Shin Sekai Yori

[Kraco]

In that case, Satoru and Saki shouldn't have it, right?

Haha, now that would be sweet irony. Most of the town is dead, and then they realise they don't have death feedback and would thus have been able to get rid of the fiend? Nah, I don't think so. I don't see it overly likely the head honcho uber priest leader monk with two irises per eye would have a full death feedback and two random youngsters wouldn't. Saki and Satoru might be missing something, but I very much doubt it's the death feedback. An average human is fully capable of slaying queerats (or other animals), that doesn't require any special conditions. I reckon the monk of the trip arc got weaker because he killed the false minoshiro with its false trigger for the death feedback. At the time it looked like killing dozens of queerats might have affected him as well, but maybe that wasn't the case at all in the light of what we have seen now. Although it would make sense there are individual differences between humans.

[Ryllharu]

The monk was weakened severely by the false monoshiro's illusion, but what did him in were the larger, savage species of queerrat. That clan was much larger and more human like in shape. The more spectacular attack he made, the more he obscured their outlines, making them look even more human-shaped.

He did himself in.

One might argue that Squealer's infiltrator sub-variant would cause the same effect, but they got close enough that it was pretty obvious from their ugly mugs that they weren't human.

[Buffalobiian]

Haha, now that would be sweet irony. Most of the town is dead, and then they realise they don't have death feedback and would thus have been able to get rid of the fiend? Nah, I don't think so. I don't see it overly likely the head honcho uber priest leader monk with two irises per eye would have a full death feedback and two random youngsters wouldn't.

Quite the contrary actually. As a village you'd want to make sure your most powerful cantus user wasn't able to kill people left/right/center. As far as humans went, all he had to do was overpower your cantus in order to immobilise you (or just render you powerless) while cats killed you off. (This is assuming you're just a bad human and not a fiend/KD).

I suspected whether or not the kids had it because Satoru's cantus was restored by Saki and Saki's cantus was restored by Shun. That said, all the priest actually did was seal their cantus so there isn't any strong indication that their death feedback was also revoked (and thereby needed to be re-hypnotised into it).

[MFauli]

Can someone please explain to me in detail why Shisei was killed? It wasn´t death feedback, but "leaked cantus". Whats that about?

Anyway, great episode. Well, except for EVERY human being being super obnoxious. I hate Saki for still freaking out at this point in time. I hate Shisei´s arrogance. And I hate how Saki and Satoru fail to realize that what the one queerat told them rang all too true (cantus users having queerats live under their tyranny).

I so should have replaced MFauli's avatar with Yakomaru's mug 2 weeks ago.

:-o

[shinta|hikari]

I honestly thought that I underestimated the intelligence of the queerats until their world conquest plan was revealed. Then I just loled.

One of these Fiend children will inevitably enter a rebellious phase way before they reach that goal.

[Buffalobiian]

I honestly thought that I underestimated the intelligence of the queerats until their world conquest plan was revealed. Then I just loled.

One of these Fiend children will inevitably enter a rebellious phase way before they reach that goal.

Now I really need to know where Maria and Mamoru are.. (I'm assuming Yakomaru poisoned/infected them or something..)

Can someone please explain to me in detail why Shisei was killed? It wasn´t death feedback, but "leaked cantus". Whats that about?

No idea.. (and fuck you're ugly. I regret saying that.)

[Ryllharu]

Assuming my, "Maria and Mamoru's child is not a true Fiend, just an utterly undisciplined Cantus user" theory is right, he has no subconscious control over his cantus at all. The series been clear that all the years of schooling combined with the innate "unknown beyond the holy barrier" are meant to limit the damage done by subconscious Cantus leakage.

This "Fiend" is actually more like a Fiend combined with a Karma Demon. It's an power-mad, rage-filled Esper.

When the "fiend's" undisciplined attacks failed to work on Shisei, the child obviously began to wonder why it wasn't working the way he was used to. As he continued to imagine how it should be working, his subconscious took hold and killed Shisei in a more passive way. The same way a Karma Demon can't help by warp the world around them, the "fiend" eventually managed to make the world match with the subconscious thought that Shisei should be killed by his Cantus.

In contrast, Shisei, who has expert control over his Cantus, could easily deflect any active attack. But as he is not Karma Demon, the subconscious side to his Cantus will not be able to keep him alive and continually deflect the "fiend's" subconscious will to see him dead.

Shisei is too in control to warp reality, while the "fiend" warps it non-stop. It's just that usually, the "fiend's" active thoughts are the same, every foe he comes across should be dead.

