Sunday, March 24, 2013

Shin Sekai Yori episode 25 Final Episode: And nothing was learned. Ever.

Hello there my lovely readers. Today was a sleepy day. Rain rain and more rain. Lots of rain last night too. Deliveries go up by like 300 percent when it rains....losers. So I took lots of naps today as the rain kept beckoning me to sleep!
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I don't know either Saki. Time to blow the planet up.
But now I am wide awake. Got to get something blogged today. Lets start it off with a show that is finally over with. Shin Sekai Yori episode 25. After like....what 12 episodes of torturing Saki it has finally ended. Spoilers for...I don't know a dragon with Maria's head eating Saki or something.
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Err...I thought there was going to be more....moreness.
Episode Summary: Saki, Satoru, and Kiroumaru are ready for what is to be the last stand against the Fiend. Saki explains that the Fiend is not a Fiend, that it is a human kid raised to believe it is a QueerRat. The death feedback will work if it kills what it thinks it is so Saki does the logical thing and asks Kiroumaru to die for the cause. Kiroumaru agrees in return for asking for his Queen to be saved. Saki agrees so they send Kiroumaru out in the open dressed like Satoru. The Fiend kills Kiroumaru but anime magic makes it to so that he is killed in such a way that he is still recognizable instead of a little spare on the ground. Amazing. The Fiend sees this and slowly dies. Saki starts crying over how awful everything is and Yakomaru looks on. Satoru goes to thank Saki for her hard work but she smiles and says it was all Shun, making Shun realize she has remembered their first love. Saki then explains what happened while they were in Tokyo looking for the anthrax. Her parents did make it to the village to release the tainted cats but everything was throw into chaos due to their leader Shisei being strung up. Her parents then went to burn all the important documents so they didn't fall into the wrong hands. The fire made them a target and they were killed. Yakomaru then goes to the temple and finds out where Saki and the gang were. The temple was then destroyed and that is how they were found out in Tokyo. Saki is then put in charge of QueerRats and placed on the Ethics Committee.
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Well good to know people were paying attention when other people were dying. Hope they saved some of those documents for Leader Saki to keep safe.
Satoru and Saki go to question Yakomaru who has been imprisoned instead. Satoru demonstrates a high level of not getting it when he asks over and over again why Yakomaru he did it all. Satoru seems to think that Yakomaru rebelled for no reason and let his men be killed. Saki wants an apology instead of revenge. Yakomaru tries to explain to these fools they are an intelligent species and he was just trying to help his people. Satoru tries to rewrite history by saying Kiroumaru didn't want this for their people. Yakomaru goes on trail and some awful woman presides over it. There seems to be no point to it as everyone knows Yakomaru did it. Yakomaru insists that they are humans and they deserve to live. Everyone laughs at Yakomaru and Saki has to go outside because she has no idea what is right and wrong anymore. Satoru reminds her that Yakomaru killed practically everyone they know and not to think about it in those terms. Yakomaru is sentenced to suffer forever. They turn him into a blob of cells that they keep healing so they can torture him again. Saki continues her work in the broken down QueerRat headquarters and manages to spare some of the colonies. Satoru goes to visit her and Saki explains that she has been doing some research on what the name QueerRat means. Saki is nearly hitting the truth so Satoru is like...look you doing research is cute let me break it down for you. Satoru looked into QueerRat DNA. They did not come from naked mole rats. They either came from trees....or humans. Saki remembers Shun asking the first Fail Eevee what happened to the nonCantus power user humans. Well here is your answer. They got changed into QueerRats so power using humans could kill them if need be. Saki is once again shocked and Satoru is like...well they are not human now. Time seems to flash forward, with Saki becoming the head of the village and marrying Satoru. She works hard to connect with other villages and making a future for their unborn baby that will not involving living in fear. Still they are raising tainted cats so you know. Saki writes down everything that she has learned from her experience and thinks back to all the people that she has lost and must live on for. THE END!
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And what do you have to laugh about?
And not a single lesson was learned. By 99.9 percent of the characters anyway. The viewers maybe. But as for the humans in the show....yeah me thinks that history will repeat itself until the entire world is blown up. And this point I can only support that.
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Was the Fiend blind?!
I thought that the death of the Fiend was going to be more drawn out. It felt very rushed after all this song and dance. It also felt a bit easy too. Like oh look Kiroumaru is a QueerRat let's send him in to do the dirty work. Way to go Shun with your ghost self. Thank you for stating the obvious. But yes a QueerRat taking out the nonFiend made sense. Just thought the pacing was off.
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Do you care at all Yakomaru?
Also I think the death could have been longer for the Fiend. I am not as concerned with Kiroumaru as I think he still would have turned on humans if given the chance. Him dying for humans after all they had done to his kind was a bit too out there for me. But I guess he wanted revenge no matter what so you know. But the Fiend....yes. I wanted more suffering on their face. Maybe even a bit of sadness if Yakomaru came by and saw him dying as surely that was the QueerRat that he thought was his father. I know we don't have to see Maria and Mamoru's death to know they are dead. But maybe a pretend scene of Maria and Mamoru holding the baby and playing with it and then a close up of what really happened, some bones and Yakomaru holding the baby. I just think it could have been more powerful.
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And then Shun was no more TADA!
