Shin Sekai Yori - Episode 21 Discussion / Poll

[NoemiChan]

Originally Posted by Endless Knackwurst

If there occasional extraordinary individuals such as Tomiko, who could somehow manipulate trillions of individual molecules so that her telomeres would last longer, I wonder how likely it would be for someone else in that world to find a way to nullify the effects of death feedback occurring within themselves, given that the actual cause of death is a sequence of specific biochemical processes.

Just remembered, they're so dam powerful but can't kill their own.. Pretty pathetic..

[Gohan78]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

You have to draw a line somewhere. It's the same idea as officially becoming an adult and consequently being legally able to do stuff like drinking and smoking when you're 18

Back when people were building this society, they found that personality assessments/power tests, etc. (aka what they do in school) can pinpoint potentially dangerous individuals with an almost 100% accuracy.

My point is that they have absolutely zero defences against an adult akki. Tomiko compared humans in their world to nuclear weapons. When you deal with such weapons, almost 100% accuracy is not enough. You need to be 100% safe or you need to have some sort of contingency plan.

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Just one thing: I really don't understand why some viewers here are expecting perfection instead of people doing the best they can under the given circumstances, and then spending their lives hoping that it was enough

I don't expect perfection, I expect the diligence of the average person.
Even I can come up with 4-5 methods to deal with the akki (poisonous gas, firearms, traps, a bakenezumi guard, etc.). It's a bit difficult to swallow that those people never thought up any countermeasure in 200 years, especially since they had an eyewitness (Tomiko) who knew how dangerous an akki is.
If a threat is so big that it can wipe out your village in a matter of minutes, you can't just rely on preventive measures. You just can't. I like this anime a lot but I must stress that this is a glaring plothole, sorry.

Originally Posted by Dr. Casey

Do we even know for sure in the first place that there aren't any measures in place for dealing with Fiends once they are born? Just because they aren't mentioned doesn't mean they don't exist.

Tomiko, who was the most knowledgeable person in the village, basically said the they were screwed. So no, I don't think that there are any countermeasures.

Originally Posted by Solace

Death Feedback is one of those things. How does it work? Why does it seem so inconsistent? Who knows, but it moves the plot, happens when it needs to, and helps the writer tell the story they wanted to tell. Personally, I'm cool with that. Even if I'd like to know more....which is actually a good thing, because if I'm interested in something, the writer has done a good job of investing me in the material.

I didn't have a problem with the Death Feedback until it became an integral part of the story. It's basically the only thing that prevents the protagonists to deal with the akki. So, if the explanation behind the feedback is inconsistent, the whole story crumbles.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by Gohan78

If a threat is so big that it can wipe out your village in a matter of minutes, you can't just rely on preventive measures. You just can't. I like this anime a lot but I must stress that this is a glaring plothole, sorry.

OK, look.

DO YOU THINK THE AUTHOR NEVER STOPPED TO CONSIDER THIS?

Just asking.

Maybe you won't like what you will hear. Maybe you won't agree with it. (Maybe the anime will do a shitty job explaining it considering how little time they have.) But what is better, forming an opinion based on actual information, or half-blindly jumping to conclusions?

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Aside of whether it's even possible for these people to create stuff like a sufficiently large block of ice or a metallic safe(??) or an underground tomb (???) out of thin air in a matter of seconds...

What with the nature of their power, the kid could've easily countered anything Shisei or anyone tried to throw at him. A block of ice? it is now pretty ice crystals flying toward your face. (Besides, contrary to what slapstick cartoons would have you believe, trapping someone in a block of ice pretty much means killing them. No air, very cold, kid dies of either suffocation or hypothermia, whichever comes first.) Metallic safe? bam, it's blown apart. (Also note the general lack of air within metallic safes.) A deep pit, well, good luck explaining to your conscious that no, you're not about to push someone into a kilometer deep pit because you want to do him harm... ^^;; And in the meanwhile the boy makes steps or something in the side of the pit and walks out like nothing has happened. Same with an underground tomb or whatever, and do you seriously think anyone can create these within the few seconds they have to deal with the situation? And do you think the opponent will just stand there patiently and wait for you to be done with it instead of blowing your head off? Seriously?

They said that Shisei could split the Earth in half if he wanted to. Given how powerful your average cantus-user is, I didn't think this assessment would involve much hyperbole (although perhaps it does).

