Shin Sekai Yori

[Kraco]

Theirs is a weird relationship. Maria is definitely the dominant one in their relationship, but Saki is only there because she couldn't have Shun. Maria may be Saki's source of comfort, but once there, Maria is the one in control.

That's pretty natural, all in all. Saki seems to be the one the least affected by the bonobo genes, perhaps because she might be the one thinking about it the most (and consequently fighting against such a legacy). So, even though she seeks comfort from the only source available when Shun isn't there for her, it's not like she'd necessarily want to be with Maria intimately, so she couldn't really be in control. On the other hand, there's no way Maria wouldn't realise how Mamoru feels, but it looks like she's just enjoying torturing him, so it fits well together with being the dominant one as well with Saki.

[Buffalobiian]

Mamoru's a guy?!

I thought it was completely weird that s/he sounded so manly, but I had always thought s/he was female..


edit: hmm, you're right. The school uniforms are coloured according to sex.

[MFauli]

For shame, Satoru! From almost banging the main heroinel t0 tongueing a boy. Fail :/

Very interesting episode. And much better than the mess of those previous weeks. Shun´s deranged grin was the highlight of this episode. Felt completely surreal and unexpected. I´d love to know what happened between him and the priest.
However, no way in hell is Shun going to be disposed of. The adults will maybe try to, but it´d be to too anti-climatic to have it actually happen. Shun will work it out, somehow.

What I´m also looking forward to is the explanation of why the adults let the group stay alive when they knew about their "neo cantus" all along. Curiosity?

EDIT:

Oh, and Mamoru will be the one to show what the true, bad, terrible nature of a Bonobono is like. Damn, the way the girls talked in his presence was just cruel. "We´re drifting apart" - "Me and Saki will always stay together!" Umm, okay, heartless bitch, there´s a sensitive boy next to you who likes all of you, how about welcoming him, too?!
Yeah, Mamoru´s definitely going to have his EVA-goes-crazy-without-energy moment.

[shinta|hikari]

I actually liked how they went all out with the BL. The delivery didn't feel like fanservice at all, and seemed important to establishing the world of the story. There will be BL fans screaming while watching the episode, but that isn't the (only) goal.

I think the priest sensed what kind of operation Shun is doing with his Cantus. The exercise was simply to make the chick hatch, but Shun was far more talented and twisted than anyone imagined. He was performing genetic manipulation. Shun was also careless. He let his pride control him and caused him to show off to the priest, causing the current state of affairs.

[animus]

Saki's such a bitch. She knows Mamoru's got a thing for Maria and she still taunts him and asks how's it like to have a one sided crush while she's the one occupying Maria.

[Kraco]

I think the priest sensed what kind of operation Shun is doing with his Cantus. The exercise was simply to make the chick hatch, but Shun was far more talented and twisted than anyone imagined. He was performing genetic manipulation. Shun was also careless. He let his pride control him and caused him to show off to the priest, causing the current state of affairs.

Yeah. Although since the priest's visit was a surprise, it's not like manipulating the egg was specifically aimed for that moment. It was just the culmination of the long observation period, I reckon. I will also still maintain my original stance about his motivations, and not think it was carelessness but on purpose. I don't think the deranged smile really fits together with carelessness, unless he was first careless and then suddenly snapped.

[Buffalobiian]

Saki's such a bitch. She knows Mamoru's got a thing for Maria and she still taunts him and asks how's it like to have a one sided crush while she's the one occupying Maria.

It really was insensitive.

Mamoru's in the same position as Saki in the Saki-Shun-Satoru relationship, except Saki's got her comfort pillow ala Maria, while Mamoru's got his drawing board. Maybe it was out of sheer curiosity on Saki's part since she doesn't see Mamoru having some sort of backup partner.

Still, after Saki said that I thought "Do you srsly want him to murder you or something?"

[shinta|hikari]

@Kraco - Letting his pride dictate his actions is the careless part.