I think there should have been more closure with Shun in regards to Saki and Satoru. I mean he has been dead and “gone” for quite a while but the show has played him up. Saki and Satoru couldn't move at the mere idea of him, couldn't have other relationships because of him. Shun got the same treatment as other characters that died at the end of the series, telling Saki they can do it. So to me his importance wasn't really played up in the end despite the fact that he was portrayed as super important. Maybe Saki and Satoru could have hugged and cried it out, like finally we have done him proud. Instead he was just glossed over.
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Says Saki in the calmest voice possible.....
Can someone explain to me why Yakomaru was taken in for a trial? I mean...I get the torture part and that Saki likes to flip flop when she kills things and when she spares things. I would have just thought that Yakomaru would have killed himself. Like the Fiend is dead time to off myself because clearly we have no chance now. Also I think that deep down Yakomaru doesn't like what happened to Kiroumaru. I think that Yakomaru wanted to work with him, to help their race out and that Kiroumaru not towing the line really weighed on him.
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Are you dumb?!
Satoru can be very, very smart at times. Then at others it is like he is one of the village sheep. How dare you go against us? Is Satoru unable to see both sides of the situation? All the other humans are carrying torches and what not against the QueerRats. So we the viewers see how history is doomed to repeat itself and that Cantus users will do anything to ensure they survive, even convince themselves they are in the right. But with other characters doing that why can't they have Satoru agree with Saki instead of insisting that the humans were right and the QueerRats were lucky to have known them.
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Not sure where Saki is getting that from. Applying her own wishes to a situation that doesn't apply.
Saki did a fair share of going back and forth with her beliefs. Which I guess makes sense. She has been raised her whole life to believe on thing and now another might be true. Of course she has 14 years to understand some of the truth. But Saki has always been a conflicted person, not knowing what to do and think. So she was defending human's ability to take out villages because it is only for the worse offenses. Saki says this as matter of fact, despite the fact that the humans would make the rules and would never kill an entire family based on one family member's mistake. But then she felt bad at the punishment handed down to Yakomaru, knowing that they are being inhumane yet again. I am sure the violent history the first Fail Eevee told them about weighs heavily on her heart and wants to prevent that from happening again despite the fact they are dangerously close to being unsavable.
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Those would be Yakomaru's men exploding. Good thing that Kiroumaru died in a recognizable way!
Yakomaru...what to say about him. He seems very off putting and he was designed to be that way. One could never really judge him. But when his motives were explained can one really hate him? I suppose they can but maybe he is more understandable. When aliens come to our planet to take over we hate them right, even though they might be just trying to survive themselves yes? So think of the Cantus users as the aliens. Yakomaru felt as if they deserved to live too and just because they looked different and had no powers they were automatically slaves and were subjected to whatever the humans wanted.
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More human than most of the assholes in this village anyway.
Although I am not buying that Yakomaru KNEW they were humans. I think he was saying look we are intelligent and are like humans. What makes humans humans are what make QueerRat humans. I mean I suppose it is possible the truth was based down to QueerRats and since they couldn't change their appearance or make the death feedback work on them they went a different, longer route to revenge. But given how much Saki and Satoru had to go through to find out the truth I don't think Yakomaru really knew. It was the words that got them searching for the truth and he meant it as a way to tell humans you suck for thinking you are superior. But do I think that Yakomaru was a bad person? Satoru seems to think so but I guess the entire series is lost upon him? Mad at Yakomaru for causing his men to die? Um aren't there piles of dead kids all over the place? Sacrifice a few to save many? Sound familiar? Or is it easier to think of them as the baddie instead of seeing the evil in your own situation?
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If Saki and Satoru think QueerRats are equal to humans why did they ask him to die? HMM?!
While I think Yakomaru really needed to be punished to prevent something like this from happening again...I don't think the best place to house his cells were in the memorial area for the humans. That place should be for peace, worship, and remembrance. I am sure there are tons of places around town for revenge and anger. Plus by not killing Yakomaru it was set an example to the other QueerRats that the humans mean business. Maybe they should have put him out in the open, near the borders of town. And then let the QueerRats go to live their lives in other parts of the world. Like we won't kill the rest of you but it is time to part ways so both our species can survive. Makes the most sense yes? To remind both sides that in another war situation both sides might lose too much to start over.
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Goodbye my old friend!
When Saki finally put Yakomaru out of his misery it was weird. She should have just done it to put another being out of its misery. That on some level she realized he was doing what was best for his people and after all Saki knows are humans any better? But for her to talk to him like they were misunderstood friends this whole time....no beuno. You can understand why someone does something but still hate them because of how it effected you. Everyone is dead. Lets not pretend you were once friends. You were always above him and he was below you. It was just odd.
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Hard at work in a building with no roof...or wall.
Saki has always been an odd duck. Almost knowing everything but failing to learn the truth. Someone else always has to come and explain it to her. But at least she has the ability to think for herself. She wasn't in the crowd cheering and being utterly gross. I mean I am sure some of those people were blinded by grief and it is hard to blame them. So while Saki wasn't able to figure out this one last mystery herself she at least tried. Even if they were probably supposed to be rebuilding...you know the building she was in at the time.