Based on the "he can split the Earth in half" assessment, I thought we were dealing with someone Superman/Magneto-level, or at least close to that. My history as a superhero comic book fan probably biases me here, admittedly.


Don't get me wrong. I still think this is a very strong and highly creative narrative overall.

[roon]

Originally Posted by Gohan78

Even I can come up with 4-5 methods to deal with the akki (poisonous gas, firearms, traps, a bakenezumi guard, etc.). It's a bit difficult to swallow that those people never thought up any countermeasure in 200 years, especially since they had an eyewitness (Tomiko) who knew how dangerous an akki is.
If a threat is so big that it can wipe out your village in a matter of minutes, you can't just rely on preventive measures. You just can't. I like this anime a lot but I must stress that this is a glaring plothole, sorry.

I'm pretty sure they mentioned utilising bakenezumi in the past ー specifically when they learned from their mistakes 200 years ago and decided to start killing potential problems. It's pretty clear that they can't do that in this particular situation, which makes me presume that Squealer uniting all the bakenezumi was more for that goal and less for 'freeing the people' and all that.

Otherwise, yeah, the wait and see game would do some folks here some good. I am just as anxious as everyone else to see how everything will be explained, but I'm honestly kind of baffled people are already claiming plot holes when the story isn't over yet…

[Arya]

Wow. Just wow. I didn't see that coming, at all. Even if I wondered why they attacked the hospital first, that hypothesis never crossed my mind. I'm amazed by yakomaru's highly-disturbing-and-yet-perfect plan. With this he has to win. Or better, his plan has to win. He could even die (). They deserve to gain their freedom. And not just as a concession.
Anyways the moment he succeeded in kidnapping the newborns the story crossed the point of no return for PKers. They have been decimated, they have no intel, they have no knowledge about anything (yet), they have no experience and Tomiko-chan is dead. They are almost doomed.
Namely the story will need to be really good if intend to save the Pkers restoring the status quo. Having Satoru who here and there comes out of nowhere knowing things or being a master of escape or a strategist depends on occasions will not be enough.
Tomiko-chan couldn't have done anything, since her only power was her longevity. Even if I'd love to see her trying. Poor Tomiko-chan.

By the way, stop trying to conceive every time new convoluted and gruesome ways to find out Maria's fate. (ops, Maria and Mamoru's). If anything Yakomaru never did uncalled-for brutality. I don't remember who, but someone in this 3d already pointed out the most plausible way in which Yakomaru got them. He, as always, gave them aid and shelter, gained their trust if ever it were needed, meanwhile as their friends before, they had sex thanks to the bonobo thing. And then ... olè. They were done. With the minimum effort.
This is the most efficient and sparing/frugal plan he had to follow. It fits perfectly his nature, too. Don't know why I didn't think about it myself (well, I myself looked for more fancy solutions tbh ).
Yakomaru could be many things, but surely he is pragmatic. He wouldn't wast resources just because. For the same reason I don't think his intention of "killing them all" is exaggerate. He did know that the PKes would have wiped them out in a blink. Without a second thought, for much, much less of that. In fact they did try to do so. And he knew so well that he used it against them. Even considering the great differences in power he couldn't take second chances in consideration.

Speaking of the queerats, I don't know if I I got it wrong, but when the one they caught spoke to Satoru and Saki, was that meant to imply that the queerats always had spoken their language but just pretended to not knowing it faking eve the cries?

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

They said that Shisei could split the Earth in half if he wanted to. Given how powerful your average cantus-user is, I didn't think this assessment would involve much hyperbole (although perhaps it does).

"Split the Earth in half" is a retardedly large step up from anything the average person can do you realize. So yeah...hyperbole borne out of the awe of the masses

Originally Posted by ChainLegacy

My thoughts as well during that scene. His power is supposedly godlike, he can turn explosions into little balls of energy in his hands, but he can't stop some untrained kid from killing him? Kind of silly. Entrap the kid in a massive underground tomb and leave a small tunnel to throw him food and water without meeting him face to face, problem solved.

This is still a fun series, and I don't want to be overly negative in criticizing this one point, but since it's such a central element to the plot, it's so glaring it's kind of hard to overlook, or accept and just say "well everything else has been well done so whatever." Regardless, I still enjoyed this episode and will continue watching the series, but it is what it is.

