It felt as though A LOT happened during this episode, when it was actually more the case that what did happen, happened very quickly! The pace of Shin Sekai Yori in its entirety has been kind of erratic. To start with, it took until episode 4 for our characters to face any kind of serious adversary. And the two time skips acted almost as a reset button, every time the ‘action’ reached a climax, we’re taken into the future, where things are comparatively a little calmer (for the time being). And things have happened incredibly quickly, one after the other, during these last few episodes.
Now, I haven’t yet decided whether or not I like this crazy pacing of events. I read a lot of books, so I’m used to the pace of a story flowing- you have an intro that sets the scene, a problem is introduced, the problem reaches a head, and then it is resolved- so when that doesn’t happen, it’s kind of strange. But on the other hand, the way SSY has structured itself (setting the scene, continuing to set the scene, finally introducing a problem, resolving the problem, setting the scene again, etc.) is more realistic. In real life it’s normal to experience prolonged periods of calm before being plunged head-first into crud, without warning, or to experience trouble after trouble after trouble without a solution in sight, which is how SSY’s panning out right about now. And should be really criticise something for being more realistic? I don’t know. There are advantages and disadvantages to this staggered pacing. What do you guys think?
So to actually talk about the events of this episode…
*shudder shudder shudder* That cave was like something out of my nightmares! The darkness, the heat, the smell, the insects, the bats (which I’ve always been told love to nestle in long hair like mine), and the gloop, eeuurrgghh… I was just as horrified by it all as Saki was!! Kudos to SSY for tapping into some other common fears there!!!
It’s hard to believe that that was actually Tokyo. A bustling metropolis reduced to a desert, home not to millions of people, but to mutated monstrosities… This show has done an excellent job of pointing out how us humans ruin everything we touch! Because of their arrogance, the power that those in SSY have wielded has ruined whole landscapes and warped God’s creatures beyond recognition (something that’s even happened in our world, to some extent). Perhaps because of all this, I’m sceptical in regards to this Psychobuster weapon. I don’t think something created by the humans responsible for nuking Tokyo to oblivion (those without cantus) can really be heralded as the golden solution. What’s to stop the ‘good guys’ from falling victim to this infectious biological weapon? From how dire the situation is, they aren’t going to waste precious time developing a vaccine against it! And as far as “it does little damage to the environment” goes, anthrax can quite easily infect hoofed animals, so not only would humans be put in danger by psychobuster, livestock would be too!! I just think that it’s an incredibly dumb idea, and I’m deeply concerned no character seems to be considering the negative consequences of using it…
Watashi Wa Bucho!! 