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He says o so casually.
While Satoru fails to get it most of the time he at least has the ability to also think for himself and to feel bad on some level. I am not sure where all this researching was taking place as Saki's parents burnt all the books and the temple was destroyed but yes research. Satoru is the only other person who has as much information as Saki even if it looks like at times he doesn't care. But when after he explained the situation it was like he went back to not caring. Like whelp they aren't humans so don't get so upset. Unless he is saying all these things to protect himself from the awful truth.
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Or trees. Giant trees that will summon fruit to turn people into statues.
Which is....QueerRats are humans. Now since I have thought that for a while the revelation wasn't THAT big of a shock. Now I did assume that they were humans that were out on the world and had been affected by the leaking Cantus. Like all the other messed up creatures in the world. So I was wrong on that front. I guess I really underestimated how much manipulation took place throughout the past 1000 years. Like really, really, REALLY underestimated the amount of insanity going on. I guess at some point Cantus users wanted peace but really couldn't trust normal humans to hold up their end of the bargain so they insert mole rat DNA into them. Just who the hell was making all the decisions back then? Like guys I got this great idea just hear me out!
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Saki keeps it together rather well I think.
It just seems overly complicated to me. And all their fault. Lets say that the plan was always to turn humans into QueerRats and make them their slaves. Why not...just insert enough mole rat DNA into normal humans and kill them off then. That way NO rebellion would ever take place. Of course humans were too full of themselves to think like that and kept the mole rat people around much too long. AND of course why go to all this crazy shit to begin with. Why not just round up all the normal humans and all one Cantus user to toss them out to sea. One death verses many yes? I mean...they were going to make them into beasts anyway and threaten to kill them later. Why not just kill them all now?
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Oh Satoru. That lesson learner.
To me this is the most shocking piece of information they have gotten in the entire series. And yet...it was less than when the Fail Eevee told them about their violent past. Maybe Satoru and Saki are just so tired of all these awful things they are numb to it. Satoru was like....yeah and what can you do now. Saki was a bit more....upset. Which is what she should have been. I doubt many if anyone else has this information now. So what REALLY can be done? Just do the insane laugh because really can life get any worse?
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WEEEE! All better!
And then...POOF things got better. Or at least okay. Saki and Satoru....married. Saki...in charge of the village. Saki and Satoru...having a baby. Saki and Satoru....trying to rework their civilization. I thought this was supposed to be a bittersweet ending. All I see is everything looking hopeful and stuff. I mean there was a montage of all the dead people (Shun getting equal amount of time despite “meaning” more) but that was it. I wanted to see sad faces all over the place. I guess since the final moments of the show took place 10 years after the fact....but before that it was a few months after all was said and done. I don't know...I didn't feel the bleakness. And things are bleak folks.
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No. Because I am sure other people have said that too and...well Granny had tainted cats as pets. JUST SAYING!
Overall I just didn't think this show did a good job nor does it deserve pages and pages of praise, all I see on the internet. I can see how it could have been a good show but I don't think it went the extra mile in anything. Like how the humans were laughing at Yakomaru. I am not sure what they were laughing at. It is not like they really WON. Saki and Satoru barely pulled it off and that is after half the village was dead and burnt to the ground. Why the laughter? While I hate homophobes I can see why people were confused at the sudden everyone is gay direction the show took. And then suddenly it just stopped. It was like the show didn't want to go into much detail about the sexual behavior because it was afraid of getting the axe. Instead it put the bare minimum in which actually hurt the show. I think there should have been more explanation, that some of the kids actually loved each other while others were going along with the sexual relationships to keep from being insane. It wasn't very clear and some people felt as if this was all done for shock value instead of specific reasons.
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Everything is Maria's fault remember!
That is how I felt the whole series was. Just not enough. Not enough explanations on important topics. Like I believed the kids were taught the death feedback crap. I didn't know their genes had been messed with. That was never made very clear. Maybe we should have been some technology hidden in the background to let us know what is going on behind the scenes. I don't like how we were mislead into thinking this was Maria's fault when really it was the adults running around killing too many kids and treating the QueerRats like shit that caused it all. Hello even the synopsis about this series was misleading!
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Go where? To a wonderful future? Just like how the last 1000 years have been wonderful? Oh okay.
But it is over now. Saki and Satoru are going to make a new future...because they are in love. Fell in love... or maybe they are the only two left and came together. And besides those two not a single person learned a lesson from all this horribleness. Perhaps the bleak future is for the audience to see and the characters to experience again. Just....a whole lot of wtf with this show. Thank goodness it is over.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like that there is a proper conclusion to the story. Where every major character, dead or alive, is conclusively addressed in the aftermath of the failed invasion. Too many times I’ve seen a show puts its climax right at the very last moment, and as a result ends up a rushed, disappointing affair that only offer brief glimpses into the aftermath of its characters, which is why I’m really grateful for Shin Sekai Yori using its final episode to give us proper conclusions on the remainder of its characters.