Gouma kill = unbridled emotional release. Even Akki still need to focus their attention but with a Gouma, it's like a tsunami of emotion / PK



Anyway...yeah, exactly why I always say this is so poetically ironic....kid killers being murdered by kids....sweetness

[Hitenma]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

Anyway...yeah, exactly why I always say this is so poetically ironic....kid killers being murdered by kids....sweetness

There is no sweetness or poetry in murder
And you realize that more kids are murdered by the "fiend" and the queerats than by the so-called "kid killers", don't you?

[sikvod00]

Is it ironic? The reason they are "kid killers" in the first place is because there have been past instances of kids wiping them out.

[sonagi]

OK, wow ...

I just ordered my books, yes BOOKS, for Shin Sekai Yori and what a tome!

Also, didn't realize this series was printed in two volumes (I had to order Volume I and Volume II). Was this intentional on the part of the author/publisher?

I was under the impression that the original work was printed as one novel.

Based on what I hear from reviews, Volume II starts off at the second time skip.

What I find interesting though is how people are separating the volumes. There are some people who say that they find Volume I more interesting, or better in general. On the other hand, Volume II is not nearly as engrossing.

I guess it makes logical sense to separate the tome based on timelines, but reading it in two parts is an altogether different experience than going straight through.

In any case, can't wait to start reading!!

[Solace]

Great! Just don't blurt out any spoilers here until the show is over!

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Based on the "he can split the Earth in half" assessment, I thought we were dealing with someone Superman/Magneto-level, or at least close to that. My history as a superhero comic book fan probably biases me here, admittedly.

These are not mutants with superhero powers... but if you want a sort of analogy, well - I'm not a superhero fan so sorry if I get something wrong but this is like Superman facing someone clad in Kryptonite armor. Or Green Lantern having to fight someone colored yellow.

Originally Posted by sonagi

Also, didn't realize this series was printed in two volumes (I had to order Volume I and Volume II). Was this intentional on the part of the author/publisher?

I was under the impression that the original work was printed as one novel.

There are various editions.

shinshohan: 1 volume
tankoubon: 2 volumes
bunko: 3 volumes

Originally Posted by sonagi

What I find interesting though is how people are separating the volumes. There are some people who say that they find Volume I more interesting, or better in general. On the other hand, Volume II is not nearly as engrossing.

This is largely due to personal taste, though? Though obviously most people will find the parts where we still have most of Group 1 and there's more character drama more interesting. (I've seen people complain about how they didn't like the third part because they would've preferred all the main characters to stay alive and stay cute and innocent... I don't really understand this opinion, but whatever? ) The third part has some issues (drags at points, and there are some other things that don't belong in this thread), but that's where the whole thing comes together (and Kiroumaru is very cool). And I'm sure most people's opinion is colored by how they feel about the ending...

(FWIW, I like the last part, too, even though I thought the author could've done a lot more on certain aspects that he seems to have lost interest in along the way... Well, at least that probably won't influence the anime given how little time it has to cover quite a lot.)

[sonagi]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

This is largely due to personal taste, though? Though obviously most people will find the parts where we still have most of Group 1 and there's more character drama more interesting. (I've seen people complain about how they didn't like the third part because they would've preferred the main characters to stay alive and stay cute and innocent... I don't really understand this opinion, but whatever? ) The third part has some issues (drags at points, and there are some other things that don't belong in this thread), but that's where the whole thing comes together (and Kiroumaru is very cool). And I'm sure most people's opinion is colored by how they feel about the ending...

I kind of wish they didn't publish multiple editions spanning volumes because then the novel reads as a series which it isn't. I don't understand why they did this unless it was for marketing reasons. Initially, I was confused by all the chatter about liking Volume I better than Volume II, or vice versa. The most predominant complaint however was as you somewhat mentioned, pacing in the second half. I think this is what the anime series does so well, negotiate the pacing without losing the audience.

The only reason why I decided to purchase the books (other than reading through to the ending) was because several people have complained about "sins of omission" from the anime. Whether or not they're justified in making those complaints, I will have to judge for myself. I guess it's always the same conundrum, the literary experience vs. the viewer experience.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by sonagi

I kind of wish they didn't publish multiple editions spanning volumes because then the novel reads as a series which it isn't. I don't understand why they did this unless it was for marketing reasons.

