Millennia from now, future of mankind is not technological yet quite advanced. Humans are worshipped as gods by intelligent talking giant rats. Less than 60,000 people live in Japan in harmony. Society takes education more than seriously, as it is crucial to maintaining harmony yet the price of harmony is kept in secret from students. Five friends attend magic school where they learn to use their psycho-kinetic powers. But the story is nothing like the ordinary "Harry Potter" or "Naruto" type where protagonists polish their skills to fight evil monsters. Actually, evil is is not the problem in this world.
The show is an example of amazing world building and good story telling. Despite slow-ish start in first three episodes, nothing is held back and viewers are rewarded with all the details about mysteries of the world.
To appreciate the story it helps to pay attention in the beginning. The mythology or literature that is being taught in school is not merely symbolic or poetical - it is actually helpful to understand the greatest problem and the challenge of this world.
The story is clever, mature, sophisticated and interesting. Suspense is great. Visuals are pleasing and the art is good. Drama is serious. Viewers will be confronted by numerous moral dilemmas, and it is not easy to tell even whether the world is utopia or dystopia. Character growth is unlike most other shows. At some point story skips 12 years following grown-up characters without much explanation of what happened in the meantime yet leaving enough clues for viewers to understand what have happened.
Even though I expected stronger conclusion, dynamics of the story retains attention through entirety of the show. Very good.
https://myanimelist.net/anime/13125/Shinsekai_yori
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