Agree and quote from RandomC:
> Humanity has averted its most dire catastrophe yet, and the village will eventually rebuild itself, but by no means does the story want us to think humans have changed for the better. More than that, the show outright vilifies the remainder of the village’s humans as they mock and demean Squealer in his hearing. Even if the queerat is hardly a saint, the display was easily the cruellest in the show; stripped naked as the animal he is perceived to be, his intellect demeaned and mocked, the hearing being made a farce of, and being subject to a torturous fate worse than death. The actions of the villager are downright disgusting, and highlights just how little really has changed in human nature over the millennium since the fall of the old civilizations, and over the course of the series. That the queerats are really non-pk humans after all only deepens this feeling of humans already having gone beyond redemption in their actions. Really, who are the animals, and who are the humans in the end? <

> But finally, the show leaves us with something new: Hope for any kind of change, even if minuscule. Humanity has been characterised by tragedy and loss, abhorrence in their actions, but in Saki and Satoru, we see small steps of a new direction. “There are things more important than the rules”, muses Saki, as she burns the miserable lump of living flesh that was Squealer out of pity. To me, its more likely the statement implies there are more important things than survival, the traits that separate humans from animals, the aspects that give us our humanity, and this is embodied in Saki’s actions to spare Squealer his fate, as well as in repaying the debt to Kiromaru and saving his colony from eradication.<

