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ANNCast - From The New World

Question where can I stream this series Hulu possibly or where can I purchase it and how much will it costs. This podcast has made me interested in viewing it.

This is one of those shows I missed the first time around I skimmed a couple chapters of the manga and was not that impressed with it describing it as (from my admittedly cursory glance) as "fan service and monster gorn". So given the effusive praise the Anime has gotten in this episode I'm still not going to watch it but nice to see someone got something out of it

Again, though, there is no positive queer representation by the end of the series and the show defaults on a het pairing just because; by which I mean, where we could have easily had Maria and Saki surviving and raising kittens together, we got the mandatory mom/dad/baby dynamic which does nothing to satisfy any intended challenge to the status quo. Maria (a character I think the show established as being explicitly gay and not sexually fluid as one might infer regarding Saki and maybe even Satoru) is literally murdered after running off with Mamoru to have his child. I'll admit that my identity as a queer person is often central to my viewing experience so this is just my own bias, but this was nonetheless incredibly alienating and disappointing to me, especially since hearing about the strong queer dynamics at play in the series was one of its persistent draws.

I'm glad others liked the show, though.

I think it's an important point that you bring up that it's not an especially "human" show, and I'd say if you find difficulty relating to the characters and that this seriously bothers you then I will tell you that no, it's not going to change.

I think the fact that these people are different is an important aspect of the worldbuilding, and while you say something to the effect of "merely" I would drop that entirely. If you're looking for passion, I'd say it absolutely shines through as the show goes on. Something very realistic I would hope comes of this experience for you is that you begin to feel for something you previously thought was inhuman and that causes you to find a new way to appreciate characters.

My advice to you is take it halfway and drop it then if you still don't feel connected.

I wouldn't say you're totally biased, I do think the story got itself in a hard riddle. From the dense exposition, you can tell the author looked up a bit of psychoanalysis, and his idea must have come from "humans using genetic engineering on inconsciousness"; the psychic power is basically explained as a manifestation of inconscient on reality, and according to the Tsuchinoko (that cute, glowing little giraffe that blows up because yes), humans tried to "destroy" violence by forcing people to 'love' instead of punching each other when conflict arises, the story tells us that one way or another the inconscious is impossible to controlate and that the human mind is far more complicated.

The problem of making that, is that adolescents are in no way controlable, and far more unpredictable, so in order to prevent pregnancy at young age, they also force a homo-switch for teenagers that fades out in adulthood. Theorically, it looks interesting. Plot-wise, it's an impedement for trying to go the route you expected for. After the whole incident with spoiler[Maria and Mamoru's] child, maybe two girls like Saki and Maria would be allowed to love each other well into adulthood, before that, nigh impossible, one at least would get killed. There is no doubt Saki harbors at least platonic feelings for Maria (heck, they got their own Ending!), but even for Saki it must have been very hard to come to terms to that, maybe the show could have been more vocal on this, though the problem still stands, remember that while they're kids, they are frightened from the truth, when teenagers, they're ignorant, only when they're adults (too late) they realise what's actually going on.

I don't think the show is saying that homosexual relationships should be an adolescent-only thing. Sure, their society may encourage homosexual pairs in adolescence, but I don't think it's trying to say you should necessarily agree or disagree with that.

Ultimately, I think their culture and society is so different from our own that you can't really compare them to homosexual (or heterosexual for that matter) romances of today, and it's not trying to make a direct message about any specific aspect of our romance. Rather, I think it's trying to let us see that in general a lot of our romance conventions are arbitrary by serving as a point of contrast to them.

Ultimately, in my opinion it's a little unfair to criticize the show for having the romances end up as they did, because I think the goal was to show how much circumstance dictates who we end up with.

As I said on the podcast I'm not on board with the idea that Maria is unilaterally attracted to women. I find it pretty hard to believe that she would go into the wilderness with Mamoru and decide to commit to him like that if that were the case.

Interesting thoughts. My impression was that, out of all the couples on the show, Saki and Maria had the most comfortable and genuine relationship, and I didn't get the feeling Saki had any difficulty coming to terms with her feelings for Maria (unless the show added some subtext somewhere I've forgotten about). I suppose I'm still left wondering why, if the series was about questioning the status quo within that society and challenging it, that precluded an ending where those loving relationships were embraced rather than eliminated? Maria on her own was a worthwhile character; I just stumbled upon a review which reminded me of the episode where Saki and Satoru read her letter, and she's making a point of questioning the model of their society: it seems to me that Maria could have flourished as a vocal proponent of change resonating with many of the story's potential themes, rather than being knocked out in typical trope fashion.

My thought process while viewing was that this is where we were meant to get a grasp on the characters and the pay off would be in seeing where they developed relative to the insights we were given during the adolescent period. So it was disappointing when it ended up feeling more like the characters were slotted into predetermined (and unfortunately predictable) narrative roles which didn't follow from what (I thought) we had learned about them.

But if it's asking that we contrast them it's also demanding that we compare them;

Maybe we needed something like Maria or Saki question themselves or the rather stubborn Satoru how they never had choice, not even in love, everything was set up as if they didn't have hearts.

I'm surprised to see this series only now attracting attention from the likes of Zac. When it appeared in 2013, Shin Sekai Yori blew away all the competition in the annual awards given by the members at AnimeSuki.

The manga is a travesty and not indicative of the quality of the anime. I've seen a bit of the portions that present yuri fanservice scenes between Saki and Maria. They have no equivalents in the anime and, from what I've read, no real equivalents in the original novel either.

For those who are interested, I have just seen episode eight. Its content appears to be the basis of the present discussion. Consider this: the previous few episodes have been dedicated to a war between mostly mindless grunts, about whom there is little to say other than the fact that they fight and squeal.
Of a sudden, the direction changes. The viewer is overtly presented with genuine but apprehensive displays of human sexuality. If it was the producers' intent to explore the show's alternative humanity in so brave and captivating a way as this, could they at least have wasted less time on those characterless mole-rats beforehand?
The journey continues.