This is Japan, everything has to be published in at least two formats otherwise the world ends or something. Anyway, the whole thing is ~1000 pages long so I think it's logical for them to break it up into a format that is a bit easier to read, I mean physically and the books themselves are less likely to fall apart. And given how many people read while commuting, the 3 volume edition is even easier to carry around. And for those who like to have it all in one volume there's that, too.

Originally Posted by sonagi

The only reason why I decided to purchase the books (other than reading through to the ending) was because several people have complained about "sins of omission" from the anime. Whether or not they're justified in making those complaints, I will have to judge for myself. I guess it's always the same conundrum, the literary experience vs. the viewer experience.

Well, of course there are lots of omissions, there's no way they could've adapted this into a visual medium otherwise, never mind into 25 x 20 minutes. I think the anime is doing pretty well so far, everything considered, except for that one unexplicable missing explanation about why everyone is "suddenly gay" (that must have been a writer mess-up along the lines of "you did include that part in episode x, right?" "uh, no, I thought it was supposed to be in episode y..." "....oops....." XD I can't believe they did it on purpose), and the ones I'd been complaining about lately which overall may not be important for some people but I do think it is. Other than these, though, I think they're doing okay.

[sonagi]

I know there have been a lot of theories about Akki extermination but I was thinking about this on my drive back from work (yes, totally obsessed with this series ...).

My first line of defense would obviously be the most convenient one in the form of tainted cats. My second, would be to use balloon dogs (I don't know why this hasn't come up again after episodes 4 and 5 ...). Something about feedback mechanisms appeal to my logic of taking out Akki with a balloon dog although not sure about the execution part of it.

My last ditch resort would be to pit a Gouma against an Akki. In theory, residual Cantus leakage could somehow kill, or extract the Akki - again, not sure about the execution part of it.

Just musings to see if anything pans out ...

@kuromitsu - The only books available in the Korean translation is the two-volume set. I checked most regional, and online bookstores. I did run across the original Japanese novel ... but no way is my Japanese proficiency up to par for science fiction. So pretty much everyone in Korea understands SSY to be in two parts. There are surprisingly, a LOT of people who've only read Volume I and are content to stop there. Boards in Korea are also tightly regulated, but I've seen posts where they argue Volume I can stand alone independent of Volume II (which I think is ridiculous ... why wouldn't you want to read through to the end??). This is why I wish the novel was published or distributed as one work.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by sonagi

My first line of defense would obviously be the most convenient one in the form of tainted cats. My second, would be to use balloon dogs ...
My last ditch resort would be to pit a Gouma against an Akki. In theory, residual Cantus leakage could somehow kill, or extract the Akki - again, not sure about the execution part of it.

Well, the kitties have a chance but after the victim turns into a full-fledged akki they're not very useful. But certainly it doesn't hurt to try to sic them on the akki, which is why Saki's parents released them. As for the fuuseninu, they're kind of like grenades so... And as for gouma, it's not like you always have one at hand, and it's not like gouma can control what they do.

Originally Posted by sonagi

@kuromitsu - The only books available in the Korean translation is the two-volume set.

Most likely because that's how it was originally published in Japanese, in 2 volumes. (But it wasn't written as two volumes.) I guess Korean readers didn't need more versions?

Originally Posted by sonagi

So pretty much everyone in Korea understands SSY to be in two parts. There are surprisingly, a LOT of people who've only read Volume I and are content to stop there. Boards in Korea are also tightly regulated, but I've seen posts where they argue Volume I can stand alone independent of Volume II (which I think is ridiculous ... why wouldn't you want to read through to the end??). This is why I wish the novel was published or distributed as one work.

Wow, I agree, this is ridiculous. I assume Volume 1 ends with Shun's death, how on earth would anyone think the story until then could stand on its own?! When nothing is resolved, nothing is fully answered? (The only people I could imagine saying this are those who were a bit too much into Shun x Saki, are disappointed that they didn't end up together, and wish to regard the story as some kind of a tragic romance. But even so it's ridiculous.) Btw I wouldn't say the second "half", that is, everything after the first time skip is weaker than the first. I mean, there's all that drama that culminates in Mamoru and Maria leaving, and then after the 12 year time skip you have everything coming together. (I think it's this last, third part that has some issues, but they're not tragic or anything... it's just a bit draggy at some points, and I wish that the author had done some things in a different way, including giving a better name to a certain thing, and paid more attention to certain aspects, but it's not like these things ruin the book...)

