Suddenly, these children are no longer children. They’re not even adults; they’re gods. Who would have known it? 

——

The story is really engaging and has a lot more to tell, but I’m going to ride this thought out for this episode: the quality was horrendous. What the hell was that? I mean, what was up with all the facial closeups and the strange angles and the lack of proper expressions? Heck, even the overall art seems different. (It’s like the entire episode is an homage to Kyou no Go no Ni — to have kids suddenly wear adult faces.) It’s like all of the sudden, A-1 Pictures lost funds to support a proper show. The art is still pretty enough for my standards, but the fluidity was just not there. Hardly smooth, painful to watch and quivering to endure. 

To be honest, I try not to note the visuals too much because it’s not exactly the only area I focus on, but seeing became believing when it was apparent that I was getting more distraught by the minute. Really, I didn’t care whether Saki and Satoru decided to be like monkeys because the presentation itself was disturbing. The concept kind of threw me off for a loop because I thought Saki had eyes on Shun, and now she comes off as a girl more confused than composed than ever. And where did the other three go? Mysteriously, they disappear after conveniently separating, but I guess this is all part of the story in which they diverge and merge some time down the line. That’s one way to make it a complete twenty-five episode series. (And create new and/or improved character chemistry.)

Apologies, I digressed — from the animation department that I was so thrilled with. Even the transitions from scene to scene seemed choppy or overly fade-happy. I get that it’s a much darker setting and tone now but it felt messy all the way through. I tried to enjoy it for the buildup to the actual story, but the visuals really screwed with my senses and I was under the illusion that somehow, Shinsekai Yori would meet a premature end. It was that bad in episode five and I’m starting to show some concern. Awesome plot potential but I don’t need to see cool fighter faces from Satoru up close or a curiously unconcerned face from a gasping Saki if quality isn’t going to be consistent and correlating. I just hope it’s a one-time blunder, or else this will become just a heckling spree. 

The war between the bakenezumi colonies is intriguing enough but I don’t need to see the same grunt raise its stubby arms the same way a number of times. I’m hoping that Squealer and his six-breasted queen will come back next time to see that Saki and Satoru aren’t exactly godly. 

GO Rating: 2.5/5

I said earlier that they’re not even adults, yet somehow, Saki and Satoru managed to look (and act) much more mature in this episode, or at least, in this scene.