From the New World has been a delight. It has been such a long while since I saw a fantasy series in which the characters were so cunning. From both sides. The past two episodes were all about trying to kill Yakomaru and Satoru and Maria’s child, and the creators realy took a lot into account here. All tactics really are clever. People make mistakes, but they are covered by their allies in order to balance things out and preventing from god-moding everyone. And that lead to some wonderful casualties.
It also helps that every character involved in these two episodes was one that I really liked. Perhaps Satoru was the weakest of the bunch for having the least to write home about, but Saki has been a fantastic main character over the series, bringing a great balance of inventiveness and insecurities. Kiroumaru expecially surprised me in these episodes when he showed where his intentions lied: the survival of his colony, and how he underlined the difference in mindsets between the humans and queerats: the will to give up. Maria and Satoru’s child is an example of a villain with little screentime done right: he has been built up for ages as an incredibly dangreous foe, and time and time again this has been re-established, without making him invincible in the way shounen series do it: impossible to kill aside from someone who is “stronger”.
Also, Shun. The creators brought him back at quite an interesting point in the series. What exactly is he? Is he Saki’s instinct, which she portrays as his memory? Or is there something else going on here? I think that it’s the former, seeing as how this series has been so down to business, and how there have been no hints against the fact that the dead in this series stay dead.
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)
“and Satoru and Maria’s child” , I believe you mean “Mamoru and Maria’s child” 🙂
I am really excited to see how Saki is going to resolve this
plot twist!
“I am really excited to see how Saki is going to resolve this”
Well she has done nothing so far, so yes, it would be good if she resolved it to actually be of use.
The show is still progressing well. Really enjoying it.
“but Saki has been a fantastic main character over the series, bringing a great balance of inventiveness and insecurities.”
I disagree Psgels. Yes saki was great earlier in the series, but recently, particularly in episode 23 & 24, she has been useless.
She has done nothing but fall into the damsel in distress category.
All she been doing is cowering, getting saved, getting others hurt or killed and has shown indecisiveness.
The crowning moment was the absolute selfishness in the act of destroying the psychoblaster, so that she wouldnt have to be lonely. (Granted I am willing to let this slide if this will lead to an awesome outcome – doesnt excuse the actions though.)
Earlier in the show, in her development she was shown to be mentally and (to some degree) psychologically strong – particularity in comparison to others around her. At the moment, to me personally, she comes across fairly weak. Which is disappointing.
However I guess there is still time for it to all be turned round in the closing episode.
Kiroumaru, for me, has stolen the spotlight in recent episodes. Particularly when we weren’t quite sure which side he was on.
I agree with your critique of Saki – since the time-jump, she’s been a weaker character.
Shun/Saki suggested Kiroumaru would be the key to defeating the “fiend.” I wonder it that will have something to do with using him as a sacrifice to invoke the death-feedback since the kid thinks s/he’s a rat. Though, I wouldn’t say Kiroumaru looks anything like Squealer’s clan.. And did the kid learn anything by seeing his/her reflection?
And, what’s wrong with using more fire to burn out their pursuers? Like, enough to kill a Squealer or two. Oops, a human was in the way? Oh well, don’t look then.
Also, when they made a point about the tenaciousness of the rats and their will to survive… my thoughts were, what an epic failure of engineering and domestication! Normally, animals ill-suited to human management are eliminated.
No, I don’t think the death feedback works like that; the “fiend” shouldn’t have the death feedback even if he/she is human. The death feedback was only instilled by the village elders/priests on the children that were living in the “human society” so the fiend shouldn’t have it. Also in earlier episodes the fiend witnessed some of it’s queerat companions dying and he seemed unaffected.
It wasn’t so much that Saki was decisive and strong previously, as much as psychological resilience, being able to recover.
I get the feeling like the indecisiveness and second thoughts will prove to be key in resolving this all in the final episode, so I think it’s okay.
I’ve got to say, the whole death feedback thing is pretty rife with potential inconsistencies and plot holes. It works as a good plot tool, but I don’t think anybody should think about it too hard.
I literally CANNOT believe Saki destroyed the psychobuster…seriously, during that scene I just stared at my screen in complete disbelief. So many people have sacrificed themselves to get them so far, and she literally throws it away so she won’t be “alone”? Probably the worst part of it was the fact that everyone seemed to not mind it at all; no one got angry or fazed in the slightest. Didn’t they realize that everything they came there for was completely wasted?? Props to Satoru and Kiro for being so forgiving. I’m not sure I would be able to do that if I was in that situation :S
Well, the anime sadly did a very poor job of portraying Saki’s growing emotions for Satoru and also made the distance between him and the enemy much larger so that her actions seemed more intentionally selfish than just an act of pure emotion.
She couldn’t withstand the idea of losing Satoru and in that way the last of his friends. She balanced in a single moment a life with Satoru inside and the risk of the fiend alive versus a life where the fiend has been killed and she’ll live in solitude. She thought she wouldn’t be able to withstand that and destroyed the psychobuster. If only Satoru hadn’t been in the range of the weapon, she probably wouldn’t have done that.
I’d like to add that without Satoru, she would probably have lost the will to live and ended up dead against Kiroumaru, so her choice, though the more risky, was the one with a higher chance of a better future. I thought she risked a lot but egoism? I’d say she did that more by intuition in the spur of the moment, what I find a reasonable reason given that her decisions have led her to be still alive after so many dead.
Do you realise what you are saying. Whats the whole point of them traveling to Tokyo. You have basically just said Saki is the most selfish & spineless character we have seen in recent anime.
You have been watching the previous episodes right?
How many people have we seen sacrifice themselves for the greater good, as in knowing that there loss will save more lives. It started as far back as episode 10, with Shun. During the attack on the village, we saw countless selfless acts, even though it meant there certain death.
This no more evident than Saki’s own parents, sacrificing themselves in an attempt to stop the fiend, and as their dying wish, asking Saki to retrieve the psychobuster so that so many peoples lives would not have died in vain. Also reminding her why she was chosen to lead the village to think of everyone in mind.
Yet she has literally in 1 selfless act has turned all their deaths and sacrifice into something so fickle. Including her very own parents.
Questions: When did Shun die? Is he dead?
He just changed the world and how he is but dying… Who knows what kind of creature he is now and what are his powers.
It’s different from Maria and Mamoru who where clearly stated as dead with the DNA and bones confirmation. Also, we had scenes that showed how Saki tried to accept Maria’s death, but with Shun, the scenes were about trying to remember his name and who was he. There is the possibility of him being dead and Saki seeing delusion, but also of him alive and using his cantus to show Saki things and help her, as in his state of Karma Demon, he cannot approach her without risk.
My theory on Shun: We know that Cantus is an application of the mind. Using that, Shun isn’t some ghost created by his own Cantus, it is the application of the uncertainty in Saki’s mind. She is uncertain of the fiend’s identity (She suspects the fiend might not be a fiend before Shun’s appearnce, so he can’t be used) just as she remains uncertain of Shun. And just as she gets clarification of Shun, she gets clarization of the fiend. Symbolism at its best if you ask me.