[Kraco]

@Kraco - Letting his pride dictate his actions is the careless part.

That could be true, but there hasn't been a single scene that unambiguously would have shown he would make mistakes due to being too proud, none that I remember anyway. So, it's just speculation. Although I admit everything I said is nothing but speculation as well, and a single grin is too weak evidence for any solid conclusions.

[Buffalobiian]

UTW - Episode 09

[Kraco]

I wonder how thin is the line between a genius and a demon? Though it makes sense that the younger and more unexperienced one is, the easier it would be to lose control of excessive power. If that's what it's all about. If it is, the deranged grin of the previous ep surely would fit well together with it, as well as Shun's later behavior. He must have sensed not only what the society would do with him but the reason for it: his own growing instability.

We haven't really seen anything much concrete of the upper echelons of that society, so it's impossible to say for sure, but considering all the secrecy, rumours, and finally that the school was releasing the cats to hunt Shun, I'd say Shun actually has reasonable chances. If we have rumours, nameless fear, and other such insubstantial things instead of deadly enforcerers patrolling the streets at night, it suggests there's not so much power behind it all. It's very easy to snatch away kids even with little force, especially if the population is scared witless. However, if someone is close to getting something called a demon, then I think they are already betting against high odds when trying to deal with it.

In any case, I still hope Saki and Shun will get together as a happy couple before the end.

[Buffalobiian]

In any case, I still hope Saki and Shun will get together as a happy couple before the end.

I was hoping more for a Saki/Satoru ending.

That cat didn't look too aggressive when it looked at Saki (though the one in the preview is an entirely different matter). The release-scene suggests the teachers don't have much control over the cats besides a release-then-capture method, so the cats aren't likely to just overlook her.

I'm also interested in what the relationship between the kids and the Queerats are now. Did anybody see Satoru with one of those bracelets/chokers? I'm suspecting that Shun may have given one to Saki only.

[Uchiha Barles]

This is the point I'd really like to know, just how much of what happened during the camping trip are the adults aware of. Shun mentioned that they know that their powers had been sealed, and then obviously unsealed. I'm in agreement with the people suggesting that the sealing/unsealing process developed by the society places controls the cantus users; controls that probably were not replaced when they unlocked their own powers using Saki's method. If that's the case, then these kids could probably kill other humans. With the society knowing this, I'd have expected a much more pronounced and immediate reaction from them. That's not what we're seeing though. They're behaving as if Shun is a "normal" threat whose restraints are still in place.

This is of course assuming everyone is correct about the restraints and their implementations.

[Kraco]

I doubt all of their human killing inhibitions would have been removed. Even normal people most of the time would hesitate slaying at least the first victim. These folks have been both genetically modified and then conditioned over who knows how many years to suffer from the consequences. No single incident likely could ever remove all of that. Satoru killing hostile queerats doesn't necessarily yet mean he could kill real humans as easily (or creatures protected suitably, like the library).

What I was trying to say in my previous post is that they aren't necessarily thinking Shun is still normal (because they aren't, clearly), but that they might have limited means of dealing with him. I don't know how the cats operate, but they should be pretty mighty to be able to subdue Shun, who is supposed to be more powerful than Satoru. And Satoru showed immense power during the trip arc - and they were two years younger back then. Until I see the beasts in action, I won't believe for a moment they can do it, unless they catch him asleep. Shun knows even about hypnosis, like the library employed, so he should be wary already in case the cats rely on that.

[Uchiha Barles]

Yeah, those beasts attacking them is partly what brought that up. As far as we know, they've been used to deal with children who seemed to be growing in a manner that was problematic for the society. But Satoru's shown a great deal of combat ability, and this was 2 years ago. The ease with which the adults were able to use their Cantus makes me think "...I don't see why Satoru himself couldn't do this..." Yet, the adults seem to wholeheartedly believe that Shin will be dealt with by those cats...why? There's a disconnect here. Either Satoru is special among them, the adults are unaware of something concerning the kid's experiences during the camping trip, or the mechanics of things (power sealing, the abilities of the cats, etc.) aren't quite clear yet. Obviously the last thing I listed is true, but I get the feeling that the 2nd is as well. This is important because I think that when the shit hits the fan, this is going to be the cause of it.

