YoshiKyon

8/10

Haven't been in much of an anime mood these last couple of months, but decided to dive back in with Shinsekai yori (a.k.a. From the New World) - this was one of the series I was given at the start of the year by people in my Discord community, this one coming from DubuDeccer, an old friend of mine who.. isn't quite as much of a degen as he used to be, but still definitely one of the weebiest people I know. :')

12 Anime in 12 Months:

• Shinsekai yori
• Plastic Memories
• Vivy: Fluorite Eyes Song
• Kaiba
• Bloom Into You
• Princess Tutu
• Redline
• Monster
• Saint Onii-san
• Haikyu!!
• So I'm a Spider, So What
• In Another World With My Smartphone

This is a super plot-driven show, and notably one that leaves a lot of mysteries hanging throughout, so I'll keep this as spoiler-free as possible, but inevitably there'll still be some minor spoilers below.

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I have this general rule with anime: if the opening and ending make zero fucking sense, then it's probably an intriguing show, and this is no exception. It's a tough one to rate, because it sets up a ton of hooks early and then selectively pulls on a few at a time - that inevitably means that some of the setup isn't carried out as much as you'd hope (and, personally, the ones that intrigued me the most were the ones that weren't followed up on as much or as effectively). That leaves it in an awkward spot where it's incredibly good at what it does, and yet feels like it could have been so much more.

The early world-building and setup is a mixed bag: the first handful of episodes are incredible, and are honestly something of a masterclass in psychological horror - it's very up-front about what it's dealing with, and yet manages to create suspense and tension at every turn. The show then detours a little to essentially become an action show for a few episodes, before essentially pivoting back and forth between those throughout.
Personally, I wasn't a big fan of the political drama, mostly because it came after such an enticing build-up that it felt jarring, but also because it's nothing especially original. Offhand, it also has some really fucked-up worldviews - the show comes so close to becoming aware of the world its created a few times, but always seems to fall just short of calling itself out on how horrific the world is.

"Unoriginal" isn't exactly a major concern in my eyes, though - tropes become tropes for a reason! - and the atmosphere of the show and the initial world-building make it what it is. There are definitely a few moments where the plot seems to lose itself, or more frustratingly deus ex machina its way out of a problem, but when it hits, it hits big.

This all sounds really negative, and I promise I really enjoyed the show! It sets itself up to do so much and then manages to achieve most of it, and that's honestly impressive. The constant intrigue, the ebb and flow of the mysteries and the political drama, solid action scenes, fantastic world-building... This show does a hell of a lot. It just also feels like it promises far more, and those promises were the parts that had me hooked the most, so there's a nagging feeling of: yes, it's good, but it could have been so much more.