Shin Sekai Yori (From the New World) Discussion Thread

[something]

Episode 9:

Oh damn, that got good, especially in the second half. Badass Saki goes all spec ops. It'll be nice to see her do something on her own again, since there hasn't been much of that. Well, assuming she doesn't need to be immediately saved at the start of episode 10.

[something]

Episode 10:

Damnit why did they let Yamauchi Shigeyasu anywhere near this again? Fuck him. I hate inconsistent direction and art like this. This episode does not feel anything at all like the previous episode and knowing this could just happen again in five episodes completely kills my morivation to keep watching.

This episode was just totally devoid of any real human emotion. The hyper-abstract visuals remove any feeling of giving-a-fuck for me. I mean, Saki was unusually sexy in this episode, but when she doesn't even feel like the same person because she looks so damn different, that does nothing for me. At all.

Get Yamauchi the fuck away from this show right now.

[something]

Episode 11:

- With Shun dead[?], Ryou is a stand-in as the higher-ups try, I guess, to overwrite her memories. But this time it's not working.
- I just wonder if Ryou wa sput up to playing the part, or if his memories were messed with too.
- The students need to form pairs, so Saki pairs off with Satoru, Maria with Mamoru.
- And then they start back up with the detective work. But Mamoru is not cut out for it, to say the least...
- Some rational words from Maria calm Saki down, but Saki still can't give up trying to learn the truth. She does agree to keep Mamoru out of it though. And then more Maria x Saki kissing. ♥ Nice to see they still have an intimate physical relationship, and this time Saki isn't thinking of someone else in her place.

Well that was an awkwardly abrupt ending.

But a very good episode, like episode 9. The art was better than 9 as well (and goes without saying far better than 10) so I really wish the rest of the episodes could be similar to this one.

[dsmith]

Originally Posted by something

Damnit why did they let Yamauchi Shigeyasu anywhere near this again? Fuck him. I hate inconsistent direction and art like this. This episode does not feel anything at all like the previous episode and knowing this could just happen again in five episodes completely kills my morivation to keep watching.

It's always strange seeing such different viewpoints on the art of the show.

I barely noticed the change in art style in episode 5, and would have missed it completely if not for all the complaining I read from others. On the other hand, I did notice for episode 10, and thought it was beautiful; while it's not appropriate for most of the show, it definitely felt right for those bits of the story.

On the other hand, the direction (focus points, the way the characters moved, etc) did feel a bit weird; all loose and jangly, sort of, and a bit too much focus on butt/crotch/boob shots, which can get a bit annoying. I can understand the need for some sort of movement focus during a 'talky' episode, but it still feels like it could have been approached a bit differently.

[something]

Originally Posted by dsmith

It's always strange seeing such different viewpoints on the art of the show.

I barely noticed the change in art style in episode 5, and would have missed it completely if not for all the complaining I read from others. On the other hand, I did notice for episode 10, and thought it was beautiful; while it's not appropriate for most of the show, it definitely felt right for those bits of the story.

On the other hand, the direction (focus points, the way the characters moved, etc) did feel a bit weird; all loose and jangly, sort of, and a bit too much focus on butt/crotch/boob shots, which can get a bit annoying. I can understand the need for some sort of movement focus during a 'talky' episode, but it still feels like it could have been approached a bit differently.

Inconsistency is the more infuriating thing about it. Even if I really liked the new art style, I would still hate the fact that it was so inconsistent with the rest of the show.

Purely in terms of art the style can sometimes work (Saki really looked hot, if nothing else), but only if it's in its own show - not creeping into another show at random points.

However the direction style is, just, ugh. This director ruined action scenes in Yumekui Merry in the same way (and even apologized for it afterward, admitting it did not work). The way he handles movement is the biggest problem. There's this attempt to portray fluidity of motion and gesture that fails when one shot doesn't link up well to the next. Actions happen either too fast or too slow, the camera angles are highly questionable, and the entire thing reeks of trying to be unique rather than trying to convey the mood and meaning of a scene in an effective manner.

All of debatable merit on its own, but outright irritating when thrown into something else. It reminds me of the way Yamashita Shingo singlehandedly destroyed critical episodes of Birdy and DenYuuDen by inflicting a "unique" style where it did not belong. I simply cannot tolerate that kind of thing. (Speaking of him, he does the ED animation for Shinsekai and one of the "characters tell a story that's given stylized animation" bits. It's okay for an ED but I certainly would not want to see an epsiode animated that way.)

It's not like this show has the best production values in general (plenty of derpface off model shit all around regardless of which style is used) but that just makes inconsistencies all the worse.

[FUNiOP]

Shun just becomes another replaced memory to the rest of the group, with his spot filled by a boy named Ryou. Shun is unique enough for the rest to have their doubts, though, and they determine that Ryou could not have been the one in their group for all the events in the past, and they also start to learn more about the other disposed-of member of the group from episode 1, as well as about Saki's sister. Interesting stuff. Still have no idea what to make of this show. :/

[Ingraman]

I'm feeling lazy, so I'll just mostly cut'n'paste. ^^;

Well, people in at least one of the forums that I read were right: Asahina Tomiko is recruiting Saki, and not just to the committee that she's in charge of, but to take her place at the head of the committee! Their conversation also included the phrase "the weakest link" and flags immediately went up in my mind for Mamoru. ;_; He's been so quiet lately, distancing himself from the other three and their actions/investigating. I do wonder that if Mamoru breaks (Did he? Will we find out next episode?), and becomes a threat to their community, will the actions that follow be what leads to Maria becoming the danger that was previously mentioned by narrator-Saki?.

Learning about how much the committee has been aware of, as far as the actions taken by the SSS&MM group, how the ruling bodies have disposed of the threats to their towns (and the losses in the process), and the fact that kids lack any rights until they're 17 (although with all of the mind mangling that's gone on, it's not a complete surprise) was pretty interesting. I wonder if Saki will tell her parents about the job offer. I wonder what the response would be. Relief? Pride? Probably a bit of both. Anxiety? ^^

Lots of exposition, but I didn't mind it now, or when the minoshiro was doing the Q&A.

Poor not-Shun. They're just misleading him and running away.

[ookamigirl]

So they knew everything about what happened right from the start.
The story about Karma demons was interesting.
This episode came with lots of new info as well.
Mamoru's disappearance doesn't look good.
He's probably gonna end up like Shun..

[Damius]

I sure like this episode. Especially Saki in it. That was her episode.

[Damius]

I didn't like this episode at all... After last episode, it was quite a deception... I didn't like the direction it took and that art shift didn't work at all for me.