The show leaves us with one final statement: “The power of imagination is what changes everything.” A testament to the tale we’ve just been told, and the new hopes Saki and Satoru are left with. Because when humans can’t imagine anything beyond survival, when humans can’t imagine a better way of life, how can it ever be attained?

Anonymous said...

The end-story, I was so surprise to what they have done to the regular human. I was not see that plot come until now and every thing get clearly. I love the music and the animation too. very satisfy with this anime

Christina said...

Anonymous 1- While I felt the Fiend was disposed of rather fast I guess it had been terrorizing people for like 7 episodes. And yes it gave us some updates on the other characters instead of saying whelp Saki lived the end!

I think there is only a tiny sliver of hope at the end of the episode. Saki showed the most changed obviously but even she can't escape all of her preconceived notions of what is. Satoru also experienced some change but really what is two people against the entire village, whom are cheering so soon after losing so much.

The last note of the anime does leave the viewers with the thought that things CAN change. That maybe this one time humans can get it right. But still so much has happened it is hard to see it that way, especially since Granny herself was powerless at times and now Saki is in that position. Overall there is a lot of grey in this show, as I am sure the humans have no idea NOW what the QueerRats were. But anything that talks to me should be treated with a high level of intelligence and respect, something not given out on this show.

Anonymous 2- I really thought all the build up in Tokyo was to show that the QueerRats were humans changed by Cantus leaking. But no, the show has to go one level further and show us what levels of crazy those with Cantus took to make sure they stayed alive/in power.

Unknown said...

I don't know anything about this series other than the episodes I've seen (1-12) and the summaries I've read about the final episode on anime blogs, because seriously, it just never interested me that much. I show it at our club's screenings, but it was like since the very beginning I could tell that it just wasn't a good series. And from the beginning I had the feeling the QueerRats were human. It just seemed so obvious, it's like this series' plot can be seen coming from well over a mile away, and it isn't creative or smart about it. Most of the characters weren't really likeable either. Saki, I could never like her. She was always too bland and wishy-washy for my tastes. I guess it doesn't surprise me to find out that the ending is as disappointing as I expected it to be.

Christina said...

Unknown- I think that people either think this show is the best thing ever and totally unrated or...they hate it. It seems to give people very little wiggle room.

I hated that people didn't give this show a chance based on the gay relationships/feelings. I do think that people felt they were there for shock value and probably weren't explained very well, especially when most of the students had the straights later on with no explanation.

But as much as I tried to give this show a chance it was just draggy. And Saki could be such a brat. I still remember her little demon face when they were hurting the Fail Eevee. I just couldn't get that out of my mind, that she is just as messed up as everyone else. You end up wanting the QueerRats to win, exhumans or not. Because the current humans are just...way too complicated and cure to allow to live I guess. Just why bother?