arc, Kiroumaru spoke like any human (despite the obvious lack of physical attributes that would make it possible ).

Originally Posted by Awrya

The story feels very slow in the last few episodes.
I wonder if the novel is the same or A-1 is just bad at pacing.

It's buildup for the final arc. Remember, this is based on a novel, the original story doesn't follow the usual anime/manga/light novel pacing. The anime is going as fast as it can... I reckon the next episode will be the last one for this arc, and ep 17 will start the last arc which needs to cover ~400 pages where quite a lot happens...

How long is this anime anyway? 24 eps or 26? 26 would be enough, but 24 is iffy. :/

[Solace]

It's 24 episodes. Expect some things to get cut or shortened. Signs are good so far that they'll manage it well enough.

Also, in regards to what someone said about weapons versus Cantus. Two things:

1. Humans are one of the weakest animals on the planet, and yet they sit at the top of the animal kingdom. This is the true power of the human brain.

2. We're unrivaled because of this, and because we have no competition. There is nothing else like us in our world, but in SSY, there is.

Also keep in mind that in SSY, the most dangerous power on the planet (humans) is also chained to a huge weakness that is advantageous to that other power: killing humanoids results in backlash on the user. You think that Squealer didn't notice this? He absolutely did. He realized his gods were fallible, but useful toward his own end: power. He's the Starscream of SSY, a pathetic creature scheming for his own lust. So he'll use them, then turn on them, like he did before. And if he loses that bet, he'll try and use them again. First to save his own hide, and then to try and regain his power.

The rise of the Queerats is a greater danger to the remains of humanity than any cruel culling method it performs on itself. You have a species that breeds rapidly, learns quickly, and is very territorial, to the point of being warlike. Heaven forbid if they found human technology or information, or even persuaded a Cantus user to join them. Especially now that we know they can lobotomize. What if they found a human they could remove the feedback restriction from, and even brainwash? You'd be giving a nuclear weapon to a race too immature to use it responsibly.

[pinoscotto]

it's 25 episodes

[GoldenLand]

It looks very much as if the Queerats are going to get hold of a human with PK and use them as a weapon. It could be Maria or Mamoru, if they brainwashed them, but what if it wasn't?

What the higher ups in the village were worried about was that because a male-female couple had run away, they could potentially have children who would not have the death feedback restriction. If Maria or Mamoru have kids, and the Queerats get hold of those kids, they can raise them however they want to.

A patient Queerat with a tight hold over its colony could obtain a safe place for Mamoru and Maria to live, where Queerats loyal to humans couldn't find them. Then, all they need to do is wait for Maria to have some babies, and take those babies. They would have to stop Maria and Mamoru from taking revenge, either by killing them or messing with their minds either before or after Maria had the kids.

I'm hoping that the Queerat queen is not meant to be a parallel for Maria, but I really suspect she is, given what Saki said earlier in the series about how much untold damage could have been avoided if Maria had never been born.

This was such a good episode overall! One other thing I found interesting was Saki and Satoru's conversation, when Saki was thinking that she shouldn't put human values on the Queerats and Satoru by contrast was finding them very human. I was wondering when they were talking about the Queerat queen whether Saki had any idea of the parallels between her society and the Queerat one: the humans killing their own children and brainwashing everyone in order to stop the deadly peril from the PK and continue the species, and the Queerats doing horrible things to render the queens harmless because the strong queens were insane/killing them/subjugating them, while still needing the queens for the continuation of their species.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by Solace

It's 24 episodes. Expect some things to get cut or shortened. Signs are good so far that they'll manage it well enough.

Originally Posted by pinoscotto

it's 25 episodes

So 24 or 25? Syoboi only lists 24 eps, but they're not infallible...

In any case, most of those ~400 pages is loads of dialogue which can be easily shortened, and narration that will be cut anyway... I just worry about the possibility of the cutting and shortening taking away the edge of some things, or that they'll end up rushing through some climatic events. (I expect that Satoru's monologue in the next episode about the origins/mechanics of their power will be probably cut which is a pity, but it can't be helped... but I hope they won't cut Saki's monologue in the boat, at least not entirely.)

Originally Posted by Solace

You'd be giving a nuclear weapon to a race too immature to use it responsibly.

Not a lot more immature than us right now... Anyway, how this plotline plays out is one of my favorite things about this story, so I'm glad it seems they'll be able to fully do justice to it. Squealer is such a great villain.

[Eragon]

^ Yeah, I can't seem to remember someone as cunning a character as him. Then again Saki and Satoru aren't exactly in a position to do anything about it other than be manipulated.

Man, I really hope Maria doesn't end up like that Queen. I don't want another female character I like to go through shit T_T

[pinoscotto]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

So 24 or 25? Syoboi only lists 24 eps, but they're not infallible...

In any case, most of those ~400 pages is loads of dialogue which can be easily shortened, and narration that will be cut anyway... I just worry about the possibility of the cutting and shortening taking away the edge of some things, or that they'll end up rushing through some climatic events. (I expect that Satoru's monologue in the next episode about the origins/mechanics of their power will be probably cut which is a pity, but it can't be helped... but I hope they won't cut Saki's monologue in the boat, at least not entirely.)