[apotheosis]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

OK, look.

DO YOU THINK THE AUTHOR NEVER STOPPED TO CONSIDER THIS?

Just asking.

Maybe you won't like what you will hear. Maybe you won't agree with it. (Maybe the anime will do a shitty job explaining it considering how little time they have.) But what is better, forming an opinion based on actual information, or half-blindly jumping to conclusions?

Sure, we don't know the full explanation yet. But we've heard from the oldest (wisest?) person in the village that there's nothing they can do! This seems pretty definitive to me, that they do NOT have a plan for an akki actually appearing. Now maybe someone else has been thinking about it, but it would seem really odd if our hundreds of years old grandmother wasn't part of that ..

Now they might have considered many plans and just never been able to come up with a good one. But even if it was a bad plan, if they had hundreds of years they'd have some silly desparation plan.

It also seems to contradict what happened with the fiend they survived. The doctor was able to kill him with a direct action that he knew would cause death right?

Given that, humans must be able to overcome the death feedback for a split second, to do something like press a button to activate a pre constructed massive detonation to destroy all live in 1 mile, etc. Maybe that example is overblown, but you get the idea of where this is going ..

[sonagi]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Wow, I agree, this is ridiculous. I assume Volume 1 ends with Shun's death, how on earth would anyone think the story until then could stand on its own?! When nothing is resolved, nothing is fully answered? (The only people I could imagine saying this are those who were a bit too much into Shun x Saki, are disappointed that they didn't end up together, and wish to regard the story as some kind of a tragic romance. But even so it's ridiculous.) Btw I wouldn't say the second "half", that is, everything after the first time skip is weaker than the first. I mean, there's all that drama that culminates in Mamoru and Maria leaving, and then after the 12 year time skip you have everything coming together. (I think it's this last, third part that has some issues, but they're not tragic or anything... it's just a bit draggy at some points, and I wish that the author had done some things in a different way, including giving a better name to a certain thing, and paid more attention to certain aspects, but it's not like these things ruin the book...)

... which is why I'm glad that the anime series kind of forces the issue with Volume II. Frankly, I think some people stopped reading at Volume I because Shun's death marked not only a major turning point in the story, but serious disappointment for some shoujo-inclined readers (I have many ranting posts about how this novel is not meant to be confused with His&Her Circumstances; how many posts have you responded to focusing on the actual romantic lub-lub aspect of this series which is clearly not what drives the plot? My Korean posts are definitely on the mean side: "yes, Shun is dead. Deal with it."; "Yes, Maria and Mamoru are dead. Get over it!!"). Ironically, much of the early readership based on forum posts was predominantly female because of Saki, the female protagonist. The girls definitely outnumbered the guys in the beginning. However, the tables soon turned after Shun's death - effectively transforming SSY into a "shounen" novel/series.

I joined the forums pretty late after starting the anime, and I think it's hilarious that across the board, early postings obsessively revolve around sakixshun; mariaxsaki, etc ... and then suddenly morph into this shounen-style talk about Superman Shisei, Rat Wars, and Genocide by Akki.

But that's what I love about this series! I would venture to say that many people misunderstood SSY from the get-go, novel readers or otherwise. Even when I started watching, I half-heartedly wrote this series off as some cute kid anime (normally really into scary/horror anime ... gosick, dantalian, etc).

But I REALLY have to give it to the author for creating such a strong, female protagonist. I wish we had more of these thoughtful types of heroines without devolving into mindless fan service.

reminds me of feminism in miyazaki ...

[Forsaken_Infinity]

Now this was more like an episode from SSY. Not exactly perfect in terms of animation and stuff but perfect nonetheless in terms of delivering it's impact.

I wish the kid hadn't been shown as essentially being insane but rather a sentient creature that sided with the bakenezumi out of his own accord but oh well.

And that speech from the bakenezumi wasn't remotely on par with squealer's but I suppose that's too high a standard anyway.

I got angry when I saw kiroumaru chained like that but thinking about it, they trusted him enough to not outright kill him in this huge revolt from his "species". That's actually pretty cool.

[ChainLegacy]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Aside of whether it's even possible for these people to create stuff like a sufficiently large block of ice or a metallic safe(??) or an underground tomb (???) out of thin air in a matter of seconds...

What with the nature of their power, the kid could've easily countered anything Shisei...