[shinta|hikari]

I agree. The child's leaking cantus killed Shisei because he couldn't see it coming. Shun wiped out his entire family subconsciously, so it is not surprising that cantus leakage is more than capable of killing people. Shun's incident also shows that there is no reliable way for outsiders to prevent or control cantus leakage, so Shisei was powerless against it.

[Buffalobiian]

UTW - Episode 22

[David75]

Humans are idiots in that show.

Why would you want Kiromaru and Yakomaru+troops with you when you find PsychoBuster?

That's the ideal biological weapon against any and all Cantus users... And I'm sure Yakomaru will easilly use and duplicate it.

[Ryllharu]

Kiromaru at least appears to have some semblance of honor and pride in his servitude. But more importantly, he despises Squealer. He is more likely to abandon them if he sees the opportunity to kill Squealer than he his to betray them.

It doesn't really matter who gets their hands on the PsychoBuster, it couldn't be used to exclusively kill humans. It's Anthrax, biological warfare grade. It works against everything that isn't routinely vaccinated. There will be an inherent danger in using and handling it. I also doubt anyone other than the humans would be able to even produce a vaccine. So if Squealer took it and started using it all over the place, there would be nothing to stop it. Sooner or later, much of their livestock would die, and many of their people. Once the spores are released, there would be no stopping the slow spread.

At least until the queerrats end up with their equivalent of Louis Pasteur. This information wasn't input to mobile libraries if I understood Saki's mother's letter correctly. It was very controlled information.

[Kraco]

It doesn't really matter who gets their hands on the PsychoBuster, it couldn't be used to exclusively kill humans. It's Anthrax, biological warfare grade. It works against everything that isn't routinely vaccinated. There will be an inherent danger in using and handling it. I also doubt anyone other than the humans would be able to even produce a vaccine. So if Squealer took it and started using it all over the place, there would be nothing to stop it. Sooner or later, much of their livestock would die, and many of their people. Once the spores are released, there would be no stopping the slow spread.

Even if it killed 95% of queerats as collateral victims, Squealer would still put it to use if it killed most of humans as well. The only thing holding him back might be the immense success they have had with the fiend. Considering they kidnapped the babies, he must be planning to repeat that success in greater numbers. However, if he really has plans to conquer the whole world, he will need something else than a few fiends. It might suit the Japanese mentality for humans to render themselves defenseless against other humans, but when he gets to Europe and especially America, no chance in hell the humans there would be as pitiful as this. I wouldn't be surprised if the old style of cantus users living as gods using ordinary humans as slaves still existed elsewhere.

[David75]

One word caught my attention: Highly Contagious.

Humans can't decide to harm/kill other humans if needed be to stop the contagion.

Queerats would have no second thought killing 10/100/1000 or more of their kind to preserve the species.

[Kraco]

Kiromaru at least appears to have some semblance of honor and pride in his servitude. But more importantly, he despises Squealer. He is more likely to abandon them if he sees the opportunity to kill Squealer than he his to betray them.

Something about this whole adventure makes me feel Kiromaru could be out to betray them. Perhaps Squealer is holding all the remains of his clan as hostages. It would also explain a bit of the ease of following them. I wouldn't put it beyond Squealer's intelligence to form multiple plans for contingencies, one of them being to make sure the humans can't fetch any secret weapons from elsewhere. A good way to prepare for that, considering the humans never leave their villages, would be to make a seemingly trustworthy guide available to them. Still, I'm sure Kiromaru hates Squealer's guts, so the mastermind needs to keep a close watch.

However, at the end of the day, I'm sure Kiromaru would have nothing against getting rid of humans. Humans weren't exactly good neighbours. He might not be as fanatical as Squealer, but he's still a man who would put his own people above everything else.

[Buffalobiian]

So what's so different about Psychobuster compared to regular military anthrax? Isn't the whole point that it's selective for cantus humans?

Or am I misreading it, and only its intention was specifically against cantus humans?

edit: nvm, rewatched and the machine suggests it's just anti-human

@David: I wouldn't want any queerats around me, but without Kiroumaru I doubt the humans would be able to get to the Psychobuster in one piece considering the environment.

[MFauli]

However, at the end of the day, I'm sure Kiromaru would have nothing against getting rid of humans. Humans weren't exactly good neighbours. He might not be as fanatical as Squealer, but he's still a man who would put his own people above everything else.

