Shin Sekai Yori

It’s been quite a while since I last finished an anime series, so this must say something about Shin Sekai Yori. From even before it started airing, I was already interested in this. For starters, it’s based on a set of books, so that guaranteed a decent plot. And boy was the plot amazing. A dystopian future ruled by psychics subjugating inferior humanoid creatures. It wasn’t the typical defeat-the-bad-guy storyline that the majority of series tend to. Instead, Shin Sekai Yori deals with problems of human paranoia, greed, and power set in a new world (hence the title). In fact, the entirety of the world was very interesting to find about as it unfolded episode by episode, as we find out why there is so much lost technology strewn about and why the humans like live they’re within the 16th century. 

The last arc was by far the most thought-provoking and enjoyable part of the series. While I disliked the conniving deviousness of Squeler, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy in his cry of being human. As it is later revealed, the molerats were once human but changed due to the superiority complex of the human psychics. Even Saki, the most molerat-friendly character, did not even once consider the molerats equal to herself. Was it ok for the molerats to attempt to wipeout all humans for the sake of their freedom? It’s a hard question to answer, and its part of what makes the show so appealing. I feel that Shin Sekai Yori needed more episodes to help flesh out some of the plot lines earlier on. But overall, it did a wonderful job in presenting a complicated story with beautiful animation and characters. 

 

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Cross Game

Cross Game, or how I realized that baseball is actually a pretty interesting game. To be fair, half this series wasn’t about baseball at all. In true Mitsuru Adachi style, Cross Game is a slice of life manga with a backdrop of baseball. And my gosh, how amazing the slice of life components are. Adachi has this magical style where just reading about his character’s daily lives is fun. His characters who are strong and weak, heroic and defeated, but most of all sincere. These are the people that makes you want to root for them and hope their dreams come true. Over the course of the series, you really come to know and like the cast of characters. In the spotlight is Ko, the star pitcher and hero. Alongside is the heroine Aoba, who is strong and fierce, but kind and dedicated. These two are the real stars of the series, and their interaction is both funny and heartwarming. There are a ton of other people, but there’s too many to name, so I’ll just say that they’re all interesting in their own way. And finally, there’s the actual baseball. It’s almost nerve-wracking reading the Seishu games, not knowing whether they will win or lose. I really enjoyed the series, which you can tell because this is actually my second read-through of it. Maybe I’ll even buy the actual book copies of it, because it’s THAT good.

 

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You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我們一起追的女孩)

You Are the Apple of My Eye is a 2011 Taiwanese movie exploring the feeling of adolescence and chasing after the same girl. While I do very much get that vibe from the movie, I feel that this doesn’t necessarily pertain as much to foreign watchers. Many aspects of the movie dwells on Taiwanese culture that foreigners might be unfamiliar with, such as punishment squats, Taiwanese dorms, etc. It was still very interesting to see these parts of life in Taiwan, and they certainly don’t detract from the main plot. Now the overarching plot may not be completely satisfying, I believe the main charm of the film comes in watching our hero growing up through high school and college. All of the silly humor (like the excessive masturbation and perchance to nudity) is a good reflection of Ko’s immaturity. I am quite envious that the author had such a colorful life growing up, enough to make a movie about. Too bad I am nearly illiterate in Chinese, or I would like to read some of his other books.

 

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Shindere Shoujo to Kodoku na Shinigami

I literally just finished finished reading this series, and wanted to write about it right away. This manga does everything right, from the artwork, to the characters, to the overarching plot and the smaller arcs. It’s a mystery series in the vein of Detective Conan, but set against a backdrop of a fantastical legend, like Higurashi. While the smaller mystery arcs are fairly plain situations, they are still well crafted and interesting in their unveiling. More interesting is the overall mystery of the island. Just what is the secret behind the resurrections, and who are the people plotting against it? I would really like to keep reading it, but unfortunately, the author has contracted an illness and put the series on hiatus. I hope the author gets well soon, as it would be a shame to let such an excellent series end without conclusion.

 

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