Maybe I have misunderstood the way the power works. It's been really ambiguous from the start. It would seem to me if you can compress explosions into little balls of energy, you could erect an earthen tomb in seconds as well, or deflect someone else's powers if you are stronger than them. If that's not the case, oh well, but the nature of this psychic power is patently bizarre compared to most other powers I've seen in sci-fi and video games, so misunderstandings on my part should be forgiven... At least when one takes into account that they've never gone into the dynamics of them.

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

But... the entire point is... OK, no, I give up. Really, I'm not going into this because there are info we haven't seen in the anime yet, but I'm just saying, you seem to be missing the entire point, and you also seem to expect people in the story to be aware of all the information and the knowledge the viewers are privy of, and have the kind of hindsight they couldn't possibly have.

The entire point? I'm commenting on human nature. I consider it rather inherent that people will be prepared to put down and punish those who break the rules of the system. You can tell me they had no way of knowing this would happen, and that's fine, they didn't need to know every minute detail... I consider it too alien a culture to wrap my head around, regardless of how much faith they had in their preventative measures. I can see you're making an allusion to some future plot element of which I am not currently aware, but I don't see how any new information will change this gripe of mine... Unless they reveal these people have 'evolved' to be so different in their mental structure that they can't envision their preventative system failing and the need to put down a conflict...

We'll see, I guess. Maybe you are right, but I'm definitely having trouble predicting what information could change my viewpoint on this matter. The only thing I can think of is that their contingency was relying on their rat allies to defend them in this situation. If that's the explanation, I'd consider it a pretty weak one, considering how difficult it is for the rats to fight against the humans in the first place, and their arrogance in thinking the rats were so far below their power as to not be a threat.

Like apotheosis says above, I'm going off of the elder's statement that there's nothing they can do to defend themselves. I suppose I'll get back to you in a few episodes?

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

You do realize we're still nowhere near the end, right? (okay, we're near the end, but not there yet...) Anyway, think and believe whatever you want, but declaring something a gaping plot hole just because you misunderstand it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

I'm not entirely convinced you've understood what I'm complaining about in the first place. I do not consider foresight of this event necessary for a human society to imagine a need to punish and put down a conflict once it arises. I consider this ability to imagine conflict, regardless of whatever measures have been taken, inherently human.

Do I expect them to have a tactical squadron to deploy for this specific event? No. On the other hand, do I expect them to be completely and utterly unable to respond and fight back? No, that's pretty hard to swallow, as well. Especially given this event did happen in the past, even if it was a long time ago.

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

This story is not perfect, it has flaws and inconsistencies. But what you complain about is not one of them.

It's not a perfect story, but it's been quite fun and enjoyable so far. That said, I do consider this a flaw; more specifically, an element that breaks the flow of my 'suspension of disbelief.' I can't envision a human society so cripplingly incapable of dealing with a conflict. I'll have to wait and see if the points you've alluded to in future episodes changes my opinion on this.

Originally Posted by Trajan

As "nitpicky" as I have been, I agree, and this is my favorite current series. I just feel that the story would have been better without the Messiah. In fact, I don't even think he is necessary, as the queerats showed that by themselves they could take down the second most powerful human. With a little planning and a stealth attack, they may have even been able to kill Shisei through non-obvious methods. It would have been more shocking and profound to see the humans witness their most powerful Cantu user felled by subhuman rats rather than an unstoppable superweapon.

Expanding on this, the series right now is amounting to: We did everything to prevent the obvious threat (akki), but the obvious threat (akki) still (almost) destroyed us. That's fine as far as it goes, but I think the story would have more impact if instead it were: We did everything--completely revamped our society, brainwashed ourselves, altered our DNA, and killed hundreds of our own children--to prevent the obvious threat, but in the end we were destroyed by a force we never considered a threat at all.

I completely agree. I was hoping for the rats to do it themselves. I'm honestly not sure what the author was trying to go for with the intersection of the rats' insurrection and the threat of the akki. I knew both were coming many episodes ago based on all the foreshadowing, but I'd have preferred if they somehow kept these plot lines separate. I'm much more interested in the rat plot, anyways. Having a 'messiah' really waters down all the competency they've been displaying in advancing their society.

By the way, off of this topic tangent, but I think this may be the best anime soundtrack I've ever heard for setting the tone. Possibly the best soundtrack for ambiance I've ever heard on any TV show.