That´s what makes no sense to me about Kiromaru´s behavior. Why would he be so loyal towards humans, when they treated queerats like shit? He´s too intelligent to just ignore that. We have to remember: At the end of the day, Yakomaru isn´t evil. He´s doing whatever he can to protect/improve/strengthen/free his kin. Of course, he´s on a power trip, too, but that´s more of a queerat thing in general, I think. You know, the whole ... once they see a chance, they take it, at whatever costs. Maybe Yakomaru might pose a problem to the queerat community AFTER defeating humans, but right now, he´s the needed dictator to harbour success.

So, yeah, I kinda hope that Kiromaru will betray Saki and Co., likely due to his clan being held hostage or, more to my liking, due to realizing that while he hates Yakomaru on a personal level, he´s doing it all for the whole of the queerats species. It´d be great if such self-realization could change Kiromaru´s heart, instead of a simple, clichee hostage-scenario.

Btw that undersea boat somehow wouldn´t work, would it? Both spinning wheels face parallel to the vehicles length. Why would it create a forward push, instead of pushing into all and any direction, lol.

[Ryllharu]

So what's so different about Psychobuster compared to regular military anthrax? Isn't the whole point that it's selective for cantus humans?

Or am I misreading it, and only its intention was specifically against cantus humans?

edit: nvm, rewatched and the machine suggests it's just anti-human

You are sorely mistaken.

It was developed by the military of America as a last-ditch effort to exterminate the psychics that had begun terrorizing the world. We saw what they used prior to that early on, when they used to just drop nukes on them. They might use that again today, but as the letter said, they would all have rotted into uselessness by now.

Anthrax doesn't. The spores remain dormant for centuries.

In no way, shape or form did the dialogue say that it only worked on humans. Human were the only sentient species on Earth at the time this weapon was developed. This strain was made especially virulent so that it would spread quickly and kill off the psychics of the ancient world, preferably by all three ways that anthrax infects humans (skin, pulmonary, and gastrointestinal).

It's anthrax ffs. It works on everything.

[Buffalobiian]

UTW - Episode 23

[MFauli]

I dont really understand why those worms posed such a danger, and even got to kill Inui. Use cantus -> erase WHATEVER from existence -> the solution. They have god powers, but somehow fail. Wat.

Other than that, filler-ish episode. Next week should be more interesting.
Btw. what I truly like about this anime is that it doesn´t switch between locations. It´s probably been that way from the very beginning, but it just occurred to me when the four split into two groups. Also, when Kiromaru talked about Yakomaru, fiend, and co. following them. We KNOW that those "villains" are coming, but we never see them. There´s zero doubt about their approaching, but it´s not being pushed in our faces. Most other shows would put in-between scenes of Yakomaru following them. Shin Sekai Yori doesn´t do that. And it makes it feel more consistent of an adventure to me. There are no "jumps". We get to see one journey from start to end, even though we might miss out on some other events. Applause.

Btw. is the soundtrack out, yet? I reallly need that main "theme", that´s running whenever shits going down.

[Buffalobiian]

I dont really understand why those worms posed such a danger, and even got to kill Inui. Use cantus -> erase WHATEVER from existence -> the solution. They have god powers, but somehow fail. Wat.

They have different abilities that they're good at. It doesn't seem to be as omnipotent as they seem. The only common ones we've witnessed so far are telekinesis of objects (self-propelled flight is harder), as well as flame creation. Neither will probably work against a giant worm in water. Cantus also seem to require some concentrating beforehand unless you're Shisei, so they're not that great at countering surprise attacks.

Btw. is the soundtrack out, yet? I reallly need that main "theme", that´s running whenever shits going down.

[ASL]_Various_Artists_-_Shin_Sekai_Yori_ED_-_Wareta_Ringo_Yuki_ni_Saku_Hana_[MP3]_[w_Scans].rar
[ASL]_Various_Artists_-_Shin_Sekai_Yori_ED_-_Wareta_Ringo_Yuki_ni_Saku_Hana_[FLAC]_[w_Scans].rar


[Shin-S] Shinsekai Yori Original Soundtrack 1 (FLAC) [Komori Shigeo & Taneda Risa].zip
[Shin-S] Shinsekai Yori Original Soundtrack 1 [Komori Shigeo & Taneda Risa].zip

[PCXG-50184-2] Pony Canyon - Shinsekai Yori Original Soundtrack CD2 [FLAC]
[Jabonggun] Shinsekai Yori Original Soundtrack CD2

The main "theme" is the first track on the first disc, though I'm not sure if that's necessarily the one you're after.


edit: If queerats could tell the composition of troups just from smell alone, how did Inui escape from the queerats? Adds to the "Kinoumaru's a trap" theory.