Not a lot more mature than us right now... Anyway, how this plotline plays out is one of my favorite things about this story, so I'm glad it seems they'll be able to fully do justice to it. Squealer is such a great villain.

mal and ann both say 25
there are 9 BD volumes, the first is just ep1, the others contain 3 episodes

[GoldenLand]

Assuming that Squealer really did find a false Minoshiro, then that means he's probably in a far more informed position than the vast majority of humans.

If Queerats were originally humans who were affected by PK, then that's also something he would probably have found out about. I'm really curious about whether they're former humans or former something elses. Because it looks as if Queerats aren't going to take being second class organisms for for much longer, it'll make a difference whether they're ex-humans or not, because if they are, then there could be more an element of "it's our right as humans" rather than "it's our right as intelligent creatures". Either way they might even decide that they're superior to the "god" humans. After all, the humans aren't without their problems - they're nearly all brainwashed sheep, like poor Ryou.

What the humans in Shin Sekai Yori seem to have done in a way is place all of their trust in the Queerats (and then the tainted cats, to an extent). It's so risky. The death feedback means that they can't fight back if another human goes berserk on them, which means that they have to rely on brainwashing nearly everyone and killing every possibly unstable person. And if they get it wrong and some people escape, the Queerats are their safety net, and they need to be able to trust that safety net because once a person or a few escape, it could be all over for the current humans. Though...I suppose they're thinking "We have PK and they don't, so there will never be a conflict - they'll always fear us and obey". The whole human society appears to be based around the fear of out of control PK, so that might take hold of their thinking.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by pinoscotto

mal and ann both say 25
there are 9 BD volumes, the first is just ep1, the others contain 3 episodes

Ah, but there was the "extra" recap episode that aired between eps 13 and 14. If they put it on the BD as well that makes 25 eps altogether.

So it's 24 eps of story, huh? Do a good job, writers...

[pinoscotto]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Ah, but there was the "extra" recap episode that aired between eps 13 and 14. If they put it on the BD as well that makes 25 eps altogether.

So it's 24 eps of story, huh? Do a good job, writers...

first arc: eo1-7 (BD1-3)
second arc ep8-16 (BD3-6)
third arc ep17-25 (BD7-9)

if they counted ep 13,5 the last episode of the second arc would be together with the first 2 of the third (wich is not impossible, but improbable)

[kuromitsu]

Hm, I just found this on twitter:

TVアニメ「新世界より」公式アカウント
@shinsekai_yori
ギギギ・・アニメ「新世界より」は、全25話2クールでズラ！( ｀・∀・´)ﾉﾖﾛｼｸ #新世界より

So apparently it is indeed officially 25 eps. And since the recap episode wasn't mentioned among the "officially" counted episodes... it's probably 25 eps of story. Nice, at least it's better than 24!

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Apparently it really improves with rank... perhaps it's the time spent in human company? Back in the first bakenezumi arc, Kiroumaru spoke like any human (despite the obvious lack of physical attributes that would make it possible ).

Nonsense...Kiroumaru is ikemen. Squealer is not

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

Nonsense...Kiroumaru is ikemen. Squealer is not

Haha, that's true!

(I meant the shape of his mouth and all that, but then, Squealer is able to speak normally with those huge teeth sticking out of his mouth, so I guess this is one of those "don't think too deeply about it" things, like the kitties in high heels.)

[Random32]

Does Squealer know that Saki has a perfectly usable Cantus?

I don't remember any time when Squealer was around that Satoru wasn't the one using.
-The first incident they had with Squealer, it should have been painfully obvious that Saki's Cantus was simply not working.
-In the first part of this ep, Satoru was the one that made the mirror, not Saki.
-Satoru grabbed Saki to stop her from falling, she didn't do anything herself.
-Near the end, Saki just begged Satoru to stop. Couldn't she have tried to stop/slow what he was doing while telling him to stop?

Every single Cantus usage incident with Squealer, Satoru was the one using the Cantus. This probably suggests to Squealer that he is a lot more powerful than Saki.

Theory: Squealer's downfall will be due to the fact that he underestimates Saki, or overestimates Satoru.

Theory: Saki always makes sure to have Satoru use Cantus unless not possible intentionally to try and deceive Squealer. I might be overestimating Saki, but she has proven to be quite creative and resourceful time and time again.

[Dr. Casey]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

There’s not much to feel good about in this world

I'm pretty sure that I would end up killing myself if I lived in the world of Shin Sekai Yori, honestly - it's such a miserable, god awful place. Total nightmare of an existence.

And I'm not sure why Saki and Satoru were so disgusted by the Queerats doing that to their Queen... she wasn't much more than a mindless, utterly crazy animal that indiscriminately killed anyone who tried speaking to her. Killing her in what basically amounts to self-defense doesn't seem too loathsome to me.