[MFauli]

The one, big omission in all of this is the presentation of this world´s society. We only ever witness Saki and her friends when they´re at school or at home. What about the rest? Where are all the adults outside? It feels so barren. It´s just the group of five, meeting Queer Rats and other fantasy stuff. Saki´s parents are worried about her, they´re morning their lost child, yet we´ve seen so little of their world that it makes me wonder, why I should care about it all.
Or, if I´m following my more leftfield-thoughts, it makes me suspect that EVERYTHING we´ve seen so far is something completely else. Another pseudo-Matrix-MMORPG-like environment? Some outside-person messing with these children´s brains and stuff? No idea. But it´s all so weird that I keep getting ideas like that.

Also relating to the above, just what is Saki´s daily life at home like? How´s the relationship between her and her parents? I mean, damn, I could never take it, if my parents so obviously hid some important matter from me. JUST SPILL IT. Who gives a shit about rules and such. Don´t take your own child for stupid. sigh.

Whatever. After that super weird "side"-story about Saki and Satoru fighting muscle-packed queer rats, this anime has now returned to being genuinely exciting. Looking forward to next episode.

[Ryllharu]

The only thing I'm surprised at is that Saki didn't confront her parents about the disappearance of her older sister, especially now that she remembered it. It's not the first time it has come up, her mother is particularly bad at hiding her own distress about her children (though perfectly understandable).

It should be clear by now that what makes Saki special is her unique brain structure, not the strength of her Cantus (which is just below average). For whatever reason, brainwashing simply doesn't stick on her. She recalls details of their collective upbringing/training that the other four don't remember, and now she was unable to unlock the memories of her older sister, something she showed no sign of awareness toward when she first overheard her parents.

I had thought that Saki either wasn't alive at the time her parents had a child (or other children) and that Saki was their "next try" or she wasn't any older than a baby. From the flashback, Saki was certainly old enough to possess self-awareness, and have plenty of vivid memories of her sister. The brainwashing purge is quite powerful to remove her sister's existence so completely. It's even more telling that Saki broke through that.

[Kraco]

The only thing I'm surprised at is that Saki didn't confront her parents about the disappearance of her older sister, especially now that she remembered it. It's not the first time it has come up, her mother is particularly bad at hiding her own distress about her children (though perfectly understandable).

That didn't surprise me at all. There's already a big gap between her and the parents. She must be heavily judging them to belong to the generally secretive, ignorant, normal part of the society as opposed to their little group from the trip arc. Her feelings of fellowship might right now belong to the group that is being set apart from the society. There has to be mistrust involved as well. She's feeling unsure how much she can trust her parents, especially after they adviced she must forget Shun. And above all, she suddenly got too busy anyway. If she had gone to pressure her parents about the sister, they might have prevented her from leaving to search Shun.

[David75]

I'm a little surprised in such a society the parents giving birth would raise their own children.

In that kind of setting, I would have thought they'd give babies to other couples so that the bonds do not get too strong between children and parents.
Then another swap or even collective upbringing from 3 to adulthood.

[Kraco]

Wouldn't that considerably increase unease and rebellious sentimentality in the long run? It's not like most parents would ever want to let go of their (young) children. They would have needed to remove that feeling from the very genes, which would have ultimately also meant that the adults wouldn't have properly taken care of anybody's children. That society heavily depends on certain internal peacefulness and high conformity, which both require meticulous upbringing (in addition to the hypnotic conditioning). Like I said in an earlier post, they don't seem to have a large police force at all and there seems to be few punishments aside from making people disappear entirely, so they can't afford to have unruly citizens resulting from poor childhood.